A Double Rainbow !!

It was so beautiful, beyond our words and imagination, just by standing there and admiring in awe of the blessings showered upon us! For an in-depth meaning of Double Rainbow, do check out Stumpbo’s blog post here! Do check out Stumpbo’s Double Rainbow post too!! The Double Rainbow of 2012 welcomes the Year of the Dragon with blessings, according to Feng Shui writer Lillian Too, the double rainbow is a sign from the Heavens above, from the cosmic Universe that we are about to have something great fall into our lap, and that one good thing will lead to another.

I am so blessed today with the Double Rainbow blessings and I would like to share and spread the Double Rainbow Blessings for my readers for Dragon Year 2012 !! Double Rainbow – An auspicious blessing for all!! May u be blessed with greatness in 2012!!

The Holstee Manifesto Lifecycle Video from Holstee on Vimeo.

Let this video encourages you to make a difference in your life ahead, let this also encourages you to make a difference to other peoples life too, leaving them a positive and long term impact, to make them change and inspired for the better! Even though this video is based through cycling, it can also be applied to your life too, the journey and traveling, the people, friends and strangers you meet along the way.

It’s a celebration, of many different wonderful things in life, diversity and uniqueness of life, experiences that are both personal and shared among us, celebrating gatherings, friendships of old and new, experiencing the new life ahead that you choose to start! Let this video be the ignition that you need to kickstart 2012 !

Quote: “Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness — great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.”–Jim Rohn

Quote: “Don’t be reluctant to give of yourself generously, it’s the mark of caring and compassion and personal greatness.”–Brian Tracy (The Treasury of Quotes)

There was a quote that was imparted to me, it was something along this line “whatever you set and plan to achieve in the things that you do a.k.a running a business, you would take around 5 years to be start seeing/tasting the fruits of your success”, I can’t really get the exact quote, nevertheless, I promise to update here if I ever find it! With the exception of 2010, a year of freak incident, operation, post-op rehabilitation and post-op recovery (whereby I lost about 9 months of working time), the businesses and areas that started more than 5 years ago, started to grow more fruits and bigger fruits too. Showing more baby steps towards success, it’s more steps climbed up towards my ladder of achievement. Over the years of learning to give without expecting returns, there are times when I give and give, a lot, there were times when there were nothing in return and feeling abused. Through encouragement and determination, I continued giving and rendering services.

Quote: “No one has ever become poor by giving.”– Anne Frank

Quote: “Whatever good things we build end up building us.”– Jim Rohn

In 2011, good things begets another, more starting to appear, blessed with more privileges and kindness, access that were once reserved for media, blessed with gifts from lucky draws, connecting with brands and alumni bodies, building wider networks and friendship. However, I felt that this continuation and giving can be done better and bigger, since I felt the greatness and satisfaction in the returns, and I plan to make it better in 2012 for 1 area of my businesses.

Quote: “Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”–Gandhi

Social Media Networking – here lies another huge area of networking that goes online and offline (in real life), it just gets bigger and wider, locally and internationally, more friends made online and met offline in real life to know them in person. Through social media networking, it can help to grow my businesses, time will tell.

Quote: “You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile.”–Brian Tracy

Health is slowly getting back to me, with a history of horrific injuries, I always remind myself constantly that no amount of money can buy my health back to normal, the injuries are for life and will be with me till the end of my time on Mother Earth. While still cautious on my rehabilitation and not too over zealous in exercising, it got me lazy and slowly gaining unnecessary weight and fats at the waist level, even without much alcohol drinking.

Traveling in 2011 was a breakthrough because for the past few years, I haven’t really traveled out at all for a holiday! Amazingly, 3 short trips to nearby countries, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, makes it a fun travel year in 2011, however, I am always tempted by medium to long haul trips and looking forward to do at least 1 or 2 of them in 2012.

Quote: “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”–Brian Tracy

Sports photography is another achievement that I am happy with the growth, being a sports enthusiast, I was able to cover cycling, football cricket, beach volleyball, handball, rugby 7s with media privileges while F1 was on a personal basis.

