Sunday, June 21, 2009

Remembering Father's Day

21 June, 2009 I was invited to Father's day Lunch at Yaki-Yaki Restaurent with Vivien and Jaszlyn by Chong Sun Fu for celebrating Father's day with Chong's father and Mdm Chong---a hearty sea-food. When I reached home, Elisha Lim phoned from Hawaii and wished me "Happy Father's Day!" and invited me to Hawaii for a vacation.

Strange, I have never felt so honored this day in my life.

But, the most memorable day was when I received my Patriarchal Blessing was on Father's Day on 19 June, 1977 when the Patriarch, Bruce McConkie, brother of Mcconkie one of the Twelve, blessed me. He said that this special blessing was given as if Father in Heaven Himself would have said those words. How lucky and honored I was to receive it as the first Malaysian Church member to blessed with! Some of the things had come to pass, while others are yet to come! And on Father's Day, I said a special prayer for my mother, 98, to get well, and the well being for my family, relatives and friends.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Only Option

When Winston Churchill spoke to the graduates at one University, he spoke five words of encouragement: Never, never, Never GIVE UP!, then he sat down; he created history for giving the shortest public speech.
Now, shall I sit down?
No, Cheers to the Toastmasters International Club for being the icon for Public Speaking!

This evening, I want to encourage you: The Only Option to achieve Success in your dream in your battle for life. Toastmasters speak, speak, speak and persist, persist, persist in developing Communication skills and Leadership Proficiency.

They do not suffer from Glossophobia (fear of Public Speaking) because they have gone through the grill, the drill and the thrill in Public Speaking program from the Icebreaker speech to more progressive speeches developing the basic skills in Communication from acquiring the Competent Communicator (AC) , Advanced Commuinicator (AC) until achieving the final status of being the Distinguished Toastmaster(DTM).

We persist in practicing the skills until we become perfect., which reminds me about the great psychologist, Emerson's advice, which is also echoed by one Church Leader, Heber J. Grant:

That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do not because the nature of the things has changed, but the power to do is increased.

It is like reaching Mt. Everest in Public Speaking at your own pace! Thanks to Dr. Ralph C. Smedley for pioneering this exclusive training for self-development and organizational leadership where more than 3 million people have benefited from it. Indeed, that which we persist in doing becomes easier.
not that the nature of things has changed but the POWER TO DO becomes EASIER! That is PERSISTENCE with determination and patience!
I believe that Persistency and Never Give Up attitude are keys to the Only Option to achieve Success, when other choices fail.

As a result of Toastmastering,we establishes three Gs--

First G---Gain knowledge about public speaking, communication skills and Leadership Skills. Gain from the Toastmasters' Activities.
Second G---Give and share our knowledge with others through giving role plays like Grammarian, evaluator,general evaluator, and becoming leaders in Exco Members, Area Governor or Div. or District Governor.
The Third G-Grow and Progress in our Leadership Skills and Communication Skills, in a friendly and supportive environment, where we uplift our friends to greater heights.

Thus, we built the three Gs-Gain, Give, and Grow.
Otherwise, we may suffer the opposite effectsof
three Ds- WE may deteriorate, degenerate, and decay/ and die.
Now, do we want to have the three Gs or three Ds?
Of course we want to Gain, Give and Grow in our life. Don't you agree?

Famous individuals in history have the common experience of defeat, even at rock bottom after many years of defeat, suffering, agony and pain.

Yet they picked themselves up and started again. Thomas Edison, after 1000 failures in finding the right bulb filament, has brought darkness to light for the world.
Each failure to him is a lesson learnt as one coming closer to his achievement. Abraham Lincoln failed 18 times to get a public position, but the last one made him one of the most outstanding Presidents of USA\ granting emancipation or freedom from slavery and bondage for the Blacks;
Roger Bannister in 1954 broke the limiting belief of human athletes the four minute mile, after which in the same year, 100 broke the four minute mile. Since then more than 27, 000 have achieved that record.
After many failures by man to reach the highest peak, Mount Everest was conquered by Hillary and Tensing in 1953, after which thousands have followed likewise by following a guided tour, even our three Malaysians reached MT. Everest.

