Word of the Year 2017 - One

Following the tradition from 2016, I decided that my Word of the Year for 2017 will be 'One'. My reasons are threefold.

1) 2017 will be the year of two becoming one.

2) It is also a time when I intend to focus on one pursuit at a time, one task as a time. I realise that, in the past year or so, I have been trying to do too many things at once. The result of which was that I lost a lot of time transiting from one task to another.

3) Finally, I will keep my mind on the One who has saved me, protected me, kept me and brought me to where I am today.

What is your Word of the Year?

Photographing the SG100 Carnival

A week or so ago, I was asked by a fellow trainer to help photograph an event at Our Tampines Hub. 

The event was put together by the SG100 Foundation, a society with the aim of engaging both the youth and the pioneer generation of Singapore to create a bright future for our beloved country.

Not being too sure about what to focus on, I asked the event organiser, who asked me to focus on the participants and the guest of honour, Mr Baey Yam Keng, as he visited the different stalls manned by organisations and companies which have involved themselves in social contributions and other worthy pursuits.

Once the performances began, people started getting into the swing of things and I was free to photograph on-the-ground activities, which I much prefer over stage activities.

I've posted the better photographs in an album on my Facebook page after spending some time correcting the colours (the lighting was orange). 

Apart from once again exercising my over-long-dormant photography skills, I got to speak with some entrepreneurs there. We may be working on some projects together in the near future.

A couple of things I learned while photographing the event

1) Unexpected things almost always happen at events

An individual with (I presume) her family was shouting and demanding to see the organiser when she and her family were asked to give up their seats to a large group of senior residents who were attending the event. In essence, she was saying that the organisers did not put in enough thought into the number of seats provided. 

While I find her behaviour ridiculous and self-entitled, I shall bear this in mind in the planning of my next event.

2) All you have to do is ask

Although I prefer to take shots silently, some of my photos were posed and they turned out very well - a result of my asking my subjects for a shot.

Perhaps it is the introvert side of me that overthinks the asking part, I usually assume that asking for a picture is bothersome to the other party (since I don't like to be in photos myself).

Well, it turns out time and again that many people are quite happy to pose for a photograph if asked. Perhaps they, too, think that it would be presumptuous to ask a photographer to take a picture of them and prefer to wait to be asked instead - a little flattery to be asked to be a model, maybe. I'm not too sure but, from this experience, I figure that it's all up to me to make the request.

The worst that could happen is that they say 'No'.

That said, the majority of my pictures were not posed. I still enjoy the 'captured moment' style of photography and I'll continue to improve my pursuit of this style.

Before I end off this post, Happy 2017! To more learning experiences and more sharing!

A Post-Christmas Post

It's been a busy Christmas weekend. With an extra public holiday on Monday, I was able to spend more time with my friends than I otherwise would have.

Though we didn't exactly discuss New Year resolutions or next steps, having some casual time was very welcome, especially since we have been very busy over the past few months and only met up sporadically.

It seems that 2017 looks to be a year of great transition. Friends are getting married, doing up their newly-bought homes, planning the next phase of life.

It was a rainy Christmas Eve when I took the picture attached in this post. And it was on that day that I stumbled upon Valuetainment on YouTube, an entrepreneurship-themed channel headed by Patrick Bet-David, as I spent a lot of time over the weekend pondering my next steps.

I spent hours watching the content and found Patrick to be down-to-earth and straight-talking with his advice and knowledge. Truth be told, I wondered why I hadn't come across his channel sooner.

I sent the link to a few of my entrepreneurial-minded friends and continued to learn from the videos. One of Patrick's videos encouraged viewers to download and do a questionnaire on his website. When I looked at the questionnaire, I realised how in-depth it is and how it wants to bring past mindsets, hurts and fears to the surface. 

I have yet to do the questionnaire, but I will over the next few days. I hope to emerge with a better understanding of myself and be clearer in my plans for 2017. Once I'm through with it, I'll likely post an update on what I learned from it. Until then, stay tuned.

You may never see this post, Patrick, but thank you for putting up such great content, and for being so open and generous with your experience.

As I Reflect Upon 2016

With just over a week to go before 2017, I decided to take some time to reflect upon my 2016.

At the beginning of the year, I offered my Word of the Year as: Speak.

I refer to this part of my post on January 14 2016:

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I intend to:

a) Become a true-blue professional Speaker (finally!)

b) Speak for necessary change

c) Speak, not just talk

d) Speak to new contacts and networks

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For a), I have taken numerous steps towards it, having spoken at a couple of events and having joined professional networks of speakers. I consider a) to be fulfilled.

For b), I have come up with proposals for changes in my church as well as long-term plans for change in certain aspects of education in Singapore. I consider b) to be fulfilled.

For c), I have always taken what I say seriously. To fulfill this for 2016, I further reduced unnecessary speech and was mindful to speak mostly when needed or called upon. I took care to reduce Teacher Talking Time (TTT) when I taught, giving my learners time to explore the subjects instead. Of course, more improvement is needed, but I consider c) to be fulfilled.

For d) I have made many new contacts this year, both within the training and gem industries, as well as out of it. I have a much greater appreciation of how collaboration can benefit businesses and individual growth. I will continue to be part of these networks and to contribute to them as I am able. Therefore, d) is fulfilled.

Apart from my Word of the Year, it feels almost unbelievable that so many things (relationships, networks, businesses, personal pursuits) can be started and accomplished in the space of 365 days. Though I often feel that I have wasted a fair bit of that time, I am quite amazed at how much I have managed to get done this year.

I will look to 2016 as the year of explosive growth and development - a year to emulate, as a benchmark for the years to come.

How has your year been? How ever you feel you've journeyed in 2016, it's not over yet! Let's use the time we have left in 2016 fruitfully, in service of others.