The Benefits of Walking

What's one of the simplest and quickest ways to improve your overall wellness?

Walking!

Primitive tribes people went on regular walkabouts, when individuals headed off alone into the bush as a rite of passage. In the wilderness, their minds, bodies and spirits were tested and cleansed. Some even met their spiritual guides, or so the legends say.

These day though, walking has been reduced to an inconvenience. It's considered a milestone for toddlers, something that all infants naturally progress to, but grown-ups generally wish to do as little of it as possible. We'd much rather get around in cards, taxis, buses and bikes.

But walking is immensely beneficial for our physical and mental well-being. For years, this single act has been linked to improving cardiovascular health. The reason is because, generally, walking is a safe movement that isn't likely to cause injury. New studies have shown that walking is also a terrific way to improve your mood. The next time you are feeling a little blue, you could just walk it off - literally.

A recent study paired individuals into groups, one of which spent 30 minutes on a treadmill and the other that participated in 30 minutes of rest. Each group's progress was monitored throughout the treatment with a conclusion that both groups reported having less negative feelings at the end of the study, along with less stress and tension. The difference, however, was found when the group that spent 30 minutes walking also noted an overall improvement in well-being.

While the study further proves the theory that walking is good for mental health, as well as physical, it also lends credence to the theory that people who walk feel better overall. It also proves that an individual does not have to be outside in order to enjoy the benefits of walking. This simple exercise can be achieved with a treadmill or by simply walking in place while listening to music or watching TV.

Taking long walks also allows your mind to relax; the body goes into a spontaneous, comfortable rhythm, giving your thoughts a relaxed and unhurried climate in which to organise themselves. I've often come up with solutions and ideas while on a leisurely stroll.

So work a walking routine into your schedule. You will start feeling the benefits in no time!

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Writing Your Own Story

If Lie was one epic play, and you were an actor playing a role, whose story would you be acting out? Are you the writer of your own life, so to speak? Or are you simply going through the motions in someone's else play?

We each have a set of ideas or beliefs about ourselves that define us as a central character in a "story" that we're living out. All of the elements of the story have been passed down as part of our culture or upbringing, taught or ingrained, or simply fabricated in our own minds. We then go about enacting our stories as if they were true.

The thing is, most of us don't even realise that we're enacting a story, much less someone else's story. Because of this, we're completely at the mercy of the story and its writer, how it unfolds, how we react to certain events, and the eventual course our life takes.

If we don't take the time to construct our own story, we'll continue enacting our current one, even if it isn't working for us, and even if someone else is holding the pen, or typing the keys.

So how can you discover the story you're enacting and decide if it's time to create your own spin-off?

First, assume you are in fact enacting a story. Uncover the elements of your story. Be a detective, hunting for clues. Look at all your behaviours and describe them piece by piece, until the "whole" story emerges.

Next, assess your story. Are you happy with it? What would you change, remove, or add to this story to make it more satisfying? Re-write your story - become the author of the grandest story you can envision - a story that truly inspires.

Share you new story with important people in your life. Talk about your specific role in the story and why it appeals to you. The more you talk about your new story, the more it will become a part of you.

Commit to living your new role in some way. Make at least one change that is in alignment with the new story.

Finally, explore how your new story fits into the bigger story of your family, organisation, corporation, country and the world. What contribution can you new individual story make to the bigger story?

Remember, you are the author and you can write your own story any way you wish.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Making Tough Jobs Easier

On our path to becoming happier and more successful people, there are bound to be things we hate to do, but have to.

Things like sticking to fitness routine, going for extra classes, help to do certain favours, going through mountains of paperwork, painting your room or doing the accounts. All important for making us healthier , more informed, more well-connected, more efficient and so on, but all the same, not very pleasant for some of us.

So what do most of us do when confronted by these tasks? Well, we either procrastinate or simply avoid doing them. Then what happens? Or what doesn't happen, I should say. Positive change cannot occur. Our goals remain in limbo.

But some of us, when faced with seemingly difficult or unpleasant tasks, grit out teeth, pull up our socks, roll up our sleeves and do them anyway. These are the ones who become successful. These are the people who get what they want.

So how can we make difficult task easier or at least less painful to do?

Here are some tricks you could try:

First, call up a friend before and after the task. This gives you added support and a sense of accountability to that friend to keep your word.

Next, plan a big reward after the task. Whether it's a weekend resort getaway, or having friends over for a big game night, this will give you something to look forward to while you are completing your task.

