Sarah Tan – Personal Development

Wake up early and prepare for 2 solid hours before you start the day’s work. I heard this from two different people, John Di Lemme (a motivational speaker) and Marc Yu’s mother (Marc is a child prodigy in piano) this week, and I think it’s a great idea. I wake up early, but I spent my time on reading newspapers, eating breakfast and showering, so by the time I get to work, I arrive on the dot, and head straight into work without preparation.

John said that he would not speak to people or answer questions if he did not have the time to prepare. Each presentation or coaching session that he does comes from time spent on researching, rehearsal and preparation. He also uses the time to put himself mentally into the right frame of mind. Hence, he has pushed away engagements that require him to speak at 8am, because he cannot wake up early enough to prepare. In addition, he does not like to speak on the spot to somebody, because he feels that the time spent on preparation is very important, so that the people can fully learn from what he has to say.

Marc Yu is a child prodigy who receives homeschooling. He learns about history of music and other topics that children his age have no interest in. Science, mathematics are some other subjects he learns, so his mother needs to spend time to go through the topics for the day, and to fully prepare in anticipation of the inquisitive questions that he will ask. If she doesn’t spend the two hours to read up, then it will be wasted time for the boy. She will also use the time to plan how the lessons for the day develop.

From these two people’s experience, I realise that I have been jumping right into the day’s work without sufficient preparation. Sometimes, I meet with my clients right at the start of the work day. On other occasions, I have one or two hours to prepare before I see them. There is a difference. When I do not have time to prepare, I am able to produce a presentation on the spot, but the standard is not good enough. When I have time to prepare, I have time to read more in-depth, ask more thought-provoking questions, and engage them better. I am also in the mental mood to go through the day. This is especially important as I tend to wake up with low energy and enthusiasm. Regarding this, I’m taking steps to overcome that. Before I can do that, I must make sure that my standards do not suffer.

Some people think that they can just rely on what they have been doing for the past few years to take them through. However, there is new information in the world everyday, and it takes time to digest. If we do not set aside time to reflect, to think through the day’s events, then ultimately, our work suffers.

Since not everyone is a morning person, perhaps you can find a time that suits you. If you are able to plan your time in the office, perhaps you can schedule meetings with people later in the morning, or in the afternoon, so that you have enough time in the morning to go through your ideas, your pitches and other important things before you meet your co-workers or clients.

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Do you always complain about not having enough time to read books? And you marvel at people who are able to read a lot even though you struggle to finish one? One simple way is to cut down one hour of television each day, just like what Jack Canfield (the Chicken Soup guy)  said, and put the time to good use.

If you are able to read one book a day, you will be able to be an expert in the field within a short period of time. For example, I’m definitely no expert in choosing wedding gowns, but due to necessity, (I’m taking my wedding photos soon), I read up on various books on how to choose a suitable one. I now know the difference between sweetheart and Contessa necklines, and which one is suitable for me.

To take this further, spend one week reading a subject that you are totally not familiar with. Break out of your comfort zone and read something different. There are plenty of Tattoos books available. For example, you can tell a kid why he must learn to colour within the lines, because that is what Tattoo artists are supposed to do. Different colours are absorbed differently by the skin, and you can use that to teach a child about colours in physics lessons.

When you break out of your comfort zone, you can learn to apply the new acquired knowledge in your current field. For example, if a person who loves to cook decides to read and learn about photography, he or she can simply bring the dishes to life through photos. Or if the person reads about architecture, he or she may be able to serve the food in amazing ways.

The first thing to do is to stop watching that extra drama serial which will suck away 20 hours of your life when you get started on it. With these 20 hours, that’s 20 hours of knowledge to be gained.

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I had the opportunity to observe an examination and since I had plenty of time to kill while waiting for the rain to stop, I thought of some lessons learnt.

1. Stop Being Trapped In Similar Situations
The ones who broke something while doing the examination did not learn from their mistakes. They broke the same thing again, within a short space of time. They are trapped in a vicious cycle where they continuously repeat the same mistakes. Telling people to learn from mistakes do not work.

They have to do the right steps the first time round, because habits are formed from learned behaviour. It is just like playing the piano. Once you make a mistake at a particular part, you would have forgotten how the right tune should sound. Your fingers would have developed the muscle memory of playing the wrong note each time round.

When you have to concentrate on avoiding that mistake, since it is already learnt, you take time away from other parts which you have already done well. That is because there is only so much we can concentrate at a given time. Things that are repeated will become a habit.

2. See Things From A Different Angle
In the same task, people approach it differently. Some squat down to look at it at the same level, while others bend down to look from top down. Do they get the same results? Perhaps. However, there are occasions when results are really different due to parallax errors. When is the last time you approach a problem from a different angle?

It also means that when you work in a team, people see things differently. They view the same issue from different angles, and you can check whether you are on the right track.  

3. Be Well-prepared
During an examination, some of them forgot to bring certain stationery. Just like a swordsman should have his sword during a duel, a person having an examination should have his or her complete set of stationery. If not, such people are just short-changing themselves. While an artist can simply use what’s available on hand, there are still certain things that are absolutely vital.

Did they make a checklist of the necessary equipment beforehand? Did they carry out a check before going for the examination? In business, if you have a presentation to make to a client, you jolly well have to make sure you have everything with you. If you tell them something is forgotten, or another thing is spoilt, they will have very bad impression of you. They can just give the deal to another party, since they are afraid you will be ill-prepared for their work.

I wonder what is stopping them from being well-prepared. Is it disinterest? Poor attitude?

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I’m someone who strongly believes in learning from others. Many people had gone through the some problems as us, and many more faced worse tribulations in life. However, what makes these people different from us is their ability to bounce back from their failures and become extremely successful. It has to do with their mindset. Positive thinking is something that I am working hard towards.

In this website, I share whatever powerful messages I’ve learnt from books, workshops and other sources. I may not be an expert at everything yet, but I believe that with time, I will be able to achieve great success in whatever I am passionate about. This website also serves as a reminded of what I’ve learnt. The person who learns the most is the person who teaches the lessons. Hence, I hope that whatever I say here will be useful to others, and at the same time guide me to greater heights in personal development.

To find out more on how I started in personal development, do read that article.

Sarah Tan

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