German Managers

Spruch des Tages

2012-01-03T11:53:00.001+01:00

‎"Das Schöne fesselt uns, aber das Schönste befreit uns von uns selbst."
- Khalil Gibran

Spruch des Tages

2011-12-26T22:02:00.002+01:00

"Es gibt zwei Tage im Jahr, an denen man nichts tun kann. Der eine ist gestern, der andere morgen. Dies bedeutet, dass heute der richtige Tag zum Lieben, Glauben und in erster Linie zu leben ist."

- Dalai Lama

eBooks: Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung, jetzt auch in Thalia

2011-11-15T15:12:00.001+01:00

eBooks: Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung von Wenyue Ding

Ich saß in McDonald's, aß keinen Burger, trank dafür grünen Tee und lachte über mich kaputt. :-)

2011-11-14T16:00:00.001+01:00

Kirstin Hartmann liest aus "Elefant Coach - die Wandlung" in Ausburg

2011-10-08T21:05:00.001+02:00

Unsere Leser wollten gedruckte Bücher und sie bekommen die.

2011-10-01T06:51:00.001+02:00

Elefant Coach - Das Resort

2011-09-20T10:07:00.002+02:00

Elefant Coach - Das Resort

Kurzbeschreibung

Das vorliegende Werk ist der zweite Band der Buchreihe „Elefant Coach in Pengaheila“, der die moderne Arbeitswelt in Form einer Fabel thematisiert. Jeder Band kann unabhängig voneinander gelesen und verstanden werden.

Zielgruppe:

Dieses Buch könnte in einer Buchhandlung im Wirtschaftsregal stehen. Es richtet sich an Führungskräfte und Mitarbeiter eines Unternehmens, die an einem achtsamen und gewaltfreien Führungsstil interessiert sind und ihn anwenden wollen. Es richtet sich an jene, die, im Geschäftsleben, einen dauerhaften Unternehmenserfolg und menschlichen Umgang erzielen wollen.

Handlung:

Der vegetarische, südchinesische Tiger Jay stellt sich der Herausforderung, das Pengaheila Resort zu führen. An seiner Seite stehen die Chinesische Baumlanzenotter Sarafina, als Finanz Managerin und der Affe Bonga, als sein Stellvertreter. Der weise, indische Elefant Lobado wird als externer Coach eingesetzt.

Als Jay feststellt, dass es dem Resort an Gästen mangelt, stellt er zwei weitere Managerinnen ein. Die Przewalski-Stute Zarina für Marketing und das Westkaukasische Steinbockweibchen Claria für den Kundenservice.

Da Zarina übersehen hat, Sarafina zu der ersten Marketing-Besprechung einzuladen, schwört sie, ihren Plan zu sabotieren. Daraufhin entwickeln sich Neid, Missgunst, Intrigen und Rache. Hinzu kommen externe Schwierigkeiten mit Kunden und finanzielle Notlagen. Jay verliebt sich darüberhinaus in eine seiner Managerinnen. Das Chaos ist perfekt.

Welche Lösungen bietet der Elefant Coach Lobado? Was lernt Jay aus den ganzen Miseren?

Eine spannende Fabel, die gleichzeitig unterhält und Stoff zum Reflektieren bietet.

Nehmen Sie unsere Einladung ins Pengaheila Resort an?

Elefant Coach - Das Resort

Wo ist hier die Toilette?

2011-09-17T15:02:00.003+02:00

2011-09-17T15:01:00.001+02:00

Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung

2011-08-14T16:07:00.005+02:00

Kurzbeschreibung

Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung

Der südchinesische Tiger Jay wird von einem Jäger gnadenlos in die Enge getrieben. Seine einzige Chance besteht in einem Abkommen, das für Jay weitreichende Folgen haben soll. Getrieben von der Angst vor dem Tod gelobt er, fortan nicht mehr zu jagen und sich stattdessen von pflanzlicher Kost zu ernähren. Doch schon bald erkennt Jay, dass er diese Umstellung allein nicht bewältigen kann.

Beratend steht ihm der indische Elefant Lobado zur Seite und hilft ihm, so manche Krise zu überwinden. Auch Affenchef Bonga und seine Bande unterstützen Jay bei seinen verzweifelten Versuchen, das gegebene Versprechen zu halten. Alles scheint sich zum Guten zu wenden, bis eines Tages die hinterlistige Schlange Sarafina auftaucht...

Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung

Jetzt endlich online in Amazon-Kindle

2011-08-13T12:20:00.004+02:00

Wie sich das Leben entwickelt...

2011-06-30T10:45:00.001+02:00

Spruch des Tages

2011-06-16T09:53:00.002+02:00

Der größte Feind des Glücks ist die Erwartung, der größte Freund die Dankbarkeit.

Sechs Wahrheiten über das Leben

2011-06-02T12:27:00.000+02:00

1. Du kannst nicht alle deine Zähne mit deiner Zunge berühren!
2. Du bist ein Depp, weil du Wahrheit 1 gerade ausprobiert hast.
3. Wahrheit 1 ist eine Lüge.
4. Jetzt lächelst du, weil du ein Depp bist
5. Du wirst das bald an einen anderen Deppen schicken.
6. Du lächelst immer noch, weil du dich freust, dass der nächste genauso blöd sein wird, wie du

Thomas Heatherwick: Building the Seed Cathedral

2011-05-31T13:33:00.000+02:00

Spruch des Tages

2011-05-27T09:43:00.001+02:00

"Um unglücklich zu sein braucht man lediglich einen einzigen Grund, um glücklich zu sein gar keinen."

Augen öffnend!

2011-05-19T16:04:00.000+02:00

Video über Potential-Entfaltung.

2010-12-07T10:36:00.005+01:00

Mit Life Coaching blockierte
Energien wieder freisetzen

Life Coach Heinz Fritz

Kennen Sie das auch? Sie durchleben eine schwierige Phase und verlieren an Selbstvertrauen und Schaffenskraft. Es gibt Probleme auf der Arbeit und gleich darauf auch in der Beziehung. Und wenn man älter wird, kommt dann noch die Midlife-Crisis und raubt einem wichtige Lebensenergie.

Die Facetten der Herausforderungen, die das Leben mit sich bringen kann, sind so vielfältig wie das Leben selbst. Und man fragt sich natürlich, was man selber daran tun kann.

Unterstützung in allen Lebenslagen bieten seit einigen Jahren Coaches an, also Trainer. Ein Coach ist - aufgrund seiner Lebenserfahrung und entsprechender Ausbildung - jemand, an den man sich bei persönlichen und beruflich schwierigen Lebenslagen wenden kann. Manche Coaches sind Business Coaches, andere konzentrieren sich als Personal Coach mehr auf die Person selbst.

Heinz Fritz, seit vielen Jahren als Coach, Mediator und Unternehmensberater tätig, bietet seine Unterstützung in beiden Bereichen an. Beim Life Coaching konzentriert er sich vor allem darauf, das eigentliche Lebensziel einer Person herauszufinden und zu reaktivieren. Es hat sich nämlich herausgestellt, dass dies einen wichtigen – wenn nicht den wichtigsten - Beitrag zur Verbesserung oder Wiederherstellung von Lebensenergie und Lebensqualität bewirkt.

Life Coaching ist so vielfältig wie das Leben selbst

Wie erlange ich mehr Selbstvertrauen? Was kann ich effektiv gegen Mobbing tun? Wie finde ich einen Beruf oder Job, der mir liegt? Wie kann ich meine Beziehung in eine verständnisvolle Partnerschaft wandeln? Wie kann ich Hemmungen im Umgang mit anderen Menschen am einfachsten abbauen?

Diese und viele andere Zielsetzungen können beim Life Coaching erreicht werden.
Der Life Coach setzt sich im Gespräch mit seinem Gegenüber auseinander und hilft dabei, den Knoten zu lösen und die einfachste und vor allem machbare Lösung zu finden.

Übrigens erreichen Sie Heinz Fritz über www.ihr-life-coach.de oder rufen Sie doch einfach an: 0211-7337231.

Elefant Coach - Die Wandlung

2010-12-03T10:51:00.008+01:00

Elefant Coach in Pengaheila, Leseprobe online

2010-10-14T11:20:00.012+02:00

Allen Einen Sonnigen Tag

2010-10-01T14:43:00.000+02:00

http://static.twoday.net/itzmi/images/sonne.jpg

Morgengedanken / Morning Thoughts

2010-08-31T08:30:00.004+02:00

Morgengedanken auf dem Weg ins Büro

Ein Landei bin ich, jawoll.
So wohne ich nicht auf dem Land, aber auch nicht in der Stadt.
Zu beiden Seiten beides erreichbar.
Optimal.
Als ich heute Morgen aus meiner Straße raus fuhr,
säumten da wie immer wunderschöne grüne Bäume die Straße.
Mit Bäumen und grün sieht doch alles gleich viel freundlicher aus.
Da biege ich so ab und was erblicke ich?
Wer begegnet mir?
Das schönste Eichhörnchen was man sich nur vorstellen kann.
Einfach wunderhübsch das kleine Kerlchen.
So grazil, flink, wendig und elegant.
Wie ein Sonnenstrahl ins Herz.
Bin begeistert.
Meine gute Laune kennt keine Grenzen und
das Lächeln will seitdem nicht mehr von meinen Lippen weichen.
Auf der Autobahn entschied ich mich dann,
dass ich heute mal wieder durch den Wald fahre.
Mir begegneten immens viele Sonnenblumenfelder.
Muhkuhs und Pulloverschweine. (Kühe und Schafe)
In der Ferne sah ich ein paar Rehe.
Die Sonne war freundlich und schien mit vollster Kraft.
Der Tau auf dem Gras sah wie Eiskristall aus und erinnerte mich an meine Kindheit.
Es war dunstig und sehr friedlich.
Das ist von innen mit Stille erfüllend.

Einen wundervollen Tag allen ;-)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Morning Thoughts on the way to the office

A country bumpkin I am, yes.
So I do not live in the country, but not in the city. reached on both sides both. Optimal.
As this morning I went out in my street,
lined as beautiful as ever green trees into the street.
With trees and green everything looks like a lot friendlier.
As I turn from that and what I see?
If you met me?
The best squirrel what one can only imagine.
Just the very pretty little guy.
Sun graceful, nimble, agile and elegant.
Like a ray of sunshine to the heart.
I'm thrilled.
My good humor knows no boundaries, and since then the smile will never leave my lips.
On the highway, I decided that today I once again go through the forest.
I met a lot of huge sunflowers.
Cows and sheep.
In the distance I saw a few deer.
The sun was friendly and appeared with the fullest force.
The dew on the grass looked like ice crystal and reminded me of my childhood.
It was misty and very peaceful.
This is fulfilling from the inside with silence.

A wonderful day to all ;-)

Jeden Tag....

2010-08-26T11:43:00.005+02:00

Der Baum stand schon immer dort.
So lange man denken konnte.
Tag ein Tag aus bis in alle Zeit.
Der Baum stand an einem schönen Platz und er schaute auf eine alte Veranda.
Auf der Veranda stand ein Stuhl. Auch schon immer.
Jeden Tag kam sie und setzte sich für eine Weile auf den Stuhl.
Immer schwieg sie.
Unendliche Ruhe ging von ihr aus.
Ihre Augen glänzten immer.
Im Sommer waren sie katzen- bis meergrün.
Im Winter waren sie rehbraun.
Ihre Seele schaute aus diesen Augen.
Der Baum konnte es sehen.
Jeden Tag wartete der Baum, dass sie kam.
Jeden Tag freute sich der Baum auf ihr Erscheinen.
Heute kam sie, aber sie war noch stiller, noch stummer, noch ruhiger.
Sie schien nicht da zu sein.
Sie setzte sich auf den Stuhl so wie immer.
Ihr Blick schweife in die Ferne.
Die Katze kam.
Die Katze kam sonst nie, denn sie war menschenscheu.
Sie schmeichelte ihr, strich ihr um die übereinander geschlagenen Beine.
Sie reagierte nicht.
Nun turnte die Katze um sie herum, reckte, streckte sich und machte die unglaublichsten Verrenkungen.
Aber sie beachtete sie einfach nicht.
Die Katze schnurrte so laut, dass es der Baum hören konnte.
Hätte sie das Schnurren wahrgenommen, hätte sie bezaubert vor Freude gelacht.
Der Baum mochte ihr Lachen.
Morgen kommt sie wieder.

______________________________________________________________________________

Every day...

The tree has always been there.
As long as one could imagine.
Day in and day out until the end of time.
The tree was at a beautiful place and he looked at an old porch.
On the porch stood a chair. Also always.
Every day she came and sat down for a while on the chair.
Again she was silent.
Absolute serenity came from her.
Her eyes were shining always.
In the summer they were cats to sea-green.
In winter they were fawn.
Her soul looked out of those eyes.
The tree could see it.
Every day, waiting for the tree that it came from.
Every day the tree was happy on her show.
Today she came, but she was still silent, still quiet.
She did not seem to be there.
She sat on the chair as usual.
Her eyes digress into the distance.
The cat came.
The cat was otherwise never, because she was afraid of people.
The cat flattered her, stroking her legs to above the other harvested.
She did not respond.
Now the cat did gymnastics around her, stretched, stretched, and made the most incredible contortions.
But she did not notice easily.
The cat purred so loudly that it could hear the tree.
Had she seen the purring, she would have laughed enchanted with joy.
The tree liked her laugh.
Tomorrow she will come back.

Eine Beziehung ...

2010-08-13T08:30:00.002+02:00

Eine Beziehung ist eine ständig fortschreitende Arbeit.

A relationship is a contant work in progress.

Ein anderes, von Herzen kommendes Geschenk....

