When I was a kid, I’ve learned a very neat trick about making paper money smile or frown. The trick was very simple that I picked it up real quick and showed it to a few of my friends. I did use the Philippine Peso to try it out instead of a US dollar bill. If you are not familiar with this trick, check out this video to see how it is done.

While the video has garnered a large number of views and likes on YouTube for being cool, I think there is a more meaningful lesson to be learned from it. While on the bus one day, I showed my son this very trick that I learned more than 30 years ago. After showing him the trick, I asked if he could make the face on the dollar bill smile or frown. And while he was having fun doing it, I told him this very important lesson.

It's the same dollar bill, nothing has changed. What changed was how you handled it.
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We are faced with different challenges everyday – paying the bills, completing projects on time, or even as worse as dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. Situations may or may not change but understand that we hold in our hands the key to whether or not we end up being happy or otherwise. Great leaders know that when facing challenges, they need to do the following:

1. Face reality. The dollar bill trick reveals two faces – smiling and frowning. That is the reality that they need to face. Leaders understand that in order to deal with challenges, they need to get the facts right and face reality. Otherwise, they would be living in an illusion and may not be able to measure the enormity of the situation. This is what I call the “reality check.”
2. Take Responsibility. In order for the dollar trick to work, you need to pick up the dollar bill and tilt it yourself. Otherwise, the visual illusion would not be as effective. Leaders know that they need take personal responsibility for their situation. They literally put their necks on the line especially when the stakes are high.
3. Make Positive Moves. I bet that you smiled when you tilted the dollar bill to make it smile. And I also bet that you made it smile more that you’ve made it frown. Leaders know that they need to keep a positive environment and promote hope in spite of the realities that they need to face. A pat on the back, a good word of encouragement, even to a point where they remind themselves of the good things that have happened to them in the past. They understood the power of feeding their mind good stuff.

In case you want to try out the dollar bill trick, remember how you can handle a challenging situation while making those creases on George Washington’s eyes.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Today, the Philippines is celebrating its 120th national independence day. Filipinos worldwide are commemorating the day when our forefathers have fought and declared freedom from colonial rule. But what does this really mean to us in this generation? While we no longer have to worry so much about fighting for our national freedom, we need to constantly fight for our freedom to

• maintain a positive attitude in the midst of negativity
• make tough financial decisions to be free from debt
• work hard to pursue the dreams we’ve always had
• exercise to keep ourselves fit
• continuously learn new things and develop our skills
• stop, pause and slow down in today’s fast-paced lifestyle
• make and maintain meaningful relationships that last

The battle for our country’s freedom and independence may have ended more than a century ago. However, we are fighting a different one today – one that demands more of our time, commitment and heart. True independence is simply a reminder that we need to constantly be vigilant and intentional about living the life that was meant for us.

Happy Independence Day to all Filipinos! Mabuhay!

STORY

I can count the number of times that I’ve had the opportunity to spend real quality time with my dad. He’s lived in the US ever since I can remember. It’s one of the reasons I try to find opportunities to spend quality time with him.

Maybe it’s just my observation but I find that the older generation loves to talk. They talk about their experiences, their stories, their adventures, their successes (they don’t want to talk about their failures). Whether it’s my parents or the IT guy who’s about to retire in a few years, they really do love to talk. Do you agree?

As a consultant, I try my best to listen and take as much notes – mental or written – as I can. I ask a lot of questions – and a lot more follow-up questions. I listen to their stories, sometimes trying to understand the real meaning behind them. I listen to the stories behind the story. This conversation with my dad was no different.

I picked him up at his house to grab some lunch. It was raining really hard and his mobile phone was not working (and, in case you’re wondering, it wasn’t a smart phone). I figured this could be a great opportunity for meaningful conversations. As we head over to the food court, he started sharing stories about his experiences working for United Airlines. He was a pioneer in the Philippine airline industry despite the fact that he didn’t finish his engineering degree. You can tell that he’s street smart.

How an Electrical Tape Saved Flight UA872

A sip of his coffee was all he needed to get going. “Our family has a reputation for strong work ethic.” Curious as always, I asked what he meant. He recounted the story of flight UA872 in 1987. He worked graveyard shifts and just got home from work when the phone rang. His boss asked if he can fix an electrical issue that prevented flight UA872 from leaving Taipei. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was waiting for an update on the flight since it had been grounded for a day. They were about to impose a strict fine on United Airlines.