Next, delegate. Sometimes a project can seem particularly arduous because you have so many other things you have to do concurrently. It could be something as simple as picking up kids from school or it could be making blind calls to prospective clients just to see who might be interested in your service. Think about what you can possibly hand over to someone else; a colleague, a subordinate, a helpful family member perhaps. You could even pay someone to help you such as a freelancer to do the accounts during income tax season. Prioritise and see which tasks are essential for your success and which ones you could "farm out" to someone else. If not on a regular basis, then maybe just or the time being.

And finally, while working on the so-called "unpleasant" task, keep your eyes and eyes open. You can find something to enjoy in any job, if not entirely pleasurable, then at least entertaining or informative. Focus on what you can actually take away from the task, how it helps you become a better person and closer to your bigger goals, and the task won't seem so terrible. You might even change your opinion of it altogether and truly appreciate what it's doing for you! Hey, you know you have to do it, so why not make it as fun and rewarding as you can?

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Focusing on the Lesson

Problems and challenges exist to make us better people.

Unfortunately, many of us don't understand this principle and so choose to treat problems as something that's at odds with us.

But every crisis or dilemma that comes our way holds a lesson to be learnt. If we could see stop seeing a crisis as a joy-dampening experience; and instead take it as if Life is trying to show us something, we would be much happier.

When misfortune strikes, we sometimes cannot help but give in to our emotions... and by all means, do grieve all you need, but when that is done, try to focus on the lesson. Ask yourself what you are being shown here. It is teaching you something, helping you grow mentally or spiritually, leading you to new emotions, ideas and experiences.

The same philosophy applies to the people you encounter in Life. Everyone has something to teach you. Yes, the least educated, nastiest, most unpleasant and heartless person you know knows things you don't Sometimes, it could be that you could learn something from the experience of knowing that person. Perhaps you could do with more humility and patience. Or maybe look at life and love in a different way.

Once you understand this, you will benefit more from your encounters with people. You won't be held hostage anymore by your emotions. You will understand that there are more people in this world who will make you smile than those who will make you cry.

People behave in certain ways because of various reasons. You can be concerned about it, but it never allow yourself to be influenced by their negative energies. Don't let bitter, resentful individuals cause you to hate the world too.

It is an imperfect world, but there is much promise and goodness to be found in it as well.

So the next time you encounter a problem, or a problematic person, instead of dwelling on the disaster or the bad emotions, focus on the lesson.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

The Good Thing About Problems

It's easy to think of adversity in life as something bad and unnecessary; something that's in conflict with an otherwise wonderful world. But the problems we face and the stress they usually cause are responsible for our personal growth. It's adversity that carves us into the best human beings we can be. It's adversity that teaches us invaluable lessons, and which makes us appreciate the good things in life more keenly.

Challenges and the way we overcome them are the building blocks of a person's mental and physical strength, his store of knowledge, his emotional maturity and depth of feeling. In the same way that we cannot hope to build muscle from inactivity, we cannot raise a strong and responsible adult by shielding him from pain and hard work.

Problems also exist to humble us before the great scheme of Nature and the Universe. Man is inherently self-indulgent as it is; imagine how arrogant and complacent we would become if things went our way all the time? We would lose all respect for life and for the world. We would stop deriving pleasure and joy from previously pleasurable and joyful things. Life would lose its meaning.

a person's personal strength can be assessed by the way he handles problems or challenges. Is he inspired by what he can learn from them and how he can solve them? Or is he intimidated by them?

How can one be "inspired" by problems, you may ask. Well, it's a matter of perspective - start feeling "problems" as "opportunities". If you take problems as challenges that make you stronger each time you surmount one, then the more problem you experience, the stronger you become. Thus problems are really opportunities to make you a stronger, better person. With each triumph comes increased resilience, which makes future problems less and less stressful. So really you are building your capacity for greater peace of mind.

Problems also force us to use our minds in different ways; they stimulate creative thinking, and widen our field of knowledge. In order to solve problems, we learn to draw quickly from our mental resources. So problems make our mind sharp and nimble. Adversity is really a teacher, but only if you allow yourself to learn from it.

Now when we think about problems this way, they cease to be so frightening. Problems help us gain new wisdom, keep our mental faculties fit, and prepare us to more easily tackle other problems in the future. Problems are thus really opportunities to improve ourselves and our lives; in other words, problems encourage our personal growth.

