Friday, January 30, 2009

Cracks of Life 27 : A Leader's Virtue


Heya!

Sry for lack of updates, but everyone needs a holiday every now
and then right? :)

And also, my assignments are gonna be due pretty soon....

So it's gonna be hectic for a while for me

But I'll try my best to update :)

I went climbing yesterday, but decided not to post anything

And instead to make way for this special post

Be ready for it :) And yeah, it looks like I still got the knack for this kinda
posts :)

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It's been a while. I'm dead tired but hey, it'll take much much more to stop me. It looks like the normal Danny has been entertaining you guys for quite some time. Well then, I'm a bit more serious than that guy... And then there's the wild and crazy Danny too. It's sort of a split personality case.

Now, don't get surprised, we all have split personalities, I believe, when the right timing arises. You can possibly act differently in different crowd of friends, am I wrong? So at the very base of it all, we are natural born actors, even when we don't realize it. Some of us act differently in the house as compared to when they are outside with their friends.

So, once again I will stress, don't be surprised if you see someone having split personalities, I'm living proof, if so you will. I have this very bad tendency to revert to the modest quiet and un-funny Danny when I'm with certain old friends. It's terrible really, but I'm working on getting into the right character. I still have some trouble controlling it. It'll come to me in time, I guarantee :)

Okay, enough chit chat, we'll proceed to what I'll be discussing today.

So many of us aspire to achieve unimaginably great things in our lives. How many actually make it to the top? How many people want the best for themselves, mistakenly thinking that they do not have the 'required' qualifications to achieve that dream? Yes, deep down, so many people doubt themselves, despite the incredible goals they set in their hearts. They don't admit that they aimed for such great heights, especially if they fail. Come on, let's face it, all of us have dreams :)

I know of friends who want to become filthy rich, filthy intelligent, filthy famous, filthy good looking, and so forth.

And so, what do people have in common?

Truthfully, in my humble opinion, everyone wants to be the leading person in any field

Whether it'd be in terms of looks, wealth, smartness, popularity and everything else.

Everyone wants to become someone. Nobody wants to become a no one.

My point is, everyone wants to be the best, and everyone has to understand a leader's virtue.

Some people would say, I just wanna be the best at something, I don't possibly have to understand what a leader should be like. Well my friend, it's the best who are chosen to become leaders :) And honestly it'd be no harm if you just know about the qualities a leader should have, even if you don't really want to become one. But hey, if you don't, you're really missing out on alot of stuff. Still, the choice is yours :) Who am I to judge?

And try not to feel that there are too many ppl already eligible to take up the slot as leaders. There aren't enough good leaders around in this world, so to speak.

What is it that today's leading leaders have that we don't have?

What is it that seperate those succesful leaders from failures who never ever reach the top even if they die trying?

This is something many of us tend to overlook. Yes, what makes leaders, leaders? How did they get there? What do they see?

Let's go through this one by one then :)

So, the first question, what makes leaders, leaders?

Even as of now, we lack the necessary number of leaders around the world with sufficient caliber. Hold on now, don't go saying 'I don't have caliber' or 'I am not as far-sighted as those people' and negative stuff like that. Whoever said that caliber was the first trait that makes leaders, leaders?

Sit down for a second and think, really think about something that is worth fighting for.

.
.
.
.
.

Done? It can be music, it can be sports, it can be for the sake of the world.

Now, think once more, what is it that is required for you to really fight for this cause?

Yes, what is it?

And the answer is what all great leaders have in common.

A state of confidence that is unmatched by others.

Confidence defeats two things : 1) Fear
2) Doubt

We all fear failing, and we all have at least once doubted ourselves one way or another.

Would you listen to someone who fears other people's opinion and doubts his own deep down?

Probably not. And now your question is, Danny, tell me! How do I gain such an unmatched, unrivaled, almost impossible level of confidence?

TELL ME!!

They say capacity is a state of the mind.

Which truely means, you can achieve what you believe you're capable of achieving.

Confidence can only be gained through action. Action cures fear after all.

When you first learnt to buy your own food from fast food joints, didn't action cure your worries?

It's as simple of a concept as that. It's funny how complicated most of us think it is :)

So if you think you can't go up to that cashier and order a burger, then you can't.

But if you think that you can go up to that cashier and order one, you can :)

Capacity truely is a state of the mind.

In taking action, not only do you rid yourself of ur past fear, you gain confidence in return

After ordering that burger, you feel like it was nothing at all.

And each time after that you fear it less and less and you gain more and more confidence.

Simple concept, no?

Many things aren't as complicated as we think.

All it takes is for us to view it in a different perspective. That is why some people find certain tasks simple while others have a lot of trouble.

