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Appearing In Cozycot Magazine

Posted by: lionel on Jun 28, 2011

Tagged in: fitness

As some wise man once said, good things never happen alone. They always come in pairs. So do not blink your eyes and do a double take.

My eyes certainly didn't as I saw a familiar face inside the inaugural issue of Cozycot's hard copy magazine. Then I remembered it was a photoshoot picture which I did for them some months back and they asked me for some simple, but practical health and fitness tips.

Here's what I shared: "Wake up 15 minutes earlier every day to exercise. You'll banish body fat forever!"

Very true. Instead of thinking how we can become a slave to exercise by having to spend 30 minutes or more huffing and puffing away, why not invest just 15 minutes a day and do something you enjoy? Once you approach exercise from a fun angle, your perspective changes and it no longer becomes a chore.

Exercise comes in many forms. It doesn't have to be running on the treadmill or using the elliptical machine. Any form of physical activity that gets you perspiring is considered 'exercise'. So if you enjoy brisk walking, skipping, stair climbing or swimming, by all means go ahead!

Better still, if you can get your family or loved ones involved as well...

Cheers to good health, everybody :)

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The Amazing Lifestyles 2011 For Plus-Sized Ladies

Posted by: lionel on Jun 26, 2011

Tagged in: pageants

Having interacted with hundreds of people from my workshops, programmes and trainings, what never fails to amaze me is the fact that we all have confidence. For some, it may still be dormant, waiting for the right opportunity to surface.

And for a special group of ladies, there is no better time than now. I salute them for having the courage to step forward and enroll in Amazing Lifestyles 2011. If last year’s inaugural pageant was an indicator of what these ladies can look forward to, I’m very sure the lineup this year will blow your minds away.

I’m absolutely honoured to be appointed as the events manager for the Amazing Lifestyles 2011. The Amazing Lifestyles 2011 concept is a very simple one. We do not want to neglect our bigger, plus-sized sisters, friends and colleagues out there. Taking a leaf from all the other female pageants in the market, nothing even comes close than our altruistic desires for these ladies to embark on a journey filled with self-discovery, transformation and confidence.

A sneak preview of the exciting lineup ahead reveals the following:

Studio Photoshoot

All ladies will be involved in a studio photoshoot. The concept for the photoshoot will be 1950s Pin-Up Girls made famous by Katy Perry, Dita Von Teese and TV series Mad Men. The era epitomises curves and curvy girls.

The signature look is all about the heavy false lashes and siren red lips with curls, headbands, ribbons and up-dos. So think poodle skirts, twin sets, trapeze dresses, retro fashion etc. Glamorous? Definitely! Sophisticated? Definitely! Sexy? Definitely!

Following the selection of the photos, all ladies will be featured in a calender with a single month's spread. Talk about being your own cover model. How's this for a change? :p

Self Enhancement Workshops

Everyday in life, we are either growing or not. We want all ladies in Amazing Lifestyles 2011 to continue to grow and realise their full potentials in this journey. And that was why we have arranged a series of workshops for the participants to be schooled in areas such as relationships, makeup, stage presence and fitness. To be conducted free of charge to all ladies, industry experts in each of these fields will be holding court.

The Runway Fashion Show

It may sound silly but true. I've asked my workshop participants and 95% of them love the glitz and glamour of 'Sex And The City'. And we want to recreate this image in all our ladies when they take to the runway and do a fashion show end Feb which is the proud climax of it all. Imagine having your family, friends and colleagues cheer you on when you strut your stuff on stage. I can't wait!!

If your heart has started to be stirred just by what I have shared, then hesitate no more and sign up now. Here is the official website where more info on Amazing Lifestyles 2011 can be obtained.

http://bigonattitude.com/amazing

Registration is free so encourage your friends & colleagues to join. And if anyone asks, just say Lionel recommended :)

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Corporate Grooming Talk For NAVTEQ Singapore

Posted by: lionel on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: grooming

It’s regarded as one of architectural office icons in Singapore and I always see it dot the city skyline from afar. Yet until today, I’ve never had any chance to enter its premise. Introducing The Gateway, a pair of office buildings on Beach Road designed by the world famous US based architect I.M. Pei.

Likened to two towering cardboard boxes, I was invited to The Gateway East building to give a corporate grooming talk at NAVTEQ. Whether you own an in-house navigation system to get from Point A to Point B, or are trying to find the closest fuel station on your way home, or finding your way around in a new city, NAVTEQ are the guys you can always turn to.