2010-08-11T22:43:00.004+02:00

Damit Du nicht denkst, dass ich Dir einfach eine simple, schnöde Banane schenke, die ich Dir lieblos überreiche, sage ich noch etwas über diese schöne Banane:

Sie wurde mit Sorgfalt, sehr kritisch, in einem aufwendigen Verfahren ausgesucht. Ihr Anforderungsprofil wurde als sehr hoch eingestuft. Nicht nur, dass sie die richtige Größe und Form haben musste, nein sie musste auch noch die Schönste sein. Das war ein harter Wettkampf, da sie alle anderen Bananen, die wahrscheinlich nicht minder schön waren, ausstechen musste. Ihre Herkunft war auch nicht bedeutungslos. Ihre Farbe ist von so einem unglaublich schönen gelb, dass sie mit der Sonne um die Wette strahlen könnte.

Sie hat ganz besondere Eigenschaften: sie ist nicht nur formschön, sehr wohlschmeckend und absolut vielseitig: man kann einfach in sie rein beißen oder man kann aus ihr einen leckeren Milchshake machen, dekorativ auf ein Brot legen, sie ist tauglich für Obstsalat, als Bananeneis macht sie auch eine gute Figur; die Möglichkeiten sind praktisch unendlich. Wie Du siehst, kannst Du sie absolut kreativ, je nach Geschmack und persönlicher Vorliebe einsetzen, verwenden und verspeisen.

Außerdem ist sie ein Glücklichmacher, das wurde wissenschaftlich erwiesen. Nicht zu vergessen, dass sie auch noch gesund ist: sie ist ein natürlicher Kaliumlieferant. Sie hat natürlich noch viele andere Vorzüge, aber das würde hier den Rahmen sprengen. Es gibt selbstverständlich keinen Nachteil, außer Du leidest an einer Bananenunverträglichkeit. Das wäre sehr schade für Dich, denn dann würde Dir ein geschmacklicher Hochgenuss entgehen.

Lass sie nicht einfach in einer Ecke rum liegen und braun werden, dann ist sie nicht mehr knackig und lecker, sondern schmeckt mehlig überreif. Die einfachsten Dinge sind manchmal die Schönsten, dass fällt Dir vielleicht gar nicht mehr auf, weil Du vielleicht achtlos bist. Ich hätte Dir dies alles nicht gesagt, wenn mir nicht der Gedanke gekommen wäre, dass sie eine ganz besondere Banane ist und Deine wohlwollende Beachtung und Wertschätzung verdient. Du hättest dann wohl eher gedacht: ja, so eine doofe Banane, sei ist ja nur eine simple, blöde, schnöde Banane.

Viel Spaß mit ihr & genieß sie.

Herzlichst, die hoffentlich wohlschmeckende & glücklich machende Banane.

How to Lead a Cat?

2010-08-02T10:23:00.000+02:00

During my two years assignment in APAC head quarter of Alcatel-Lucent in Shanghai, my daughter and my wife found a little wild cat on the street which was almost dying. They took it home and brought it to the animal doctor. After three weeks the cat seemed to be healthy and vivid, so they took it back.

After a while we found out that the cat had a bad habit. She liked to rasp her nails on our couch. So we bought a small wooden house extra for her, where she could rasp her nails there. But she did not like the wooden house, but the couch.

My wife tried to talk with her as she talked with a dog. Then she tried to put the cat’s nails on the small house. But nothing helped. The cat still loved to rasp her nails on our couch.

One day my wife got a great idea. While the cat was watching, my wife rasped herself the nails on the small wooden house. She did so, as she would enjoy it very much. Then the miracle happened. After some time, the cat started to rasp her nails on the wooden house.

Die Kaputte Taste "L"

2010-07-18T21:48:00.001+02:00

vor einigen Monaten war die Taste "L" in meinem Laptop kaputt. Die ganze Tastatur muss deswegen ausgewechselt werden.

Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass ich wahrscheinlich die Taste "L" zu oft benutzt habe, da ich jeden Artikel fast immer mit "Ihr Lieben" anfing und mit "Liebe Grüsse" abschloss.

Am 14 Juli war meine Frau aus Shanghai zurückgekehrt. Wir lebten seit zehn Monaten getrennt, nicht weil wir uns gestritten hätte, sondern weil sie meine Tochter Katharina bis zur Abi an der deutschen Schule in Shanghai begleiten und ich aus beruflichem Grund nach Deutschland zurückkehren musste.

In diesem einen Jahr habe ich etwas Wichtiges gelernt, auch durch diese Gruppe. Neulich habe ich meiner Tochter erzählt: "Seit Mama wieder zu Haus war, fing ich an, auch ihre negative Eigenschaften zu mögen." Meine Tochter lächelte. Ich genieße meine Frau jetzt als eine ganze Person.

Wir sind seit 24 Jahren verheiratet. Gewisse Dinge braucht man ganzes Leben, um zu kapieren.

Zum Beispiel die Liebe.

HEUTE, GESTERN und MORGEN

2010-06-19T13:52:00.003+02:00

HEUTE lebe ich.
GESTERN ist vorbei.
MORGEN kommt noch.

MORGEN kann vieles passieren, das weiß ich heute noch nicht und wusste es auch gestern nicht. Es ist nicht vorhersehbar und daher nicht ins kleinste Detail planbar. Ich freue mich einfach darauf, dass es ein MORGEN gibt.

GESTERN ist Vergangenheit. Das Schlechte lasse ich für Morgen weg, denn daraus habe ich gelernt. Was mir nicht gut tut, muss ich ändern und nicht wiederholen oder gar in diesem Sumpf verharren. Das Gute muss ich wiederholen, denn es ist ja sehr schön. Ich freue mich, das GESTERN abgeschlossen ist.

HEUTE bin ich hier. Klar, denkend, fühlend, ganz deutlich und sehr glücklich.
HEUTE freue ich mich, dass ich HEUTE lebe und fühle und denke und bin.

Ein kleiner Denkanstoss:
Vielleicht sollte man sich nicht selbst immer allzu wichtig nehmen.
Mal über sich lachen können.
Sich nicht mit Problemen derart traumatisieren.
Mal keine Ausreden und Entschuldigungen finden, um sich den Dingen nicht zu stellen.
Nicht alles überbewerten und zu sehr thematisieren.
Für jedes Problem gibt es eine Lösung.
Das Leben ist schön und sollte keine Qual oder Hölle sein.
Also lebe auch jetzt, hier und heute.
Der Vergangenheit nach zu trauern ist sinnlos.
Auf die Zukunft warten genauso.
Geh aus dem Hamsterrad raus, fühl Dich frei und sei offen für alles Neue.

Was ist, wenn es morgen vorbei ist, dieses kleine Leben, welches doch so kostbar und wertvoll ist und viele damit so verschwenderisch leichtsinnig umgehen?

Alles hat einen Sinn und so danke ich jemanden, der mir diese Einsicht wieder sehr bewusst gemacht hat.

Versteckte Nachrichten in "Glückliche Arbeitswelt"

2010-06-17T18:47:00.002+02:00

Aus purer Langweile habe ich die Worte "Glückliche Arbeitswelt" zerlegt und neu zusammengesetzt. Daraus kommen folgende Wörter:

Licht - Brücke - Glas - Welt - Ei

Ich habe mir vorgestellt, dass Lichtbrücke Regenbogen sein könnte.

Und Glaswelt könnte eine transparente, offene, verbundenen und glänzende Welt bedeuten. Das Ei symbolisiert den Anfang, die Entstehung, das Leben, die Kreativität, dass alles aus nichts stammt.

Bildlich stelle ich mir vor, ein Ei aus Glas, das auch die Welt repräsentiert und über das Ei ein Regenbogen.

Das wäre die versteckte Nachrichten für mich aus "Glückliche Arbeitswelt".

Ich weiß, ich spinne. :-)

Leben ist ...

2010-06-17T18:44:00.002+02:00

Leben ist Wahl zu treffen und dazu zu stehen, mit allen Konsequenzen.

Liebe ist ...

2010-06-17T18:43:00.000+02:00

Liebe ist Schmerzen mit Freude zu ertragen, ohne Jammern und Heulen.

Glück ist ...

2010-06-17T18:40:00.004+02:00

Glück ist in das Tun einzutauschen, und alles um mich zu vergessen, den Tee vergessen zu trinken, die Wäsche vergessen aufzuhängen, meine Frau vergessen anzurufen, die Zeit zu vergessen, mich zu vergessen, mit all den Sorgen, Gedanken und Plänen.

Die Innere Stimme

2010-05-17T18:30:00.003+02:00

Für eine Dienstreise nach Stuttgart nahm ich meine Assistentin Helena mit. Auf dem Weg dorthin habe ich mit ihr vereinbart, dass ich auf die Fahrt konzentriere und sie auf die optimale Route. Vor der Autobahneinfahrt sagte sie nichts. Da ich ja die grobe Richtung kannte bog ich in die Autobahn rein.

Schon an der nächsten Ausfahrt sagte sie mit einer schönen Stimme: "Bog bitte von der Autobahn ab." Ich war irritiert, da ich wusste, dass die Richtung korrekt war. Ich ignoriert sie. Danach sagte sie an jeder Ausfahrt: "Bog bitte von der Autobahn ab."

Am Anfang konnte ich sie noch ignorieren, aber nach 20 Male dem selben Ratschlag war ich einfach verzweifelt. Habe ich einen Denkfehler gemacht? Oder war die Adresse falsch? Aber meine innere Stimme sagte, es ist richtig, also blieb ich weiter auf der Autobahn.

Doch kurz vor Stuttgart musste ich anhalten, um mit Helena mal richtig auseinanderzusetzen, denn sie nervte mich schon die ganze Zeit. Dann stellte ich fest, dass Helena auf die Landstraßen fixiert war.

Helena ist mein Navigationsgerät und ich habe sie auf "Autobahn vermeiden" versehentlich eingestellt. Hätte ich auf sie zugehört, hätte ich eine Stunde länger auf der Landstraße gebraucht und meinen Termin verpasst.

Beziehungskiller: Erwartungen

2010-05-09T13:42:00.002+02:00

Über die Jahre habe ich folgende wertvolle Lektion gelernt:

Die meisten zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen scheitern durch falschen Erwartungen an anderen.

Wir haben eine Idealvorstellung, wie die Eltern, Chefs, Mitarbeiter, Coaches, Geschäftspartner, Lebenspartner sein sollen und wenn die Realität von unserer Vorstellung abweicht, sind wir enttäuscht, sauer, verärgert, missgelaunt, verletzt, verstimmt und fürchterlich verzweifelt.

Mein Gegenmittel: erwarte erst Mal gar nichts. Begegne einen Menschen als ob ich zu einem Frühstücksbüffel begebe. Da gibt es sicher tausend Dinge, die ich nicht mag, aber ich muss diese Dinge gar nicht nehmen, sondern wähle was mir schmeckt. Übersetzt in Klartext: Ich frage mich

1) Was ist seine Stärke?

2) Was kann ich vom ihm lernen?

3) Wie kann er mir nützlich sein?

Achte einfach nicht auf die andere Seite dieser Person. Da nur die Dinge in unserer Beziehungen verstärkt werden, wo ich meine Aufmerksamkeit schenke, und die Dinge verschwächt, die ich ignoriere, funktioniert in der Regel alles sehr gut. Aber es gibt selten auch Situationen, wo ich zu obigen Fragen nichts Sinnvolles finden konnte. Von diesen Leuten versuche ich zu distanzieren. Wie gesagt selten.

Zeit ist Leben. Zeit ist nicht Geld.

2010-05-02T16:29:00.000+02:00

mit der Zeit haben meine Frau und ich etwas Geld gespart und wir haben gelernt, dass es sinnvoll wäre, das Geld zu investieren. Damals war einfach in, Aktien zu kaufen und egal was man kaufte, stieg tendenziell der Depot, schnell als man glaubte. Dadurch neigte man mehr Risiko in Kauf zu nehmen, bis irgendwann mal der Börsen-Crash kam.

Heute würde ich immer noch sagen, dass man langfristig mit Aktion bessere Renditen erzielen können, als mit anderen Anlagenformen. Doch muss man viel Zeit investieren, um das Geschäft mit Aktien zu verstehen. Man muss Nerven haben und viel Geduld. Persönlich neigen wir doch Aktien ab. Warum?

Weil die Zeit, womit ich nicht mit Aktien beschäftigen muss, benutze ich aus meiner Sicht viel sinnvoller. Ich lebe mehr, lerne mehr Sachen, die mir Spaß machen, kreiere Dinge, die anderen nutzen könnten. Das ist für mich mehr wert als dafür zu sorgen und zuzusehen, wie das Geld wächst.

Denn Leben ist einfach, wie man die Zeit verbringt und mit Inhalt füllt.

Probleme sind wichtig

2010-04-29T22:16:00.007+02:00

Ein kleiner Junge sieht wie sich ein Schmetterling mühsam aus seinem Kokon befreien möchte. Er hat Mitleid mit ihm und öffnet deshalb den Kokon vorsichtig mit seinem Taschenmesser, so dass der Schmetterling leicht heraus klettern kann.

Der Schmetterling macht ein paar Flügelschläge und fällt dann tot zu Boden.

Ganz traurig geht der Junge zu seinem Vater und erzählt ihm von dem Vorfall.

Dieser sagt: "Der Schmetterling braucht den Kampf mit dem Kokon, um für das Leben stark zu sein."
_____________________________________________________________

So lästig und unangenehm Hindernisse und Probleme auch sein können, so wichtig sind sie doch gleichzeitig.

Durch Probleme machen wir Bekanntschaft mit unseren Fähigkeiten und wachsen an ihnen.

Positive Absicht Negativer Gefühle (PANG)

2010-04-25T11:44:00.000+02:00

sollte es tatsächlich einen Gott geben, muss er ein sehr innovativer Gott sein. Ein der Beweise dafür ist dass wir mit negativen Gefühle ausgestattet sind.

Was sind eigentliche negative Gefühle? Meine ganz persönliche Definition: Negative Gefühle sind die, die der Betroffene nicht wählen würde, wenn er könnte. Angst ist ein gutes Beispiel. Bis jetzt kenne ich noch keinen Mensch, der Angst bewusst erleben würde. Ähnlich sind Wut, Ärger, Ohnmacht, Müdigkeit, Neid. Bei Tauer kenne ich differenzierte Meinungen. Und bei Verliebtheit, insbesondere, wenn man sich in einer Person verliebt, die für einem nichts empfindet, scheitern auch die Geister.

