Taipei Experience

Taipei may not be the first choice of many people to travel, but in fact the city changed a lot in the past few years that I certainly think worth a visit. You know, if one can afford the time and money, one shall always revisit a place every few years. So, what are the changes in a city just went through 8 years of economy turmoil ?

In short, new developments in infrastructure while keeping the old traditions and the art scene. I suppose there are lots that our city government needs to learn from Taipei.

Taipei 101

Jiufeng

Juming museum

Getting things done, again

According to the productivity guru David Allen, we shall re-read his book Getting Things Done every three to six months – to see if we can learn something new. But after reading his book two times in the past already, it is not easy to pick up the book again. So this time I tried the audiobook version of the book, narrated by David himself. With only 3 CDs in this audiobook, it is really easy to finish it. And here are the three main points of GTD again, for your pleasure:

  1. Keep everything out of your head;
  2. Regular review and update the complete inventory of open loops of your life and work;
  3. Decide actions and outcomes when things first emerge on your radar, instead of later.

Plain and simple, isn’t it ? Unfortunately, It takes a long time to master it …


“I don’t know.” … “That’s a good answer.”

There is another rerun of the movie – Contact in cable TV. I love the movie, the story line, the special effect and the acting. But I love most is the last few lines in the movie – yes, I can wait two hours just for that 15 seconds …

KID : Are there other people out there in the Universe?
ELLIE : Thatโ€™s a good question. What do you think, huh?
KID : I donโ€™t know.
ELLIE : Thatโ€™s a good answer. A skeptic, huh? The most important thing is that you all keep searching for your own answers.

When was the last time you heard a teacher said “That’s a good answers.” to a student who answered “I don’t know.” to a question ?

You see, the most important thing is – keep searching for your own answers.

I will not be broken

Last week hundreds of thousands people went through their lives’ worst setback, it is about time to search for recovery and reclaim their lives. According to the book, I Will Not Be Broken, there are five key stages of overcoming a crisis:

  • First, face the facts. “None of us will get very far without first examining our circumstances, relationships, and feelings. We will need to be ruthless in our self-assessment.”
  • Second, we need to choose life, not death. “We must consciously choose for our lives to go on in a positive way.” We can choose happiness and create options for a positive future.
  • The third step is to reach out because no one thrives in isolation.”We have to let people in our life into our life.”
  • Next, we need to get moving, to think of the future and develop a plan for achieving goals.
  • Finally, step five is to give back. “You must give to a community in order to belong to a community. You can become a volunteer, a community leader, a donor, a social change agent, a future peer supporter.”