YOU DON’T NEED TO GO THROUGH THIS ALONE

I am writing this piece from the valley of a Black Swan event. Coined by finance professor, writer and former Wall Street trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb in 2007, a black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected and has potentially severe and widespread consequences.

With every passing day of the Movement Control Order (MCO), an atmosphere of fear is slowly permeating. The economy is in the doldrums, like a stagnant lake emitting tendrils of low-lying fog that writhes about our legs, chilling, cloying, choking. Supply chains have been broken, retail shops shuttered, factory machineries lie silent, public events cancelled. Life, as we know it, is on pause.

Apart from daily necessities, consumers have stopped spending, frozen in stasis whilst events roil over us. Workers are anticipating unpaid leave as companies struggle to make payroll, salary cuts loom on the horizon, or worse, lay-offs.

Fear can be debilitating.

Enter, the professional coach. When I embarked on this journey late last year, my primary goal was to advocate and help other professionals like myself take advantage of the growing gig economy. That goal remains unchanged, but in the tatters that is 2020, we need to shift our focus to damage control for employees and business owners alike.

Now, more than ever, every single one of us will need a coach by our side. Someone impartial, objective and supportive to help manage the emotions, gain clarity and insight, co-create an action plan, and keep us on track on our journey of recovery.

Fear may be debilitating… but taking action can be galvanizing.

Even the smallest step can bring back a feeling of being in control, essential to our well-being when so much seems uncertain. Here are some small steps that you can take while you wait out the MCO:

  1. Research – use this time to learn more about existing and potential new markets that your services, products or skills can serve
  2. Advisors – build a board of advisors to steer and guide you through this challenging period.
  3. Core – focus on enhancing your core competency, look into ways as to how your offerings can be tweaked to serve a different market.
  4. Educate – emerging from the MCO with a new skill in your arsenal will lend you strength as you double down on your recovery plan.

And finally,nI urge you to reach out, to myself or peer coaches. I know you are strong. I know you are resourceful. But whoever said you need to bear this burden alone? Allow us to stretch and elevate your thinking, so you can find the opportunities hidden in the crisis. Let us hold up a mirror for you, so that you can examine the problem from the outside looking in, to find the best solutions for yourself, your business and the livelihoods that depend on you. Together, let’s hunt for the silver lining beneath those dark clouds and ride it to the rainbow on the horizon.

So reach for that phone. Let’s connect. You don’t need to go through this alone.

Photo by Trung Thanh on Unsplash

TRINITY: HEAVEN, MAN AND EARTH

“There are so many types of Chinese Metaphysics solutions out there – how would I know which one is right for me?” I hear that question a lot from friends.

Yes, there are thousands if not tens of thousands of Chinese Metaphysics systems or schools. These can be roughly grouped into three main categories to be deployed for a person’s specific needs. But a simple guideline to remember is – Bazi is the Diagnosis, Feng Shui is the Prescription, Qimen is the Medication.

Bazi (八字) – Heaven Luck. This is your unique energy map, plotted at the day and time of your birth. It’s called Heaven Luck because this chart was deemed as something that was ‘given’ to you at your birth. Think of this as the Google Map of your life. It’s great for life strategies

Qi Men Dun Jia (奇門遁甲) – Man Luck.  This is the system from which the famous Art of War was derived from. In the past, knowledge of this art was exclusive only to the Emperors and was forbidden to commoners. Fact! In the olden days, commoners found to be practicing Qi Men Dun Jia will literally lose their heads over it. On a bad day, even all their family members could be beheaded. Their neighbour who wished them good morning earlier in the day, would also be quaking in their boots, hiding under their beds.

Recently revived, this is an action-based system that is fantastic for the day-to-day battles on the business battleground.

Feng Shui (風水) – Earth Luck. This system seeks to harmonize the energies of the surrounding environment that will enhance the positive energies and reduce the negative.

To wrap-up, here’s a little known fact: many of the top business tycoons in Asia employs all three categories of Chinese Metaphysics to ensure their personal and business success.

