Train My Mind – A Critical Soft Skill and My Focus for 2018

train my mind

Have you made any New Year resolutions yet?  “Eat Healthier” and “Get More Exercise” are 2018’s top 2 New Year resolutions.  It’s interesting how training our body with better nutrition or exercise always seem to garner the most focus.  This year, I have a better one to propose to you – train your mind. Let me tell you a story and you will see why. ...  read more

Soft Skills Workout – Who is More Confident – Cindy or Jack?

workout

Workout Objective:  A lesson in self-confidence.
Prerequisite: None.
Recommended Frequency: Just once.
Workout steps:  Read the scenario below and vote.

Who do you think is more confident in this scenario?  Let’s assume that Cindy and Jack are equally qualified and capable .

  • Well educated – Cindy graduated from Berkeley with a 3.4 GPA and majored in electrical engineering and Jack graduated from SF state with a 2.7  GPA and majored in marketing.
  • Extensive work experience – Both have worked for 15+ years.   Cindy worked in consulting and now for a fortune 100 company as a product management leader.   Jack worked mainly in started up and is in his 8th start up as director of marketing.
  • Had some setbacks – Cindy has been laid off once in her career.  Jack has experienced about 4 lay offs so far.

Who do you think is more confident – Jack or Cindy? ...  read more

Should I be Working While Sick?

working while sick

Should I be working while sick?  The answer ideally is no.  If I am sick, I should go home and rest.  Come back when I feel better.  The real world however is not that simple, especially when we are talking about everyday illnesses, such as a cold or a flu.

Every time I feel unwell, I debate whether to take time off or how to work while sick.  This is because in the modern world of Paid Time Off and tight deadlines for busy professionals, we have to figure out the tradeoffs between suddenly taking time off vs the impact of it on our work.  Here are five key considerations for many of us. ...  read more

3 Soft Skills Lessons from Watching “Trolls”

soft skills lessons from Trolls

I didn’t think this movie, Trolls, was going to be any good.  Both of my kids love the music in it.   Finally, we watched it last weekend.  I was only half watching it for the first 20 minutes.  It seemed like just a silly, happy cartoon, with lots of bright colors and singing.   My kids were glued to the TV. ...  read more

Lei’s Six New Year Aspirations – Trust, Try, Learn, Evolve, Laugh, Give

Lei's new year aspirations

I started this tradition last year and really liked how it influenced my decisions and actions the rest of the year.  I am doing it again this year to define my new year aspirations

1. Define ways to build new habits instead of setting goals.  I found this is helping me evolve into a better human being. ...  read more

Happy 2017 – Say Yes

hot chocolate 15K 2017

Happy New Year!  Sunday was my annual Hot Chocolate 15K race.   My friend Agnes got me into it 3 years ago.  It’s a great way to start off the year – a long run (9.4 miles) followed by a nice cup of hot chocolate and an amazing natural high all day.

Well, I didn’t go this year.  I woke up at 6:30am and it was POURING. San Francisco had flood warning all weekend.  While the race was still on (I couldn’t believe it), I have never ran in pouring rain before and couldn’t imagine being drenched for an hour and half.   I was packed but at 7am I decided not to go. ...  read more

My Biggest Lessons Learned this Year

Happy Holidays!   Thank you for your interest and support of this blog.   I appreciate every email, comments, questions I got this year.  Whether it’s a thankful email or constructive criticism, I value them all.  Thank you for taking the time to engage with this site and with me.

I hope you are taking some time to enjoy this holiday season with your friends and family.    December is the best time to reflect on this entire year ...  read more