The art of REAL listening

I believe the art of real listening needs to begin with the idea that as a listener – I might see the world slightly different from the way I’ve always seen it after THIS conversation.

When one adopts this attitude. A few miraclous things will happen. Besides the obvious where one doesnt listen merely to check off what’s already decided in one’s head…..a surprising change is one really listens and suddenly what the other person has to say is so fresh and interesting.

Try it and surprise yourself!

Is Mahathir finding fault with Singapore?

The better question to ask is WHY?

I think he’s looking for a crowbar. Either that of he knows, his administration has to shovel out billions of ringgit to pull out from signed agreements of the previous administration.

Will Mahathir find an angle. Probably not. But that will not stop him from trying….after all what does he have to lose.

Anwar’s Paradox

As it is….Anwar can take PKR out of the Pakatan Harapan coalition and seize power and become PM of Malaysia. But every day that he delays making his move, Mahathir & Co and his Bersatu party will grow bigger and stronger.

If things are left as it is. Bersatu is likely going to be bigger than even PKR….if that happens Anwar will never be the PM of Malaysia.

Billion$ tent party

In 1971, the Shah of Iran, the self-proclaimed ‘king of kings’, celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian monarchy by throwing the greatest party in history. Money was no object – a lavish tent city, using 37km of silk, was erected in a specially created oasis. The world’s top restaurant at the time, Maxim’s, closed its doors for two weeks to cater the event, a five-course banquet served to over sixty of the world’s kings, queens and presidents, and washed down with some of the rarest wines known to man. Over a decadent five-day period, guests were treated to a pageant of thousands of soldiers dressed in ancient Persian costume, a ‘son et Lumiere’ at the foot of Darius the Great’s temple, and the opening of the Azadi Tower in Tehran, designed to honour the Shah himself. Every party leaves a few hangovers. This one left a country reeling, never to recover. It crystallised the opposition, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. More than any other event, this party marked the break between the king of kings and the people of Iran he reigned over.

The fall of heaven – the last shah of Iran

https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2016/09/the-u-s-relationship-with-iran/

The podcast is most insightful. I have always wondered – how would the middle east be like today IF the US foreign policy had been less psychotic during the late 70’s.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06yhbz5

Sounddawg – the shepherd

https://archive.org/details/THESHEPHERDRetold

http://sounddawg.net/shep2/

http://sounddawg.net/storytelling-online/

Imperial Airways – the era of flying boats

Airlines of the past recreated

Panam Lounge in Berlin.

http://www.lamag.com/askchris/fine-dining-at-30000-feet-the-history-of-airline-food/

Airline food

I know alot of travellers usually give airline food the thumbs down….but I like it. Infact I like it so much. I might just take a trip just to enjoy inflight dinning and hospitality. May well be I dont get much opportunities to travel lately. But I am slowly and surely coming out of my shell.

More….

Shot with an ipad

Corrections

The very moment you decide to learn more about your faults. I think you have successfully prised open a door that has never been opened before somewhere in your mind. In the room hangs a phanthom mirror….the image that is reflected is not always endearing or pretty. But if you can put up with the discomfort of this room and what you see in this mirror. I think you’re well on your way to fashioning a new reincarnated self who can bring joy to yourself and others.

Most people run out….hang in there.

CNY in Thailand

All shot by me with an ipad

On responsibility

If you look around….I dont mean just look like you’re playing Soduku or Pokemon at the same rime. But really look so hard that your eyes hurt. You will find one enduring truism. The people who never run away from responsibility and take it up willingly without complaining are all better at managing themselves and others.

This is not like a nine out of ten rule. Rather its has a reliability factor of nine hundred and ninety nine over a thousand.

The people who shirk responsibiliy by will or simply because they feel its a burden are ALL weak and suffer from chronic low confidence and if they start something they never ever get around to finishing it….they’re just unreliable and useless.

So if you have the opportunity to bear the burden of responsibity stick out your chest like a proud pigeon, put up your hand high and try to look like someone who can do a bloody good job!

Do just this again and again and you will be great one day!

I promise you….people who run away from responsibility are all losers!

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‘Most people see responsibility as a burden. They see it as extra work that if they elect to take up, it just means if anything goes wrong….they will get blamed. But think about it. Do you make friends with conditions that you’re comfortable or uncomfortable with. Think seriously about it. Because if you keep saying no to anything in the discomfort zone. You’re saying no to new knowledge because the discomfort zone is the birth place of new experiences and where you stretch your mind, body and spirit.

But the moment you say ‘yes,’ suddenly everything acquires a sense of urgency. Suddenly the buck stops when your name is called…that’s why people who regularly read my material are big on taking up the burden of responsibility. They know deep down its a blessing and never a curse.’

Let sleeping dogs lie

By me with an ipad

Why I had to cut off!