Nun erwarb ich neulich die (Selbst)erkenntnisse, dass negative Gefühle eine besondere wichtige Funktion in unserem körperlichen und geistigem Leben besitzen. Nämlich sie sind Messenger (Nachrichtenbringer) für unsere Denken und Verhalten. Sie besagen, irgendwas in unserem Leben ist nicht so ganz in Ordnung, tue was, ändere was. Nun kann man diesen Messenger natürlich töten (ausschalten) und jedoch nichts für die Situation tun. Als Ergebnis kommt dann ein andere Messenger und bringe einen noch schlimmere Botschaft, solange bis man entweder dagegen was tut oder stirbt.

Mein Rat an mir: reagiere sofort auf negative Gefühle. Ein Beispiel: wenn die Müdigkeit aufkommt, gehe ich sofort etwas trinken, spazieren oder kurz schlafen. Wenn ich jedoch nichts tue, dann wird die Müdigkeit schlimmer, und manchmal bekomme ich Kopfschmerzen. Ein anderes Beispiel: wenn eine Organisationsveränderung bevorsteht, kommt Sorgen ins Spiel, wenn man nichts unternimmt, dann kommt manchmal zu schlaflosen Nächten. Ich habe mich daran gewöhnt, in jeder Situation einen Plan sofort zu entwickeln und danach zu handeln, statt zu grübeln und mich mit anderen negativen Gefühle zu beschäftigen. Ergebnis: negative Gefühle kommen in meisten Fällen erst gar nicht auf, weil sie erkannt haben, bei mir keinen Job ergattern zu können. :-)

Stelle Dir einfach ein Leben ohne negative Gefühle vor. Stelle Dir vor, dass es möglich ist. Was für ein wunderbares Gefühl, was für ein effizientes Handeln, was für ein glückliches Leben. Ich stelle mir Nirwana so ähnlich vor. Nun für alles gibt es einen Preis. Was ist der Preis, um negative Gefühle zu minimieren?

Die Achtsamkeit und die Diszipline.

Achtsamkeit, um jede minimale Veränderung der Gefühlslage zu erkennen.

Diszipline, um auf jeder Veränderung der Gefühlslage mit einer Reaktion zu antworten.

Ist es schwer? Auf jeden Fall. Ist es möglich? Auf jeden Fall. Lohnt es sich? Auf den Fall.

Einen herrlichen Sonntag wünscht

Wenyue

Glück oder Unglück liegt im Auge des Betrachters

2010-04-23T09:10:00.001+02:00

Ein alter Zen-Meister, bei dem nur noch ein Mönch lebte, züchtete Pferde. Eines Tages lief sein wertvollster Hengst davon. Die Nachbarn kamen, um ihr Bedauern auszudrücken, doch der Zen-Meister sagte nur: "Woher wisst ihr, dass dies ein Unglück ist ?" Am nächsten Tag kam der Hengst, begleitet von einigen Wildpferden zurück, und die Nachbarn kamen wieder, um zu dem Glücksfall zu gratulieren, doch der Zen-Meister sagte nur: "Woher wisst ihr, dass dies ein Glücksfall ist ?" Am nächsten Tag wurde der Mönch beim Versuch, eines der Tiere zuzureiten, abgeworfen und brach sich ein Bein. Wieder kamen die Nachbarn, um ihr Mitleid zu bekunden, doch der Zen-Meister sagte nur: "Woher wisst ihr, dass dies ein Unglück ist ?" Kurz darauf kam es zu kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen, doch da der Mönch verletzt war, wurde er nicht als Soldat einberufen. Doch wer weiß schon, ob es ein Glücksfall ist…

Kreativität braucht Zeit, Raum und viel Gelassenheit

2010-04-16T11:25:00.000+02:00

Zur Zeit arbeite ich an einem Buchprojekt und ich habe folgende Aussage verinnerlicht: "Kreativität braucht Zeit, Raum und viel Gelassenheit."

Zeit: Wenn ich über ein Thema schreibe, dann brauche ich sehr viel Zeit, um Ideen zu sammeln. Dann schreibe ich alles was durch den Kopf geht auf einem Stück Papier in Form eines Mind-Maps. Es dauert etwas zwei bis drei Tage. Die tollsten Ideen kommen immer später im Prozess, weil ich denke dass mein Gehirn auch in der Nacht arbeitet.

Raum: Dann ist sehr wichtig für mich, dass ich sehr viel geistigen freien Raum habe. Denn wenn ich Angst, Sorgen oder Ärger hätte, würde ich viel damit beschäftigen, als mit meinem eigentlichen Thema. Raum bedeutet für mich auch austauschen können mit Leute, die nicht an einem solchen Thema arbeiten. Denn sie sagen dann manchmal Sachen, wo ich mich wundern muss, wie sind sie auf diesen Ideen gekommen?

Gelassenheit: Es ist keine gute Idee ein sehr festen Termin für Ideen sammeln zu setzen. Unter Zeitdruck kommt wenige Kreatives heraus. Am besten sage ich zu mir, über das Thema möchte ich bis ungefähr Freitag fertig schreiben. Es soll nicht darauf ankommen, ob tatsächlich Donnerstag fertig ist oder erst am Sonntag. Die Ideen kommen wie sie kommen, da hilft wenig Druck.

Habe ich was vergessen?

Wie sind Eure / Ihre kreative Prozesse in Schreiben, Porzellanreparatur, Problemlösung, Ideen für eine neue Gruppe, Kinder beizubringen etwas zu tun oder zu lassen, Große Ziele zu definieren, Geld zu verdienen, Kunden zu gewinnen, Coole Fragen stellen im Coaching, tolle Methode zu finden um schneller Gitarren zu üben, den Mandat zu überzeugen, etwas zu tun oder zu lassen, etc.

Bin neugierig. Hoffe viele kreative Köpfe zu stoßen.

Traum - Lichtschalter

2010-04-13T15:58:00.006+02:00

Hatte heute morgen einen Traum.

Ich verließ einen Raum (Seminarraum im Hotel) mit viel Lichtschalter, und ich versuchte die viele Lichter auszuschalten, vergebens. Ein Licht ging aus, aber ein anderer ging an. Da rief mich jemand: "Der Bus wird jetzt fahren. Lass die Lichter doch einfach an."

TraumdeuterInnen unter der Leser? :-)

Auszeit

2010-04-09T08:52:00.005+02:00

Über Auszeit könnte man Bücher lang philosophieren. Ich wollte das nur einmal erwähnen und einen, für mich persönlich, der schönsten Orte zeigen, den ich jemals sah: Cala Benirràs, Ibizza im April 2008

Eine Auszeit braucht man hin und wieder um Energie zu tanken. Ein Auto fährt ja auch nicht ohne funktionierenden Motor.

2008 habe ich mir eine Auszeit von einer Woche genommen. Einfach raus, weg von allem, ohne Handy, ohne Uhr.

Ich habe 3 Stunden dort im Sand gesessen, kein Wort gesagt, war stumm und ergriffen von so viel Schönheit und wünschte mir, dass ich immer allein wie Robinson Crusoe an diesem Ort bleiben könnte.

Es ist unglaublich wie schnell man in der richtigen Umgebung und einer entspannten Einstellung „runter“ fahren kann. Einfach mal gegen die Gewohnheiten leben: nichts ist eilig, nichts ist wichtig. Der Gedanke: ich habe alle Zeit der Welt und habe noch nicht einmal eine Idee wie spät es jetzt ist, ist unbezahlbar. Einfach nicht zur Verfügung zu stehen. Bei mir waren nach einer Woche die Akkus wieder voll.

Was ich für mich mitgenommen habe:
ich schaue nicht mehr ständig auf die Uhr. Ich bin zu dem Schluss gekommen, wenn ich es eilig habe, verlangsame ich mein Tempo und bin mit dem Ergebnis wesentlich zufriedener als vorher in Hetze und Eile.

Der Kopf war auf einmal frei, aller Druck war weg, mich erfüllte ein unbändige Freude und ein unsagbares Glücksgefühl. Ich war wieder auf gleicher Augenhöhe mit mir, wieder in meiner Mitte angekommen.

Seitdem versuche ich jeden Tag auch Zeit nur mit mir zu verbringen und mich bedächtig, bewußt und ehrlich anzuschauen.

Das Leben ist ein wundervolles Geschenk!

Kunst des Annehmens

2010-04-08T14:38:00.003+02:00

Vor langer Zeit habe ich gelernt, dass ich das Leben, egal was passiert, egal was da ist, einfach annehmen soll.

Nach und nach habe ich heraus gefunden, dass es verschiedenen Stufen des Annehmens gibt.

1) Annehmen eigener guten Seiten
Das ist relativ einfach. Doch manche Leute haben Schwierigkeiten, Komplimente oder Dankbarkeit von anderen anzunehmen. Sie denken manchmal, ich habe es nicht verdient, oder die andere Leute haben einen Eigennutz dafür, warum sollen sie sonst es machen?

2) Annehmen der schlechten Seite von anderen und von sich
Manchmal überbewerten wir einen Charakter und ein Verhalten. Zum Beispiel, ich konnte nicht akzeptieren, wenn jemand in seinem Verhalten keine Flexibilität zeigt.

3) Annehmen, wenn jemand etwas nicht annehmen kann.
Als ich versuchte, anderen in jeder Hinsicht anzunehmen, störte mich total, wenn jemand mich oder jemanden anderen kritisierte. Mein Gedanken, manchmal auch ausgesprochen: "Kannst Du die Dinge nicht einfach mal annehmen?"

4) Annehmen, wenn ich nicht annehmen kann, falls jemand etwas nicht annimmt.
Wenn eine Situation wie in 3) passierte, ärgerte ich mich darüber, dass ich nicht annehmen konnte.

Ganz schon kompliziert. Oder? Aber jetzt lerne ich in jedem Augenblick, mein Gefühl und Gedanken zu beobachten, mit mehr Achtsamkeit. Egal, was gerade da ist: annehmen.

Alles ist im Fluss des Lebens und entwickelt sich...

2010-04-07T10:47:00.002+02:00

Um es vorweg zu sagen, ich wollte nie eine Immobilie kaufen, auf gar keinen Fall.
Frei wollte ich sein, nicht fest gebunden an einen Ort und hatte den Plan nach London zu gehen, dafür hatte ich mein bisheriges Leben komplett umgekrempelt. Aber es kam anders als geplant.

Mein Zuhause ist mir sehr wichtig. Bevor ich es bezog, habe ich mit dem da oben und mir abgemacht, dass ich mir genau 1 Objekt anschaue und wenn es so ist, wie ich es vorher beschrieben habe, dann ist es das Richtige. Der Ort, der Grundriss stand fest, ich wollte eine offene Wohnküche und es sollte einen Holzfußboden haben, kleiner Garten, Garage etc... Alles war genau meinen Vorstellungen entsprechend. Ich zog ein und 3 Monate später bekam ich Post, dass mein Eigentümer / Vermieter insolvent ist.

So lebte ich ein Jahr unter einer Zwangsverwaltung. Das war überhaupt nicht schön und ich hoffte auf einen neuen solventen Eigentümer. Ein paar Wochen vor der Zwangsversteigerung klingelten nur noch fremde Menschen an meiner Tür und begehrten Einlass (während meiner Anwesenheit zählte ich 70 Interessenten). Ich habe irgendwann meine Tür gar nicht mehr geöffnet. Die wollten alle keine Kapitalanlage, sondern selbst einziehen.

Da reifte der Gedanke: ich kaufe es einfach. Keinen Pleitegeier mehr als Vermieter und niemand, der mir wegen Eigenbedarfs kündigt. Ich habe das Objekt ersteigert.

Wenn mir jemand vor einem Jahr gesagt hätte, dass ich kaufen werde, dann hätte ich diese Person für verrückt erklärt. Heute sage ich, dass ich nie etwas anderes wollte und alles so ist wie es sein soll. Nur wusste ich das vor einem Jahr noch nicht, es hat sich einfach so entwickelt und die Gedanken, Wünsche und Bedürfnisse haben sich geändert.

Was heute falsch ist, kann morgen richtig sein. An dem Spruch „Sag niemals nie“ ist wirklich etwas Wahres dran. Es kommt meistens anders als man plant. Ich habe das Planen aufgegeben.

Meine Einsicht: alles ist im Fluss des Lebens und entwickelt sich….

Konflikte und ihre Lösungen

2010-04-05T09:07:00.003+02:00

1) Was ist Konflikt? Zuerst eine Definition aus Wikipedia, damit wir über das Gleiche reden.

Von einem Konflikt (lat.: confligere = zusammentreffen, kämpfen; PPP: conflictum) spricht man in dem Fall, wenn Zielsetzungen oder Wertvorstellungen von Personen, gesellschaftlichen Gruppen, Organisationen oder Staaten miteinander unvereinbar sind. Dabei lässt sich zwischen dem Konflikt selbst, der Konfliktattitüde (z. B. Wut) und dem konkreten Konfliktverhalten (z. B. tätliche Aggression) unterscheiden. Die Konfliktforschung untersucht die Entstehung und den Verlauf von Konflikten und entwickelt Lösungsstrategien, um das Handeln in Konflikten zu verändern bzw. die Auswirkungen eines Konfliktes begrenzen zu können.

2) Strategien der Konfliktlösungen. Auch aus Wikipedia.

Zwang
drückt den Wunsch aus, seine Position gegen den Widerstand anderer durchzusetzen. Es wird eine "Win-Lose"-Strategie verfolgt.

Vermeiden
bedeutet, dass der Konflikt nicht ausgetragen wird und die Situation unverändert erhalten bleibt. In dieser Situation ist es wahrscheinlich, dass beide Seiten verlieren ("Lose-Lose")

Nachgeben
repräsentiert die Position, wo der Konflikt gelöst wird, aber die Position verloren ("Lose-Win"). Es handelt sich um eine häufige Paarung mit Zwangsstrategien.