None of his colleagues could do it. The ground crew in Taipei couldn’t either. He thought they were just making excuses. For one, who would want to be on a 14-hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei and back just to fix an electrical issue? After a busy shift with no additional pay for the trip, there’s no motivation for anyone to take on the work.

Does this sound like your normal weekend oncall schedule?

But he obliged. He grabbed a cup of coffee and hopped on to the next UA flight to Taipei.

When he arrived at the scene, the Taipei ground crew explained the situation. He instructed one of the crew members to test some of the panels on the cockpit while he headed off to the right wing where the electrical issue was. Keep in mind, this was 1987. There were not a lot of instrumentation available on the cockpit back in those days. A few taps on the wires, several exchanges of instructions from the cockpit and he was able to figure out what the problem was. All he needed to fix the electrical issue that kept the plane grounded was – you guessed it – a roll of electrical tape. It took him less than 4 hours to fix the issue, considering that the plane had been grounded for almost two days with a potential fine from the FAA. He was then instructed to be on the cockpit on the flight back to San Francisco to monitor the issue.

I finally figured out where I got my troubleshooting skills from.

Stories Connect

You’ve probably noticed that my blog posts and presentations are mostly wrapped in stories. While other experts present facts and details about SQL Server, I tell stories. That’s because we humans are hard-wired to tell and listen to stories. Even before the TV was invented, stories dominated entertainment. We watch a movie and know instinctively whether or not the story is great. We grew up listening to stories. We laugh, we cry, we get angry – emotions are aroused. Stories make us human.

I’m not a natural storyteller. But I’m a natural story-collector, if there is such a thing. Until I realized how powerful stories are in making an impact. My very first PASS Summit presentation back in 2007 was intentionally framed with a story. I was scared because it was my very first presentation in North America and my very first time to tell a story in a presentation. And I have been doing it ever since.

In my consulting engagements, I tell stories of my other customers who used SQL Server 2016 feature X and feature Y to meet their business requirements. But beyond the factual stories of how they used the features, I tell the backstories of how they ended up implementing a solution. One of my favorites is why I don’t trust backups.

I tell the story of a payroll company who called me to fix a database corruption issue. The worst time to have a database disaster for a payroll company is a few days before payroll. Oh, and all of their backups were useless. For me, it’s no longer about fixing corrupted data pages or recovering as much data as I possibly can. It’s about that single mom who might not be able to pay the rent on time because payroll got delayed.

Or that SharePoint upgrade project that was scheduled for a cutover. It’s about the remittances that my fellow Filipinos overseas workers needed to send back home to pay for their children’s school tuition.

It’s amazing how we set aside differences when we can all relate to the story being told. Or how a project gets delivered on time because it mattered. You probably won’t remember everything that you’ve heard from a recent SQL Server presentation. But I can guarantee that you’ll remember a story you’ve heard from a few years ago.

Because stories do connect.

Boring: The Story Without The Struggle

I wished telling stories was easy. But it isn’t. Which is why I am still in the process of learning. I just finished reading the book Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield. Still learning, still exploring.

Every hero in a story has to have a struggle. And the struggle has to be real. Star Wars has Luke Skywalker. The Martian has Mark Watney. Passengers has Jim Preston and Aurora Lane.

And you thought my dad ended up being the hero in the story. He didn’t. After filing his expense report, he got reprimanded for a US$ 85 breakfast. Again, this was 1987. Considering inflation, this amounted to US$ 182 in 2016. He tried to explain. He couldn’t go outside of the hotel to grab something to eat because it was very early in the morning and flight US872 is scheduled to fly back to San Francisco before 6AM local time. Convenient stores were not that many in those days.

He got reprimanded for a US$ 85 breakfast. Despite the fact that he just saved United Airlines tens of thousands of dollars in possible FAA fines plus ground maintenance costs if the flight stayed longer in Taipei. US$ 85 seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the possible cost. But he got reprimanded nonetheless. He told his boss that he would never take on any remote assignments after that incident – even US domestic ones. He retired in 1997 and, to this day, still tell that story with disgust.

I listened with intent as he told his story, trying to find a similar theme from my own experience. Maybe you have yours. And maybe it is still bothering you.

That is the struggle. That’s what keeps our stories human – and exciting.

But struggles don’t need to stay as they are. The most compelling stories are the ones that change the hero – whether be it their behavior or their way of thinking.