I’ve gone thru it a thousand times in my head. There’s no possible way for him to get confused on the facts concerning T. None whatsoever. When I eliminate all improbabilities. There’s only one possibility, his role was to introduce disinformation into the narrative to further the business agenda of my rivals.

It was a brazen strategy that relies on surprise.

If I bought it hook, line and sinker, it would have certainly increased their chances of success dramatically…..but I checked up.

L was caught out in the open….red handed….with his pants down.

T and his planners know L is no longer an asset that can further their goal.

L is toast.

They also realize since the cat is out of the bag. Their job became harder by 1,000 percent. As they have lost the element of surprise….without surprise everything is uphill.

At some critical point in the foreseeable future to prosecute on their strategy.

They would need to engage me.

There’s a decision nexus that T’s planner will face.

Do we do this in a peaceful or confrontational way? Or to we A and B by adopting a hybrid strategy.

The penalties for T’s planner to adopt a confrontational strategy has increased dramatically because of FM. Best case FM will annul their plans. Worst case, if FM gets infiltrated, it will buy me time and blunt their moves.

Second option. They will adopt a cooperative strategy. FM will supply plenty of motivation for them to do this.

Why is he so hard to deal with?

He was not always this difficult. I believe once upon a time, he was probably as predictable as the tides….but a series of bad experiences slowly changed him into the person he is today…mistrustful, suspicious and rigid.

I know no one likes him. But when I still my mind and calm my heart. All I can see before me is a victim and someone who bears alot of painful scars.

If I want his business. I need to be super clear on what exactly he wants. I need to pay close attention to the specifications, delivery schedule and payment. As he will monitor all these like a hawk.

Providing I keep to these three with military discipline.

I do not see ANY problems.

But if I so much as deviate from any of these 3 criterias by one millimeter….there will certainly be hell to pay.

Despite his reputation. I believe it is still an exceptional good deal. First he is reasonable and careful with the timeline. Secondly he has field experience and this gives him valuable insights to scale his expectations very accurately and this means in the event of any changes providing it is logical, he will make allowances. Thirdly, he is a good pay master and he comes across as a man who doesnt mind paying slightly more for quality, reliability and a hassle free deal.

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‘When you come across someone who prefers his or her own company. Dont for one moment fall into the trap of least mental resistance and assume this person is reserved and anti social…..if you look carefully…..you will actually see a victim.

This insight will enable you to be kind, compassionate and considerate….always remember this.’

Land & War

The otherside desperately needs to sell their land at a favorable price. I have no intentions to buy that parcel of land. Its not personal, its strictly business as its a lousy parcel.

Given that I am the adjacent lot owner. Its only a matter of time before they will resort to threats to cut off either my water or electricity to get me to buy the land….if this does not work. Then they will blockade me by denying me right of access and water and electricity.

They may not want to do it. But they’re desperate and when people are pushed to a corner, they will do anything and everything.

War is inevitable.

I must prepare for war…..maybe I have six months to prepare.

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‘When I advise people to grow teeth that are razor sharp. Some people will say that I am being aggresive and militantly defensive. But what my critics do not seem to understand is just because something has the agency of power doesnt mean its going to be used. For example if you learn martial arts. Does that mean you’re going to give everyone you come across a round house kick?

My argument goes like this – by learning martial arts, you know how to transform your body into a weapon. That makes you much more secure than someone who doesnt know how to defend themselves. It also gives you confidence to negotiate your way out of trouble.

So now you understand why you need to grow razor sharp teeth and more importantly learn how to use it.’

DAU

There is fear and of course…there is fear

For me I dont see the fear of fear as a bad thing or undesirable condition per se. I happen to believe far too much has been invested in banishing fear and the common assumption is when we do so….we will be free to presumably do what we want. But fear is not necessarily a bad thing. I climb. And its good to fear because if one doesnt have that firmly in ones hand…one will fall and die…..so to me the idea of banishing away fear is not a logical response.

It is too simplistic.

It would make more sense if we seek to understand and live in peace with our fears.

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‘People who sermonize that if fear can be banish we can do anything under the sun including flying like Dumbo all suffer from a flawed argument. As fear is an elemental and primal aspect of the human condition. It is a survival response that has taken millions of years to evolve into what it is today. So to assume all this is unnecessary, useless and can be switch off like a hair dryer without supplying a superior case is to me stupid and possibly criminally negligent.

Understand this! Nature is a very competent engineer. She is like one of those no nonsense German engineers who design farming heavy machinery like combine harvesters. Everything that is THERE is there for a well thought out purpose, its not like those American cars where the designers seem to suffer from the split personality of confusing cars with their living rooms. So if nature meant for us to fear. You better believe it is necessary and possibly vital.

This leads me to the conclusion all teachings on this subject is seriously flawed.

Fear is necessary to live well. Fear like fire and the caprice of the wind can be harnessed and recruited as a servant.

We must go deep into the sum of our fears and come out from the otherside. This is the only way to understand fear. Only once can it be understand that it can be tooled to be useful.’