Disclaimer: All the Charts and photo of the compass above were downloaded from resources available at the Joey Yap Mastery Academy.

Plot your free Bazi Chart (registration required) at: https://bazibz.masteryacademy.com/

A simpler hour-by-hour Qimen chart is available at: https://qmatools.masteryacademy.com/Account/Login.aspx

The Luopan compass is available for sale at: http://store.joeyyap.com/feng-shui-tools?product_id=228

WHAT’S ‘GOD’ GOT TO DO WITH IT?

There’s been a slew of popular misconceptions about the ancient science of Chinese Metaphysics. The most common? That it is a form of religion, worship or worse, superstition. That, could not be further from the truth. Let’s put this out there once and for all – there are no religious basis nor connotations in the practice of Chinese Metaphysics.

If it is not religion, then what is it?

Part-science and part-art, Chinese Metaphysics is nothing more than a study of energy.

To fully explain the basis of Chinese Metaphysics, we will need to take a trip back in time, thousands of years back to an era where scholars desperately needed a system to reliably forecast the weather. In an agricultural society, the farmers had to know when to sow, plant and reap.

Put yourself in the hand-woven straw shoes of a Chinese scholar from times gone by. It was an age with no satellite TV, no internet, no YouTube, and no Facebook. A popular pastime among the learned was to while away the long dark nights while declaiming poetry. Eventually, someone noticed that certain stars created a predictable pattern at different times of the year and could be  used to track the changing seasons.

Almost everyone would have some passing knowledge about the five elements in Chinese Metaphysics – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. What few know is that Wood refers to Venus, Fire is Jupiter, Earth is the ancients’ name for Mars, and Water is Saturn. Therefore, Chinese Metaphysics is a study of the planets, the energy they represent, and how those patterns affect the individual human being.

Then why the ‘Gods’ and ‘Deities’?

Poetic license, pure and simple. Poetic writing was a prized skill among Chinese scholars. Even the most routine reports were often written in poetry form. So the terms ‘Gods’ or ‘Deities’ were employed for their poetic possibilities instead of the more commonplace term, which would be ‘Stars’.

How then was the superstition label tagged onto Chinese Metaphysics?

Hardly surprising. As the knowledge evolved over a span of thousands of years, facts that had been over-generalized for the consumption of a then largely under-educated population, had morphed into superstitions.

The age of over-commercialization of this knowledge, especially over the past 50 years or so, added to the conundrum.

Photo Credit: Photo by David Menidrey on Unsplash

THE YIN AND YANG OF BUSINESS

Over the past three years, I have been deep-diving into the endlessly fascinating art of Chinese Metaphysics. After decades in motorsports communications, taking that first step was akin to a journey into the unknown.

But what a fascinating journey, it had been!

Today, I am able to meld the art of Bazi and Qimendunjia into actionable solutions for professionals keen to upskill and upgrade themselves.

More on that later. For now, let’s start with the basics – the concept of duality embodied in the Yin and Yang. Google the term and you will find a long Wikipedia page talking about light-and-dark, male-and-female, etc etc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang)

A 2017 article by Alastair Dryburgh came closest to explaining the concept of Yin and Yang when applied to business. He said, “Progress has two sides. The light side is  creating. learning and succeeding. The dark side is destroying, forgetting and failing. The one cannot exist without the other, but too often we focus our attention on the light and try to ignore the dark.”

From <https://www.forbes.com/sites/alastairdryburgh/2017/02/18/the-yin-and-yang-of-growing-a-business/#6058a21386c4>

At its very core, the concept of Yin and Yang can be explained in three easy words – Cause and Effect.

To elaborate, what is the Cause that will bring to fruition, the Effect that you want? Conversely, how do you avoid the Cause that will bring the Effect that you do not want? To drive sales, what is the critical factor that needs to happen? To get that promotion, what sort of value must you deliver? What needs to happen, in order for you to start your own business?

Yes, it’s as simple as that.

In my next post, I aim to de-mythify the art of Chinese Metaphysics. No, it is not as woo-woo as you think.