And one of the best things about problems is that the more of them you encounter, the more adept you become at solving them. You can then live your life confidently and fearlessly, knowing that the next time a similar "problem" comes around, you can very quickly and easily solve it without getting stressed out about it.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Stop Talking Negatively to Yourself

It's a surprising statistic, but studies have shown that on average we make between 300 and 400 self-evaluations per day. And that's not even the most starting part... apparently, out of those 300 to 400 self-assessments, about 80% are negative.

The numbers might seem incredulous but if we take into account all the sub-conscious and non-verbal messages we send ourselves, we begin to have a good idea of the amount of negative self-talk we engage in.

Here are some things one typically says to oneself, whether aloud or as a passing thought, when one makes a mistake...

"That was stupid! Why am I always messing things up? That's so embarrassing!"

We may not take these episodes into consideration, but when it happens often enough, it weakens our self-confidence.

Self-confidence is an invaluable asset we all need in a competitive, fast-changing world. We need to be able to bounce back from mistakes. It's the only way to learn, the only route to success. Unfortunately, most of us are best at making ourselves feel worse.

Even during those rare moments when we do take credit for good work done, the self-praise doesn't last long. Often we give away our credit, saying things like "Oh I was just lucky!" or "It wasn't just me, I had a lot of help!". It may be a cultural thing, Confucian perhaps, that we tend to discount our successes and play up our incompetence. It almost seems like the polite thing to do.

Well, polite or not, it's not doing any good for you. If you are always selling yourself short, you are also always looking for friends, colleagues, bosses, and partners who will make up for or affirm your lack of self-esteem. It is almost like you are setting yourself up for failure. Not to mention leaving control over your emotions and self-image in the hands of others.

There is virtue in humility, but we must also learn not to allow negative self-talk to ruin our self-esteem and chances of greater success and joy.

The next time you make a mistake, or do something you feel is not proper or right, try thinking about your strategy for the future. Focus on what you can do better, not on the disappointment and frustration of the error. The more you dwell on a mis-step, the more likely you are going to repeat it. But if you pay more attention to improvement, you are much more likely to keep enhancing your performance.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Effective Conflict Resolution

This world thrives on diversity - our differences allow us to play our own unique roles that sustain the greater scheme of things. Variety also makes life more colourful and vibrant, and inspires limitless possibilities.

But our differences can sometimes foment disagreement and conflict. Disparity in opinion, values and beliefs, in particular, can lead to alienation and hostility, even violence.

With casual acquaintances or strangers, it's sometimes best to avoid confrontation altogether. But with people who have closer links to us - our friends, colleagues, family members or important business associates like our clients or investors - our personal spheres overlap and we have too much invested in each other. Running away from the conflict simply makes things worse.

When approaching such conflicts, keeping a cool head is the first and most important strategy. Anger is such a powerful emotion, it can tear through the conflict, obliterating reason, fairness and lucidity in its path. It can lead to a lot of raised voices and blood pressures, but ultimately solves nothing. We can sometimes end up saying or doing something that further strains the relationship.

So don't make the situation worse than it already is. If you feel your temper rising, take a time-out. When you are feeling calmer and better able to discuss things in a lucid and sensible manner, then return to the issue.

In a conflict, many of us also feel the need to blame the other party. But finger-pointing is a weak and childish act, and you are often the one who ends up looking bad. Nobody likes a blamer... so always aim to be the problem-solver.

We often feel we deserve to express our views and long-simmering frustrations, but ignore the fact that the other party deserves it too. One-sided conflicts never work out... even if they seem resolved, it's only because the other person simply pulled out. This often leads to the issue festering quietly until another incident triggers an even more incendiary outburst

So allow the other person to say what he needs to say. Listen carefully and you might be able to understand his position better. Look for common ground and goals and use them to plan a resolution and better working methods for the future.

The other thing about remaining silent and letting other person gush is that he will be forced to listen to what he's saying. He will often stop talking when he realises that he's said something that's not fair or sensible, even detrimental to his position. When he's done, you can then have your say. He will be less likely interrupt since he's already had his turn.

Conflict is inevitable in life... what's essential is how we manage them to minimise damage and work towards a better future.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Remembering Names

We have all faced this problem - you bump into a familiar face, buy try as you might, you simply cannot remember his name. Oh the awkward moment, the blank look in your eyes, the eager smile on the other person's face.