Zusammenarbeiten
ist die beste Möglichkeit für "Win-Win"-Ergebnisse, weil hier beide Seiten ihre Position voll einbringen und ein Ergebnis erarbeiten können.

3) Ab Wann ist es für mich ein Konflikt?
Wenn ich eine Situation betrachte, die zwar neutral gesehen ein Konflikt nach der Definition 1) darstellt, der aber meinen Zielen nicht auf dem Weg steht und meine Emotionen nicht beeinträchtigt, lasse ich diese Situation einfach stehen oder laufen, da meistens solche Situation von sich aus löst.

4) Wie löse ich Konflikte?
Wenn ich eine Situation als Konflikt betrachte, hat es meistens mit mir zu tun. Entweder a) der Konflikt steht auf dem Weg meiner Ziele oder/und b) meine Emotionen sind so involviert, dass ich einfach innerlich nicht mehr ruhig bleiben kann.

im Fall a): ich frage mich dann, wie kann ich diesen Konflikt lösen, damit alle Beteiligten (nicht die Zuschauer) einen Win-Win-Win-... Situation für sich holen können. Das ist ein sehr kreativer Prozess und dazu brauche ich in der Regel Zeit, Ruhe und einen kühlen Kopf. Darum versuche ich eine heiße Situation "kalt" zu stellen. In 9 von 10 Fällen finde ich auch eine für alle Beteiligten zufriedenene Lösung.

im Fall b): Jede Emotion, die gekommen ist, vergeht auch. So beobachte ich dann, wie die Emotionen kommen und wieder vergehen, nehme sie so an, wie sie sind, ohne Wertung und Urteil.

Ich bin sicher nicht der beste Konfliktlöser, aber ich bin sehr zufrieden mit meinen Ergebnissen.

Fazit: Die äußere Konfliktsituation ist bloß eine Manifestation meiner inneren Unruhe. Ein Konflikt entsteht in mir und wird auch dort gelöst.

Die Frau, der Mönch und Das Kind

2010-03-11T14:25:00.002+01:00

Vor sehr langer Zeit in einem japanischen Dorf bekam eine junge Frau ein uneheliches Kind. Da sie den Vater des Kindes sehr liebte und schützen wollte, erklärte sie, dass das Kind von einem sehr weisen Mönch stammte.

Als sich diese Nachricht verbreitete, waren die Dorfbewohner empört, weil sie den Mönch sehr respektierten und ehrten. So versammelten sich einige Leute, gingen zum Tempel und fragten den Mönch, ob das der Wahrheit entsprach. Der Mönch hörte geduldig zu und zum Schluss offenbarte er: "Ja, so muss es doch gewesen sein."

Als Ergebnis kehrten die Dorfbewohner ihm ihren Rücken zu. Und das Kind musste er dann auch allein aufziehen.

Die Frau bekam starke Schuldgefühle und sehnte sich nach ihrem Kind. 10 Jahre vergingen und sie konnte das Schuldgefühl nicht mehr ertragen und schließlich besuchte sie den Mönch, der mit dem Kind in sehr armen Verhältnissen lebte, weil niemand ihn unterstützte.

Die Frau brach in Tränen aus und sagte dem Mönch dann die ganze Wahrheit. Sie wollte gern das Kind zurück haben. Der Mönch hörte sich voller Gelassenheit alles an und sagte: "Ja, so muss es doch gewesen sein."

Bald Eine Virtuelle Welt

2010-02-24T17:01:00.003+01:00

Ich glaube, dass mit neuen Technologien jeder Mensch dazu Möglichkeiten geboten wird, Unternehmer oder Geschäftsfrau zu sein. Es ist sehr leicht und günstig ein Internet-Shop zu eröffnen, etwas in E-Bay zu verkaufen, Netzwerk on-line zu verknüpfen.

Ich beobachte eine Tendenz, dass immer mehr Selbständiger gibt, weltweit, die auf ein bestimmtes Gebiet spezialisiert sind und Dienstleistung anbieten. So glaube ich wird das Modell im Arbeitsmarkt der Zukunft dominieren.

Internet macht große hierarchische Organisationen weniger vorteilhaft. Wenn einige kluge Köpfe (sagen wir mal 10 bis 20), weltweit verteilt, zusammentun, und miteinander direkt vernetzen, kann schnell Ideen entwickeln, die mit Giganten konkurieren können.

Die Gesellschaft (weltweit) werden auch mehr und mehr zu einem selbst organisierenden Lebewesen werden. Regierungen werden immer wenige Rolle spielen.

Einzelne Menschen, die gut vernetzen werden die Richtungen der Weltbewegungen bestimmen.

Am Anfang war keine Regeln, keine Gesetze, keine Länder, keine Konzerne, alles ist selbst organisiert.

Wir werden wieder dorthin kommen aus zwei Gründen:

1) Die Technologien machen es möglich.

2) Menschliches Bewusstsein wird wieder langsam dafür reif und bereit sein.

Happy Birthday

2010-02-21T14:39:00.002+01:00

Today is the birthday of my younger daughter and I called her and sang the happy birthday song loudly with a lot of emotion. To my surprise I realised that I am not a too bad singer. I got almost every tone right, almost. :-)

The Process of Healing

2010-02-21T14:30:00.002+01:00

This week I got a cold and reflected about the sickness.

My question was, when does the natural healing process start to take place. And I realize that the healing process was always there, before, during and after the sickness. Sometimes our attention was just not there. And when there is lack of attention, there is lack of energy. And the healing process takes longer.

The same is in a human conflict. The healing process is there, always. The question is how much attention do we put to the natural healing process.

Was ist Life Coaching?

2010-02-16T21:50:00.005+01:00

Life Coaching ist schnell und direkt. Es ist eine praktische und effektive Methode, Energieblockaden in den verschiedenen Bereichen Ihres Lebens aufzulösen. Sie befreien sich damit von nicht sofort erkennbaren Hindernissen und richten Ihr Leben nur noch nach Ihren eigenen Vorstellungen aus.

Wenn Sie mehr wissen möchten ...... www.ihr-life-coach.de

Mit besten Grüßen
Heinz J. Fritz

12 Roses

2010-02-14T12:42:00.008+01:00

I called my daughter yesterday in China and asked her to buy 12 Roses for my wife for the Valentine’s Day. She accepted my order. However, there is strong snow today and she could not get out. I was little disappointed. But at the second moment I realize that it is not important at all.

What counts is that I thought about it and that I know we are a family in which we support each other and love each other, independently how far we are away from each other geographically.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

DER RING

2010-02-10T13:02:00.001+01:00

Seit längerer Zeit hatte sie dieses irritierende Gefühl am Ringfinger der rechten Hand. Manchmal schaute sie hin, obwohl ihr klar war: dort gab es nichts zu sehen. Verstohlen berührte sie tastend diese Stelle – nichts.
Ganz deutlich spürte sie den Abdruck eines Ringes, der sich in einer leicht geöffneten Form um diesen Finger schlängelte.
Eines Tages am frühen Morgen sah sie den Ring in einem inneren Bild: es war ein winziger, goldener Drache mit einer kleinen, schimmernden Perle auf dem Kopf. So fein gearbeitet, jede Einzelheit meisterlich ziseliert.
Sie lächelte.

Nachts, während sie schlief und träumte, flog er davon.

keta

The Man Who Dreamed to Be a Butterfly

2010-02-06T14:05:00.003+01:00

An old story: the famos Taoist Zhuangzi felt sad, because he dreamed to be a butterfly. As he woke up, he was unsure, if he was a human being who dreamed to be a butterfly or he was a butterfly who dreamed to be a human being.

Yesterday I went to the movie Avatar in IMAX with 3D, gigantic film. The story is rather stupid, but the animation effect is just unbelievable with its wonderful pictures and fantastic music. What really fascinated me was that Jake used a remote controlled body called Avatar to join the Navi in order to negotiate a deal with them. Navi was a folk living in the forest on Pandora, where there are valuable resources. The life as an Avatar was so real that Jake finally gave up his human body and joined Navi forever.

During the movie Jake asked the question: am I a Navi who dreamed to be a human being?

Official Avatar Movie

3 Gründe, warum ich niemals Apple kaufe.

2010-01-28T11:56:00.011+01:00

In der vergangenen Woche war es mal wieder so weit. Ich entschied mich, den Haararzt zu konsultieren. Diesmal fiel meine Wahl auf eine Friseurkette in Oberhausen. Kurze Schnitte. Schnelle Dialoge. Interessante Themen. Ungewöhnliche Leute. Es dauerte nicht lange, bis es aus meinem Friseur herausbrach: "Ich habe die Schnauze voll von Apple", meinte er aufgebracht. "Weißt, du immer wenn ich mit einem Mädel telefoniere, ist mitten im Gespräch Funkstille." Irgendwann sei ihm klargeworden, dass er mit seiner Wange den Touchscreen berührte und so die Verbindung kappte.

1. Mit seiner Aussage lieferte er mir den ersten Grund, mir den Luxus zu gönnen niemals Apple-Produkte wie eben das iPhone zu verwenden. Außerdem: Solidarität mit den Versehrten. Apple hat es mit dem tastenlosen iPhone geschafft die Barriere für blinde Menschen noch auszubauen und sie weiter an den Rand der Gesellschaft zu drängen. Ich finde das unerhört diskriminierend. Und so etwas wird dann als Errungenschaft für die Menschheit gefeiert. Steve, darüber solltest du mal nachdenken.

2. Bei meiner Apple-Recherche im Internet wurde ich auf folgende Seite aufmerksam:

http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secrets-to-apples-future

Wie kann das denn bitte sein? Ist Steve Jobs nur ein kleiner Einstein? Der sich das Wissen anderer zu Nutze machte, um dann die Lorbeeren zu ernten? Jubelt Apple Produkte tatsächlich als Innovationen hoch, die es in ähnlichem Design so schon seit über vierzig Jahren gibt? Das wäre dann mein zweiter Grund für eine Apple-Abstinenz. Nur der Gedanke daran einem Abkupferer aufzusitzen, stößt mich ab, Apple zu konsumieren:

http://zeitgeist.yopi.de/apple/261/apple-klaut-design-deeda-pi-original-iphone-kopie

3. Das iPhone ist aber nicht nur das einzige Gerät von Apple, das die Welt nicht braucht. Stichwort iPad.Vorwärts in die Vergangenheit: Eine Zusammenfassung: Kein USB-Anschluss, keine Digi-Cam, keine Flash-Unterstützung. Taugt nicht zum Arbeiten, denn Email-Schreiben ermüdet auf dem Touchscreen. Es sei denn der Nutzer kauft sich Zusatzgeräte. Aber dann tut es doch auch ein Note- oder Netbook. Bei genauerer Betrachtungsweise wirkt das iPad wie ein Sportwagen mit Drosselung. Sieht schön aus fährt aber nur 30 km/h. Man fühlt sich fast wie im Märchen: alle bestaunen und beklatschen des Kaisers neue Kleider. Wie viele Kinder wird es wohl geben, die ehrlich genug sind den Hofstaat Apple zu entzaubern? Und wie viele Lösungen wird Apple wohl noch für Probleme bieten, die wir ohne Apple nicht hätten?

Marian Prill, Deutsche Handarbeit

Aroma Body Massage

2010-01-24T10:53:00.001+01:00

Last week I was in Singapore for a short business trip. After the work I feel to want to go for oil body massage and asked the health centre of the hotel about the price. The answer: for one and half hour aroma body massage it costs about 100 €. Oh my God, with this price I can easily go for 7 times for body massage in Shanghai in one of the nice massage salons.

I was struggling with myself if I should really go there. Then I used one of my strongest persuasion techniques to myself. “Listen, Wenyue. Just imaging that this is your last 100€. Most likely you would not use this money at all in your entire life, because you will leave behind more than 100€, when you die. So why don’t you spend it now for a good reason, instead of keeping it in your bank until you die. Yes, you could do 7 times massage for the same money in Shanghai. But you will not go there for next 2 months, so what if you are hit by a car accident during this time?”

Life is now. So I decided to do for the massage and that was the most enjoyable decision that day. Not only the masseur is highly professional with 15 years of experiences in five star hotels, but also she understood how to make your soul pleasant. She said: “your face looked like you are end of thirty.”

I responded: “You are flattering me.”

“No”, she said: “I am serious, because I meet a lot of people during my work. And honestly, you have a very young body. I would say your body looks like a man of age 28.”

“Thanks. I swim twice a week. That might help.” Deeply in my mind I even believed what she said. That is worth 100€ :-).

Take The Life As It Presents To You

2010-01-19T08:39:00.001+01:00

On the airplane from Frankfurt to Singapore I was sitting right to a woman whose smell I could not stand. So I talk to myself, if you can not change the situation, enjoy it. I start to smile and begin to enjoy the smell. It was not too bad. Yes, it was not I wished, but it is a very specific smell. So take it as it is.

In this moment the guy sitting in front of me asked if I would like to change the seat with him, since he wanted to sit next to his friend who is on the left seat of mine. And I pleasantly accepted the offer and was released from all the feeling with the smell.

I changed the seat and was sitting next to a young and attractive woman who lived in Australia where other people spend their vacation. She just needs to walk over the street to reach the beach. We had an enjoyable conversation. When I arrived in Singapore I asked her to join us in the news group “Glückliche Arbeitswelt” (happy working world) at XING. She happily accepted.

Take the life as it presents to you, then you will always be able to enjoy it.

Flirttipps für Manager.

