Macro vs Micro

A friend named Yi Qiu sent me a long message on Facebook, she painstakingly explained the whole process of macrocosmic vs microcosmic attitudes to life. Summarising these 2 concepts would be an analogy like this:

Are you the ant, or King Kong? Are you one that works better with the little details, or one that sees the big picture?

I believe macro vs microcosmic attitudes are two extremes of a continuum, most of us are a complex mixture of both attitudes. Some just have a tendency to sway heavily in favour of either side.

I believe I certainly am more of a macrocosmic person. Often I find myself taking a step back from everything, and think about the bigger picture. Oddly, seeing the macrocosmic picture helps me align the microcosmic part of things. For example, by pausing and thinking what I want to achieve in my future (the bigger picture), I am able to work out the things I need to do on a daily/weekly basis in order to help me get to where I want to be.

Having said that, I truly respect the people who are microcosmically oriented. These are like the lubricant that keeps engines going. In *my work setting, nurses are great microcosmic people. They are able to pay attention to all the details, and iron out all the mistakes I make unintentionally. Not to mention the TLC (tender loving care) they are able to provide patients. I've made an effort to learn from them, like giving that much needed smile and love to patients who have been suffering in hospital, offering a reassuring squeeze to the palms of these patients.

That I believe keeps me in balance, so I do not forget to keep in touch with the little things that matter.

So have you worked out whether you are more macrocosmic or microcosmically oriented yet?

Leadership

Some people are born leaders; others are made.

I've never thought of myself as anything less than a leader. In everything I did, I would always strive for the best, because only the best deserves to be the leader. After all, that's why they LEAD in the things they do right?

I could not be so wrong.

Leadership has taken on a new meaning to me. Sometimes leadership is not about the 'no-one-can-do-it-better-than-me' attitude, it's not about having to show everyone the best way to do things.

Leadership is about bringing out the best in people, bringing out the leader from within them. It's about being able to know who's the best person suited for the task, and letting him run the show. It's about standing behind the scenes, allowing those you lead to shine in your place.

Most importantly, leadership is about following. Following what your heart tells you is best for the people you lead.

Who am I

Dear Dr. Jason Goh of the future,

Have you manged to figure out who you truly are yet? Because at the moment I am really struggling to find peace with who I truly am. It seems I am divided into pieces; not really able to figure out who I am and what I really stand for. I vaguely know what I want in life, that is to live a life pleasing to God, and to benefit as many people as possible in the process, and I have already made up my mind to create the Maternal and Child Health Service in Malaysia, but...is that it? Is that all there is within me? Am I limited to just helping the kids of Malaysia? What about the people who are waiting for me to inspire them to go on and do greater things? The people who are asking for a leader to show them how it's done? Have you, dear future me, figured out the way to do it yet? How many people have you inspired so far? How many lives have you touched?

Please reply me ASAP, I look forward to your reply.

Cheers,

Dr. Jason Goh of the present.

Self-reflection

A lot has happened to me over the last 4 months. It's been quite a journey really.

Probably a bit of time for self-reflection.

Am I stronger?
YES

Am I more confident?
YES

Am I more generous?
YES

Am I a better leader?
YES

Am I better at time management?
YES

Am I more humble?
NO.

Damn. I wish I had a constant reminder in my head that gives me a big knock on my head whenever my head starts blowing up like a balloon. God I pray please give me humility, so that I can acknowledge that whatever I have, whatever success I achieve is because of your generosity.

Thank you God.

The Journey

We always tell ourselves to strive towards being successful, and say 'one day I will be successful'. But how many of us actually know what SUCCESS means?

To me, SUCCESS is not so much an end destination. We do not arrive at a place called SUCCESS.

It is a JOURNEY. We decide if we are successful or not, we decide whether we're on a success journey, or a journey of failure.

So the next time we think of our current life journey, think of the journey as being a successful one, and we will see the massive change in our outlook of life! =).

The Price to Pay

In life, there is always a price to pay.

The price may be BIG.
The price may be small.

The price may be looooooooooong.
The price may be short.

The price may be forever.
The price may be temporary.

The price may be money.
The price may be time.
The price may be freedom.
The price may be love.
The price may be family.
The price may be friends.

The price may be LIFE.

What is the price you are paying?

Gratitude

How often do we get so caught up by life that we forget to stop and thank God for the things that we have, and the things we have accomplished?

I have just started a gratitude journal, where I write down a whole page of things I'm grateful to God for, and, believe it or not, it works wonders! It completely transforms my frame of mind, and I no longer dwell on unfortunate events of happenings, and instead I focus on all the good things that have happened in my life...In fact, the gratitude journal writing activity works best when I've had a crap day, I can feel the change in my mood even as I write those grateful sentences down! =)

Have you started writing your gratitude journal yet? =)

Cheers.