Call to Action

Recall a story that made an impact in your life. Own that piece of your story. Tell it like someone is waiting to watch your biography on the big screen. Because someone is. It may feel awkward at first. But the more you practice telling your story to yourself, the more it feels natural.

It may well end up becoming your resume.

Here’s another one of those things I knew nothing about before moving to North America: showering with hot water. When it’s hot and humid, the last thing I want is to shower with water that’s even hotter than my cup of coffee. That’s why you rarely see hot water heaters installed in showers found in tropical countries. Heck, we like our water cold – except for coffee.

Not so much when you have below freezing temperatures for more than three months in a year. A hot water shower in North America is a necessity.

You turn on the hot water for about a minute or two – sometimes even longer – before you step inside the shower.  You wait. Until the water is hot enough for you to enjoy. And, then, you take a shower.

We do the same thing in life. We wait for the perfect opportunity, the right circumstances, the comfortable conditions.

The good book has something to say about this.

Some people wait until everything is perfect before they make things happen. Other make things happen even when things seem to be imperfect.

Which one are you?

And, BTW, jumping in the shower when the water is cold is not such a bad idea. It gets me in a high energy state. I don’t do it often, though.

Winter in North America involves shoveling snow. Being born and raised in a tropical country, I had no clue about how to deal with this cold, crushed ice-like substance falling from the sky. Until I had to clear my driveway so I can get my car out of the garage.

Watching other people dealing with the snow in their driveway, I notice something. Many (including me) use a shovel to clear the snow. We endure the freezing cold weather to remove snow from our driveway – chipping off ice formations and pouring salt –  just so we can get on with our day. A few have snow blowers, a gas- or electric- powered machine that will suck snow from one area (in my case, the driveway) and direct it to another area.

Guess who gets the most out of their winter mornings?

It’s those with the snow blower. Those using shovels would take hours to clear their driveway while those with snow blowers can be done in minutes. It doesn’t matter how skillful you can be with clearing snow on your driveway – you’re still using a shovel. Your ability to enjoy a hot cup of coffee in your breakfast table on a chilly winter morning is hindered by that one thing: the shovel.

But then I noticed one more thing: a horizontal stick with a name and phone number placed at the end of a driveway. It’s from a snow removal company and every driveway that has the stick gets serviced. No more shoveling nor clearing the snow using a snow blower. The snow removal company will do it for you. Then they will do it for other people in the neighborhood.

As technology professionals, we get so caught up with “our shovel.” It’s the skill that we worked hard to learn, the tool that we prefer to use, the mindset that we carry around with us. We get so comfortable with “our shovel” that we forget there are better ways to do things.

• the operations engineer who would rather handle tickets than analyze what caused them in the first place
• the database administrator who would rather deal with failed jobs and backups than learn analytics
• the developer who would rather write code than properly communicate with the team and present his ideas
• the senior engineer who would rather design systems than learn leadership principles and accept the promotion

Becoming really good at using “our shovels” is not the issue. It’s believing that “our shovels” are the ultimate goal. I think it’s because we feel a sense of significance, knowing that we are really good at something. Or maybe because we are afraid of trying out new things and feel like a beginner all over again.

Is your shovel holding you back?

P.S. My shovel is still in my basement and a snow removal company is clearing the snow on my driveway. I now have the extra time to work on possibly starting another company.  

All three have one thing in common: a coin toss – the practice of throwing a coin in the air to make a decision based on an outcome – either heads or tails.

It’s interesting to see how this has become common practice in today’s culture – the NFL, politics (a high school friend won the election as mayor to break a tie), the New Zealand lottery – all with the intent of making a decision. The premise behind this is that those who do so believed the chance of the outcome was an expression of divine will.

But even more interesting is the fact that a corresponding action came about as a result of the decision, regardless of the outcome. Think of it this way. Say you want to do a coin toss to decide whether or not to pursue a new career or to break a bad habit: heads you pursue a new career or break the bad habit, tails you do nothing. Whatever the outcome is, your action will be based out of it – the decision.

Too bad we were not taught how to make decisions in school. We spent years trying to learn and master concepts and theories that apply to our specific fields of interest. But decision making? Conditional constructs in computer programming like the “if-then-else” expression are practical applications of decision making. But life is much more complicated than bits of ones and zeroes.