As it was a Friday, most of the staff were dressed in smart casual, which is one of the commonly accepted dress codes allowed as it heralds the beginning of the weekends.

When one speaks of corporate grooming, it’s all about decoding it right and wearing what is generally accepted by HR. It’s not always about a jacket and suit. Corporate grooming can also be translated to mean wearing a business shirt, pants and tie for men; and a blouse and skirt for ladies. Very often, wearing a tie for a man works volumes of his credibility and status. If I were to do business with two men – one wearing a tie and one without, I would definitely approach the guy wearing the tie. Strange but true, a tie ups the authority level of a guy, anytime, anywhere.

Of course, a guy cannot always be seen wearing the same coloured shirt. A good number of long-sleeved shirt a guy needs to own is five – one colour for each day. Unless you work in a firm which advocates only white, then I would suggest having a palette of colours that you can select from, depending on your moods. Yes, the colours we wear do represent our internal moods. And of course, pick colours that complement your skin tone.

As for ladies, if she comes dressed in a power suit jacket, then I know she means business too. When it comes to corporate dressing for ladies, they have many styles to choose from. And what makes it more interesting is what she wears under her jacket. It can be a tube top, blouse, shirt or full dress. With so many options to choose from, women are hard pressed to find any excuses not to dress well.

So with the on-going Great Singapore Sales, now that everyone has a clearer idea of how easy it is to put together a corporate look, it's time to go shopping over the weekends!

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Grooming Workshop For Standard Chartered Bank Young Apprentice Programme 2011

Posted by: lionel on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: grooming

It’s always gratifying to train youths as I know I can make a special impact in their lives. This is especially so when they are all fresh out of school and are eager to absorb as much as they can before they join the working world.

With this noble aspiration, I kickstarted my grooming workshop at 9am. This is the earliest grooming talk I have ever done to date. But judging from the fresh faces that greeted me this morning, it was definitely well worth my effort.

Organised as part of a 3 day programme for Standard Chartered Priority Banking customers’ children, the Young Apprentice Programme 2011 consists of different workshops such as financial planning, public speaking and of course grooming.

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The purpose of the programme seeks to discover gems among the youths who could become future employees at Standard Chartered Bank should they have a flair for sales, marketing or banking in general. Through these different workshops, an overall winner will be crowned on the final day.

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With such a huge responsibility entrusted on my shoulders, I took to the stage on the second day at *scape. While waiting for the rest of the youths to check in, I took a seat among the chairs. Some of the youths who came early found me unfamiliar and asked if I belonged to another team. Then it dawned upon them that I was too formally dressed to be their team-mate. And it also struck me that I wished I was given such an opportunity to learn about grooming at their age. Funny as it may sound, it was from such a beautiful misunderstanding that I got to know some of the participants better. They were keen to find out what made me interested in becoming a style coach.

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It’s strange but true that when we grow older, our courage unfortunately diminishes. I can trust these youths, easily numbering more than 100 of them today, to speak up anytime and share their views. When I asked for volunteers, hands shot up immediately. I believe this has to do with our education system which has increasingly seen winds of change blow into the corridors of the educational institutions as youths become more independent, confident and self-assuring. And to give them credit, they don’t just give one or two word answers. They can speak at lengths! Compare that with a group of adults and sometimes, I am really hard-pressed to elicit a response from them.

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From their dressing today, it was clear some took extra efforts to impress. Chic and immaculate were some; and totally casual were others. But regardless of what look they turned up in today, I’m very sure that they will know how to up their image quotient on the last day tomorrow so as to impress the judges. I was told that besides the presentation skills, the look they chose to project tomorrow would constitute a percentage of the score in determining the winner of the Young Apprentice Programme 2011.

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To help them for tomorrow’s presentation and to help them get all dressed up for their future job in the corporate world, I went into great details on how to select key pieces in one’s wardrobe and what to look out for. Covering both the male and female aspect, they were more than eager to pick up every tip I dished out.

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Sometimes when the crowd energy is good, I really hate to leave as it means people are interested. And as a trainer, I would love to impart more knowledge. But then again, not all things are within my control as the organizers were very strict with time.

One can always trust the youths to think out of the box. So the next best alternative was for them to swarm up to me after I got off the stage to continue part two of the grooming workshop. Forgoing their tea break to extract maximum value, a group of 11 youths decided that was the way to go as the video crew guy too got busy and joined in the action, video-taping me and the youths in action off stage.