Wanna talk to that girl? Talk to her. Even if things don't work out you may be really good friends with her. Of course, keep your intentions clean :)

It's all about action.

That's the only way to gain the experience you will need as a leader.

Like they say, do or die :)

Never shy away, it hardly ever brings you anything, except probably regret that you didn't take the chance while you had it. I'm pretty sure you've felt it before.

So you may be wondering, what about caliber? You feel as if your not really that far-sighted, nor full of wisdom. Not to mention, a person's English and communication skills may be lacking terribly. How can one such as that become someone great?

Wisdom and caliber, when you take action, and you go and fight for a cause, and you justify your reasons for that cause, are you not expressing your own caliber? When you tell the world that it is for the benefit of mankind, is it not your wisdom that has made you produce such actions and thoughts?

As long as you have taken action, wisdom and caliber comes naturally as you go on.

Never worry about whether or not you have it.

These things are a part of you, when you have a cause to fight for, and a reason to live.

Believe in your self worth, my friend :)

Speaking of communication, I do know some people with talking disorders. Some who cannot pronounce their words properly, or stutter, or both, or speak broken or imperfect English.

When speaking to a crowd, what is important is not whether you can speak excellent and flawless English, what's important is whether the crowd gets the message that your trying to put across.

And to stress my point, the crowd might not understand what your saying when your English is too good. It might even get boring.

So, a speaker who does not speak well but knows how to entertain the crowd would fare better than a speaker who speaks extremely well but bores people to the grave.

The point is, use easy to understand English, which with a little effort, we can master.

Train yourself, public speaking might most likely be one of the key traits required by an excellent leader :)

Next question, how did they get there?

Yes, how in the whole wide world did they get to where they are now, standing tall and proud past their many unbelievable achievements.

Countless people have given up on their dreams before.

I'm sure you don't want to become one of them.

It's sad to see people give in in the face of failure.

We tend to forget one important point :

Every successful person has experienced failure before

It is true. Everyone, even the greatest of them all, has gone through failure

Back then when I first started producing these posts years ago, a friend of mind said to me :

'Danny, your life seems so perfect, you know a lot of things, and it seems like you never ever do bad things'

Dear readers, even I have faced times where I failed myself badly.

So failure isn't something new in a person's life. Which includes the best leaders.

So if everyone experiences failure, what differentiates us from them?

I think you probably already know the answer to this one :)

These great leaders are those who stood up after countless number of times failing.

Learn to pick yourself up after each fall.

So, those leaders got to where they are just by following what Winston Churchill said at his infamous speech many many years ago.

Oh, you don't know the story of Winston Churchill?

The stadium was packed, people were ready to hear what the great Winston Churchill would say in his speech.

People even packed loads of food, ready to sit throughout the entire thing.

Then as he stood on the pedestal, he looked at everyone for a few blank seconds.

The crowd gazed back in anxiety, ready for the words to come out of his mouth.

And then he said :

Never give up. Never never give up.

The end



Then he thanked everyone and stepped down from the stage

The crowd was stunned for a while. That was it!? Those seven words?? they said.

Then they took a few seconds to let what he just said sink in.

And finally they realized. That was what made him the great leader he is.

If all those great leaders gave up half way, then they never would've had their names down in history.

It makes such incredible sense, doesn't it?

So we go to the final question. What do these leaders see?

Many of us tend to overlook the true reason for leaders. Usually we think leaders just lead people.

But no. That is not all that a leader is for.

What is the future to them?

And what does the future hold for them?....

It is, if I may, the other way around.

Leaders. They are the ones who will create the future

That is a leader's true purpose.

They make or break this world.

That is why we follow them, for better or for worse.

So, what do they see? They see themselves molding a new world.

In their own special way. Because it is their hands and their actions that will change the world.

And they have the desire to take action.

And they have the desire never to give up.

And from that arises a state of confidence, faith and believe that is unmatched by others...

So, all in all, ask yourself one question.



What would someone special like you fight for?





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Phew, I'm done.

Hope you enjoyed it, some people find such posts really 'mengharukan'

This blog combines the best things of all my blogs.

Being serious when it needs to (my first blog)

Being a good laugh for people when they truly need one (second blog)

Being able to express all sides of me (this blog)

It's really been great so far, I have a tendency to stop blogging after a while

Which is what happened to the first two blogs.

Pray that it doesn't happen to this blog yea :)

Ok, gotta go, assignment is calling me~~

Have a nice day :)

Life's great~!


