Sacha Chua - tag - motivational

The Power of the Human Spirit

Sacha Chua — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 04:30:00 GMT

Irine Yu pointed me to the speech delivered by Intel Excellence in Teaching awardee Dr. Josette Biyo:

When your job becomes your mission, your primary concern is giving your best in everything you do. Knowing that you have contributed
significantly towards the creation of a product which can make a difference in your company and the larger community is reward in itself.

We can make a difference no matter who or what or where we are. If we know _why_, then the _how_ follows. =)

Surround yourself with exceptional people

Sacha Chua — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 13:34:00 GMT

Steve Pavlina advises people to surround themselves with exceptional people. It's advice found in many self-improvement books as well, and something I firmly believe in. High-energy, successful, happy people around you will inspire you to be like that too.

It started with my family. My dad's passion for his work taught me
that you could reach greater heights if you're doing something you're
passionate about. My mom's books and stories taught me to appreciate
the business that supports and is built around such passion. My
sisters showed me what it was like to make your own paths and take
those adventures. My godparents showed me how wonderful a supportive
group of friends can be. My high school friends were also supportive
and inspiring, and they dreamed big dreams too.

I fumbled a bit in first year college because I was more focused on
fitting in, but when I went back to my roots and joined the dorm
network team, I found another amazing group of geeks. And I don't
really know how we all got together, but the friends I made while I
was teaching totally, totally rock as well. We face different
challenges and we may not face all of them successfully, but I really
admire their attitude towards life. They are fundamentally happy.

I seek out groups like the Toastmasters. I want to be a professional
speaker, and being surrounded by people working on their communication
skills is absolutely fantastic. I love talking to people who are
passionate about teaching and research; they give me an idea of what
lies ahead. I am inspired by people who are making a difference or who
are working on doing so, like Lawrence Hughes and Maoi Arroyo in terms
of Philippine IT opportunities. I admire Mario Carreon for his passion
for teaching even as he gets heartbreaking results from students. I am
surrounded by excellent people, and the more I learn from them, the
more people I find.

Surround yourself with exceptional people. It isn't easy. You can't
just say “I want to get to know you” and leave it at that. A daily
“Hi” is much less effective than the occasional “I'd like to know more
about …” or “What do you think about …” that takes the person's
interests into account. But you can do it, and you'll learn so much by
doing so!

Wheee… =)

Sacha Chua — Wed, 04 May 2005 04:28:00 GMT

 did you catch my message on livejournal? :D
 Hmmm, gotta check... Which entry?
 i was asking if i could add you to my friends page, as
              (shh don't tell sacha) secretly i admire your
              organization and thought-keeping skills.
 the one right before your most recent one.
  Go ahead and add me. I'll add you too so that you can
see my disorganized unkept thoughts. =)
 to tell you the truth, after reading your lj and recent
              wiki entries, it got me writing again
 That's good to hear! =D
 oh, and also, i wanted to congratulate you on your
              relationship (i know it's late) - it caught me off
              guard, especially as i only found out through your
              latest post
 i'm still on sacha i-will-never-have-a-boyfriend mode @_@
 
 Thanks.
 anyway, back to topic - i really admire how you have
              these huge lists on your wiki - and at the end of the
              day you've crossed them all out.
 in spite of everything you do, in spite of all your
              interests and such.
 Heh. Not today--only a few non-essential things crossed out...
 that's really admirable. even though i haven't had the
              pleasure of picking apart brains with you for long, i
              really respect that.
 The lists are actually just lists of things I do, and part of
         my interests.
 (I keep them written down because I'll otherwise forget them.
         Besides, it's nice to see crossed-out stuff.)
 but still, you're able to accomplish most of them! the
              past few years haven't been kind to me (long story) and
              i've hit a lot of slumps
 i find it hard to complete even stuff i'm interested in
 so those times i wander off to your wiki to be inspired.
 The trick is to make the tasks so small that it's easier to
         finish them than to procrastinate... ;)
 but shh, don't tell anyone :P
 exactly.
 that's what i do these days.
 I keep a couple of important stuff around so that I can do
         the other tasks while procrastinating the bigger tasks...
 ... and when I do get those spurts of productivity, I just
         work through my list, trying to make the most of it. =)
 (I'm really not that organized or productive; I just _look_
         it because it's written down somewhere. =) )
 semantics. it's inspired me all the same. and i'm sure
              the same is true for a lot of people. ^_^
 I'm glad to hear that. =)
 I'm really glad to hear that I sometimes help you get out of
         your slumps. =D

… after some more conversation …

 i guess i wish i could replay that time and appreciate
              the study more. and the teaching. you have a lot of
              passion for it, and it shows brilliantly.
 i'm sorry it took me so long to say that, but there it is. ^^;;
  Thank you. That means a lot to me.

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