Ikigai - applying the concepts of 'Why I Exist'

 I am re-reading (not for the first time), this fascinating book by Ken Moji (Japanese neuroscientist) in which he describes the philosophy of Ikigai or the reason of being. 

Why we are alive and what we do what we do.

The 5 pillars are (to reiterate) are :

a) Starting Small

b) Releasing Oneself

c) Harmony and Sustainability

d) Finding Joy in the Little Things

e) Being in the Here and Now

I believe the encapsulation of these 5 base concepts is in the tradition of tea drinking. In a tea ceremony, the master carefully prepares the ornaments in the room, paying the utmost attention to the finest details such as what kind of flower is to be decorated on the wall 

1.Starting Small  

There will be a spirit of humility shown by the master and the guests, even though they have long years of experience in this hallowed ceremony 

2. Releasing Oneself 

Many of the wares used in this ceremony (like the teapots and teacups) are decades or even centuries old and are chosen so that they resonate with each other to create and leave an unforgettable experience 

3. Harmony and Sustainability 

Despite the meticulous preparations, the objective of the tea ceremony is for the guests to be relaxed, to take pleasure in the sensory details within the tea room

4. Finding Joy in the Little Things. 

Finally, it is penultimate objective of the tea ceremony to be truly in a state of mindfulness and to take in the inner cosmos of the room and one's state of mind. 

5. Be in the Here and Now 

Its like being transported to another world, another time with the timelessness of the tea master and participants which makes the tea ceremony so fascinating and upholding the principles of Ikigai,

Find Your Ikigai. 

Once you have found your Ikigai, live in harmony with the people and the environment around you. Each person's Ikigai, when implemented in harmony with other people promotes creativity in the free exchange of ideas. This is the best way for uplifting our lives. 

By appreciating and respecting the characteristics of the people around you, you can realise the golden triangle.

                                                              Ikigai

                                                           ^            ^ 

                                              Creativity  < >   Flow

 

Welcome 2022 !

            MAGLEV train in Shenzhen 

The mother of all horrid years has come and gone ! So many setbacks with the health of millions of people put at risk and millions dying from an invisible enemy. COVID - 19 has really changed the landscape and thinking or literally billions of people everywhere in the world.

I do not want to repeat the horrors of the past year, with many countries struggling to keep the pandemic at bay. Many lives have been lost, and families broken by this most horrible of diseases.

We have taken multiple jabs and boosters and worn masks, safe distanced, traced together, taken countless Antigen Rapid Tests, Polymerase Chain Reaction tests, limited our going out, dining together in groups is a luxury (0 to 5 to 2 and 0 and back again), quarantined, spaced out and every thing possible to prevent the further spread of this dreaded disease.

I am prepared to wager a small fee (a bottle of wine) that 2022 will finally bring the wretched virus under control what with the MSD and Pfizer antiviral COVID pill, and every vigilant Governments actions against the spread of yet another variant.

Travel will resume, with new and tighter controls. We will pull through again, and the world will resume (fingers, toes and eyebrows crossed) some semblance of normalcy.

The worrying aspect of it all is that the East West trade tariffs or embargoes, China's growth and tensions in the region will exascerbate 1. energy costs 2. shipping costs and delivery times 3. raw material costs  and it will lead to inflation which needs to be reined in.

The rich poor (GINI coefficient) will be stretched even wider. The GIG economy will be here to stay. New ways of doing business through first digitisation, digitalization, content provision and finally education consultancy will be the way forward.

The 4th Industrial Revolution will herald the age of IoT, AI and Cloud forming the 3 major platforms which must not be neglected. Cryptocurrency, NFTS and the like will change our lives irreversibly.

Who wins ? Who gets left behind ? Its all up to us.

Educate, Re Train, Re Learn to catch the next wave.

Its Hobson's choice and it will not be pretty for the 'has beens'.  

 

Live Each Day Like its the Last Day of your Life

        Steve Jobs is credited (recently) for this. He is right. Somewhat. When you live to a certain age, you realise that the days left in your life is numbered, some less some more. But finite. I am periodically reminded that mortality impacts every single one of us. No excuses, no deferments, no bullshit. You die and end of story.

       So, lets take the mindset that we will die tomorrow. What would you do differently ? Well take me for example. I'm truly middle aged, young old (old would be 70 and above, and old old would be 90) and I am sure my perception of how 'old' is to me will change if I ever hit any of the numbers I stated above. I'm giving these 3 days some serious thought and want to change certain mindsets (its called mind sets for good reason).

       What does a 99 year old man (more likely woman) look forward to ? Her 100th birthday. Perhaps, but she needs the gift of sanity, good memory, not failing eyesight, hearing and mobile limbs. Core strength is definitely a must have. If she does not have a certain quality of life, what good is there to live for herself ?  To live for her grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren would surely give her joy but if in her weakened state, she cant even enjoy the simplest of pleasures like a walk (or a wheeled push) in the park, then its no point pushing on - regardless of age - if she can't feed, be mobile and think for herself. Agree ?

      So lets live each day like its the last day of our lives. What would my outlook be :

a) Laugh more

b) Worry Less

c) Enjoy the moment

d) Do meaningful things to me and to those around me

e) Be better than yesterday.

There it is ;  Forget status, money, fame, power, authority or fawning fans. When you are going to die the next day ; you will focus on what is important to you and your loved ones.

                                                       SEIZE THE DAY 

     

We subconciously set Roadblocks in our Children's minds - stop this if you want your child to excel and reach for the stars

Playing on top of Papa's SimCar  (1969)

Some random thoughts always get into my mind during a long run and I cannot but write them down as these may be pearls of wisdom to people who like to read my blog.

About 2 weeks ago, as I was running at East Coast Parkway and reaching the end of my 6km run, I ran past this young mother who was shepherding her young precocious daughter on a skate skooter. The little girl was merrily scootering down the empty pathway and was trying to make some little swerves at a relatively slow speed.

Her mother, who was some 10 meters behind was yelling at the top of her voice, "No Natalie, don't go too fast, dont swerve, you will fall". The obedient girl would normally follow the strict instruction and slow down - and not know her skating limit. Its the same with life. If our parents over parent us, we will never fall down face flat and discover what or how difficult life is when you hit bottom. The climb back (some may never be able to but safely 99% of us will) will make us wiser.    

Parents, let your kids grow and learn at their peril. We learn best when we fall down, take a beating, possibly cry, and realise how stupid trying that triple flip backwards or doing stupid stuff.

My childhood taught me how to take care of myself. I had numerous scrapes and near misses, I was almost blinded in 1 eye, I almost fell 2 stories and broke my back, was hit in the face by a sharp stone and bled during a neighbourhood stone fight between the Malay kampung boys and the next door Chinese boys, tried to be superman and jumped 10 steps trying to reach a water pipe and failed and ended with 6 stitches on my forehead. I was a dumb kid - but oh such a glorious childhood - carefree - and fun filled days and nights. 

If I could ever turn back time and go to a time in my life, the first 10 - 12 years of my life would be the first time period I would chose. Again and Again. 

I would never have traded those days for a million dollars or more. Those were the days of my childhood and I totally enjoyed every single minute of it. I learnt about bravery, stupidity, sticking to friends, stone can hurt, and falls can maim and kill. 

Nowadays kids play in a virtual world - blasting bad guys through all manner of weaponry - but definitely my days of games were 110 % pure adrenalin enjoyment cost was totally free.  

Parents let your children learn from their falls, their mistakes and their humiliations early in life.

They will thank you for it - when they are fully grown adults. 

Family circa 1970 

Carpe Diem. 

Story of my 4 Caps ; Cap 1 F1 - 2010 Fairmont Hotel F1 Cap (2010)

 

Beautifully embroidered Cap 

I have a grand total of 4 Caps which I keep at home. They have been bought over the space of the last 10 years and I am proud to show them off. They have no intrinsic value but the sentimental value of these caps are priceless. Above and below is Cap No. 1. This was bought around the time when the F1 first came to town, in 2008. However, I recall I bought this cap in 2010, as my friends from Germany Meike and her fiance Florian were coming to Singapore for a visit and this was a momento for me.

The embroidery on the cap is quite intricate, and the colours comprise my favourite, red with trimmings of white and gold on a black background. It was pricey then but I would not part ways with it for any sum of money.

I believe I took this cap with me on my trips to Europe from 2016 - 2019 to ward off any water droplets on my head, especially in cold and dreary London. I am blessed to still have a full head of hair, and this cap reminds me of the time (pre COVID) when the  F1 circus was one of the highlights to end the calendar year, the other 2 being the Standard Chartered Marathon (normally the first Sunday of December) my yearly 2 week plus trip to Europe - the last 4 years anyway, until COVID -19 interrupted worldwide leisure travel in a big big way.

I am confident the world will recover from COVID - 19 in a big big way. By mid 2022, most of the wealthier countries would have the dreaded virus well under control. 

Hopefully then, we can carry on with our lives as before.

Wishful Thinking ?  

Congratulations WBF Champion Loh Kean Yew !

We have a World Champion within our shores. Singapore is so fortunate to have talented, skillful, dedicated and hardworking player in Mr. Loh Kean Yew.

Massive Congratulations to him, his family for their dedication, the team, the sports scientists and the multitude of supporting people who made this victory possible.Take a bow, this fair weathered fan (me) is so proud to be a Singaporean who, honestly didn't think  he would get farther than the 3rd round. The Sports 2030 envisioned by Minister Chan then Sports Minister was rocketed into the minds of people in 2012.In 2014 the new National Stadium, as well as the Sports Institute got off the ground.

In a small way QRA International has also helped (I believe) in KY's success.

QRA International in 2015 and 2016 sold an athletic chamber to Singapore Sports Institute and while we were commisisoning the system, we understood that the chamber is supposed to enhance performance of elite athletes by producing oxygen poor conditions, (up to 5000 m or approximately 11.5 % O2 from sea level
which has 20.9% oxygen).

The science is such. At O2 of 20.9% or sea level, say a top athlete can run at 3mins 30s seconds per km on the treadmill for say 1 hour. He inhales copious amounts of air of 20.9% oxygen. If that atmospheric air is now reduced to 18.5%, surely his performance will be degraded as oxygen is the fuel the body uses to create energy in aerobic exercises of which running is one such aerobic sport or exercise. 

To suddenly induce the air to be 18.5% in O2, the body of the elite athlete must be trained to be as much as 30% more efficient in take up of oxygen, provided the same VO2 max in oxygen is needed to produce the same result = speed in performance. 

This drastic cut in oxygen forces the blood platelets to be much more efficient for top fit people such as athletes and transport the depleted air (say 2000 m which has about 18.6% O2) which they are inhaling to various parts of the body at double quick time. The VO2 Max is also improved tremendously as the oxygen take up rate by the elite athlete is 

As a result the efficiency of dispersion of the O2 for these athletes in the rarified atmosphere inside the chamber can supercharge the person when he returns to play or exercise at normal atmospheric levels (20.9%).

This is the effect the chamber has on elite individuals. If they can train in oxygen reduced environments, then when they actually compete in normal atmosphere and O2 20.9%, suddenly their performance jumps exponentially.

Sports Institute Singapore has used the chamber successfully since 2016, and its 5 years since those backbreaking and stressful days of commissioning the chamber.

I am glad - and hopeful - that the chamber was put to good use - and has had a small part to play in his superlative performance in Heuleva yesterday evening.

All Hail the new Champion Loh Kian Yew !

Carpe Diem !

   

The shallowness of people ; I am sometimes guilty of it. - Our Athletic Chamber may have helped his Success ?

The stunning success of Loh Kean Yew at the World Badminton Federation, where he has shocked many top seeds and made it to the Final tonight in Spain, has left me totally speechless. Kudos and great appreciation to this young man who fought against the odds and is one win away from a historic gold for Singapore which we have never excelled.

It also raises the questions about how fickle (me included) we are as a nation. We love winners, and never the people who Cannot Make It in the world stage. We (I am but one) love winners, and forget totally about the Also Rans. We never ever give appreciation and regard to 

a) appreciating the years of backbreaking hard work, sweat, toil,tears, blood and sacrifice that he has accumulated to reach this status.

b) all his compatriots (Ms Yeo Jia Min is another excellent player) who have toiled week in week out with nary a compliment, but lots of scolding, coaxing and sleepless nights, training, discipline and tears who made 4th or 6th in the regional championships.

This shows we Singaporeans, by and large are just armchair critics not lifting anything more than a Lays Nachos and moan and groan when our athletes never make it to the world stage.

Shame on Us. Shallow Singaporeans. 

Time for Singaporeans to stop being so mamby pamby and actually follow, not support the various sports (choose a few) and even spend some time playing, just to determine how difficult the sport is to play, let alone Excel.

Its time now to Pitch for a product distributed and installed by my company QRA International.

The Athletic Chamber with Hypoxic Function 

QRA has since 2014 sold and installed a number of Sports Athletic Chambers worldwide and I hope the player Loh Kean Yew has had an opportunity to improve his stamina, and performance from training and reduced oxygen levels at the Sports Institute of Singapore. Why am I so confident ? Because QRA sold and installed such a chamber to Singapore Sports Institute in 2016 for the sole purpose of research and elite player performance enhancement. 

Kudos to the player, win or lose. This shallow Singaporean together with millions of his compatriots will be rooting for you tonight ! 

It is my sincere hope that he had used the equipment to aid in his overall performance and development of his game since 2016, when QRA International (I personally ) spent days, months and spilt blood, sweat and money to  commission the equipment all those long and tiring days ago.

Seize the Day Kean Yew !  Bring Glory to our Singapore.