Michael Jordon, the Basketball legend,was a short man of 5 ft high when he was a teenager, including his family members who were short. He was passionate in his desire to be a Basket Ball player, despite the fact that basket ball players were seven feet tall and above. He enrolled himself in a basket Ball College upon being spotted for his talents by his coach. There he practised day and night, even slept there, playing basketball. When he was selected as the player, he worked his way to become a Basket Ball legend, standing about 8 ft tall with acclodes of Basket Ball winnings.
His success---his great passion and persisitence to be a great basket Ball player! That was his only option to his success!

After several years of training. People who succeed have encoded in their subconscious mind the image of success through persistence a powerful success mentality. The same can be said of a failure.

Stop using the negative talk: I can't, and I won't.
Substitute them with positive words like, Yes, I can, I will and I am able. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can a man be perfected without trials and persistence.

Since the subconscious mind cannot distinguish fact from fiction, encourage actions that confirm positively, e.g. hypnotic effect is true. Nothing can take the place for persistence; talent will not- genius will not-education will not.

Persistence and determination are omnipotent Calvin Coolidge (mid-1920). A man who has gone through trials and persistence will eventually become a better man, more refined in character, understanding and more loving and humble individual. When you dream of victories that lie ahead, think positively, dream big and take small steps of actions to achieve it.

Have you experienced the consuming passion of a lover who persist in capturing the heart of his dream-girl, planning craftily every step of the way? Never, never, NEVER GIVE UP on your dream! The Only Option to achieve Success!
Persist in your righteous desires and your path to attain them becomes easier.

Have written affirmations: Everyday and in every way, I am getting better and better (French psychologist, Emile Coue). .
When Emile went out of drugs for her heart patients, she used the mental therapy on her patients and they recovered believing in her self-talk. A strong belief with persistence enables individuals to achieve seemingly impossible aims, overcoming fear, ridicule, hardship and even pain. How many of you have felt the immerse joy when you have realized your dream-- even despite difficulty, opposition, poverty and even grief? I am convinced that every individual can improve day to day and has a greater capacity to do things from year to year when he has the passion to see it through.

I BELIEVE IN THAT WITH ALL MY HEART. They who improve even one talent will see the day when they will outshine those who have ten talents but fail to improve them. WE have all experienced that it requires no effort at all to roll down the hill but it does require great effort to climb the hill to the summit. No pain, no gain with no persistence.

Yesterday, I heard a man said that he could not give up smoking or drinking. I don't believe he speaks the truth. I think he lacks the disposition to try and give up the bad habit. When someone pleads for help to be given one more chance to change his life, be sure to adorn him with the best robe of service you have, providing support, encouragement and patience.

Be kind to one another in thought, speech and deed. Be a little forgiving to those who are weak for you may never know you may need the forgiveness yourself one day too. When you look into the mirror--who do you see? Your beautiful self. Do you want to be kind to him? Yes. When you treat others, just think you see yourself there.

Treat just as kind to others as you would with yourself in the mirror. Remember, persistence in righteous desires can help us develop talents, attain our goals, and serve others in the spirit of charity. That which we persist in doing diligently becomes easier and achievable to fulfill our dreams. This I believe wholeheartedly. So, do not give up your dream. Never, never, never at all, give up--the only option to achieve success, where and when others fail, in the battle of life. Just do it , do it now, do it again and again until you succeed\x{2014}eventually and you will be blessed abundantly!

There are four qualities that will help you to win the battle of life.

They are :-
1. Consuming passion or obsessive possession of a strong purpose in life. Begin with an end in mind ( your dream/goal/result).
2. Persistence to stick to your dream or desirable goal or strong belief, no matter what.
3. Plan strategies to organize resources of opportunities to get there.
4. Determination to succeed despite failures, rejection, opposition or discouragement.

I believe that when we have an ambition or burning desire to accomplish things, we can achieve anything. I say, ANYTHING, not just something, fellow Toastmasters. Nothing is impossible when you are persistent in working passionately towards your dream, your desirable goal or strong belief.

In order to succeed in life, we should have a MAP for our own chartered course.

M-Motivation or Model. What motivates you to change for the better? SElf Motivation for your goal or strong purpose or a hero model to follow?

A-Awareness.What are your strong points to stress or weaknesses to improve? Self-awareness/appraisal with critical self-analysis.

P-Practice /Persistence...of new model or way to upgrade oneself. Think outside the box for changing to an open mind to accept more ideas.

Without a map in life, we cannot hope to change from bad to good, good to better and better to the best.

