The same aunt who risked everything to get into Hong Kong was the person who taught me my number one rule in life. When I was 11 years old, my mother took me to visit her in Nova Scotia, my first trip outside Toronto. She told me in Cantonese, "Danny, if you want to do anything in life, don't tell your dad about it." That piece of advice changed my life, and was directly responsible for making this book possible.
Announcing your intentions has many negative effects. Studies have shown that by announcing your goals, you get immediate gratification. In turn, this lowers your motivation actually to do the task.
Another negative consequence of announcing your intention is that people will try to stop you from achieving the goal. The reason for this is a force known as resistance—the force that opposes all human effort and it can manifest itself internally and externally. When it manifests internally, it can present itself as procrastination. When it manifests externally, it is usually presented as criticism or overcautiousness expressed by a third party. Hearing negative things about what you want to achieve will demotivate most people.
Keep your goals to yourself, and only celebrate after you have reached them. For more on the concept of resistance and some ways of combatting it, I recommend reading The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.
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Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim
Non-FictionEver wonder what it takes to do business in Asia? How do Asian business executives behave and think? Do you want to create a business from scratch in under 24 hours? If so, this is your guide. This book is a compilation of over one hundred business...