2010-01-16T17:26:00.002+01:00

Stellen Sie sich vor, Sie wären beliebt. Ein Star. Alle Leute in Ihrer Stadt oder gar in der gesamten Republik kennen Sie. Mehr noch: die Leute, lieben Sie und Ihr Unternehmen. Alle winken Ihnen zu. In den populärsten Restaurants bietet Ihnen der Oberkellner immer den besten Platz an. Selbst wenn dieser gerade noch besetzt ist. Man spricht, hört, schreibt und liest über Sie und Ihr Unternehmen. Bitte Hand hoch – wem gefällt diese Vorstellung nicht? Und nun die Hand aufs Herz, welcher Marketing-Manager, Werbeagenturchef oder Kleinunternehmer hat sich bislang genau diese Zielsetzung gestellt: Menschen zu begeistern und zu faszinieren? Nicht nur durch die angebotenen Produkte und Dienstleistungen aus dem Portfolio. Sondern durch echtes Interesse und den Bedürfnissen der Menschen. Menschen möchten in erster Linie ernst genommen werden. Und sie lassen sich gern unterhalten. Es ist fast wie in der Liebe. In der idealen Beziehung hört ein Partner dem anderen zu, erkennt dessen Bedürfnis und handelt angemessen.

Allerdings geben immer mehr Unternehmer den Dialog auf. Sie hören nicht zu, weil sie keine Zeit haben. Zeit ist Geld. Die Konkurrenz schläft nicht. Und der hohe Marktdruck lässt nicht viel Raum für Bedürfnisanalysen. Richtig? Richtig. Richtig falsch. Wer seinem Partner zuhört, findet heraus, was dieser will. Wenn der Partner bekommt, was er braucht, ist er glücklich. Wenn er glücklich ist, denkt er weniger an andere (mögliche) Partner. Bleibt er Ihrem Unternehmen treu und schwärmt bei anderen von Ihnen, wollen auch andere zu Ihnen. In diesem Moment werden aus Kunden Partner. Und aus Partnern Fans. Das Gute an Fans ist, dass sie ungefragt Empfehlungen geben. Und ihre Überzeugung mit anderen Menschen teilen.

Daraus ist in den letzten Jahren eine eigene Disziplin entstanden: Empfehlungsmarketing. Wie das Leben so spielt, hatte ich vor kurzem das Glück eine Expertin auf diesem Gebiet kennenzulernen. Gemeinsam mit Unternehmen sucht Frau Ekaterina Arlt nach deren Fans, um Empfehlungen planbar zu machen. Dabei steht immer im Fokus, dass es Menschen honorieren, wenn ein Partner sich um den jeweilig Anderen bemüht und auch Leistungen erbringt, ohne sofort nach Gegenleistungen zu verlangen. Im Umkehrschluss bedeutet das, dass die Unternehmen als erfolgreich aus der Krise hervorgehen werden, die ihr Angebot auf den Menschen im Jahr 2010 ausrichten statt vermeintliche Innovationen unter hohem Werbedruck in die Konsumentengedächtnisse hineinzumassieren.

Marian Prill, Deutsche Handarbeit

P.S. Lieber Dr. Wenyue Ding, vielen Dank für Ihre Einladung in dieses Forum.

The Extra Effort

2010-01-15T14:38:00.000+01:00

I started Salsa course few weeks ago and I am very proud that my partner and I could dance now better than other students in the class. What is the reason? Both my partner and I are ambitions to dance as well as possible, so we decided to go to a Salsa party last Saturday. And we practice all the figures we learnt during the course for three hours. And no other couples went there from the class. So lesson learnt here: success is coming from the extra effort you put in a subject which you differentiate yourself from the average people.

Three Success Models of Entrepreneurs

2010-01-05T20:28:00.002+01:00

The news group “Glückliche Arbeitswelt” (WWW: Wonderful Working World) has now more than 1000 members. I realize there is a large number of self-employed. From the observation of these people I conclude that the most successful self-employed people follow three success models in common:

1) Positioning model: they know exactly what they are doing and will do in the future. I can easily associate them with a very specific market segment or service offers.

2) Reference models: they work with their peers together to reference each other, passing each other contacts to clients and say nice words about each other.

3) Growth model: they have a system that the orders should not be limited to their own resources and capabilities. They build strong networks to handle large orders smartly. And have time to manage growing orders with external resources.

The Power of Internet Community

2009-12-18T15:30:00.001+01:00

There are growing populations of internet communities world wide. Recently I created a news group “Glückliche Arbeitswelt” (WWW: Wonderful Working World). Within two weeks we almost reach 500 members und 400 articles. By Christmas or latest by New Year we will reach more than 1000 members.

Our target is to reach 120.000 people within one year or the latest 2 years, under the condition that most of the group members are willing to bring 2 or more members within one week upon arrival. Why is that goal meaningful for the economy and for the society? Because we share the opinions that happy people will generate more performance than unhappy people.

For all German speaking people I would like to invite you to join one of the most interesting news groups in

Germany

, maybe one of the most valuable one for you.

https://www.xing.com/net/gluecklichearbeitswelt/

Thank you.

Gratitude (another Story)

2009-12-09T17:50:00.007+01:00

In an internet Forum we discussed that the gratitude has the power to heal the soul. And people can do daily practice to initiate the feeling of gratitude. One example is to write down every day all the reasons why we should be grateful.

Then I asked in the forum: “Why should we need reasons at all? Is the fact that we live not reason enough to be grateful?”

Live brings so many unexpected reasons. Here is one. I went today to my dentist and was in hurry. I found a parking lot some where. The parking lot requires parking disk. However, somehow I could not find my parking disk in the car. So I decided to take the risk of paying fine.

But after I got out the car, I realized that I had parked in a completely wrong street. Am getting old :-) So I jumped in to the car and drove to the right address and found a parking lot right in front of dentist house. What a luck! But also there a parking disk was required.

I rang at the door. A nurse came out. I asked her if there is any parking disk available to be borrowed. She went to her car and said, here is an extra parking disk. Please take it away, I have a plenty of those at home.

Is this not a reason of gratitude?

Distribution List

2009-12-04T17:32:00.002+01:00

When I was in China, I got once a month an email from a colleague in Germany, because I was not taken away from the large distribution list. The contents of the emails were not really relevant to me, but I was happy to receive the emails from Germany, which did not happen to often.

Today I met her at a farewell party of a common colleague in Germany and I suddenly realized that I did not receive any emails from her for long time. I said to her: “I missed your regular emails.” She replied: “I changed my job a year ago and the new job does not require me to send such emails to a large audience.”

I smiled and responded: “That is pity. But could you please send out nevertheless monthly emails and put me on the distribution list, regardless of contents.”

We laughed. :-)))

How to Get Cheaper Petrol? (Billiger Tanken)

2009-12-01T11:08:00.000+01:00

Today while I was refuelling the car I recognized that the gas station was pretty empty. The clerk was little bored and I tried to start a small talk with her and said: “Quite empty here, isn’t it?”

She responded: “Yes, because yesterday the Petrol price was low. And all people have refuelled already.”

This was an interesting statement. When I refuel the gas, the price is usually relatively high and I have to painfully learn that the day before the price was low. So I was very curious and asked the lady: “How do people know, when the Petrol price is low?”

To my big surprise she said: “Usually Monday is a good day to refuel your car.” This is exactly what I am going to do in the future. Who said “ask and you will get”? This guy is a genius!

Writing as Self Coaching

2009-11-30T10:25:00.000+01:00

In his book “Unter Vier Augen: Coaching für Manager” (coaching for managers) Wolfgang Looss mentioned that there are many alternatives to resolve your issues before you call for professional coach: conversation with yourself, with books, with your life partners, with your friends and colleagues, conversation with your bosses, depending on your specific situations.

One possibility for conversation with your self is writing. This is the most effective way for my self coaching. When I have an uneasy feeling or when I face challenges I write it down my thoughts and feeling. To make it interesting and maybe valuable some time I write down in form of stories and some times I publish it on my blog.

If I do not like the story, I change a little the course of the story, so that I feel more comfortable about it. By modification of the story, I shift my feeling about the situation. By shifting my feeling, I changed literally my realities. It takes me about one hour to write a story. I think it is a relatively effective alternative to a coaching session.

As wonderful by-products, you, as my blog reader, can enjoy the stories I published at my blog. Is it not amazing? ;-)

Glückliche Arbeitswelt - Wonderful Working World (WWW)

2009-11-28T12:22:00.003+01:00

Today I have got an idea to create a forum about wonderful working world. Lets see if there is any interest.

(In German: Heute habe ich eine Idee, ein Forum mit dem Thema "Glückliche Arbeitswelt" zu schaffen. Mal sehen, ob es Interesse dafür gibt.)

Darwinismus in der Job-Jagd

2009-11-27T10:35:00.000+01:00

I promised myself to write in German some day on my blog. Here is the fist one. For people who do not speak German, please refer to a similar text Darwinism in Job Hunting
-------------------
Liebe Bewerberinnnen und Bewerber,

in der heutigen Arbeitsmarktsituation ist die Massenbewerbung vielleicht nicht die erfolgreichste Strategie. Denn die Recruiter suchen nur einige wenige Top-Bewerber, mit denen ein Gepräche geführt werden soll. Die restlichen tausende Bewerbungen werden höflich zurückgeschickt, mit einer Bemerkung, dass die Absage nicht an Ihren Fähigkeiten liegt, sondern lediglich nur daran, dass Ihr Profil einfach nicht zu der Stelle passt.

Und die Recruiter meinen es ernst. Sie suchen nicht den stärksten oder besten oder klügsten oder schönsten Bewerber, sondern den geeignetesten, ganz nach der Logik des Evolutionisten Charles Darwin: „The fittest survives.“

Darum stellen Sie für sich fest, ob Sie ein Elephant mit einer langer Nase sind oder ein Nilpferd mit einem großen Mund. Suchen Sie sich die Stellen aus, bei denen die Wahrscheinlichkeit sehr groß ist, dass Sie zu einem der Top-drei Kandidanten gehören. Top im Sinne „der Geeignetste“. Und nehmen Sie sich Zeit und geben Sie sich Mühe, dass Sie eine der besten Bewerbungen schicken. Best, auch ganz im Sinne „der Geeignetste“.

Sie können das, da Sie sich ja nur auf einige wenige Stellen beschränken. Sie sparen damit Zeit für die Recruiter und für sich selbst und erhöhen gleichzeitig Ihre Chance auf eine Anstellung.

Viel Erfolg bei der Job-Jagd!

How to Deal with Uncertainty in Organisational Changes?

2009-11-26T12:01:00.001+01:00

In my 18 Years career in the industry, I got about 20 Bosses. The company I worked for changed the owners and names for four times. Yesterday I made a friend and what he told me broke all my records, he got this year alone already 6 bosses in a row.

I asked him: “How do you deal with the uncertainty of the organisational changes?”

He smiled and answered with a lightness: “I do not really deal with it. The uncertainty just does not exist any more.”

I was bluffed: “What do you mean, exactly?”

He smiled again and said: “Well, in the past I was always seeking for advices from my boss, when there is an organisational change. Recently, I realize that it was just not possible. My boss lived in uncertainty himself, and his boss does not really know what his next job will be and if he would have a job himself within the company at all.”

“So you lost completely the orientation.” I added.

He responded: “Until I changed my strategy. I set my own goals. There are two parts. First from what I know in the current situation what should I do to add value for the company, this is related to create either more sales or to reduce more cost. And second, what should I do to create for me more career chance within the company and outside.”

I said: “That sounds interesting. What is the outcome of that strategy?”

“The results are that I know at any given time of organisational change what I should do and feel really empowered.”

Client Oriented Coaching Approach (COCA) by Wenyue Ding

2009-11-22T16:25:00.001+01:00

Yesterday a coaching colleague asked me a very fundamental question: what is your special and unique coaching approach (Auf Deutsch: Coaching Ansatz). At that time I was unclear. This morning I got an answer: coca! Client Oriented Coaching Approach. (Copy Right Notice: All Right Reserved. Please refer to the origination when you use this name.) (Auf Deutsch: Klienten Orientierten Coaching Ansatz: KOCA)

Coca is based on three believes:

1) Coaching is vehicle: Coaching is nothing else than a tool to bring SOMETHING from A to B. The original meaning of coach is vehicle. Therefore all the tools and methods are allowed in the coaching, which meet this purpose. The only question remains: is this specific method or tool effective and efficient? There is no dogma.

2) Beyond the Boundary of I: in the traditional coaching approaches there are two parties involved: the coach and the coachee (client), as separated entities. However, this view limits us from the fact that coach and coachee build actually a system with very special relationship. They stay in an energy field. Coaching is about to bring this energy field to somewhere.

3) Time and space are illusions: Once it is clear where this energy field should go, then the way of coaching can be obtained. Sometimes face to face sessions with systemic questions and answers(see "Beratung ohne Ratschlag" by Sonja Radaz) can be the most effective way, some times to tell a story is the simplest approach, sometimes email communication can work wonderfully. Some times meditation can reach extra ordinary results. To realize the enlightment it can take a single question at this moment or a whole life of suffering. So the coaching contract should be more focused on the clear defined outcomes. The duration or the ways are secondary questions.

Therefore to select a right coach it is important to know and feel if you can come along with him/her and if the coach has the wisdom and flexibility to chose with you the most cost effective and results oriented way for your very special issues.

Perspectives

2009-11-20T15:29:00.000+01:00

When I was at swimming pool two weeks ago, I came to the idea to test how long I could hold my breath in the water. So I started with 45 seconds for the first time, 50 seconds for the second time. And after some practice I could reach 90 seconds. I was very proud of my achievement and tried again and again.

Then the pool supervisor came to my place and said with a very angry voice: “Do you enjoy yourself?”

I did not understand why he was so upset and told him: “I am just practicing to hold my breath as long as possible.”

He said: “What do you think how it was looking like for me?” At the moment I realize that I was floating at the surface of the pool with the back upside, head below water, arms and legs hanging in the water. Yes, it looked like a dead body, specially, when I stayed in the water for long time without any movement.

For me I was enjoying the practice how long I can hold my breath. But for the pool supervisor I was a dead body he was responsible for. And what would be the consequence for him if this really happen?