As a Leader, Ceo or a parent, we should create a conducive environment for people to accept change and meet challenges in life. Toastmasters Clubs provide a supportive and friendly environment for learning, for growth-climate to thrive on. A conducive environment is the key to accept changes or meet challenges for improvement, and provide creativity and outside the box type of thinking of new ideas and acceptance.....LOVE, understanding, kindness to one another, forgiving and uplifting one another are some great feelers of growth-climate for individuals to grow and progress, with greater skills in communication,leadership, knowledge, & technology.
Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, once , a remarked, "No one has the right to criticize another without an alternative solution to the problem."
Building a close relationship with people requires an emotional intelligence to interact with people kindly through respect and trust, which provide special bonds between two parties.

Do you honestly believe that? In business, fear of failure and fear of change for a persisting period are the two factors that most hinder our progress. I believe that most fears are based on events that have happened nowhere else than in our imagination.

It is said that fear is a dark room where negatives are developed and that it is an acronym for:-
F - FALSE
E - EXPECTATIONS
A - APPEARING
R - REAL

Think about the time and energy you put into fear inducing negative scenarios.
How different it would be if the same time and energy were spent thinking about successful outcomes.
From my own experience, I was a lousy artist. In fact when I was in primary school, my teacher said I drew pictures like humpty dumpty\x{2014}oversized head and small bodies. I was embarrassed.
So, I decided to find out who was the best artist in class. At art class, I sat next to him, making him my best friend.
I copied what he drew, got tips from him, practiced at home, drawing my favorite persons, like the three musketeers. At the Govt. exam. I won the top artist award, and everyone was shocked. I persisted and practiced hard at home.
Even my son, Elisha Lim, and daughter, Vivien Lim, achieved A1 in art after some tips on how to draw and color in the SPM exams. They did not attend art classes then. How did they do it? people inquired. They were grilled, drilled and thrilled in the art techniques for the SPM examinations. That which we persist in doing becomes EASIER not because the nature of things has changed but the power to do is increased and perfected. So, Never, Never, NEVER GIVE UP --the Only Option to achieve Success--at all in the battle of life, and you will surely be richly rewarded at last!
Wishing all of you the best for the coming year! I challenge each one of you to practice the Only Option to achieve Success---never, never, NEVER GIVE UP in your dreams! THINK of this as the ONLY OPTION you should practice---PERSIST and Make your dream a REALITY!

When Winston Churchill spoke to the graduates at one University, he spoke five words of encouragement: Never, never, Never GIVE UP!, then he sat down; he created history for giving the shortest public speech.
Now, shall I sit down?
No, Cheers to the Toastmasters International Club for being the icon for Public Speaking!

This evening, I want to encourage you: The Only Option to achieve Success in your dream in your battle for life. Toastmasters speak, speak, speak and persist, persist, persist in developing Communication skills and Leadership Proficiency.

They do not suffer from Glossophobia (fear of Public Speaking) because they have gone through the grill, the drill and the thrill in Public Speaking program from the Icebreaker speech to more progressive speeches developing the basic skills in Communication from acquiring the Competent Comunicator (CC) ,Advanced Communicator (AC) until achieving the final status of being the Distinguished Toastmaster(DTM).

We persist in practicing the skills until we become perfect, which reminds me about the great psychologist, Emerson's advice, which is also echoed by one Church Leader, Heber J. Grant:

That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do not because the nature of the things has changed, but the power to do is increased.

It is like reaching Mt. Everest in Public Speaking at your own pace! Thanks to Dr. Ralph C. Smedley for pioneering this exclusive training for self-development and organizational leadership where more than 3 million people have benefited from it. Indeed, that which we persist in doing becomes easier.
not that the nature of things has changed but the POWER TO DO becomes EASIER! That is PERSISTENCE with determination and patience!
I believe that Persistency and Never Give Up attitude are keys to the Only Option to achieve Success, when other choices fail.

As a result of Toastmastering,we establishe three Gs--

First G---Gain knowledge about public speaking, communication skills and Leadership Skills. Gain from the Toastmasters' Activities.
Second G---Give and share our knoledge with others through giving role plays like Grammarian, evaluator,general evaluator, and becoming leaders in Exco Members, Area Governor or Div. or District Governor.
The Third G-Grow and Progress in our Leadership Skills and Communication Skills, in a friendly and supportive environment, where we uplift our friends to greater heights.

Thus, we build the three Gs-Gain, Give, and Grow.
Otherwise, we may suffer the opposite effects of three Ds- WE may deteriorate, degenerate, and decay/ and die. Now, do we want to have the three Gs or three Ds?
Of course we want to Gain, Give and Grow in our life. Don't you agree?

