Three Good Lines

"You'll need to figure for yourself how you can go further"

This was heard in yoga class a little while back. The lady who runs the yoga place was conducting the lesson and it was my first time under her instruction. The class was alright, not very aggressive, not too challenging. In one pose called rabbit, she came behind me to adjust my not-straight arms as they grabbed on to my heels. Moving them away from the heels towards my toes, my arms straightened and suddenly there was room to move. I curled in deeper and she held my shins closer. It's that old cliche - "I felt muscles that I never knew existed" - that applied there and then. There was new twinges of agony and pain too. I had gone further than I had been before in the pose. It felt awesome. The instructor did her job, by showing me what she meant with her words.

Some journeys you just have to figure out on your own to realise something great.

"The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining"

I was at this half-day meeting of the marketing minds. Held at posh St. Regis where the service staff great everyone and are proactive to check with lost-looking wanderabouts, the conference was organised to tell everyone that there were new rules in the marketing game. The traditional way of tackling the consumer was becoming less important by the day and we needed to wake up to the new reality of hyperspeedy communication, plummeting satisfactions levels and brand dis-loyalty. One chap, from my ex ex job was there in his Teutonic glory and espoused the line above. He explained how his top dog told the company she needed everyone to commit to 50% digital advertising spend in a couple of years. (Those not familiar, most companies spend less than 10% of their advertising budgets online. SG companies spend less than 2% that way). They knew they had to get it done because the world of consumerism was changing too quickly not to start then. They did it and made it work. ROIs and all.

He also said 9/10 of CEOs believe they deliver customer satisfaction well; 1/10 consumers believe what a brand tells them; and 8/10 people believe what their friends tell them.

Yes, agreed. Fix now and survive later. That applies to a lot of things - fire insurance, charging batteries, library books, bills, upgrades, anti-virus software updates. There are longer term things too I guess like health and exercise. I haven't made nominee for my CPF yet.

Right, do things now, be less pissed later.

"The race is long and in the end, it's only with yourself"

This is a line from the Baz Luhrmann song - "Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen". I've heard it quite a few times recently, strange given it isn't that new or chart-topping. The whole song is about giving advice to young people about to set out to make a name/living for themselves in the world. It's a good song and applies to almost everyone who's caught up in modern corporate city life. This line reminds one not to take life too seriously. Good things happen, enjoy them but don't expect every day to be a 3-day Christmas weekend in Phuket. Bad things happen and we may end up in tears about them, but don't wind yourself to be a failure or wallow in misery too long. It ain't worth it. Let it go and carry on.

I read a book entitled "Why toast always lands the butter side down" that started off with a little introduction to how our brain works and processes information. To protect you, your brain remembers the bad things. That's why we think bad things happen in threes, recall the screwups other people got you involved in (as opposed to the good things they've done for you) and to be careful with a kettle on the stove even though there isn't steam emerging from the spout. As a result, we become cynical. That's fine as long as we know that in the end, not much of the stuff you think is important now will matter.

So relax. Take a deep breath. Your life's alright.