Ask the Right Questions

2009-11-19T13:24:00.000+01:00

One of the best ways to redirect your or some one else’s attention is to ask a right question, because the universal conscience is trying to answer all the questions which are posted on to it. Let me give your some examples:

1) When you need an advice, write down for example “how do I find the best marketing strategy for my new service XYZ within one week?” When you put this question clear for yourself, then your mind start already to search for the answers.

2) In a conflict situation within a meeting, when two people are fighting each other to argue who is right, ask both of them “what is the right statement that you both can be happy with? Then suddenly both of them start to think about how to answer your question.

3) In the coaching situation, when your client talks to you about a dilemma “If I do A, it will be disaster, if I do B, it will be catastrophe. Then you can say: “The question here is, what is the situation C.” Then the client will look for situation C. After he finished, you can ask: “What is the situation D?” und so on.

4) In an on-line news group coaching, I posted a question “How do you come to the orders? Four people answered the question with a lot about what they have done to get the orders. However, my real question is “how do the orders come to you?” Maybe the orders can come to you without any efforts from your side.

Ask and you will get. Ask for the right thing you will get the right thing, Ask for the wrong thing, you will get the wrong thing, independently, where you put the question: on your mind, on paper, on the web, to other people. The universal conscience will get it and immediately work for it. Did I get your full attention? :-)

The Best from Anthony Robbins

2009-11-18T15:56:00.000+01:00

Change your state, change your life, instantly!

Market Segmentation of Coaching in Germany for Newcomers

2009-11-17T18:30:00.000+01:00

When you decide to enter into the coaching business in Germany, please read the article "Grau grau ist der Coachingmarkt" by Cordula Ehms. Obviously, the reputation of the title coach is not as good as it should be.

If you would like to know the market trend in Germany, here is an article: “Markt und Trends im Coaching: Der Coaching-Markt professionalisiert" by Klemens Lange.

From both articles above and from the answers to the question I posted on the news group Coaching at XING my conclusion is that only a small percentage (<10) of Coaches do earn their income from coaching alone. The majority are doing something else, for example training, consulting, therapy etc.

There are also uncountable coaching approaches in the market. A systematic frame concept with a three dimensional “magic” cube is provided in “Rahmenkonzept für den Überblick über Coaching-Ansätze und Coaching-Ausbildung” by Harald Geißler.

The market requires more and more coaches with special competences other than pure process coaching. Therefore, in case you want to enter into the coaching business, be prepared that you offer other services for a special area in addition to your coaching offers. And it will help you to market your coaching services.

How is the market segmented? And here is my trial which is not based on any scientific research. I would segment the market for the coaching newcomers in four segments:

1) The high end
The clients are successful entrepreneurs, doctors, artists, top politician, top managers (CEO). They are looking for coaches with long coaching reputation, spiritual maturity and competencies in some special areas. The honorary paid can be expected between 500 to 1300 € per hour. The clients are usually self payers. exMarketing strategy here is, long enough in the coaching business, publication of books, to be invited for speeches for important conferences. So be patient and work hard and long enough if you want to enter this market.

2) The mass market
Here is the lion share of the market. The clients are usually large, multi-national companies. They are looking for coaching company with a large pool of coaches, so the decision maker, usually personal developers, will have easy time to select the right coaches for their needs. The honorary for the coaching company would range from 200 to 300 €. The clients are company payers. Your marketing strategy as newcomer is to cooperate with those well-established coaching company. Certainly the coaching company will charge their fees.

3) The new market
The new market is coming from the small and medium size business. The decision makers are usually the company owner. They are looking for competent coaches with low prices between 100 to 150 €. The clients are usually company payers. Also, the clients are more and more willing to the online coaching services. Your marketing strategy here is the reference. Talk to your friends if they can recommend you to any one who might need coaching. Do a nice web site, write a blog, do volunteer job for online networking groups. Join reference groups among your coaching colleagues. Write news articles. Answer to online questions.

4) The low end
These are the self payers. These people are more open-minded for online coaching through emaile, telephone coaching, skype coaching. They are willing to pay a coaching services between 30 to 100 € depending on the topics. The clients are self payers. The key marketing strategy here is web site, newsletters, blogs. Internet marketing is a topic itself and I am still need to figure out how to do it. But if you understand it, the potential is unlimited, because you are not bound to the locations where you live and work. And this is an efficient way to reach people international.

Acknowledgements: I got lot of advices and insights from members of the news group coaching from XING. Thanks to all the experts.

New Version of Good Boss and Bad Boss

2009-11-11T17:16:00.000+01:00

In good manager and bad manager I concluded that good managers make the bad employees good and the bad managers make the good employee bad. Here another definition of good boss and bad boss in international companies with lot of locations world wide. Here you go:

 Good boss is located remotely, but still talk to you very efficiently
 Bad boss is sitting next to you, but never talk to you at all

Would you agree? Do you have your version of the definition of good boss and bad boss? Please post here as comments.

My Brain on the Web

2009-11-09T18:11:00.000+01:00

In one of my NLP training session I learnt that we do not only have one brain sitting insight the head, but also other brains, one sitting near our stomach, one sitting near our heart. They function autonomously and control a large part of our feelings, actions and thoughts.

Today I discovered that we all have at least one more brain: the brain on the web. Let me give you an example.

I was thinking if it is the right time to start my coaching business which I planned for long time. I posted to a networking community called Coaching about what is the chance to sustain to become a full time professional coach. To my surprise, more than 10 professional coaches responded to my question with highly valuable and relevant answers, suggestions and advises. More than 690 clicks on the article thread within 4 days. Today I am smarter on this topic than few days ago.

If you ask the right questions to the right target audiences on the web, I am certain that you will get the answers virtually for any cases. So is the web part of us or is the web outside us? I would argue that we do not stop ourselves by the boundary of our body. The web is part of us. And I am grateful that internet made this part of us more accessible to us and that I am more and more aware of my brain on the web. I commit to use my web brain more wisely :-) in the future.

Moments of Decision

2009-11-05T17:43:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I came back from a short business trip within Germany. It was late and I was not in the mood to cook for myself. So I decided to go to a famous fast food chain. The reason I went there is the simplicity. It does not take much time to order, to get the food and to eat.

After finishing the food I realise that I was not very happy. Back in my mind I made a decision, not to go that fast food chain any more. However I could not tell the reason why.

Granted that I am a person with a very conscious mind of living healthily. Granted that I act consequently according to certain principles in life. But some times I decided to go to a fast food restaurant. Sometimes I decided to drink a beer or a glass wine or others. It was never an issue for me. Why did I decide not to go to that fast food chain any more, probably for the rest of my life?

Why? The food tasted always well. I went there since my twenties after I arrived in Germany. And yesterday, I got a clear feeling that it did not taste any more. It tasted awful. The taste of the food there may not change at all.

But my taste changed. This is the entire reason of my decision.

Everything Is Easy

2009-10-29T16:09:00.000+01:00

My guitar teacher once told me: „If you practice guitar correctly, it should be easy and it should not take long hours. Why? If you practice in a wrong way, the more you practice the more difficult for you to unlearn the bad habits.“

When I think back, I realize that all the major mile stones in my life were coming without any struggles:

1. I was nominated for a university exchange program to Germany without any efforts from my side.

2. I got my first job without lengthy recruiting process. I contacted a former PhD student of my PhD Professor. And that was it.

3. I met my wife coincidently in my friend apartment in Cologne. I wrote her a letter. Few years later we got married, until today, 25 years later.

4. The chance to go back to Shanghai as Expatriate came without any efforts from my side.

In contrast I put a lot of efforts, energy in some projects which did not succeed as I would have wished. My conclusion is, if you do the things in the right way, it should be easy. It should come naturally to success.

When I observe how people work in some companies, I found out that people who work long hours and unhappy are usually people who often create cost of non-quality. They try to fight in all fronts and try to maximise ambiguous benefits. It is doubtable that they create more value overall for the company and for the customers than other people in the company.

Life should be easy, if your mind, body and soul are in perfect alignment.
Life should be easy, if you extend your boundary as broader as you can image.
Life should be easy, if you have complete clarify about what you want to achieve.
Life should be easy, if you are certain that you will eventually achieve your goals.
Life should be easy, if you live your passion and dreams.
Life should be easy, if you take time to enjoy it.
Life should be easy, if you love everything around you including yourself.

Laughter at Youtube

2009-10-22T15:00:00.000+02:00

Have you ever thought that Youtube could be a fantastic market research tool? I am interested in success training and checked the videos of some renowned trainers. To my surprise the clicks of the top videos of top success speakers are between 100,000 to 1,500,000 compared to some top adult videos with clicks between 1,000,000 to 10,000,000.

I am also interested in videos about meditation. There the clicks are between 100,000 to 1,000,000, so similar range as success trainings. If I look at classic guitar the best videos got 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 clicks.

Now guess what is the most click video I ever found on Youtube? It was a baby laughing with more than 94,000,000 clicks. The video is titled Hahaha. This brings me to an idea of business: get people to laugh or get people to be happy :-)

Three Dimensions of Luxury

2009-10-21T15:20:00.000+02:00

When people talk about Luxury, they usually talk about money and all the nice, expensive things money can buy: cars, jewelleries, houses, resorts, yachts, cigars, champagnes, golf clubs and parties. Money is really a good thing. However it is just one dimension of luxury.

The second dimension of the luxury is the time. People who have money, but no time to enjoy the life, because they have to spend all their time to earn the money, are actually poor people. Real luxury therefore starts with abundance of time. Women understand it better than man. They sometime just take hours shopping, not necessarily to buy anything, but to enjoy the time.

The third dimension of the luxury is the emotional freedom. You are free to go to an expensive restaurant, but also free to choose to go McDonalds for a junk food. You are free to get close to a friend, but also free to be happy without him or her. You are free from any negative emotions, but also free to accept them, when they are there occasionally. You are emotional independent from your spouse and kids, but free to love them deeply. You are free to make your boss or customer successful, but also free to leave them, if you decide to.

When you reach all three dimensions of luxury, then there is nothing you will regret when the time comes for you to leave the world, with an eternal smile on your face, completely free.

Darwinism in Job Hunting

2009-10-20T18:13:00.000+02:00

In current down turn of job market the employers can enjoy the luxury to find the right candidates with nearly 100% FIT of a given profile. And a lot of people apply for jobs which do not FIT well to their profiles with the hope that if they send CVs to a large enough number of companies, some one might consider them. This is the wrong strategy.

What is the right strategy? First you need to define your own species. You need to make yourself clear enough what exactly you are good at. Are you an elephant with a long nose or a hippo with a big mouth. If you do not know, then do not apply for any jobs. We say do not compete, if you do not have competitive advantages.

The next step is to find job offerings which exactly require those unique strengths. Apply for jobs only where you will land on the short list, meaning you are one of the top three candidates. How can you land on the short list? I have a couple of head hunting friends they all told me that the key word for head hunting is FIT.

The same applies for you as job hunter. Study the job description very carefully and try to understand each and every sentence. Your job is to rewrite your CV such that exactly FIT to the job description. Certainly you should not lie. However, you can emphasize your experiences which is relevant to the job and leave things out which is irrelevant. Since you only apply for jobs you can be short-listed you have more time to prepare your CVs. So take time.

If you are invited for an interview, the firs step is done. Now the focus is to prepare a list of potential questions your interviewers would ask. Put your feet into the shoes of your interviewers. Then think exactly how you would answer those questions. Some times I prepared 100 potential questions and answers. Usually only 10% of those questions were asked.

Experienced interviewers always ask some follow up questions such as

- How did you do that exactly?
- Can you please tell me an example?
- Tell me about the person you were dealing with?

If you hesitate, they might think you did not tell the truths. Be prepared for follow up questions. Here again, since you only focus on few job application, you have time to prepare. Take the time.

Job hunting is a not a battle, it is a war. You enter into a war only, if you see a great chance to win, because if you lose there you may die. It is about the survival in a tough job market. The evolutionist Charles Darwin said: "In the struggle for survival, the FITtest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment."

The Perspective of a Wise Man

2009-10-15T07:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday night I happened to meet an old friend here in Singapore. I remember that we have not met for more than four years. He was happy, relaxed and in three weeks he will reach an important mile stone: turning to 50. A big party was planned in Phuket, Thailand with more than 30 people from different continents of the world.

The last time I met him he was at a critical point to decide the next career steps. There were two options to choice:

1) To go to a small size company with higher and more challenging responsibilities. The risk factor would also be bigger.

2) To go to a bigger company with smaller responsibilities and doing similar job as before. The risk factor would be smaller.

He talked about those two real options in full details and said: “I did not make up my mind clear yet, but I still have two weeks time to think about it.”

Then he stopped talking. I realized that he actually asked my options without directly asking. He was very successful and determined. Probably he was too proud to ask. At that moment I knew how to give him advice without hurting his feelings.

I said: “My friend, let me ask you a question. Suppose you are now at age 60 and you are very successful in every aspects of your life.” His eyes radiated and I got his attention. “When you look back, how would you (old and wise) judge the decision of the young man at his life transforming moment? For which decision he would feel more proud, more satisfied and happier?”

My friend smiled and I knew that he made a decision in his mind.

7 Steps to Realize Your Dreams – Any Dreams

2009-10-09T16:54:00.001+02:00

Step 1: Be crystal clear about your dream

Dreamers seem to be creative people and creative people tend to wander with their ideas, wishes and desires. However, if you are serious to realize your dreams, you need to focus only on one big thing. Being clear about this for a long enough time is the starting point of the realisation. There you gather sufficient energy which will be transferred to the materials. Your dream will be materialized.

Step 2: Ask the big WHY question

People are uncertain about their dreams because their dreams do not pass the big WHY test. Why do I have that dream? Would I approach that dream even I lose all my money or lose all your friends? Would I feel passion and love to approach the dream? Would I do every thing possible to achieve it? After asked all the questions: would I still like to approach the dream with 100% certainty? If the answer is yes, then the rest is just technique.

