Gloria's Blog

On my way to work on April 6th, I listened to a podcast . It is an interview with Vanessa Van Edwards, the author of Captivate . It described her way to have dazzling conversations in a networking setting: "It is not about how to impress other people, but how to give other people opportunities to impress you." "A good conversation creates sense of belongings - you make them feel that they belong to you, and you belong to them. Examples are: you share some common experiences; you show that you care about what they care about, by asking thoughtful questions. Their book, their business, their pets, etc. " Vanessa also introduced a fun trick, "Go on a 'No what do you do question' diet. " You don't ask these routine questions that let people go on autopilot. Instead, you ask more thoughtful questions, the purpose is to create sense of belongings. *** It was enlightening to me!  First, I realized networking is something that many pe...

Last December, I attended an amazing training - High Performance Training sponsored by my amazing employer Microsoft. It answers why and how the most elite masters in each field achieved what they have achieved - in sports, business, arts, etc. The training empathized the importance of mindfulness, positive thinking. During the training, they introduced a challenge, "To write down three good things that have happened everyday, for 30 days." I was inspired, and decided to do it with a friend. We made it through. We didn't expect it to be such a profound experience. ***** Here are ten things I learned from the 30-Day-Challenge. 1. Today’s happiness can only be appreciated today. We don’t remember yesterday well. One day we forgot to do it. It’s very hard to think three things that have made you happy yesterday. So live in the moment.  2. It’s not easy to stick to it for 30 days. Probably anything for 30 days.  We need discipline to do that. I tol...

You may question: wow, are you seriously trying to answer this ultimate life question? Well, nope. Today I want to share a moment when I felt "This is why life is worth living". If you know me, you know I love asking questions. Not everybody loves to answer. I get it. I have a friend, his name is Jason. Jason likes to answer questions. My questions too. He often gives thoughtful answers. The other day, I asked him, "This is a big one. Why life is worth living?" He said, "The meaning of life is in the pursuit of its meaning.". That kind of abstract philosophic answer. I didn't particularly like this answer. But I know the flaw is in the way I asked. So, I wrote him an email, shared with him this moment. After reading the email, Jason encouraged me to share this moment with my readers. So here we have this blog. *********** To: Jason This noon, I asked you an awkward question "Why life is worth living?" It...