self belief – Derrick Kwa

What’s going wrong with Arsenal, part 2: Passion

Dec 12, 2007

After thinking more about it (and reading more forum posts), I wanted to add another point about Arsenal. There’s a lot of fans talking about how the players who are coming in don’t seem to have the drive and passion of the opposition. They’re commenting how the likes of Newcastle and Middlesbrough wanted the win more than Arsenal. And that’s why they won, even though technically – on paper – the Arsenal players are (arguably) better.

It wasn’t just a desire to win. But it’s partly because they (Newcastle and Middlesbrough) have been in a slump of form. And they want to prove themselves. It’s not just about winning, but it’s about standing up and being counted.

I think it’s a great point. Sometimes ability isn’t all that matters. Passion and desire is just as important. If you really want to succeed, you need to have a passion for what you’re doing. You need to be willing to stand up for yourself, and prove yourself.

It’s not just your ability, but what you do with it.

How do you find the drive and passion to succeed?

Don’t Look Down

Dec 8, 2007

Anyone who’s done climbing will probably have heard the tip “don’t look down”. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it’s for safety (this is what I just read), because if anything falls, you don’t want it hitting your neck. Secondly, and this is the point that I want to discuss, I think it’s about confidence. Sometimes when you look down, you realize how far off you are, and that gets you slightly more apprehensive. And that apprehension is never good.

In life, whenever you’re trying to progress, when you’re trying to go ‘higher’, it’s always risky. And when you look down, it’s always going to be scary. So my advice? The same advice that rock climbers are given.

Whatever you’re pursuing, don’t look down. Yes, you prepare for the worst. You make sure that you don’t come off too bad (like the safety harness for climbers). But once you get going, don’t keep thinking about the worst case scenario. Don’t think about the risk you’re taking. Basically, throw out all second thoughts once you get going. If you’re doing it, go in 100%. Because if you don’t, chances are, you won’t be successful. You need to be committed, believe that you’ll succeed, and just keep looking forward.

Once you’ve started climbing, don’t look down.

How do you stop yourself from having second thoughts about what you do?

Photo Credit:
093007 climb lcl mgs
Originally uploaded by MICHAEL G. SEAMANS

Guinness World Record Seekers

Nov 17, 2007

I’m not really a fan of the Guinness book of records, in that I personally would never attempt to get into it. Plainly because, most of the time, the things seem really meaningless to me.

But I do have to give credit to these people who are pursuing the records. They’re putting their time and energy into something that they believe in. It’s something that others might think pointless (like getting in a bathtub full of snakes), but they’re pursuing it anyway, regardless of how crazy others might think they are. It’s something that others might think impossible (after all, for it to be a World Record, it must mean it hadn’t been done before), but they believed in themselves, and had faith that they could do it.

So while I don’t particularly see much of a point in the book itself, I have a lot of respect for the people in it. They’ve gone through great lengths and taken a lot of chances in order to pursue their dreams (as crazy as others might think they are), and being in the record books – having their name recorded for future generations – is just reward.

How far are you willing to go to pursue your dreams?