Step 3: Visualize the end results

Use your imagination to visualize what it looks like when the end results are achieved. Create a space in your mind and put all the elements of your dream into it. Be generous because in your mind really nothing is limited. Where are you positioned in that space? Do you feel really happy about the end results? If not, what should be changed to make you absolutely happy? Then change it. Remember, in your mind nothing is limited. You can revise your end results several times until you are absolute comfortable.

Step 4: Ask how to finance the project

Now this is the key part: you might first separate your dreams from the question how to finance it. Because it is so overwhelming that would become the blocking issue to act further. Google’s dream was to develop the best search engine in the world. And in the first years they did not have any revenue. The big money comes later. Youtube still lose money today. Think about that there are people in the business of giving away money. There is enough money in this world. What could be the models of financing the project to realize your dream?

Step 5: Generate continuously ideas to realize the big dream

The quality of your ideas is proportional to the quantity of your ideas you generate. Make a habit to generate ideas. Some ideas are just stupid, but that is the nature of ideas. Write down any ideas you can find. And manage your idea pool well. Sometimes my ideas are generated in my dreams in the night. Then I woke up and wrote down the ideas. Some ideas are coming from other people, people who are different than you or even people you dislike. Take any ideas from any sources. Speak with people in different industries. Do some thing unusual. The idea to write this article is inspired by a friend in a conversation about her career development.

Step 6: Sort out the best ideas that you can do immediately and do it

Ideas will only have impact if you act on it. Try first to sort out some cool, great ideas and act on it, immediately. Then see the results. Then adapt and change courses if you see fit. Act on ideas every day. Through your action you will generate more interesting, more useful ideas. And the most relevant fact about action is this: as long as you are acting toward your dream, you will imprint your dreams even more into your mind. And as long as you are acting toward your dreams your means will grow, your capability will grow and your determination will grow and your certainty will grow.

Step 7: Enjoy the life such, where possible, as if your dream was already realized

In fact the realization of the dream is not the state of the outside of you, it is inside you. It is your state of mind. Therefore to feel like if you already realized your dream is the most effective way to get there. What would you feel and think? How would you behave? Would you be more powerful? Would you be more loving? Would you be more generous? Would you have more fun? Just feel, think and behave like it. Remember, our mind does not need any time and space to go from state A to state B. Change your mind once, every thing else will follow.

Gratitude

2009-10-08T17:46:00.001+02:00

Sunday afternoon my newly bought used BMW broke down. It was only two and half years old and it should not happen. But shit happens. What would you do in this situation?

I stopped the car and immediately called ADAC. Thanks to my wife who applied for me the ADAC membership before I arrive in Germany from Shanghai. The ADAC angel came within 20 minutes and checked my car for failure. Then he suggested that the car should be picked up and sent to car shop.

I waited another 20 minutes. The truck came and the driver very professionally loaded my car into the truck. And we drove to the shop. Since it was Sunday the shop was closed, so we parked my car and I took a taxi home.

Monday morning I rode the bike to the shop and explained the mechanic the situation. He started the engine and said that he needed some time to check up. Two days later, he called that the car was finished. I was happy and went there to pick up my car with the consciousness that I might be surprised with the invoice.

And I was really surprised when he said that BMW took over all the cost on goodwill. I am not sure how many people are involved in the whole process. But at least I would like to say thanks to the following people:

- My wife who applied the ADAC membership for me
- The ADAC person at the service centre who took my call
- The ADAC angel who checked my car
- The ADAC driver who picked up my car
- The receptionist at the repair chop
- The capable mechanic who repaired my car and negotiated the cost with BMW
- The BMW service personal who received the call from the mechanic
- The manager who decided to take over the cost to make a customer (me) happy
- Some one from the BMW finance department who will book the cost to the right account
- Maybe many more…

Is this not a reason for gratitude? Think about how many more people in the world are involved to make our whole life comfortable? Uncountable! Is this not a good reason for gratitude?

0+ Technique

2009-10-07T13:07:00.000+02:00

During my first guitar lesson in Germany, I learnt something very valuable that deserve a dedicated blog entry. I called it 0+ technique. The good news is that you can apply this technique to virtually everything important in your life: music instruments, sport, management, solving conflict, romance, etc. You might ask what is it?

My guitar teacher told me that I use too much wasted energy and effort to play guitar. I should just re-start with minimum movement, tension and energy. I should begin with state 0, then gradually add the movement and pressure which is required to create the sound. That way no energy is wasted. And I can move my hands much easier and quicker and smoother.

I understand the principle very well. In Taoism you could call it 无为 which could be translated into effortlessness. And it says 无为而无不为 which means from the state 0 you have to potential to do everything. It is also the principle of any meditation. You bring you body, soul and mind to the state 0 from which everything is possible.

In today’s global competitive environment a lot of managers are overwhelmed by the amount of the challenges they are facing. But in stead to come back to the state 0, they are trying to work 120%, 140%, 160% with little or negative effects. Most efforts are wasted in things which do not contribute to the bottom line or the top line long term. They just keep busy to show their perceived values in their company.

Another good example comes from the area of romance. Good seducers always are doing it with little efforts. A small talk without visible intention can have the biggest impacts, easy going, with zero pressure at all.

0+ technique is a way of life. It is in contrast with 100+ technique which you always do more than 100% for what ever reasons. I firmly believe that in the long run, we can only survive and strive if we understand and apply the power of 0+, because what really counts in the future is the level of creativity and innovation. These are born naturally in the state 0.

Competitive Kids in China

2009-10-07T13:01:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday I started my first guitar lesson in Germany and realize the difference between teaching methodologies in China and in Germany.

In China the teachers are more focused on progress of students. There are 10 levels and students have to pass the examinations to reach those levels. The guitar lessons are built to prepare students to pass the examinations as soon as possible.

In Germany the teachers are more focused to the basic technique. There is no pressure to pass any tests. The students can take time enjoying the practice and create great awareness of the playing itself. Teachers build a solid foundation for their students first.

Generally, in China the kids are facing much stronger competition which is reflected in everything they do. There are 10 levels for English, 10 levels for Piano, etc. Parents spend a fortune for education of their kids to send them to foreign schools or abroad. So teachers are under high pressure to deliver results.

Therefore I sometimes observed that most kids did not really have fun playing music instruments, but took the lesson, because their parents wanted them to do. Poor kids.

Second Profession for the Second Half of Your Life

2009-10-02T17:06:00.000+02:00

People in our age may start to think about the following question: what would I do in my second half of the life?

Just take an example: I worked in Telecommunication Industry for last 18 years and can hardly image to continue in that industry for next 18 years until I would be able to retire officially. Even if I would like to, my employer with best intention may not be able to keep me that long.

A colleague of mine, a highly capable female professional decided two years ago to be a Yoga teacher. And now she seems to be extremely happy with that decision.

During today’s lunch I opened this discussion with few colleagues. I started saying to a colleague: “You are maintaining an image of a perfect detective with you cool look, a long coat, analytical capability and communication skill.” He laughed: “There might be a market for coaching for second profession for the second half of the life for you. But detectives are absolutely not what I would do.”

People with our experiences are extremely valuable when we focus on our strengths. And generally education in its broadest scope can be one of the areas you might want to look for opportunities. In that industry your value will increase when you get older, provided that you never stop adapting and learning new things.

Another growth industry will be something I would call “how people spend their leisure time?”. Think about how often you go to massage in China compared how often you go massage in Germany. Productivity will grow, efficiency will increase. People will work generally less time with more results. They will generally have more money and have more idle time. What are they going to do with the extra time and extra money? There is a market from macro economy perspective.

Then we have some well known growth industries such as alternative energy and health care. If you are working in one of the related industries, you are lucky and can try to move to one of the hot spots for your second half of your professional life.

It is your life and you absolutely deserve the best out of it.

Vacation for 3.5 €

2009-09-23T16:05:00.000+02:00

Since I am in Germany I decided to go swimming every Saturday. It takes me 15 minutes to drive to the public swimming pool. I usually swim in the in-door pool for 30 minutes, non-stop. Then I go to the out-door area for one hour, enjoying the sun shine und the whirlpool. It gives me a feeling of vacation and the cost is only 3.5 €.

Changing life is as easy as like that, if you are open minded. A single shift of mind, a small decision, a phone call, a google search, a conversation with a smart person, who has different life focus than you, can fundamentally renew your habits, revolutionize your life style and change the people you interact regularly.

Other small things I am doing is practice guitar daily (still looking for a guitar teacher nearby) and I also registered for Salsa course (still missing partner) and probably Hip Hop some time later (right now there are only couses for teens, I was not sure if I should join them :-) . Enjoying life is some thing I learnt from a good friend in Shanghai. I really appreciate to meet that friend.

Never Give Up Your Dreams

2009-09-22T18:52:00.000+02:00

Dreamers sometimes feel dissatisfaction with their reality. Lets suppose you have high ambitions to become financially independent, to find a perfectly fitting partner or to earn you life with work you absolutely love. And all of sudden you lost your job. The gap of your dreams and your realities are becoming bigger that sometimes you may consider giving up the dreams. Don’t do it and here is the reason.

When you give up your dreams, you give up your hope. When you give up your hope, you do not take any action. When you do not take any action, your chance to change your life is almost zero. In contract, when you do hold your dreams, you see the hope. When you see the hope, you take the actions. When you take the actions, your have the chance of improve your life. And you attract all the resources, energy and information you need to realize your dreams.

The potential of a person can not be measured by his smartness, knowledge and money, but by how big his dream is and how long he can hold his dream. People who have dreams can not fail. They only can die. Because any setbacks and any unfavourable circumstances will make them stronger and more confident that they will eventually realize their dreams.

Dreams are born in your heart and they will only die there.

Back to Germany

2009-09-09T15:11:00.000+02:00

On 31 July I was informed that my expatriate contract in Shanghai would not be extended. I moved immediately to a service apartment for a month and then moved back to Germany finally, while my second daughter still needed to stay and to finish the high school in Shanghai. There are lot of moving, packing, un-packing, finding apartments, finding a job back to Germany. But we made it. The transition phase is now ended, fortunately. Good news is that our cat survived all the stress and settled down again in the new apartment in Shanghai with my second daughter and my wife.

While I am now in Germany, I really appreciate the life here. Compare to Shanghai Germany is clean, quiet and peaceful. People are more reliable, predictable and polite. No one would take your right in the public traffic away. I also registered my car within only 20 minutes almost without waiting time. There is no need to rush, at all. No internet censure. You can sit nicely in your garden under the sun, drinking your bear, talk about any topic you like, without thinking about your work, your internal and external competition, your boss, your colleagues, your expatriate contract extension.

During the transition period, I focused on two things daily: practising guitar and jogging. Those two activities kept my soul and body fit and centred. I also visualised my long term goals regularly, that way every thing I experienced became a special meaning. Or I assigned unconsciously a special meaning to every thing I experienced. And I learned that my family really care me. They are my core team.

Life is full of surprises. Life is full of challenges. I believe that challenges are sent to people who can handle them in order to grow spiritually. This is the positive intention of any difficult event.

I Had a Dream

2009-07-15T04:56:00.000+02:00

July 9, I experienced a couple of events that I would rate them as unfairness.

- A friend who deserved a large pay raise got only a salary increase of few percent.

- An Ayi (house keeper) who was challenged by her employer that she charged the battery of her electro bike in the employer’s house quitted the job with anger.

- An employee who works in a large company could not claim back the difference of transportation expense, because he was not informed about the budget raise.

- A landlord who was offered a house leasing contract with less favourable terms than the standard rejected the contract.

At that night I had a very strange dream. I was about to enter into a shop and the owner requested me to pay 50 Mao entry fee. This is really unheard. You never pay entry fee for a shop. But I had to go in for some reasons. So I paid the entry fee and told owner that I will put this story into my blog.

After I finished the shopping, the owner paid me back the 50 Mao and in addition he gave me another 50 Mao and asked me: “Please just do not write any thing about this in your blog.” At that moment I woke up and could remember the dream clearly.

Since the internet, people having power could do less unfair things because they are afraid of bad publicity.

And I have a dream that all unfairness of the world will be cleaned up one day!

The Way to Mastery

2009-07-14T09:33:00.000+02:00

The week before summer vacation, my guitar teacher requested his students to practice playing guitar three hours daily during the vacation. They should do it in three different time of the day with one hour each time to improve the efficiency.

“Three hours a day? That is impossible”, complained one student.

“I already have difficulties to practice one hour per day now”, said the other.

My guitar teacher smiled and asked: “Do you know how long I practice when I started guitar lessons at age of four?”

He paused and waited for the reaction of his students. They were quiet and curious to learn what their teacher has to say.

“Four hours a day, at age of four.” He emphasized his age.

The students who complained felt ashamed, but were still reluctant to commit the three hours.

The teacher continued: “Four hours a day is just for the beginning. After some experiences my practicing time increased to eight hours a day.”

“Waw.” The students opened the mouths and eyes wildly.

“After some more experiences I increased my practicing time to twelve hours a day.”

By that time I realize how my guitar teacher can work 16 hours with a regular job at the government institute and a full time guitar teaching job.

The room was filled with silence. No one was able to make any tone. The teacher went on: “I know you all want to play the instrument well. You want to make a difference in your life. And you want to have fun playing it. However, any remarkable achievement is tightly linked with efforts and persistence, some times with pain and suffering. This is the way of mastery, maybe the only way.”

The True Love

2009-07-08T11:16:00.000+02:00

Lisa finished her Yoga practise and her mind was completely clear. She was determined to tell Tom today. She had struggled for this decision already too long.

Tom was sitting in the living room with a book in the hand. It was the bestseller about the man-woman relationship “Man are from Mars and woman are from Venus”. As Lisa sat next to Tom, he lifted his head and looked at her with a slight suspicion.

“Tom. I really appreciate all your efforts to make our relationship work. But don’t you see that your efforts during these 5 years were all for nothing?”

“Yes. Lisa, I realise. But I am the person who never gives up. If I set a goal, I will just persistently move forward until its victory.”

Lisa unconsciously raised the voice: “Victory? Who’s victory? You can not win here. Do you know why?”

