30 DAYS TO BREAKTHROUGH IN 30 QUESTIONS

Almost eight years ago, I have had the wonderful opportunity to complete a '30 Days to Breakthrough in 30Qs' virtual exercise officiated by executive coach and breakthrough catalyst Carlos Salum of Salum International Resources (SIR), based in Charlotte, NC, USA, in conjunction with almost 7 dozens of like-minded professionals via cyberspace at the onset.

Here's a recap of a selection of my most pivotal inspirations and inner motivations, not in any particular order, excerpted from the exercise:

- "Success in any endeavour is essentially a question of strategy... developing the propensity to see, to move and to finish!";

- "I am now Captain of my destiny and master of my soul.";

- My Vision as summarized in these three simple words: "SEE - MOVE - FINISH!";

- The lifelong FASCINATION that absorbs me, fuels my imagination, powers my creativity and defines me is "... living deliberately... thinking systemically with all available options considered, and acting good-heartedly... ";

- "... whatever I have initiated as a project or side-gig,... always has three vital parts on or rather always happens three times along a time continuum: first, imagining it vividly as an idea in my head; secondly, formulating a game plan to have it translated into affirmative action; and thirdly and finally, implementing and executing it as a concrete deliverable, or as the US Marines often love to say, let's rock and roll!.. "

- "... breakthroughs often occur at the end of the comfort zone... "

- "... a Top Commandment would be BE OPEN TO NOVEL IDEAS AND NEW EXPERIENCES AS WELL AS PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOU, and a Mortal Sin would be INTELLECTUAL ARROGANCE, believing and thinking all the time that you know everything and that you have all the answers, in black and white... "

- "... any successful business professional today would need to emulate a bull-rider, in order to survive and thrive in a rapid-changing world of ours today.

Requisite skills in both cases, include: anticipatory prowess, physical agility, mental strength, confidence and courage, and the propensity to perform under extremely VUCA conditions... "

- "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon... must inevitably come to pass!" (Paul J Meyer);

- The mantra that energizes me the most under pressure is "WHAT'S GOOD & NEW?";

- as a Superhero, "... my strength is SUPER-VISION, which gives me the acute ability to zoom-in (worm's eye view) and zoom-out (bird's eye view) at my environment and my horizon... ";

- The best advice I ever got from an inspiring leader is "Don't stand behind the view finder; get into the field of action!";

- Among my most inspirational leaders: Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong (Malaysia), Sim Wong Hoo (Singapore), Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Viktor Frankl;

- If I were asked to teach a class about BEING INSPIRATIONAL, the most important points I would emphasize would be ABSORB WHAT’S USEFUL... REJECT WHAT’S USELESS,... RESEARCH YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE... ADD WHAT’S SPECIFICALLY YOUR OWN,...Last point: CONTINUOUS and NEVER-ENDING IMPROVEMENT!... ;

- my personal driving force: “DO WHAT I LOVE, AND LOVE WHAT I DO”;

- "FOLLOW YOUR BLISS";

- “PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING” and/or “PERSPECTIVE CHANGES EVERYTHING”;

My takeaways:

CLARITY on a multitude of pertinent issues, SENSE OF URGENCY in accelerating the built-up momentum, and REALISM of turning intents into concrete deliverables.

Many thanks to Carlos Salum for inviting me to this wonderful experience of rubbing hearts and minds, so to speak, with fellow explorers and YOU!