In my work as a consultant, I have the wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with really smart people. But these same people would rather be experts at what they do than consider a management position like a manager or a director. When asked why, the two most common responses are that (1) they don’t want the additional responsibility and (2) they would rather have someone make decisions.  Notice that these responses pertain to both decision and action. And action is a by-product of the decisions we make. Recall the last time you let an opportunity pass by because you didn’t make a decision and, therefore, didn’t take action?

Complex decision making is a skill. Some people are really good at it while others accept the fact that they just don’t have it. Like riding a bike or tuning a SQL statement, it can be learned. Nobody was born with great decision making skills. But like any other skill, you have to keep doing it to become really good. You’ll make good decisions and bad decisions. Learn as much as you can from the bad decisions so you can improve your good decision making skills. Practice. Apply. Rinse. Repeat. Recall the decisions that you’ve made in the previous year that led to where you are right now. Imagine where you would be in a year from now based on the decisions that you will make.

Decide how you want your future to look like. A coin toss might not be a good idea.

P.S. Your quality of life is directly proportional to the amount of good decisions that you’ll make. Similarly, the people who are moving ahead in life are not necessarily smarter than you. They just learned how to develop their good decision making skills over time.

Photo courtesy of Sheryl’s Boys

I’m a community person. I’ve built my career around the value of communities. It all started when I was in high school and wanted to raise funds that will help the student community by improving our sports facility. We wanted to host a dance party within the school premises and invite students to participate. When the school didn’t approve of our proposal, I was disappointed. So disappointed that I gathered all of my close friends and proposed the idea of running the party outside of the school premises but within the jurisdiction of the local community for safety reasons. We had a noble goal (help the students in our school,) a business plan (host a dance party to raise funds,) and a handful of volunteers (my close friends.) I guess everyone was passionate about the idea that it started spreading throughout the different schools within our community. Soon, everybody was asking us how they can participate. We’ve expanded our fund raising efforts to include other schools in the project. It was a success and the rest was history. We won the hearts of the school administration staff that they let us do another fundraising project for the next year. I’ll never forget that experience.

This week, the SQL Server community was all hyped up on Twitter and other social networking sites talking about the PASS Community Summit. This happens to be the world’s largest and most intensive technical training conference for Microsoft data professionals – SQL Server DBAs, developers, BI professionals, data scientists, name it. There were some major announcements made this week which are considered highlights of the event. If you ask attendees, new and old, about why they made the investment in attending the event, you will get different responses. But there’s one constant theme that resonates among the different responses: PEOPLE. Communities are social units built by people for people. Seth Godin talks about building Tribes, Brian Allain talks about how community wins, social networking sites have become successful because of the idea of communities.  Successful businesses know how to build and leverage communities. In fact, many would agree with me on this that, Microsoft has leveraged the SQL Server community to build the product to what it is today. But setting aside the marketing and business aspects of building and/or being a part of a community, the real value comes from meeting some of our basic human needs – RCGC:

1. Relationships. Along the corridors of the conference center, I see people giving hugs and high fives. Who would ever think that these are a bunch of data geeks hammering on their keyboards solving the toughest SQL Server problems? But they connect on a personal level, telling stories about the travels they’ve made, the previous events that they have attended, the next one that they will go to, the parties that they need to attend, etc. I’ve given and received hugs myself throughout the week. One that really stood out for me was meeting up (and hugging) a good friend of mine – a former SQL Server MVP – who joined the Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services team back in 2008. It’s like a family reunion since I haven’t seen him for more than 4 years.
2. Comfort. During a conversation I had with a database administrator in a large gaming company, he mentioned about feeling one with the community. Back at work, he felt like he was all alone and that no one understood nor appreciated what he was doing. Being around and talking to people who share the same passion as he has made him feel secure, knowing that there are others who feel the same pain that he feels, enjoying the same successes that he experiences and speaking the same language. He immediately blended in even though it was his first time attending the conference.
3. Growth. We all came to the conference knowing that we will learn something new – whether by attending sessions or simply joining a conversation. I asked questions about the recently released SQL Server 2017 on Linux. I’ve learned a thing or two about STONITH support on Hyper-V and Azure. We all desire growth in more than one aspect of our lives. The event provided an opportunity for growth for those of us who made the investment.
4. Contribution. One speaker commented on the fact that he feels the satisfaction of seeing people’s face light up when he talks about a solution or feature that will help solve their problems. I got a kick out of the experience myself when people I don’t know approached and thanked me for the articles I’ve written on MSSQLTips.com. We are wired to have a desire to contribute and make the world a better place. Most of the community leaders I know have been doing this – volunteering and speaking at events – for decades and they still feel that they need to do more. My hats are off to the wonderful people in the SQL Server community that made the PASS Community Summit a successful one – from volunteers, speakers, chapter leaders, the members of the board, etc.

