Author: Michael Foo
-
You could be denying yourself. Here’s why
After more than 100 coaching conversations, I came to realise we are our biggest barriers. We are often our harshest critics, putting ourselves down before anybody else. When I asked my coachees,“What’s really standing in your way and the results you want?” I often hear, “I CAN’T … because [reasons]’. – A high potential manager…
-
An important advice from wasting 6 years of my career
I began my career in the Mobile Telecommunications (Telco) sector in the year 2000. That was an era when Telco was the unicorn much like the AI industry is today. As a fresh Marketing graduate, I felt I ‘arrived’ when I landed my first job with MobileOne (M1). I became a call centre officer, much…
-
Do you know your TRUE potential?
I started my career as a Customer Service officer (CSO) in a call centre. My job involved a single task. That was to retain (‘winback’) at least 7 subscribers per day who called to cancel their service subscription with MobileOne (M1). That single task proved challenging. I struggled to deliver 5 winbacks on most days.…
-
Giving up is a life skill. Here’s what I found out …
I have given up several times in life. During my corporate career, I gave up on job promotion twice to pursue new roles outside of my domain. I was motivated by the curiosity of stepping out of my comfort zone.Back then, I didn’t anticipate each decision would set me back. It would take another 3…
-
How do we know what we 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 want?
Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with living overseas. When the opportunity for an assignment in Indonesia came up in 2013, I grabbed it! The excitement of my first overseas posting was soon met with a sense of reality. Reality struck as I transitioned from a single contributor to a team manager.When…
-
What if there is a perfectionist in each of us?
Psychologist Thomas Curran explained perfectionism is not the quest of perfecting a task.It is an act of covering up the ‘perceived imperfection’ in ourselves. I have never regarded myself as a perfectionist.It came as a surprise when perfectionism emerged as my chief saboteur when I took a self-assessment test developed by Positive Intelligence (PQ, link…
-
Can you change your mindset completely?
Most of us recognize the transformative power of having a growth mindset. Does having a growth mindset stop us from going down the slippery slope of a fixed mindset again?😬 Last Thursday, I had an interesting conversation with an ex-classmate over dinner. When I updated Wendy about my current work as a growth mindset coach,…
-
Our self-doubts have a purpose, you decide what it means
Last November was the mid-term of my 6 months Professional Coaching Certification program. It was a special milestone that I looked forward to. A timely opportunity to measure my development and competency as a coach. The 2-day mid-term workshop was packed with practice drills. I started the workshop feeling confident. As the drills progressed, my confidence…
-
Your dreams are worth the effort, even when no one is cheering
Your dreams are worth the effort, even when no one is cheering. Here’s why. This week, I had coaching sessions with 3 different clients. Each is a young executive in their 30s with big dreams. To build their business as a solopreneur or to become the leader they aspire to be. One recurring theme emerged.…
-
What if we were spending 25% of our waking life in self-talk?
Research suggests the average adult spends 4 hours a day in self-talk.That’s 25% of our waking hours each day! Sounds familiar? 📢 Yes, this is the little voice in our heads that yells for our attention all day. The same voice with an opinion on our experiences, decisions, and events in our lives. These ‘𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩…