Is there such a shortcut? Absolutely.
Every time you get together with long-time-no-see friends, what will they say about you? Will they come to you with surprise, "Wow, you've changed a lot. What did you do?" There would always be friends telling me so and it made me reflect back on the past five years.
Five years ago, I was happily living in Shanghai and never had the thought of leaving there, until I met a friend who had just returned to Shanghai after living in Australia for 10 years. During one of our talks, he said to me, "It's good to go out and look at the world, if you have the opportunity. You'll experience different culture and gain different perspective." What he said registered in my mind. Half a year later, a job opportunity made me decided to come to Singapore and started to explore another country.
Today, I'll say it was a decision without regret and it's been an enriching experience. If I had not met him and made friend with him, I might have taken more years to step out. It was the friend I met who influenced me on my journey of growth.
Till today, I've never stopped meeting different new people, and getting to know them and their lives. It's always fascinating to discover different experiences the others have.
It might be the stories someone told that opened a new world to me;
it might be the words someone said that shed a new light on me;
it might be the adventurous personality someone has that uncovered life's unlimited possibilities to me.
It was the people I met in the past five years and the positive impact they had on me that led me on the highway of personal growth.
Motivational speaker, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones, said, "You will be the same person in five as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read."
1. Are you meeting new people? What will you learn from every person you meet?
2. How about "the books you read"?
I can't stress more on that. All the great minds have been reminding us again and again.
"He fed his spirit with the bread of books." ~ Edwin Markham
"Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time." ~ E.P. Whipple
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." ~ Charles W. Eliot
It was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that planted the appreciative and empathetic seed in my heart;
it was How to Make Friends and Influence People that strengthened the alertness of my listening ear;
it was Almost Buddhist that purified my soul and grew me a peaceful mind;
it was Failing Forward that gave me courage and determination;
it was Developing the Leader within You that showed me hope and possibilities.
......
Do you know how many people stopped reading after they left school? More than 80% of the population. Are you one of them?
Mark Twain said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
If you continue reading, do you know how much advantage you'll have?
Five years from now, will you be different? Are you choosing to make a different you?
Cynthia is a voice and speech coach and trainer, based in Singapore. She helps you discover your inner true voice that is authentic and confident. She also helps organizations on voice and presentation skills training.
To get more updates on voice through articles, podcasts and video lessons, subscribe Cynthia's newsletter on her website - http://connectingtosuccess.com/
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