Being a part of a community meets one of our basic human needs. But it certainly goes beyond that. I’ve gotten contracts and  job offers in the past from people in the community. In fact, the community has definitely helped me grow my career in one way or another. But let’s leave the topic about the business value of building and/or being a part of a community for a future blog post.

Question: Fill in the blank. “The one thing I love the most about the SQL Server community is _______ ?” You can leave a comment below.

Listen to the following audio clips and tell me the first thing that comes to mind (post it in the Comments section)

Audio clip #1 (courtesy of Mike Koenig)

Audio clip #2

Audio clip #3 (courtesy of Mike Koenig)

Audio clip #4 (courtesy of Grant Evans)

There’s something about sounds that trigger emotions and make us recall memories. I recently became interested in the concept of “auditory plasticity” — the process whereby our perception of sound adapts according to the aural patterns we experience. I think it’s because of the fact that as a musician, I understand the power of music to move people’s emotions. Watch how people respond to a slow classical music versus an upbeat EDM mix. It’s pretty interesting.

What’s even more interesting is the fact that it is happening to us without being aware of it. As a side effect, we generate emotions that affect the way we behave. Here’s an example.

Growing up, my mom would take us to work because she can’t afford a babysitter. We would sit at a table beside her desk, either reading a book or scribbling on a piece of paper to pass time. Their office was on a floor above the factory – a typical white-collar environment where everyone wore nicer clothes compared to those on the shop floor. The sound of high quality leather shoes walking around the office will tell you that the person approaching is either a manager or somebody with a higher status in the company.

To a four-year-old, anyone bigger who’s also wearing high quality leather shoes and expensive clothing appears to be intimidating. Couple that with the fact that they would approach you with an intimidating look and ask what the hell is a four-year-old doing in their office. Why they do it is beyond a four-year-old’s comprehension. But it’s one of the reasons I struggle with dealing with intimidating people.

It took a while for me to learn how to deal with intimidating people. In my line of work, I deal with people of different personality types. So, I need to learn human psychology to understand why people do what they do. More importantly, I needed to learn more about myself and what triggers the different emotions I feel. Because it’s the emotions we associate with the sounds that we hear that will determine how we act.

The Past, Not The Future

The problem with these experiences is that we tend to make the lessons stick without further exploring whether or not they are still valid. It’s what all past experiences are. And we make our decisions based on them. Even worse, they hinder our growth because we keep telling ourselves the stories we once experienced.

The first audio clip reminds me of the year 1986. I was a nine-year-old kid already aware of what’s happening around me. The famous People Power Revolution was underway and I was playing in the streets as I heard military aircrafts fly by. Aware of what was happening during that time and the fact that these were military aircrafts flying by, anything could happen. We were not in a state of war by any means, but, still. I guess it’s my fascination with airplanes that got me to easily recognize the sound of military aircrafts.

Fast forward twenty years later and I hear the same familiar sound as I was looking out the window of our Singapore flat. Who would have thought that the sound of a military aircraft flying by could cause a slight increase in heartbeat rate and a sudden rush of thoughts that were anything but peaceful?

The third audio clip reminds me of the time I broke my right leg. Prior to the accident, I barely paid attention to anything that merely sounded like that of cracking a bone. Now it’s as if I can instantly identify what the sound is as soon as I hear it. Guess what I start to feel after hearing that sound?

These past experiences have influenced how I felt and how I respond. There currently are no signs of war going on and my right leg is already slightly functional. Yet my responses to these sounds remained the same.

It’s The Stories We Tell Ourselves

You’ve probably heard of the Chicken Little story, known for the phrase “the sky is falling.” And while the story dates back to the 19th century, it is very much relevant to these days. A recent news highlights an increase in unemployment claims in the US than expected. Even worse are news about robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation that threaten to replace majority of the working population.

Bad news is everywhere – on social media, the cable networks, on your phone. And we keep entertaining them. The more we think about them, the more miserable we feel.

