Dream Catalyst

Transformational Change

Celebrating Learning

“Stories that Inspire – Celebrating Learning”. As a lover of #lifelonglearning, am absolutely delighted to be part of this publication that celebrates learning!

The publication features stories of ex-St Joseph’s Convent gals. Grateful to my English teacher Mrs Dolly Chan who was then the Vice-Principal, for her encouragement to stretch beyond my comfort zone. It ignited my love for reading and writing, as well as public speaking.

Educators certainly play a critical role in shaping the future of their students!

Building A Growth Mindset

An awesome afternoon facilitating conversations and learnings at the Building a Growth Mindset workshop, a project supported by the @LearnSG Seedfund. The more we share and tap on collective wisdom, the more joyous and rich is the learning!

 

 

 

We are 7!

7

 

I love birthdays and I love the number 7. So today calls for much laughter and joy as Dream Catalyst celebrates our 7th birthday!

As I reflect on this special day, this quote by Charles Bukowski comes to mind. “The Free Soul is rare but you know it when you see it basically because you feel good, very good when you are near or with them.” 

When I first came across this quote, my thought was “what if we create more opportunities for souls to be a free soul?” Then surely, we will amplify the magnitude of goodness felt. So that the free soul is no longer rare, but exists in abundance.

I am glad that starting Dream Catalyst provided me with opportunities to do exactly that. To create a better world for all by helping businesses, teams and individuals to build a positive work culture. In so doing, may we continue to be amplifiers of goodness.

Thank you for being a part of our awesome journey!

 

free-soul

 

Future Education – An International Conversation

future-education

 

Future Education – An International Conversation, a closed door event organised by SMU Wee Kim Wee Centre. It has been an exhilarating two days and privilege to be included as part of the group invited for this conversation.

The 20+ participants came from different parts of the world with varied experiences and backgrounds. We have strong views and dreams of the future of education. It is a topic that resonates with me!

future-education-2

Prior to starting Dream Catalyst, my time was spent mostly in some form of educating and mentoring. Working with youth and parents, and then moving on to the corporate sector as a training consultant.

On reflection, even when I was an events management executive and advertising and promotions executive, what gave me the greatest joy was personal development and helping others to do likewise.

The love of learning and learning how to learn changed my life, and also saved my life. When life was in a dark phase, learning equipped me with the tools and strategies to manage my emotions, shift my mindset and take critical action steps for positive change to happen.

Tobring-forth-the-beauty-that-is-withinday, as Dream Catalyst, I have the joy of continuing to make a difference by journeying with businesses, teams and individuals to create a positive work culture. This happens when they embark on a journey to learn, relearn and embrace what’s learnt.

As I engaged in the conversations and soaked in the presence of collective wisdom gathered in the room, my heart sang in a joyous tune.

By desiring to bring forth the beauty that is within, we shine our brightest with harmony and peace.  And that’s what I believe in, embrace fully and seek to achieve each day. 

ikeda-peace

I thought it was apt and poignant that the event ended with us being invited for the 2nd Annual Ikeda Peace and Harmony Lecture: Re-thinking ASEAN, the problems and prospects for regional peace. The speaker Dr Leticia Ramos Shahani spoke on the future of our ASEAN community.

 

No Natural Talent? Grow your Ability. It’s more lasting.

The Heart 11 Sept 2012

 

Read “Mindset, the new psychology of success” by Carol S Dweck recently. Wished I had read this in 2006 but hey, awesome to have read it now. 😊

Mindset BookThe author Carol Dweck, a Standford University psychologist, shared how having a growth mindset as leaders, teachers, parents, coaches etc can motivate people to reach their goals and success. That by praising effort rather than talent has long term positive effects.

I like to share about my art teacher Diana who demonstrates this growth mindset when teaching her students and the immense impact it has.

I was terrible in art in secondary school and believed that I had no talent. Then in 2012, a friend connected me with Diana as I was interested to learn how to paint.

The Heart (main picture) was completed at my first lesson. It was only possible because Diana shared that everyone can learn how to paint. So I focused on picking up the techniques required rather than on my past experiences of scoring low marks on art.

