To keep my new-found momentum going, the following are some of the fun stuff you can be expecting this month:

I’m starting small. Three small goals to accomplish in the month of June.

My Life Has Changed For the Better
Since graduation, I have been indulging in personal development (I say “indulging” because I do enjoy it). I swear I’m a hundred times more hardworking than I was during my schooling years. Ask my close friends and family and you’ll know. Oops! You probably won’t know them. Oh well. Anyway, a friend I met up with today told me this, “You have changed for the better, Dan.” Okay. Maybe not exactly that. He spoke in Mandarin. But it was something along that line. Made me feel really good about myself!

Back in my university years, I was hit badly by the “lack-of-purpose-in-life” syndrome. I slept a lot, skipped lessons, photocopied my friend’s lecture notes (filled with his handwritten notes) and tutorials, and arrived late for class tests or quizzes. It was like a routine every semester. Duh. A fantastic “leecher” I was. Not going into my life story here. But basically, he noticed that I have since become more purposeful and self-driven. Woohoo!  

I Think I’m Starting to Influence Others…
Come on. I’m serious. After reading my blog and listening to my aspirations, the same friend whom I used to borrow lecture notes from met up with me today to discuss about starting an educational website together. Though he was a motivated individual to begin with, my high level of motivation must have rubbed off on him right? Tell me I’m right. *grins*…

Even my sister seems to have softened up a bit. She used to be kind of negative, to an unbelievable extent it was actually funny. Now, I can see some positive spark in her every now and then. She’s mad about the Korean language. And Korean guys. Any tall, handsome Korean guys reading this blog? Drop me an e-mail soon will you?

A Little Side Story
I’ll end off with a little side story. I was hanging out at the library last Sunday when I overheard a mother reprimanding her son. Fuming mad, she spoke to her son in Mandarin, “Honey. Mandarin and English are two different spoken languages. When you speak, you don’t mix them together.” Alright. A mother teaching her son to speak in a pure, well-defined manner. Sounds reasonable enough? Of course it does. Until she ended off her speech with…

“Okay?” (In English)

Talk about leading by example?! Comments?

Lesson #1: Don’t Try to be A Guru. Just be Myself.
Truth be told, I got bored with the stuff I was writing. Why? After getting super motivated by all the stuff I was reading, I tried to become a personal development guru myself. Did it unknowingly though. I thought I’ll kick off my blog with some articles that will help others who feel lost about their lives to pick themselves up. Didn’t regret doing that. But I got lost myself by trying to position myself as an expert.

Guess I’m better off just being myself! In future, I will see myself as a learner and share with you guys on how applying the concepts taught in the books help to improve my life!

Lesson #2: Enjoying the Things I Do
I’ve talked a lot about passion and how one can succeed by doing what he or she loves. And then I make the mistake of not doing what I preach. Arghhhhhhh. What I needed in my articles was some room to display my creativity. I’ve always loved to do things that impress others. Guess I’ll need to get my mojo back.

Lesson #3: Stop and Get Myself Organized
Hmmm… I think I was doing too many things at the same time. I probably thought I was Dr. Octopus. Teaching tuition on Wed evening, Sat and Sun mornings. Participating in public music performances. Meeting my buddy to practise the songs for the performances. Watching too much Youtube and online manga. Keeping up with my job. Man… I’ll be burned even if I have eight limbs. STOP. Reorganize. Get my priorities right. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do for now.

Lesson #4: I Was Wasting Time on the Low Value Stuff
Finding public domain pictures on the Internet. Brainstorming content that I intended to teach (Yeah… the “I-am-a-personal-development-guru” syndrome). Finding references on the Internet. Hmmm… Got to find a way to tackle these activities. Either I eliminate it, do less of it, find a system to make it simpler for me, or get someone to help me out.

What’s Next?
I’ll need to get my mojo back. And I’ll need to get my engine up and running again. This time, making sure that I’m enjoying every moment of blogging.

BUT… be warned my friend. He WILL return stronger and better than ever.

“I’ll be back.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator

Bye Bye Zee?!
If you have already realized, our guest blogger Zee, hasn’t been posting that often lately. Well, she intends to embark on her own blog. And to pursue her passion! So let’s wish her all the best! You’ll still see some of her health articles from time to time.

My Blogging Directions
Well, well. I intend to continue posting articles on…

If there are any other stuff you’ll like to see on this blog, feel free to leave a comment below.

How to Market Yourself On This Blog
Okay. I know this blog’s not that great yet. It’s only 3 months’ old. And it has only 70 unique visitors in the past 30 days. But I assure you it WILL continue to grow. Meanwhile, if you are interested to contribute articles to this blog, drop me a comment or just e-mail me directly at news@thelostone.com.

The type of content you contribute must be related to success. It can be about personal development, investing, health or entrepreneurship. No porn. No vulgarities. No spam. I will include a resource box in your article so that others can support your blog, website or products!

This Blog is For You
Yes. It’s for you. And to make it useful for all of us, I really need your inputs, your insights and your expertise. Feel free to leave constructive comments on my blog. No spamming though. Share your experience, your knowledge and your skills with us.

Finally, let us enjoy the ride together! Welcome to a world of infinite possibilities!

Read On if You Are Interested…
"Gong Xi Fa Cai” (in this illustration) is the han yu pin yin, the phonetic notation, for Chinese words. Together, they mean, “wishing you a joyous and prosperous new year”.

The fruits you see in the picture are called mandarin oranges. The Chinese exchange them between families during house visits to wish one another “a prosperous year ahead”. And they do it in even numbers (odd numbers are considered inauspicious).

Red and gold colours used in the illustration are also included in the design of Chinese Year decorations and red packets. They are said to bring good luck and wealth.

Yup. So once again, for all who celebrate this joyous occasion, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!