There is no denying the reality of what’s going on around us.

But it is our responsibility to take control of the stories we tell ourselves.

Just like how what we choose to see is what we get, what we also decide to listen to is eventually what we get.

I started telling myself that the sound of military aircraft flying by could mean that an aviation exhibition could be going on. I could then enjoy watching the amazing pilots fly their aircraft in an awesome display of skill.

I started telling myself that the sound of a cracking bone could mean that my right leg is slowly getting back into its normal rhythm that I can get back to running in a few weeks.

You can tell yourself that the news about robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation that threaten to replace your job is a wonderful opportunity to explore more exciting ventures. Besides, wouldn’t it be better than a boring, routine job?

We need to be aware of those intimidating sounds that cause us to feel anything but empowered. It’s one step towards knowing how to deal with them and eventually moving towards maximizing our potential.

Here’s a fun experiment. Listen to a song or music on Spotify or YouTube. Identify the emotions that you feel as you listen to those music. Try to recall an event that lead you to feel that emotion.

The day was about to end. My right leg was shaking as I wrapped up the training class that I was teaching. I was trying hard to avoid looking at my leg. I’ve been feeling the throbbing pain for the past three days and my leg has swollen to a point where I don’t even want to look at it. After shutting down my computer, I immediately laid down in bed, raised my leg on top of pillows, took a deep breath and just slept.

I just went thru the most physically challenging week in my entire summer.

Successful people credit goal setting as a big part of their life. They set goals, take massive action to achieve them and define much higher goals the next time. Everyone loves the feeling of achieving something. It gives us a sense of pride, confidence, significance and, of course, success. And don’t we all love to talk about the great things that came with achieving a goal?

But what isn’t commonly mentioned are the challenges and hardships that came alongside it. We try to sweep those away because of the pain they have caused us. Sure, they contributed to our success one way or another. But we certainly don’t give them the credit they deserve.

In a previous blog post, I shared about partnering with Brent Ozar (Twitter | blog) on delivering a virtual training class. I’ve been working on the content for this training class for the past few years, collecting stories from my previous consulting projects to make concepts and principles relevant. Suffice it to say, I’m overly excited about this project and the process leading up to it.

Until the unexpected happened.

It’s funny how life throws something at us to see if we really are serious about pursuing what really matters to us. As a data professional, I see this pattern all the time.

• Orville Wright was injured and Lt. Thomas Selfridge died in a flight exhibition before the US Army
• Apollo 11 was running low on fuel before it landed on the moon
• Nelson Mandela was imprisoned before he managed to lead the end of the apartheid in South Africa
• Michaelangelo contracted an eye disease before he finished painting the Sistine Chapel

I could go and on about the different people in history who encountered challenges prior to accomplishing something great. It only means one thing:

Be ready to face challenges on your way to accomplishing great things.
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But didn’t I say the unexpected happened? Well, yes, something did happen. I broke my right leg. I tried roller blading and it didn’t go well (I share the back story in my regular newsletter). All I knew was that I broke my leg immediately as I fell down.

This happened four weeks before the training class. I haven’t finished all of the resources that I need for the class – PowerPoint slides, scripts, demos, documents, etc. The worst part is that I have to undergo surgery and stay in bed most of the time for the leg to be fully recovered. And for the first few days after the surgery, I felt helpless, vulnerable even. I can’t go to the bathroom on my own, I can’t make my own breakfast, I can’t go out of the house, etc. Ask any highly driven, highly-productive, self-sufficient individual how it feels like to not be able to do things, even the simplest ones. I can guarantee you will get an earful.

I knew I was going to be in this situation for a while. So, I need to prepare myself to be in this situation while keeping my eyes on my goal. I had the time to think about my situation and the challenges that I faced. How do you think I came up with the 7Ps?