Through the subsequent lessons, I discovered that the times when I could be immersed in the learning process was when I enjoyed it the most. During the moments when I focused on whether the painting was pretty or not, was when I became stressed and felt like giving up (fixed mindset came to play).

The more I became interested in the painting process rather than questioning myself if I’ve talent or not, the more ‘in flow” I became. I would choose a different focus each time in order to learn different techniques eg painting koi fish, the sea or lace curtains.

The fixed mindset believes that intelligence is static which leads to a desire to look smart and therefore, a tendency to:

  • avoid challenges
  • gets defensive or give up easily when faced with obstacles
  • sees effort as fruitless or worse
  • ignore useful negative feedback
  • feels threatened by the success of others

As a result, they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.

On the other hand, the growth mindset believes that intelligence can be developed which leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to:

  • embrace challenges
  • persist in the face of obstacles
  • see effort as the path to mastery
  • learn from criticism
  • find lessons and inspiration in the success of others

As a result, people with growth mindset reach ever-higher levels of achievements.

And we may have a growth mindset for one aspect of our lives, and a fixed mindset in another. For example, we may have a growth mindset as a manager but a fixed mindset when it comes to our relationship with our spouse.

Twin babiesTo me, the most important information is that we were all born with a growth mindset! Babies do not stop learning to crawl, to stand and to walk because they decide it is too hard and not worth the effort. They fall, they get up and barge forward.

As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, some of them become afraid of challenges. They become afraid of not being smart.

Carol studied thousands of people and in one of them, she and her researchers offered 4 years old a choice: they could redo an easy jigsaw puzzle or they could try a harder one. They found that even at this tender age, children with the fixed mindset – the ones who believe in fixed traits – stuck with the safe ones. “Kids who are born smart don’t do mistakes” they shared with the researchers. They want to make sure they succeed. Smart people should always succeed.

Children with the growth mindset  – the ones who believe you could get smarter – chose one hard one after another. They thought it was strange that why anyone would want to keep doing the same puzzle over and over again. Success is about stretching themselves. It’s about becoming smarter.

Understanding about the growth mindset has many useful applications for us both on a personal and professional level.

The way we self-talk/ self-coach, handle situations and relate to people will be totally different depending on the choice of our mindset. The way we motivate ourselves and others will also be entirely different.

Much food for thought and great insights for moving forward.

Celebrating Values on World Values Day

World Values Day

World Values Day (WVD) will be celebrated around the world on the first truly international World Values Day to be held on 20th October, 2016. The purpose of WVD will be to raise and deepen awareness and practice of values all around the world – highlighting the crucial role of values in the well-being of individuals, families, schools, organisations and society as a whole.”

Awesome!

It was in 2005 that I had my first reflective session on values hierarchy work. It made me realize how deeply values impacted both the conscious and unconscious decisions that we make and actions that we take in our lives. Some of the wise and not so clever decisions I have made were all driven by values. And when I understood them better, it helped transformed my life and relationships. It also benefitted my business.

For example, making a difference and fun are two top values for me. That’s why starting and running Dream Catalyst is fulfilling because it allows me to enjoy multiple roles (consultant, trainer, coach and mentor, author and artist)  working with diverse clients (businesses, teams, non profit organisations and individuals) and making a positive difference in their lives.

Since the personal “aha” transformation, I’ve actively included values work in my coaching sessions with individuals and also in my consultancy and training journey with businesses.

Helping businesses, teams and individuals to align values in order to enjoy positivity in their lives and workplaces reap so much benefits.

World Values Day 2That’s why it made me smile big time when I read an FB post about the first world values day.  The more awareness is raised on the crucial role of values in the well-being of individuals, families, schools, organisations and society as a whole, the brighter our world will be.

To find out more on how you can support World Values Day initiative: http://www.worldvaluesday.com/

To better engage your team through understanding of values, contact us to find out more about “The Cultural Transformation Tools” programme which you can use to map your values to measure and manage your culture.  What you measure, you can manage.

 

Feeling Wealthy

WealthyWhat’s true wealth?

Everyone differs in their search for and needing of it.

For me, wealth has always resided in the building of meaningful loving relationships. Through the years, I sought to accumulate that, and right now where I am in my life, I feel so very wealthy.

