Malaysia Post GE14_Tessie's Take

Fact is stranger than fiction they say. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir's cabinet is made up of prisoners and jail birds!

Show me another govt like ours. The most senior ministers have served time. The others know what it feels like to go last, be treated less than, and to have things stripped off them. Persona non grata were not given column space nor air time.

That's how opposition leaders were treated when the then ruling party Barisan Nasional was in power. Opposition leaders were persecuted for defending the rule of law and for standing up for their principles. Free speech. Free press was mere lip service. 

It was all a farce. Najib was the Prime Minister of farce. He didn't understand that his leadership was turning Malaysia into a circus. It all went terribly wrong very early in the day. Things were so distorted from the (magic) mirrors we didn't know what we were doing anymore. We needed Bersih to adjust our screens. As a people we lived in fear. We were sold down (de nile) Many are still stuck there!

Now the opposition is in power! Hah. The tables are turned. Be afraid. Be very afraid? I could carry on using more cliches. Yet it was a series of unexpected blessings. Oxymoron or what?

How nice to read truth once again! How nice to toss off the fake news spawned by those in power (previously). My eyes were already being treated as they were fatigued from all the eyerolls and glazing over... oh and the crap that was being bandied about caused them to sting.

What's worse than being lied to? Knowing we were not worth the truth. Being treated as if we were morons. Drunk on Kool-Aid? From "vote for me" to "I was dumb."

Enough with what we already know. Let's talk about what's new. What's refreshing ~ is to see Malaysians celebrate! We are out at restaurants eating and drinking and laughing again. How great it is to hear people speak of hope and togetherness and unity again! "We are Malaysian." Wow, that's bigly huuuuugggge as Trump would say.

How did we manage to speak of truth, authenticity, integrity... to our children all those years? BN forced "farce parenting."

How did we govern our organisations; how did we call people out and hold them accountable? How did we track responsibility and performance? BN forced "farce leadership."

How did we work to build culture, beliefs, and values... when the "bigger picture" was training us exactly opposite? How did we speak of empowering when everything was dis-empowering? Everything was about farce / false value? You are the sum total of your handbags. You are the sum total of your yacht, condo, or car. No lux no love. Vote for me and I will give you $2000. Plus I'll throw in the taxes ~ Pass go. Do not pay $200.

Kudos to the Malaysian people for putting up and surviving. For protecting our peace and unity. For our patriotism. The real kind. No farce this time.

Farce ~ meaning: a comic dramatic work using buffoonery. Typically using crude characterisation and ludicrously improbable situations.

Personal Power. You know how much you really have in the worst of times.

My work is to build PERSONAL POWER. To inspire courage, confidence, and freedom so we live our best life.

I work through my writing, speaking, team coachings, and trainings. I work with special focus groups, executives in corporations, and personal development centres.

Personal Power – How do we know if we have it?

We know how much we have and how well it functions in the worst of times, when we are challenged, when we face unchartered territory, when all solutions seem not to work. This is when we measure most accurately our personal power. How we perform—THINK, FEEL, SPEAK, DO and appear—that energy that propels us from each hurdle, challenge, or breakdown... to achievement and breakthrough is our personal power.

Simply ask yourself, "Can I do it?" (your desired outcome). And notice the emphasis on "I," meaning self-attained. No dependence on other factors. Pacing the issue outwards, we could ask, "What makes me happy?" "How would I define success?" And if your answer suggests the need for outside factors, then you'd be off the mark. Self-reliance is key. Self-initiated Self-defined results is what Personal Power is about. It's all about what comes out of you---- from you for a purpose.

Yes, it would be YOUR skill to have inspired others to come and support you. Yes it would be YOUR sincerity and vulnerability that inspired others to trust you. Yes, that counts. 

Different from our standing in society (hierarchy of where we are placed), personal power doesn’t come from authority, titles, experience or competence. Confidence, capability… may be derivatives of power, but doesn’t define it.

Personal power goes beyond any kind of power that is bestowed on us by outside forces. Personal power is self-made (I get it from myself), it’s acquired from within ~ our resourcefulness (beliefs and attitudes), our resilience (energy management), and our integrity (living within our principles). 

Our ability to respond to life comes from our PERSONAL POWER. How much are we “at the effect of” life? Do we see ourselves as victims of circumstance? How good is our choice-making? Can we influence? Can we collaborate? We measure personal power from here.

Funnily not all leaders have personal power. Some may have been "put there" for certain reasons. They may not have earned their place upstairs at all!

I don't like identifying with the hard times in my life; my years of professional training, my divorce, starting my own business, being robbed at knifepoint, dealing with my mother's death, caring for an autistic relative, dealing with financial losses, etc. Yet those events shaped me. Now I use those times as checkpoints of how well I've grown, evolved, and resurrected to a higher being. Yes, I've had to make peace with my past. And I have a pretty solid idea of how much personal power I have.

#Resilience                 #Fitness

#Acceptance              #Flexibility

#Self-Trust                  #Integrity

#Self-Value                 #Sensitivity

#Focus                         #Passion

#SenseOfPurpose    #Love

#Courage                    #Intelligence

#Spirituality                #Openness to Learning

#Determination        #Drive for more

#Commitment           #Protecting the Greater Good

#Influence                  #Persistence