1. Purpose. To keep your eyes on your goal despite the challenges, you need to define your purpose. I call it the “why behind the what“. When I deliver a presentation, a workshop or a training class, I always remind myself why I do it. I don’t do it to be famous nor to show the world how smart I am. I don’t do it to score brownie points towards my Microsoft MVP award for renewal.  I do it because of one thing. It is my purpose. You’ll see my personal mission statement in my social media profiles, my speaker profiles and every where I have contributions. In a sentence, my purpose is to help people and organizations grow and develop their fullest potential. When I’m delivering a presentation, my goal is to empower technical professionals to help them be more confident in doing their jobs. I make it a point that those who attend my workshops, presentations and training classes feel inspired and empowered after the interaction. Otherwise, there’s no point in them being around me. The world is already full of fear, uncertainty and all the negative emotions. I’m certainly not going to add more to that.
2. Passion. Passion is defined as a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. It’s an emotion – a feeling. Every day, we are driven by our emotions. Sometimes, we feel tired, sad, grumpy or frustrated. Other times we feel invigorated, excited, joyful or extremely grateful. Did you notice anything while you were reading those two sets of emotions? The first set made you feel, well, negative. The second set made you feel very positive. That’s because our emotions affect how we behave. Most intellectuals will tell you to ignore your emotions and just focus on the intellect (I used to be like this). But the reality is, we are an emotional human being. We need to embrace who we are and leverage it to our advantage. So instead of ignoring our emotions, we should take control so we can direct them towards our advantage.Feeling angry? Why not direct your anger towards accomplishing something of significance. Feeling frustrated? Why not direct your frustration to make positive change happen.Those who have been to my presentations can feel the passion behind what I do. I used the word FEEL because they get emotionally drawn in – they see it, they hear it, they feel it – and the energy in the room immediately skyrockets. Sometimes, I get too intense in what I do. I was once told that people can feel the emotions when I play the piano. I channel all of my energy into what I do that anybody who sees me can feel it.
3. Push. Challenges that appear on our way towards achieving our goals do not go away. Let that sink in for a moment. THEY DO NOT GO AWAY. In order to achieve our goals we have to push. And pushing requires effort. It requires energy. It requires moving from where we currently are to where we want to go. And if the challenge is bigger than us, more effort and energy are required. Push a small box and you won’t even flinch. But have you ever tried pushing a stranded vehicle? Not the same thing.One of my challenges for the past few weeks was sitting for longer than an hour. If my broken leg is laid down on the floor like it normally would, it will start swelling. And when it’s swollen, I start to feel throbbing pain around the surgical wounds. What I did as I prepared for my training class was do some work in my desk for an hour, lie down for about 20 minutes and repeat the whole thing. It became frustrating knowing that I need to stop what I’m doing – even if I’m totally in the zone – just so I can lie down. But I knew I had to do it or I risk making it worse. Imagine what it was like delivering a training class with me for an entire day. It’s a good thing Brent suggested that we do 10 minute breaks every hour.
4. Past. And I don’t mean the time before the present. What I mean is that mark beyond something – past the line, past the house, past 6PM. Pushing past the mark is when you’ll know you’ve achieved something. You know you’ve completed the marathon if you’ve gone past the finish line. Or you’ve won the race if you’ve gone past the finish line ahead of everybody else.We’ve all been told at some point that we cannot do something. One of my former boss told me I won’t even pass the MCDBA certification. A former colleague of my mom told me that I won’t amount to anything when I was 4 years old. Limitations are imposed upon us. And we feel helpless.You know what’s even worse? The limiting beliefs that we tell ourselves. “I’m not good enough to make it to college.” “I don’t see a good future because I had a bad past.” “I don’t think anyone will hire me because I don’t have a degree.” It’s these limiting beliefs that we tell ourselves that prevent us from even achieving anything. In order to go beyond the challenges that we face, we need to first get past those limiting beliefs within ourselves. Because, the truth is, we can only accomplish what we believe we can. The first challenge that we need to overcome is ourselves.
5. Pain. I did say that challenges do not go away. That’s why we need to push past them. And when you’re pushing something bigger than yourself, it’s painful. Compare pushing a small box with pushing a stranded vehicle. It’s easy to see the difference.But that pain is part of the process. If you learn how to embrace it, it’s easy to see how it can contribute towards our growth and our journey towards achieving our goal.A week after the surgery, I can barely move my right foot. Any movement that I make caused extreme pain. So, I tried to avoid moving my foot at all cost. My wife (an occupational therapist) told me that the doctor will recommend physiotherapy in our next visit. And if I want to be able to walk soon, I need to start exercising my foot on a regular basis. My initial attempts were extremely painful. You can imagine how extreme the pain was by looking at my facial expressions. I started to hate doing ankle pumps and foot rotations. But I have to remind myself daily of the purpose why I need to do this – be physically prepared for my training class and be able to walk normally again – and that I need to push past this temporary pain. Because that’s what all pain really is – they’re temporary. I’m not going to be doing painful exercises forever. But I have to endure.Even as I was doing the training class. The swelling is causing pain. But I also knew that the next break is just around the corner. So I endure, smiling for the webcam not just for the attendees to see but also to condition my mind that the pain was temporary.
6. Patience. It’s the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. In this day and age of instant gratification and digital revolution, the word “patience” seemed to have been taken out of our daily vocabulary. We move on from that YouTube video that’s taking more than 15 seconds to load. The rapid succession of text or instant messages we send when we don’t get an immediate response. We now use the self-order kiosks at McDonalds because it’s faster than talking to the service crew.I don’t have any problems with being patient. I think I got that from my dad. I can be as patient as I can be. But sometimes, I get impatient – especially with myself. I get impatient when I can’t accomplish something faster than I expected of myself. I get impatient when I feel like my efforts to push past the challenges I’m facing are not getting me anywhere. I easily let others off the hook. But I’m too hard on myself.I’ve re-learned the art of becoming even more patient. What used to take me 5 minutes to do now takes me 30 minutes because I can’t move as fast as I used to. It used to take me around 30 seconds to climb up and down the stairs. Now, it takes me 3 minutes because I have to go on my butt to not put any weight on my leg. Going to the bathroom, sitting in the dining table, taking a shower. Re-learning patience has taught me how to appreciate slowing down. And it has taught me how to become even more aware of my surroundings.
7. Persistence. Patience on its own is not enough. Persistence is not giving up. In spite of pushing past the pain. In spite if the challenges. Pushing past the challenges requires persistence. Achieving a goal requires persistence. Because giving up is easier, most people don’t get to realize their dreams.I knew that I needed a lot of persistence in order to finish my training materials on time. I also knew that I won’t be able to do it faster than I expect of myself. So, I pushed myself harder. I spent late nights working on the training resources. I kept a regular pace of working for an hour and resting for 20 minutes. I still needed my 7.5 hours of sleep on average. I worked and I rested. And it’s been like that for the last 3 weeks. I kept track of what I was doing. And I knew I was getting close to my goal.

While I did say that it was the most physically challenging week in my entire summer, it was also the most rewarding. After the training class, I spent the entire day in bed resting my leg while doing some follow-up work. I looked back at the things I did, the challenges I faced, the actions that I needed to take and the results that I got. And while a broken leg is not something I would welcome anytime, it has become the best thing that happened to me this year.

In case you’re looking for an inspiring Instagram or Facebook post, here it is. Success comes when you get your Purpose and Passion to Push Past your Pain with Patience and Persistence

Success comes when you get your Purpose & Passion to Push Past your Pain with Patience & Persistence.
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We listen to an amazing piece played on the piano. We watch pro athletes score a touchdown or a hoop. We read a beautiful piece of literature or look at an art on display. We are captivated, mesmerized. Like I did, I’m sure you’ve asked this question one way or another: how did they do it?

Malcolm Gladwell made it famous: the 10,000 hour rule – claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours. Years after the book Outliers was published, psychologists proved Gladwell wrong, stating that practice only accounted for 12% difference in performance across different domains.

I’m not going to disagree with Gladwell nor the psychologists (it will take me years before I can even earn a degree in psychology). They both have their points. But I’m sure both of the parties would agree when I say that people who excel in their fields do something that the mediocre ones don’t. That could be doing something for 10,000 hours or something else. Call it whatever you want. I like to call it a ritual.

A ritual is defined as a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. This has nothing to do with religion. It has everything to do with consistency and commitment. In fact, consistency and commitment are what successful people are really good at.

Listen to a great piano player and he can play even while talking to you. Watch how pro athletes can do their routines even when it feels like they’re not even paying attention. I’m sure that didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of hard work and conditioning themselves before they reached that level. They paid their dues, made their investments and committed to the consistency.  Over time, they’ve developed the skill to a point where they reached expert-level status.

You know what the irony behind this is? Successful people still go over their rituals consistently. Despite the fact that they are already at the top of their game. It’s no wonder why they are experts in heir own field.

The rituals we do daily impacts the results we get in our lives. Do you spend more time reading social media posts than honing your skill? Do you watch more TV than read about how to improve your life? Do you spend more money than thinking about how to make more?

If you’re not happy with the results that you’re getting, it’s about time to replace the rituals that you’re practicing.