Friday, January 23, 2009

I'm Aching~


Yeah, seriously, the two weeks break I took for my leg to heal
took a toll on me yesterday~

But, good thing is my leg is doing much better than I thought

When you don't climb for a while and u start again,
trust me when I say you'll feel the affects the very next day :))

But hey, it makes you feel alive :)

Without further ado, presenting my 2nd climbing post!

HAHA!! Couldn't resist putting it up lar Matt...

Since there were about 5 of us, we did add on's

Which means that each person that climbs adds two rocks to the route

It's pretty interesting. Especially when ppl choose things that are impossible
to hold *ahem* brandon *ahem*

And if you fall, you gotta do 5 push ups :)

so i.e. if u fall twice, 10 push ups, trice 15 push ups, and so on

Introducing the climbers :

Darryl, I sometimes call him darren for some reason...

Justin, hey, he's pretty strong :)

Brandon + Darryl

Sry don, don't hv a frontal pic of u :)
Matt!!!!!!!

And muah, hm... my forearm doesnt look as nice as it was 2 weeks ago... T_T

Don't worry, it'll get back it's awesome figure :))


These two were the starting holds


Brandon started, he chose this feature

Yeap, there it is :)

And then he chose this!!!

It's nearly impossible to hold unless ur using ur right hand

So it became obsolete

Matt's turn!!

since that rock was impossible, Matt opted for the other orange :)

And he chose one foothold I think, I didn't take pictures of some of the footholds,

And Darry; chose this nice red one :)

And this nice orange one!!

These two seriously nice to hold, thx darryl~!

Next person's turn!

Justin this ruby.

Lol... Justin this ruby... haha

sry, just thought it was funny :)

And this, I have no idea why he took this lol.... I can hold, but I think
the others hv problems with this

Got two ways to hold it

Like this (my hand :))

Or like this, he should hold it with right hand though

At this point matt and yaakob had trouble.

Brandon and Justin passed later, but they omitted the green

And darryl passed too if i remember correctly

Moving on!!

My turn :) I chose this nice one, after the green which was hard to hold.

And I chose one grey foothold, that ends my turn :)

Darryl went for this one (higher up) and one foothold

That end's his turn

Brandon chose this, on the left of the previous orange, and one foothold

I think later most of us just skipped this brown as well.

Yaakob and Matt couldn't make it till here, so my turn again~!

I CHOSE THE DICK!!

Seriously, we call it the dick

Hey, it's really big and nice to hold :)

I apologize if the previous sentence sounded wrong

And I chose this nice jug :)

Didnt choose any footholds.

Next!

Justin chose the peanut, nice :)

and he chose this as a foothold :)

Brandon for these two tiger coloured holds

Must off flash next time...


Me for these two footholds


And finally we ended here. I think.

Now, pics of each of us who tried

Go Matt~~

Oh no...

Dang :(

5 push ups!

At the end matt did 15 or 20 push ups I think

Our half german guy Yaakob~!

Can ya believe he just finished PMR?

Oh yea, he also did 15 or 20 push ups

You'll get the hang of it :)

Brandon getting psyched~

This is the third time the pic is in this post lolz

Pass through the red~

The green becomes unused, sadly.

He holds the dick

With two hands :) You really want it dont'cha don?

Left hand to the jug, sry, took from wrong angle, cant see it

Then peanut and tiger

Yeah, brandon made it this far

Excellent!!

But the green caused him to do 10 push ups

I thought he didn't do, so he did another 10 for my sake lol,

sry yea!

Justin!

He doesn't climb often, but even so he's really good!!

he fell here once. Wrong hand.

He got it right this time :D

Sometimes he didn't use the green though.


He grabs the... 'thing'

Jug

Peanut there, he touched the grey and told us its our foothold

We didn't take anymore pics for him, but he did reach the last orange

So in total he only did 5 push ups!

Great :)

Darryl!! Our most experienced climber

My fingers :)

My finger again :)

Third time's the charm :)

And he got till here if I'm not mistaken

In total i think he did 10 or 15 push ups

And yeah, he's pretty experienced...

He took out his shoes in mid air while I was belaying him

Did my hands hurt? Hell yeah :)


Note to self : Off flash....


Passed green :D

Don't have the pic though



my leg looks small here~

Tiger, I didn't manage to go the last two oranges :(

So I did 5 push ups also

I thought i'd be the only one who didn't have to do T_T

Guess I was tired haha...

Okay, so anyway, remember the video in the previous climbing video blooper where I couldn't go up?

Well, I tried the route again for the second time :)

If your still abit blurr,

This route, remember? these are the starting hand holds

and starting footholds, reasonably small

So anyway, I tried it again today :)

Have a look see,




At least this time it wasn't so bad as last time :)

Credits to brandon for cam and captions!!

Enjoy the vid of me failing....

haha :)

tata~