Famous individuals in history have the common experience of defeat, even at rock bottom after many years of defeat, suffering, agony and pain.

Yet they picked themselves up and started again. Thomas Edison, after 1000 failures in finding the right bulb filament, has brought darkness to light for the world.
Each failure to him is a lesson learnt as one coming closer to his achievement. Abraham Lincoln failed 18 times to get a public position, but the last one made him one of the most outstanding Presidents of USA granting emancipation or freedom from slavery and bondage for the Blacks;
Roger Bannister in 1954 broke the limiting belief of human athletes the four minute mile, after which in the same year, 100 broke the four minute mile. Since then more than 27, 000 have achieved that record.
After many failures by man to reach the highest peak, Mount Everest was conquered by Hillary and Tensing in 1953, after which thousands have followed likewise by following a guided tour, even our three Malaysians reached MT. Everest.

Michael Jordon, the Basketball legend,was a short man of 5 ft high when he was a teenager, including his family members who were short. He was passionate in his desire to be a Basket Ball player, despite the fact that basket ball players were seven feet tall and above. He enrolled himself in a basket Ball College upon being spotted for his talents by his coach. There he practised day and night, even slept there, playing basketball. When he was selected as the player, he worked his way to become a Basket Ball legend, standing about 8 ft tall with acclodes of Basket Ball winnings.
His success---his great passion and persisitence to be a great basket Ball player! That was his only option to his success!

After several years of training. People who succeed have encoded in their subconscious mind the image of success through persistence a powerful success mentality. The same can be said of a failure.

Stop using the negative talk- I can't, I won't.
Substitute them with positive words like Yes, I can I will and I am able. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can a man be perfected without trials and persistence.

Since the subconscious mind cannot distinguish fact from fiction, encourage actions that confirm positively, e.g. hypnotic effect is true. Nothing can take the place for persistence; with the right attitude and action, anything can become possible, talent will not- genius will not-education will not.

Persistence and determination are omnipotent Calvin Coolidge (mid-1920). A man who has gone through trials and persistence will eventually become a better man, more refined in character, understanding and more loving and humble individual. When you dream of victories that lie ahead, think positively, dream big and take small steps of actions to achieve it.

Have you experienced the consuming passion of a lover who persist in capturing the heart of his dream-girl, planning craftily every step of the way? Never, never, NEVER GIVE UP on your dream! The Only Option to achieve Success!
Persist in your righteous desires and your path to attain them becomes easier.

Have written affirmations: Everyday and in every way, I am getting better and better (French psychologist, Emile Coue). .
When Emile went out of drugs for her heart patients, she used the mental therapy on her patients and they recovered believing in her self-talk. A strong belief with persistence enables individuals to achieve seemingly impossible aims, overcoming fear, ridicule, hardship and even pain. How many of you have felt the immerse joy when you have realized your dream-- even despite difficulty, opposition, poverty and even grief? I am convinced that every individual can improve day to day and has a greater capacity to do things from year to year when he has the passion to see it through.

I BELIEVE IN THAT WITH ALL MY HEART. They who improve even one talent will see the day when they will outshine those who have ten talents but fail to improve them. WE have all experienced that it requires no effort at all to roll down the hill but it does require great effort to climb the hill to the summit. No pain, no gain with no persistence.

Yesterday, I heard a man said that he could not give up smoking or drinking. I don't believe he speaks the truth. I think he lacks the disposition to try and give up the bad habit. When someone pleads for help to be given one more chance to change his life, be sure to adorn him with the best robe of service you have, providing support, encouragement and patience.

Be kind to one another in thought, speech and deed. Be a little forgiving to those who are weak for you may never know you may need the forgiveness yourself one day too. When you look into the mirror--who do you see? Your beautiful self. Do you want to be kind to him? Yes. When you treat others, just think you see yourself there.

Treat just as kind to others as you would with yourself in the mirror. Remember, persistence in righteous desires can help us develop talents, attain our goals, and serve others in the spirit of charity. That which we persist in doing diligently becomes easier and achievable to fulfill our dreams. This I believe wholeheartedly. So, do not give up your dream. Never, never, never at all, give up--the only option to achieve success, where and when others fail, in the battle of life. Just do it , do it now, do it again and again until you succeed eventually and you will be blessed abundantly!

There are four qualities that will help you to win the battle of life.