On the social causes, my personal projects on the Old Places and the Green Corridor are two areas that will keep me writing, sharing, photographing and documenting. Up next will be Bukit Brown, an area whereby I have roots relating to the area. Looking forward to 2012, I hope to be able to contribute more to these personal interests of mine, probably from a personal level to national level with iRememberSG , let’s see how things turns out for 2012.

Quote: “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.”– Zig Ziglar

While we all busy earning money, there are things whereby money can’t buy when it’s lost or destroyed. Health, History, Heritage, Culture, Preservation and Conservation.

The year 2011 has been another year of learning, I subscribed to the mantra of lifelong learning, never ending and never stopping, that’s always something new to learn, everyday from different people, experiences, situations, sharing, mistakes, crisis and life changing. Moving forward to 2012, I always tell & remind myself that I always have something new to learn, a new skill, new experiences and many more.

Quote: “Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is your mind and what you put into it.” –Brian Tracy

 Quote: “Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits.”–Brian Tracy

What lies ahead for 2012 ? Well, coming to my writing near you, stay tuned!

From the iPods, starting from the iPod classic, redesigning, re-innovating and re-generating itself, the growth is phenomenal and huge. Although I didn’t own an iPod and thought of owning one, the arrival of the iPhone 3G revolutionise and expedite my entry into the other side, some calling it a cult, it’s the Apple revolution, culture and belonging.

When Steve Jobs announced his decision to step down and hand over the reins to Tim Cook, it was like the end of an era, yet it also signify the start of another era in Apple technology and innovation. Looking back at Steve’s timeline, from the pioneer days to the remarkable growth days, he’s a great man beyond his peers, ranked among the great entrepreneurs and a master of leadership, innovation, vision and change. While I am taking the step to learn more about his entrepreneurship and vision, how he dealt with competition and leveraging. Steve Jobs will always stand high and above the rest, with the few elites of great innovative visionary leaders.

Here are some personal thoughts

- the iPhone revolutionsing the growth and expansion of social media networking on the move

- the iPad bringing the world of work & leisure into a portable handy powerful tablet with the best of both worlds along with social media connectivity

- iPods ~ brining songs to your daily life in different shapes, sizes and storage spaces, something for everybody from young to old, in different striking attractive colours too!

- MacBook Air ~ a beautiful marriage of a powerful laptop with portability, for work and leisure, all day round.

- Innovating, improving and getting ahead of their competitors

How did the world pay tribute to this great man Steve Jobs ?

Take a look at London Creative Digital Steve Jobs Infographic !

Source : London Creative Digital 

Newsweek’s The Daily Beast shared Steve Jobs 10 Commandments – The Genius and his creative process

Source : Newsweek The Daily Beast

Paying tribute to a genius and his creativity, a role model to learn from, not so much of designing a technology gadget, it’s about bringing it up and high above, a brand that goes beyond the stars, a following that just gets bigger, a vision that not many can dare or for-see into the future, this is Steve Jobs.

Looking back into a short history timeline when social media rides on its boom and wave towards the new era of marketing and public relations, online and offline, digital and traditional. It’s pretty amazing on the exponential growth and expansion in the past 3-5 years especially, moving from internet marketing to a highly active social media engagement society. Through dedicated social media sharing and learning websites, such as Socialnomics, Social Media Today and Flow Town Blog, I chanced upon an intriguing and very helpful infographic to share with my readers on Social Media today

State of the Internet 2011 

Created by: Online Schools

Take a time to watch this infographic, look at how fast the world is “turning” with the social media wave!

Embarking on the social media enthusiast route, expanding my social networks tremendously, locally and worldwide, getting to know more friends online and leading into good friends in real life too! I am moving into more active social media engagement given my time and business commitments. While I am not planning to be a social media leader, I am learning and wanting to be into Specialist in my fields of my expertise via the various social media tools, channels and networks. Check out my Klout profile, currently, I am a Broadcaster!

With the different engagements by PR companies, Digital Marketing companies and organisations, I am still learning on how to be a social media leader eventually, along with specialisation in my fields of photography, blogging, mentoring and social media. This article on “Wanted : Social Media Leaders” would serve as a good reading!

Another interesting infographic for you all readers here who are into Social Media :

 

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

Which do you belong to in this Class of 2011 : If Social Media Were A High School ?

Sometimes we just lose our directions, our creativity and we needed something to recharge and refresh ourselves, in our life, business, work, hobbies or interests, I found this video “29 Ways to Stay Creative” and would like to share it with all here, hope this helps you in some way or another to recharge, refresh and continue the journey and destination that you have embarked on!

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

The urge to run was getting more intense as time passed by, wanting to relieve my physically active and sporting days. I was planning to run my full marathon at the end of 2011, keeping my fingers crossed that my physical conditioning and recovery would enable me to embark on my full marathon target at the end of 2011. However, as much as I plan ahead, I would not go against my specialist’s advice or my physiotherapist’s advice if they feel I am not deem to do my full marathon in 2011, besides, if I feel my body and recovery is not up to the required fitness and training level, I would not go for the full marathon and aim for the half-marathon instead.

During the run, I was feeling great! The rush and adrenaline inside me was pushing me on even though my legs were wobbly and jelly like due to my 1 year of inactiveness from exercise and running. Stretching before and after the run was absolutely important, to prevent any muscle damage and for me to personally assess my injury and whether I am comfortable and did I feel any pain at all on my injured body sections.

Overall, it was just muscle ache and a happy tired face. This is my Comeback Run! It’s the Return of Me, into the world of running and marathons!

However, in the midst of growth and expansion, how much more things/stuff are we consuming and utilising? Are some of those necessary? How much of those are we wasting? Are we depleting too much resources from Mother Earth and making it more vulnerable, upsetting the natural law of our ecosystems thus changing the weather and climate?

Looking back to Earth Hour 2011, have we continued the post Earth Hour efforts and spreading the messages across, to help conserve and save our Mother Earth? Has it become a 1 day event only or at worst, a 1 hour event? How much and how far are we doing for our future generations?

Today, on the 22^nd April, is International Earth Day, a reminder to all of us, that we have a personal and collective responsibility, to promote and live in harmony with Mother Nature and our planet Earth. Mother Earth belongs to us all, the entire human race residing on Earth, it doesn’t discriminate whether you are rich or poor.

Everybody plays a part, starting with your home ground, irregardless of where you are in the world, you can play a part too. In Singapore, there is an active movement/organisation, calling for the preservation and protection of a green belt in urban concrete Singapore. They are known as “We Support the Green Corridor in Singapore”, spreading the awareness and making the difference, to preserve a beautiful stretch of greenery, with beautiful flora and fauna, wildlife habitats and preventing it to be demolished for other purposes. In my recent photography walkabout treks to the Abandoned Railway Tracks, Part 1 and Part 2, it’s a beautiful green belt out there, peaceful and tranquility.

Let’s not get it demolished away for another new concrete jungle. Let’s keep it this way in its original state!

During the early days, it was influenced by SEO 2.0 and internet marketing, although essential in the growth and development of a blog today, some blogs were more designed like a internet marketing style. However, with the evolution and revolution of social networking channels and platforms, how has blogging changed in the midst of social media networking and engagements ? Are blogs still relevant ? Or micro-blogs be the next wave of blogging ? How about the debate o the growth electronic magazines style blogs / micro-blogs with the expansion of tablets primed to be one of the growth areas in digital technology for 2010 and 2011, possibly 2012 and beyond too.

Over my journey in blogging for the past 4 years, into my 5^th year since April 2006, it was a very interesting, exciting and enriching journey, in terms of writing, sharing, photography and social networking. I started as a blogger who just wants to share his photography and travel stories, next up was my personal blog in the fields of personal development, enrichment, growth, sports science, digital technology and information technology. Never did it occurred to me over these few years, that blogging can and will extend beyond my blog itself, into social networking and engagements with different brands and companies via PR companies. The networking within and around social media networks, have propelled me into knowing many more wonderful friends locally in Singapore and around the world, having the chance to communicate, chat and meeting them in person too.

I went from a blogger to somehow an in-between media, writer and photojournalist. My blogs went through different templates and theme revamps a few times along the way, starting from borrowed domain and hosting, migrating to own domain name and self-hosted sites. Nowadays, I am sometimes “classified” as media and not as a blogger anymore. It’s a compliment and somehow, it grew by itself over the years without me knowing it, entering into a field that I am not industrially qualified or working in. All these would not have come without opportunities, invitations and engagements by various PR companies and I am very grateful to all of them for everything mentioned above.

How will social media/blogging/micro-blogging scene change ? Some questions / thoughts

• Are we becoming less social and friendly even though we are always engaged on/in social media networks and platforms ?
• Are we becoming more snobbish and arrogant just because we are “highly connected” in social media networks and platforms ?
• Have blogs become less credible and less trusted due to so many blogs around us and the world ?
• Or have we become too lazy to do/own and maintain a full fledged blog and prefer to go into micro-blogging sites, without too much hassles, troubles and maintenance ?
• Will E-Mags on Tablets replace or complement blogs or micro-blogs ?
• Are companies and brands still insist on ROI for every amount of “investment” they put into ? Don’t companies and brands realise the ROI for every amount of “investment” they put into traditional media tools and channels, you can’t really put a figure to it nor a quantitive mathematically proven formula.
• Communication in the real world, is face to face daily; it is a 2 way channel going to an fro between both parties. It’s the same for social media channels and networking platforms. How much are people in the social media scene doing it as a 2 way engagement channel ?
• The blogging and social media scene becoming too business/market like and both sides engaging and fighting for engagements, connections, publicity and businesses ?
• Will you be able to grow your influence as a leader or expert or speciality in your field of knowledge, interest, hobby or career ?

Growing my 2 blogs, are just as much wonderful and influential, learning and developing myself from a nobody to a credible writer and photojournalist, with trust and following among my friends and followers. Looking forward ahead in 2011 and beyond, I do not have a magic ball to see the future of social media networking, blogging, the internet and beyond. In my personal opinion, I for-see some potential trends in

• Tablets, Smart phones and social media connectivity ~ getting bigger in participation and connected, expansion of social media networking
• Greater and wider exchanges between brands/companies via PR companies with the social media channels and blogging community
• The rise of the social media influencers
• More leveraging between inter and intra with social media channels and brands/organisations and PR companies

The thoughts and questions will always give me a reminder that I still have a lot to learn, grow and develop as a writer, photojournalist and social media enthusiast. Reminding myself to be humble and have humility at all times, always learning, always sharing and transforming into a mentor and influencer.

I still have a lot to learn and share and I am very grateful and thankful to everybody who has helped , guided or given me opportunities along my blogging to social media networking journey.

Check out my stories here for more details

- A Nasty & Freakish Fall

- The Importance of Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy

During this 1 year, lots of different learning experiences, many challenges, thoughts, emotions and blessings too. Deeper friendships forged and new friendships found, blessings in disguise all around. Regular follow-up specialist medical appointments took a toll on me too before the green light given by my specialists to give me the breather after giving me 6 months and 1 year next follow-up dates.

Work and business are affected, return to action does not equate to being able to work and function properly like before, and it’s still a ongoing marathon out there. The time is right, with the 1 year mark, it’s time to put this horrific incident into history, and start afresh, especially my sports and recreation, to lead and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

This 1 year, I am very grateful to those who have given me a lot of moral and emotional support throughout the ordeal and recovery. It’s an experience beyond anybody’s imagination and this will only serve me well in the future, in handling difficult situations, learning how to recover from Ground Zero and rise from the ashes again.

You’ll Never Walk Alone !