Is this problem keeping you from networking successfully? Some of us admittedly have poorer memory skills for faces and names, but if it happens often enough, surely it's time to see if something can be done.

Now what's the most fundamental rule when it comes to remembering something?

Repetition.

But simply repeating the person's name after you have parted is not quite as effective as repeating it during the encounter. So when you are first introduced to someone, use their names several times when you talk to them. "Hi, Andy, nice to meet you. What do you do for a living, Andy? Do you have any kids, Andy? Andy, it was great to meet you!" Not all at one of course... but over the course of the conversation.

If you don't catch the name when it's originally told to you, don't be afraid to ask for it again. This is entirely acceptable as people understand that names may not get through clearly the first time. If it is a foreign or unfamiliar name, ask the person to spell it for you, just to be doubly sure. And say the name immediately after you have confirmed it.

Also, try linking the name with something that's related to the person - it could the mutual friend who introduced to you, a body feature or personality trait. Do they remind you of something that rhymes with their name? Can you make up a catchphrase or a story that uses the feature and the name? It doesn't matter if it is nonsensical; what is important is the strong association you will remember.

If your acquaintances are the namesakes of famous people, try associating them with those personalities. If you meet an "Andy", for example, you might imagine him with a tennis racquet poised for a strike and remember him as "Andy Murray".

Most of us don't give this much thought, but people instantly warm up and respect people who remember their names. It show you paid attention and goes a long way in successful networking.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Getting Rid of Envy

Are you feeling jealous of the success, beauty, or intelligence of a friend? Do you find yourself wishing you were as lucky as him or her? Is it possible that subconsciously you may wish them wrong, look for faults in the person in order to feel better about yourself?

Envy happens to us all. When we perceive qualities we deem to be superior to our own in others, it's normal to feel dissatisfied. But what do we do about this discontentment? Do we allow it to fester and reveal itself in hateful forms?

While we are busy being bitter what the other person is doing, they are busy pursuing their own lives. They are chasing their own dreams, improving their minds and bodies and so on. So while they get the results they want in life, we remain stagnant... paralysed by our frustrations.

So if the green eyed monster is frequently taking bites out of you, here are some ways you can get rid of it.

Take time to get to know yourself better. Instead of squandering your precious time on other people, identify your own talents and strengths. How can you develop them? The more you understand your true emotions and desires, the less you would want anyone else's life or success.

Work continuously to improve yourself. People are not born perfect or superior to others. But successful individuals have the ability to stay open-minded and acquire or enhance their skills.

Understand that everyone is different. There are attributes in others you could not possibly possess no matter what you do, but in the same way, you have wonderful qualities nobody else has. Remember, always focus on your advantages.

Measure success in your own terms. A CEO may earn tons more than you but do you really want his life? His workload, his responsibilities, his duties? You can be successful in your own way.

The reality of life is that no matter how powerful, rich or successful you may become there is always going to be someone on top of you. But, do not forget, this rule can also be applied the other way too. There is always someone less fortunate than you. So appreciate what you have.

And go relentlessly after your dreams. Once you achieve some of your goals, your self-esteem will receive a boost and the less space you will have in your life for the green-eyed monster.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Stop Being Judgemental

Judgemental people tend to impose their beliefs and their way of life on others. They look down on people who don't live up to their expectations.

Your way feels "right", you say. But it may not be "right" for others. Others should not have to act, be, and make the same choices that you do. As long as we are not out there raping, killing or robbing, we all deserve respect and acceptance.

But many of us inevitably find things we don't like about others.

Say you see someone in line at the post office. He wears faded-gray sweat pants, a ratty T-shirt, and dirty tennis shoes. You may be appalled that he could leave home looking like that. You may judge him to be poor and dirty.

But there could be a myriad of reasons why he chooses to present himself that way. Perhaps he's in deep grief from a personal loss and so he does not care about his appearance. It could be any reason. The point is that he is who he is and you are who you are. How one presents themselves in public is none of our business, nor is it up to us to dictate how another person runs his life. Your way is right for you. His way is right for him.

When you stop being judgemental, you release all the bad emotions that come along with that habit. You will have a new habit of going around with compassion in your soul for the people with which we share this world.

It's a wonderful feeling to be unsaddled from thinking ill of others. This is not only say that others will quite judging you just because you aren't judging of others. After all, they may not yet know that there is such a thing as being non-judgemental or of becoming a better person! All you can do is continue on your journey. Remember, your business is with building a better you.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd