How Do You Live Your Life?

Have we ever taken a moment to reflect about life? Ours to be more specific. Are we living life with joy or worry? Will we, on our 80th birthday, feel grateful of a life well-lived or regretful of the many things we didn't do? Randy Pausch has left an amazing legacy to his children that has also benefited many people.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and was told he only has 3-6 months to live. He appeared on Oprah in 2008 and passed away on July 25th, the same year. Watch this video and see what you can learn from him.




Randy has also written a book. The official website is called The Last Lecture.

Case Study on Tiger Woods

I found many interesting articles here. One that I like is a case study on Tiger Woods.

If you're considered the best among the best, would you even think of CHANGE to make yourself even better? Tiger Woods illustrated a good example of someone who strives to make himself better by making CHANGES to improve himself.

Here's the summary of the case study.

Tiger Woods turned pro in August of 1996 and in his first attempt as a pro at the famed Master's Tournament in 1997, he walked away with an unprecedented 18 under par victory. This enormous win resulted in new levels of fame for Tiger.

Not long after his world-renowned victory, and amidst the whirlwind of fame, Tiger called a meeting of his team. He had reviewed Golf Digest's swing sequence photography, considering his swing "almost perfect" yet deciding that his game required a major overhaul. People had already called him the best golfer in the world. Yet Tiger knew that his skills were not yet so superior that he was in the best position to win every tournament he teed up in.

In September 1997, with a new coach and team, they worked for more than a year to break down all the mechanics of his swing and completely rebuild it. This process included countless hours of tedious drills and practice shots. They started all over, asking, "What do we need to do to change this?"

During this transition time, Tiger's game suffered. The media and public began to wonder what had happened - the young star's playing seemed to worsen as time went on.

The changes clearly paid off; in 1999, he was voted PGA Player of the Year and AP Male Athlete of the Year. He earned a record $6.6 million in PGA Tour winnings alone, nearly double the second-leading money-winner, David Duval, who earned $3.6 million.

Time will tell just how long Tiger Woods can dominate his sport. Some called him supernatural." But a closer look at his story, especially in the critical years of 1997-1998, reveals many other factors and ingredients beyond god-given gifts that have allowed him to achieve peak performance.

Cooking Fish Story

A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for dinner. Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and then placed it into a baking pan. The little girl asked her mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish. Her mother thought for a while and then said, "I've always done it that way - that's how grandma did it." Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off the fish before baking it.

Grandma thought for a while and replied, "I don't know. My mother always did it that way." So the little girl and the grandma went to visit great grandma to find out if she knew the answer. Great grandma thought for a while and said, "Because my baking pan was too small to fit in the whole fish".

Lessons learnt: Sometimes you have to challenge existing belief system and assumptions to avoid pointless process.

Source: Unknown