They are :-
1. Consuming passion or obsessive possession of a strong purpose in life. Begin with an end in mind ( your dream/goal/result).
2. Persistence to stick to your dream or desirable goal or strong belief, no matter what.
3. Plan strategies to organize resources of opportunities to get there.
4. Determination to succeed despite failures, rejection, opposition or discouragement.

I believe that when we have an ambition or burning desire to accomplish things, we can achieve anything. I say, ANYTHING, not just something, fellow Toastmasters. Nothing is impossible when you are persistent in working passionately towards your dream, your desirable goal or strong belief.

In order to succeed in life, we should have a MAP for our own chartered course.

M-Motivation or Model. What motivates you to change for the better? SElf Motivation for your goal or strong purpose or a hero model to follow?

A-Awareness.What are your strong points to stress or weaknesses to improve? Self-awareness/appraisal with critical self-analysis.

P-Practice /Persistence...of new model or way to upgrade oneself. Think outside the box for changing to an open mind to accept more ideas.

Without a map in life, we cannot hope to change from bad to good, good to better and better to the best.

As a Leader, Ceo or a parent, we should create a conducive environment for people to accept change and meet challenges in life. Toastmasters Clubs provide a supportive and friendly environment for learning, for growth-climate to thrive on. A conducive environment is the key to accept changes or meet challenges for improvement, and provide creativity and outside the box type of thinking of new ideas and acceptance.....LOVE, understanding, kindness to one another, forgiving and uplifting one another are some great feelers of growth-climate for individuals to grow and progress, with greater skills in communication,leadership, knowledge, & technology.
Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, once , a remarked, "No one has the right to criticize another without an alternative solution to the problem."
Building a close relationship with people requires an emotional intelligence to interact with people kindly through respect and trust, which provide special bonds between two parties.

Do you honestly believe that? In business, fear of failure and fear of change for a persisting period are the two factors that most hinder our progress. I believe that most fears are based on events that have happened nowhere else than in our imagination.

It is said that fear is a dark room where negatives are developed and that it is an acronym for:-
F - FALSE
E - EXPECTATIONS
A - APPEARING
R - REAL

Think about the time and energy you put into fear inducing negative scenarios.
How different it would be if the same time and energy were spent thinking about successful outcomes.
From my own experience, I was a lousy artist. In fact when I was in primary school, my teacher said I drew pictures like humpty dumpty oversized head and small bodies. I was embarrassed.
So, I decided to find out who was the best artist in class. At art class, I sat next to him, making him my best friend.
I copied what he drew, got tips from him, practiced at home, drawing my favorite persons, like the three musketeers. At the Govt. exam. I won the top artist award, and everyone was shocked. I persisted and practiced hard at home.
Even my son, Elisha Lim, and daughter, Vivien Lim, achieved A1 in art after some tips on how to draw and color in the SPM exams. They did not attend art classes then. How did they do it?people inquired. They were grilled, drilled and thrilled in the art techniques for the SPM examinations. That which we persist in doing becomes EASIER , not because the nature of things has changed but the power to do is increased and perfected. So, Never, Never, NEVER GIVE UP --the Only Option to achieve Success--at all in the battle of life, and you will surely be richly rewarded at last!
Wishing all of you the best for the coming year! I challenge each one of you to practice the Only Option to achieve Success---never, never, NEVER GIVE UP in your dreams! THINK of this as the ONLY OPTION you should practice---PERSIST and Make your dream a REALITY!

("The Only Option" by Anthony Lim 17/2/2004. at Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur won the International Speech Contest at Bintang ITC Toastmasters Club, Kuala Lumpur)
Labels: THE ONLY OPTION 2/25/08 by joylink Delete

1 – 1 of 1

Friday, June 5, 2009

Why I put my values of life in writing.

While I was watching a TV show about Mr. D suffering from lung cancer, an outstanding teacher among his peers, said to his loving students: "Do a useful thing every day: make every moment count" (Pres. Roosevelt), I realized most of us let time pass away.
Every parent wants to leave something of value to children----possession, property, philosophy or religion of belief, ideas or ideals, charity, kindness, etc, all these are usually cherised in the first generation--by word of mouth in remembrance. Unless we put the precious gems of life in writing to our generations, they can only remember them in one generation or two.
Thus, I have decided to write my thinking and works in writing with pictures,if possible, to perpetuate my values for my generations to carry on. Call it inspiration, if you like.