self-improvement

COURSES IN SINGAPORE

January 21, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 1,391 Comments

I have listed down my New Year’s resolutions on paper. I am intent to keep my resolutions this year. I said to myself, A New Year, A Better Me. This year, I am aiming to improve myself, do more travels, spend more time on those things that I enjoy doing, travel more, lose weight, improve my blog and bake some more. But it is easier said than done. Based on the book This Year I will by MJ Ryan, one of the 10 resolution pitfalls is being vague about what you want. So I am going a notch higher by listing done the specific actions that would lead me to better fufill my resolutions for myself.

I have discovered this site that offers courses in Singapore that can help me with my goals for this year. If you know me, I love workshops and short courses of things that I am passionate about. You are talking to a lady who takes three classes on weekends when I was in college. I would take ballet classes, vocal coaching classes and classical voice lessons in one day. Sounds a bit crazy, right but I enjoy those things. It makes me grow more as person and I feel happier pursuing things that enhances my creativity ad self-improvement.

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TRAVEL

I love travelling and I love learning new languages. I enrolled myself once for a French language class but it didn’t push through because there were not enough students that enrolled. This year, my hubby and I plan to travel to Korea. I would like to learn a little bit of Korean before our trip. I would love to take a short course on how to speak Korean.

IMPROVE BLOG

This year, I want to take my blogging seriously. I would like to improve my blog and give it a more professional feel. I went for a blog critique session and one of feedback was to improve my phototaking skills. My mentor suggested I enroll in some photography classes to improve the quality of pictures I post. With the rise of Instagram and Pinterest, the visuals are important in gaining and retaining a better audience. There are courses offered for DSLR photography, expedition photography, events photography and mobile photography.

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WEIGHT LOSS

I still haven’t manage to kick off the remaining 5kg postpartum weight gain. I know that I don’t like jogging or running and that I hate fiddling with gym machines. But I know that I lose weight easier by dancing or yoga which I love. There are classes like Zumba, Basic Hip Hop Dance, Aerobics and Yoga. I could even try the Creative Movement or Animal Movement. They sound very interesting.

BAKE MORE

My oven is sitting quietly on my kitchen counter, begging to be used. I vowed to cook more cakes and cookies this year. There is a cake and bread class that I can join. Who knows this baking hobby might end up being very profitable this year?

I am so glad I am able to discover a site which can help me reach my goals for this year. They even have barista classes which I know my sister would be interested in.

For more information, go to www.learningcourses.com.sg

INSPIRATIONAL SUNDAY: ABOUT TIME MOVIE

October 13, 2013 by Little Miss Honey 290 Comments

Yesterday, my hubby and I watch a movie in Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. My poor husband was dragged into watching a cheesy love story Brit movie. Hahaha! We watched the movie, About Time starring Rachel McAdams. The movie is from the creators of Love Actually & Notting Hill.

The story is about a guy who has told by his father that the men in their family has the ability to time travel back in time. He met a cute girl named Mary (played by Rachel McAdams) and used this power to redo things to correct moments of his life.

I though I would be watching a full-blown cheesy lovey-dovey movie but rather it was a story about family and real life lessons. It is nice to have an ability of changing some circumstances or moments of our life. I am sure you all have that moment when you want to bite your elbow for doing that or saying that. What a relief if we all have the power to redo those moments. Those times like when you should have said yes to that job opportunity rather than saying no; the moment when you were all bitchy & hormonal when that was actually the night your hubby is going to propose to you; or the time when you have this small window of chance to get away & end a ongoing horrible relationship but you endured for a couple more years, much to your self-esteem’s anguish. But redoing the past can automatically change the future too as the protagonist learned. Not going to that party or show may mean you might not meet the love of your life or trying to fix your sibling’s troubled life can mean not having the child you have had before. I know sounds complicated, right? But his dad taught him something else– an experiment: To redo everyday. Meaning to live the day 2x. The 2nd time would be by enjoying and reliving it more happily. Everything is all in our mind. It all depends on how we approach the day, the circumstance and the moment. I know its easy said than done. But it is true. Having you heard this saying:

Dance like no one is watching

Sing like no one is listening

Love like you have never been hurt

Live like heaven is on earth

Unlike the protagonist, we don’t have the ability to redo our days and make it more extraordinary. But we have is the gift now and tomorrow. Live life to the fullest. Carpie Diem! as Robin Williams would say in the Dead Poets Society. Seize the day! We don’t know what tomorrow brings. We might fall flat died tomorrow (how morbid!) who knows but at least we know we had lived our life in the most amazing way we can with no regrets. Just like the protagonist, he didn’t even need to redo his days anymore in the end. He just lived everyday like it is the best day of his life. We can all do the same staring now…

Happy Sunday!

LITTLE MISS HONEY BOOK CLUB: SEARCH INSIDE YOURSELF

September 25, 2013 by Little Miss Honey 1,139 Comments

Google is synonymous to innovation, creativity and thinking-outside-the box. Google seem to be everywhere right now. It is represents freshness and new ideas. One of the engineers of Google, Singaporean Cheng-Meng Tan who calls himself Jolly Good Fellow wrote a book that would inspire people to achieve success, happiness and (Chade’s personal mission: World Peace). He wrote the book entitled Search Inside Yourself which is the same name of the course he also teaches in Google. An engineer who teaches about self-motivation and meditation, yes, that only happens in Google.

Being an engineer, Chade-Meng Tan approaches the goal of success, happiness and confidence in a very technical way. He analyzes the workings of the mind to get the desired solution. Reading this book, you can pick Meng Tan’s brain. You can really tell that he really is a ‘Jolly Good Fellow. He practices positivity. He stated that ‘Happiness is a default state of mind. Happiness is not something you pursue, it is something you allow. Happiness is just being’. Inside the book are scattered cartoons with funny conversations that make you laugh while you read the book to offset the some of the serious technical discussion of understandng the processes of the mind. Meng Tan is very insistent in the power of meditation. He swears by its magical powers when practicing mindful meditation. He promises it yields wonderful results. He said the importance is intention. He likened the mind while in mediation as a guard standing at the gate of the city watching people go in and out the city gates. He advised us to be aware of our attitude towrads ourselves and how we treat ourselves. He encourages that our attitude towards others should be shifted towards kindness and curiosity. I know that meditation can be tricky. It means keeping our mind relax and active at the same time and not allowing thoughts to stray. Meng Tan motivates us to start even just 5 minutes at day and see the results. Maybe if we all do practice this joyful mindfulness and zest for positivity and happiness, we all would be forgoing Prozac, successful in our chosen careers (hopefully become millionaires) and achieve the world peace that seem so unreachable nowadays.