Happy family relationships, great friendships, healthy working relationships and enjoying the song of my heart.

Understanding your heart’s definition of wealth enables you to work towards that. And more importantly, to appreciate it when you have it regardless of the amount experienced at that given space and time.

Release Envy and Change Your Life

Called to Love, 13 September 2013Its your road, and yours alone.
others may walk it with you,
but no one can walk it for you. ~ Rumi

Years ago, I used to envy the lives of others. Lives that I perceive as being happier than mine. The thing about envy is that it rarely spurs you to respond or react positively. Instead, it salts the wounds and the bleeding of bitterness starts once more.
Envy also prevents us from being 100% happy for someone’s good news. Instead, the question “why can’t it happen to me?” pops in to over heat the self-pity soup, leaving us burnt.Then wise mentors appeared to remind and teach me to embrace and celebrate my own life. To embrace the sufferings, the pains, the anguish that appears on my own road. Just like I would embrace and enjoy the goodness, the joys, the learnings that is mine.  And to practice being 100% happy for others’ goodness and joys.

I found the following steps useful:
  • Practice gratitude for all blessings both big and small
  • Practice deep breathing and allow the emotion of envy to surface and dissipate into the air when it pops up
  • Practice being happy for others and be present to their joy
  • Practice laughing more and crying less
  • Practice patience as life begins to attract goodness into your life

Release envy and positively change your life.

This is a teaching worth absorbing.
This is a practice worth living.
This is a path onto total bliss.

3 Reflective Activities to Usher in 2015

Hello 2015If we celebrate the years behind us they become stepping-stones of strength and joy for the years ahead.

It is two days before the dawn of 2015. A perfect time for reflection in preparation for a brand new year.

Here are three suggestions for reflective activities:

What Would You Like 2015 to be Like?

For the past few years, I have set a new year resolution for example, my resolution for 2014 is to be anchored in bliss, feel bliss, gift bliss and be bliss. While people often cite that resolutions do not work, and studies show that most people fail, I believe that resolutions can work for you if you decide to be guided by it as much as possible. I did not feel pressured nor restricted by it so it became easier to follow.

I used to set specific goals but since 2011, I started to set intentions instead which works very well for me. The intentions provide a ‘roadmap’ for what you want to do, to be and to have. For those of you who work better with setting specific goals, please do so. Utilise the system which works best for you. 🙂

Tip 1: when you are setting your resolution and intentions, please feel happy and joyous doing it so that you are amplifying happy energies!

Tip 2: State what you want and not what you do not want.

What Makes You Happy?

For those of you who are in a stormy period of your life, perhaps this reflective exercise of knowing what makes you happy would be useful.

If you do not know what would make you happy then most likely, you will find yourself caught in an endless web of unhappiness. If you do not know what would make you happy, then it is challenging or near impossible for anyone else in your life to help give a little nudge.

If you are feeling unhappy right now, take some time off for yourself. Have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and then start thinking about what would make you happy. If your mind starts to go “but I can’t achieve that”, “how can I get that” etc, STOP and bring your attention back to what would make you happy.

During the session, if your mind is a blank when it comes to what would make you happy, then that’s an important realisation and insight for you isn’t it? If that happens, then recognise your new insight and start to focus on the future.

For those who are experiencing severe pain and this is an impossible exercise to do…be brave to seek and accept help. Confide in a friend or make an appointment to speak with a counsellor, coach or therapist. Everyone deserves to live a life of joy and dignity.

Creating Your Dream Boards

In 2007,my dear friend M encouraged me to put up my vision (dream) boards – not just the typical one that most people do but three separate boards for me to paste pictures of the things I’d like to be doing, having and being.

The boards forced me to reflect on what I truly wanted in life at that given point in time (you have to think before you put stuff up!), allowed me to dream bigger and gave me that extra dosage of sunshine when I felt down.

Bit by bit, month by month, year by year… what I like to be doing, having and being became a manifested reality. Some quicker, while some took a wee longer. The boards helped me to creatively energetically Visual-Realise my dreams while embarking on the many learning journeys helped to accelerate the transformation of my life.

Instead of 3 boards, you could combine them into one. Besides pictures, you can also include written words or phrases. You can review and change your board(s) along the way.

« Previous Page