work smart series

not at peace with myself lately. By nature, I'm a conflict avoider, despite my straight talk style. the business process and structure at work doesn't make much sense. my peer is granted way too much power and budget resources and he's not shy from wielding his power. he's poached my key stakeholders with his money behind my back.

finally i'm starting to understand what it means when people say business is a game.

went to a seminar. the speaker said for women to be more successful, we've got to work LESS. work less so we have sometime to manage the right relationships and our career. join the right circles, go to the right after-work parties, hang out with the right people who can help you.

i accidentally bumped into one of the relatoinship leaders in this country. i had a follow up call with him. his comment on relationships were very revealing.

one of my advisors also said similar things to me.

work with the willing. build personal relationships with those decision makers first. they can help you influence others if necessary.

long ways to go for me. but i know i can do it.

wish i knew all this when i was in my late 20s. but better late than never.

met a woman at the above-mentioned seminar. we hit it off immediately. she turned out to be the wife of one of my former co-workers. fairly successful. good contact to have.

need to go out and meet more people.

The Year 3000

in year 3000, i come back to the US of A. The cities in this once wonderful country look like the Beijings and Shanghais in the 21st century. What has gone wry in human's over-abuse of Earth?

...

Meditation

found myself happy tonight. Then realized it was the group meditation that did the trick.

Lesson learned: do more meditation. :-)

I enjoy these moments of self-reflection. So quiet. Alone with myself. I like it. Very lucky to have the time, space and health and spirit to do this.

I wish Mom had the opportunity to experience meditation. Unfortunately she is so caught up in the manifest world and hasn't seemed to find her path to spirituality. The living condition in China also doesn't help much.

Will call her tomorrow.

New Year's Resolutions

CNY is around the corner. Feb 2, Beijing time to be exact.

F, my GF from Seattle, will be in town with her significant other and daughter. We'll have a New Year's dinner together.

Time for my New Year's Resolutions.
1. eat breakfast. (i'm good with this when i'm traveling. with the crazy work hours these days, hard to get up at the right time for breakfast, but i'm resolved to eat something after i get up vs. wait till late afternoon)
2. work out for one solid hour per day, at least 3 days a week.
3. do a hike at least once every 2 weeks. ideally once a week.
4. blog at least once a week. need to come back to writing.
5. eat well and healthy. reduce greasy diet. eat more salad, fruits.
6. learn to cook and clean.
7. travel to at least 2 new places this year. i think this one is easy to accomplish.
8. focus more time on family.
9. work smart, meaning be more strategic about my time.
10. training. last year, didn't get to participate in any training due to budget cuts and too much travel. this year, it's a must.

silence

Went to the first session of the 7 spiritual laws of success.

Too bad F didn't seem to be into this sort of thing and he had to leave a few minutes into it. Sometimes I worry about his fear for interacting with others.

It turned out to be a good session. Learned a few tactics I should practice, for example, practice silience, don't judge, meditate.

I like the way the instructor makes the class flow. I'm planning to go back next week.