“I know. Because my heart is not here.”

“Where is your heart?” Lisa asked, although she knew the answer.

“My heart is in my dreams.” He looked down.

“And your heart is with her. All the five years. I am not blind.”

“I can not change it. I can change my behaviours, my attitudes, but not my feeling. I am sorry.”

“Don’t feel sorry. I appreciate you to make all the efforts. Five years ago I asked you to stay because of the children. Now, they are out of the house. And you are free to leave.” She pointed to the door. Her voice was calm and determined, but warm and loving.

Tom looked at her again, surprised to watch her calm expression and realized that she was completely serious. A feeling of sadness emerged in his heart. He could not control that the tears came down from his eyes. He knew that she loved him, so much that she would give him the freedom to approach his happiness. He moved to her and hugged her so closely that she had little difficulties to breath. She cried and kissed him.

How to Raise Children Effectively? Continued

2009-07-06T09:58:00.000+02:00

Last Friday we went to an India Restaurant at the Hong Mei Entertainment Street to celebrate for my second daughter Katharine receiving the school certificates. We are all very proud that she ended up with the second best student at her level. We are proud because she was not always liked that as her sister.

After she graded from primary school to high school (Gymnasium), she was pending between the score of 2 to 4 (with 1 the best and 6 the worst). My wife tried to help her to be better and educated her to be more disciplined. We knew that she is intelligent and talented in many ways. But my wife and she struggled for a long time. And one day I decided to try a new method that I learned from leadership training: making the change seems to be easy.

One day in a very casual atmosphere I spoke to Katherine: “Look. Would you try one thing for me? Try to improve only one point in only one subject, what ever subject you would like to chose, while remain the scores for all other subjects the same during the next semester.” It sounded for her to be easy to achieve, so she promised: “I will try.”

By the end of the semester, she improved one point not only in one subject, but in three subjects. We were very happy. We did not make more ambitions goal for her, but told her: “That is great achievement. For the next semester, would you try only to improve one point for only one subject you chose, based on your current performance.” She confidently said: “Yes. I will try.”

During all the semesters she continuously put more efforts. And the result today is really impressive with the average score of 1.3. In addition she has a great interest and talent in music and playing well guitar.

I believe that because of the pressure in the industries the management often set too high goals for people to fail, not to achieve. And while people fail, they develop a habit of failing and lose confidence in achieving. Since they can not meet the goals anyhow, why should they bother even to make any efforts?

What we can learn from Katharine is to make changes or improvements seem to be easy, so we can succeed and we have the ambition to overachieve, not because of the pressure coming from outside, but because of the inner drive to be the best we can be!

House Leasing Termination

2009-07-03T11:30:00.000+02:00

After two years leasing of a house within a compound in Hong Qiao, Shanghai, we decided to terminate the contract and started to look for an apartment. There are a couple reasons for it.

The house is little old, built in 2002. The windows are not tight, so it is cold in winter and hot in summer. We had to switch on the air condition all the time to keep the temperature under control, which cost money and was not environment friendly.

There are also other reasons for us to leave. The compound is not particularly well managed. When I use the gym, there is always something missing, water, water cups or towels. I had to call the service personnel to get them.

Then there was a problem with the club house. Some private drivers of the compound tenants slept on the sofa of the club house during the day. And the management decided to create a small, closed room within the club house to let the drivers sleep there. And now the club house looks really awful.

When the service person heard that we are leaving, she came to us and politely asked us to stay and ensured us that her management will consider any conditions we might have on our mind. We could take another house nearby etc. And I got the sense that she really wants us to stay, because there are already several other empty houses they are looking for tenants for.

I could also sense that when the situation continues with the leaving tenants, the management may think to cut number of employees for the compound. And we do really like the service personnel. They are nice, polite and available and do everything we ask for. We also observed that the compound management does not put his heart to manage the compound, but instead taking care of his private business.

I feel sorry for the employees there and think about some large companies where the management made mistakes and employees had to go. The world is not fair and far from perfect. And I would like to call for actions for all managers to take more responsibilities for the people below them, because their fate is dependent on your competence, dedications and decisions. Thank you.

People From Countryside

2009-06-30T11:21:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday, I was underway with a taxi. A bicycle came unexpected crossing the road, so the taxi driver had to break strongly. He screamed: “Another guy from countryside! Once from countryside, always from countryside!”

I could not say with 100% certainty that this guy really is from countryside. He was well addressed and looked pretty like a city boy.

As we stopped at the crossing waiting at the left turn lane, the light for the left turn changed to green, while the light for strait forward traffic remained red. The car before us did not recognise the change and stayed there.

“Another guy from countryside”, I joked to the taxi driver. He laughed and said: “The car is from good brand, an Opel. He may not be from countryside. I do not understand, people who can afford Opel can not drive.”

Over the weekend, a building during the construction in Shanghai failed down. I am ashamed that such thing can happen in Shanghai. I never heard anything like this happened anywhere in the world. I am not sure how the Shanghai Chinese would think about it. They might say that the building was built by people from countryside.

That phenomena stimulated me to think about some groups of people in Germany who blame the foreigners, when the unemployment rate is going up. Or when something in the company went wrong, we tend to finger point other organisations.

But studies show that when we face a problem, 80% of the issues can be addressed inside the system. When people are young they try to fix the world, when they are getting older and wiser they tend to fix themselves. Maybe I am just getting older :-)

Do You Believe in Destiny?

2009-06-26T08:12:00.000+02:00

Here is a real life SMS (short messages via mobile phone) communication:

Friend: “Do you believe in destiny?”

Me: “Yes. A destiny YOU have created.”

Friend: “Do you mean my characters?”

Me: “No. Your predominantly habitual way of thinking.”

Friend: “I see…”

Me: “Read the book ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne.”

Friend: “Just ordered the book on line.”

A SMS communication like this probably changed one person’s life, forever. More than 25 years ago I decided to enter into Telecommunications, because I believed that this is the area that has huge impact on people’s live.

More for the Secret:

How to Become Smarter?

2009-06-24T11:01:00.000+02:00

I seldom receive any SMS (short messages via mobile phone), so I was positively surprised to get an SMS from a friend asking: “How can I become smarter?”

This is a really good question and my immediate reaction was: “Read a lot, talk often to smarter people and take on challenging assignments.” After responded the SMS, I thought it might helpful to find some examples.

Read a lot books. My daughter Sophia is very smart. I believe that the key reason for her smartness was that she read a lot books during the early years. She could finish reading a book within one a two days. And she already read thousands of books.

Talk to smart people. I knew some self improvement trainers often interviewed hundreds of top people to get insights how those people are successful. Afterwards they become star trainers, because they unconsciously apply the methods they learned from the interview for their daily work and life.

Take on challenging assignment. There are people who were not particularly smart from their scores at the school or at the university. But they are keen to be successful in their professional life. So they create their own business or apply for challenge jobs. Since the job is so demanding, they have to work enormous amount of time, meet and resolve unbelievable problems. Afterwards, they are able to respond sharply and quickly to any challenges.

Smartness is less a question of genes, but a question of deliberate practice.

My Guitar Teacher and His Time Value

2009-06-22T09:46:00.000+02:00

Since June 2008 I have started taking guitar lesson every Saturday. My teacher Mr. S is 24 years old, very talented in playing guitar and in teaching. He is always calm and patient and never gets angry.

26 years ago I also learnt playing guitar in Germany for one year and then stopped, since I was too busy with the study. When I think back, that time Mr. S was even not born. Now, he had learnt playing guitar well, had become a teacher with around 100 students. Time changes everything.

Mr. S has a regular job at the government institution. I could never figure out what he is doing there. My impression is though that the job must be boring, because he gives 40 hours of guitar lessons per week in addition to his regular job. He does it well and has fun obviously.

As a guitar teacher he works for a music school. Since the demand for leaning guitar is growing recently (talking about recession), he was asked to teach additional students. Because it is impossible for him to spend more time, he came to me und asked if I would be willing to take a large class instead of one on one lessons, so he can add more students.

The deal is structured like this. I would pay only half the price and would stay double the time with him. So the price per hour would be only one fourth. It sounds a good deal for me. He will take up to 8 students in the large class, so the total income for the school as well as for him per hour would be also doubled. This is a truly win-win situation.

The moral of the story: there is a limit of how much time you can work per week, even for a talented and ambitions Chinese like Mr. S. If you want to get more done, you have to increase the time value.

3 Ways to Quickly Learn Any New Subjects: Visual, Auditive, or Kinaesthetic

2009-06-18T05:32:00.000+02:00

In today’s dynamic environment you may need to often change job, move to other industry or location, or enter into completely different business as before. Quickly learning a new subject becomes the chief skill for your career, your financial success and your level of happiness. So what are the most efficient ways to learn a new subject?

The answer is “It depends”. You have three different main channels of learning: the visual, the auditive and the kinaesthetic. Most likely you have developed a preferred channel of learning a new skill. For lot professionals due to our current education system the preferred channel is visual.

If you are a visual type, you may want to start to collect as much as possible reading material for the subject. Thanks google you can find tons of documents, presentations, graphics, photos and videos on internet. Scan quickly all the materials you can find out. Then start to ask yourself a simple question: what do I want to achieve at the end of the reading journey? Be specific about your goals. The next step is to select top three materials which you believe will lead you quickly toward your goals. Then start to read and often pause and test if you have already achieved some of your goals. Revise your reading strategies, when you have the feeling that you are off the track.

In case you are auditive type, the best way to learn is to talk with the best experts in this area. Ask around: “Who are the best experts in the area?” Then schedule a time with them one by one by saying: “I spoke with a lot of people and found out that YOU are the expert in this subject. I want to learn more from you. Would you mind to spend one hour with me to talk about it?” Usually he or she will agree. And then before you go to the first expert, prepare a list of precise questions what you like to have answered. Before you go to the next expert, prepare another list, because then you already know a lot. At the end of an interview you can ask the expert: “Who else I should talk to be beneficial for me?”

Should you are a kinaesthetic type the best way is “learning by doing”. Volunteer in projects related to the subject or take seminars where there are role plays or where you can work on case studies. If you are lucky to be able to work on projects, speak with the project leader: “I am new in the subject and have a lot to learn, but my skills are communicating with people, I am good at influencing people to give their best, (or what so ever fits to you), may I use my skills to add value to the project, while I can learn?” If you meet a good project leader, then he and you will quickly figure out how to place you to contribute to the project, while you can learn.

Even though you may have a preferred learning channel, you can still combine the different learning methods to activate simultaneously all three main channels, visual, auditive and kinaesthetic. This holistic approach will deliver you the best learning results.

In case you have unlearnt to use one of the main learning channel, starting to play a music instrument will reactivate it, because you have to use your eyes to see the notes, while you are using your ears to listen to the music and playing the instrument with your hands. The best thing in practicing music instrument is that you learn while you are having fun. And having fun should be the key motivation for learning anything!

How to Raise Children Effectively?

2009-06-16T04:08:00.000+02:00

On Friday 12, my first daughter Sophia finished the high school (Abitur) at the German School Shanghai. The whole family went there for the celebration. Sophia got the best scores at the school and received in addition three awards in Physics, in arrangements for different activities and for the competition of best foreign schools.

After the celebration some parents came to my wife and me and asked: “How do you raise your children?” This was a very good question. Honestly we never thought about it before. It is like to ask a slim person, how she keeps her body slim. Most likely she just does not know, because she was slim for the entire life. Sophia got always the best scores.

But when we reflected our experience with Sophia’s education, we may want to mention one thing that contributed most to her success. Sophia tried to do a lot of things in early years including writing creative texts, designing web sites, playing theatre, playing piano, participating technical camps and participating reading competitions.

During the course of years, she some times shifted the interests. What so ever jumped into her mind, we always encouraged her to do. When she was successful, we were happy with her. When she wanted to do something else we said that’s fine to try something new. For selection of university and subjects we never had any preoccupation and instead asked her to explore herself what she really likes.

So what did we really do in her development? Not much. We leave her in free run, encourage her to try new things and play some role models ourselves. And we are extremely happy with the results and the little time we have invested.

Noodle Soup and Birthday Surprise

2009-06-10T11:06:00.000+02:00

As a born Chinese I usually celebrate my birthday in a very simple way. My wife cooks some noodle soup for us all and we eat together. Noodle should symbolize a long life. No birthday present, no birthday cake and no “happy birthday” song. I am a happy person and we are a happy family. There is nothing extra needed.

This year when my birthday arrived, I did really not expect anything from any one, except the noodle soup. I stood up as usual at 6:45am and went to the kitchen. As I saw near my noodle soup (with an extra baked egg) a heart constructed with rose blossoms and in the middle of the heart a CD “The best guitar gems”, tears almost came down from my eyes.

I start to understand how much emotion can be hidden in the word surprise. Why don’t we just do a little more to our customers, employees or bosses than expected? Why shouldn’t we surprise them? It will make a huge difference and it costs little time and money. All you need is to have a heart to those you really care about.

Coaching for Talented Leaders

2009-06-08T05:48:00.000+02:00

Why do talented leaders still need coaching? They are smart people. They have skills to lead big organisations or companies, driving excellent results, and they even have coaching capability to help others to be better. Why do they still need coaching for themselves?

The answer is pretty simple. Although talented leaders know how to behave in almost all the situations – theoretically - they some times miss the perspectives from others. They are so focused leading other people and can sometimes not clearly see themselves in the equation. Therefore they need a mirror.

Good coaching provides them other party’s perspective, a mirror that should reflect exactly how they appear to others. Therefore excellent coaches do not teach. They ask questions instead of giving instructions. Those questions will lead to more clarity and insight about how the person being coached really is, how he thinks, behaves and acts.

Personally I coach regularly 3 to 4 people whom I really respect and admire. And I have people coaching me on regular basis. Some times we coach each other on different subjects.

It is really a rewarding activity for the coach and for the person being coached, because while you get to know yourself better through different perspective, your goals and purpose of life will become crystal clear, you will feel happier.