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As the youths crowd around me after my workshop off stage

I love what I do and I do what I love. I am happiest when I know I have made a positive difference yet again in the lives of these youths today!

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Cozycot Chooses Singapore's 100 Best Loved Beauty Professionals

Posted by: lionel on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: appreciation

I received an email from Cozycot, Singapore's leading online beauty portal that I've been selected as one of Singapore's 100 Most Loved Beauty Professionals!

Good news indeed...Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement :)

For all my readers out there, you can click on the image below to read more about the accolade and remember to "like" it.

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PS: Read on by clicking here for the simple but heart-warming Award Ceremony at Cozycot's office. A timely birthday present indeed :)

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Corporate Grooming Talk For UniSIM

Posted by: lionel on Jun 22, 2011

Tagged in: grooming

It’s a topic which I have spoken for hundreds of hours and I’m perfectly comfortable talking about it. More importantly, it never fails to stir me each time I stand in front of an audience. Likewise, today at UniSIM (SIM University), the feelings of excitement and ebullience continue to work their magic in a familiar surrounding :)

For those of you who have been reading my blog since its inception, you would have remembered that my first public speaking gig was by invitation of SIM way back in Sep 2008. Therefore, speaking here at UniSIM, otherwise known as the working adults’ university, holds special meaning as both of them are closely related.

Why do some of us continue to live in our make-belief world and imagine we are alright when the truth is otherwise? Why do some of us continue to buy clothes week after week without doing a stocktake of the current wardrobe inhabitants? Why do we dress as if we are going clubbing when it’s another workweek?

Comprising a good mix of both genders, the corporate grooming talk today is aimed at helping participants transform themselves from awkward beings with wardrobe woes to enlightened style-finders who look good each and every time they channel it. It’s like a light switch. Each time you switch it on, you impress someone. Each time you switch it off, pitch darkness harkens. I like using the switch analogy as it fits perfectly into the thrust of the grooming talk.

The answer to all these questions and more lies in the switch. When we cannot be bothered about our looks, we choose to turn off the switch. When this happens, darkness envelopes and nobody can be bothered with us. We may even give others a super negative impression that we are sloths.

In a world when many of our first impressions of someone is based on the external look and feel, it is inevitable that we pay extra attention to the what we wear in a particular circumstance.

Many a times, it's really not about me as the trainer. Rather, it's about how the participants enjoy learning in a fun-filled environment. Judging from the laughter, smiles and all, I'm happy that I have achieved this again.

There's really nothing much to fret about. As long as you know how to dress according to the occasion and people you will be meeting, you are good to go :)

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Stress Management Talk For Kodak Singapore

Posted by: lionel on Jun 17, 2011

Tagged in: stress management

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Stress comes in many forms and affects all of us differently. For some of us, stress could be because of an internal trigger. Internal triggers could range from a personal desire to want to get promoted, a quarrel with your loved one or the potential outcome of the yearly staff appraisal. For others, stress could be because of an external trigger. These could come in the guise of your boss arrowing you yet another big project, the tight deadline ahead or the banks hounding you to pay your credit card bills.

Whatever your trigger is, it is important to identify it early and accurately. This in essence was the message I brought across to the participants from Kodak Singapore who attended my stress management talk.

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If you ask me, there is no magic pill to manage stress. In addition to knowing your triggers, stress management also involves controlling and reducing the tension by making changes emotionally, physically and mentally.

When I put the participants through a stress check, some were surprisingly pleased to note that they scored well. This wasn’t unexpected as the same people who were smiling throughout the talk and most relaxed with their body language were the same ones who scored the best.

I firmly believe that if one wants to combat stress, it's all about creating flow in one's life. Just like how some of us relish reading our novels, walk along the beach or work out in the gym, others enjoy cooking it away in the kitchen, embark on retail therapy or go for a good massage. Whatever helps create flow in your life, please carry on and do more of it as it helps us to maintain our sanity in this world.

In the same manner as how the water in the stream flows fluidly, so must we learn to let go of our uptight emotions and become like water. Pristine, pure and untainted by anyone, once we create flow in our thoughts, our footsteps become lighter, our complexions rosier and our moods 100 times better!

That was why I also shared with the participants how to do deep breathing exercises and did a group meditation as the grand finale to this stress management talk.

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NLP Training At Arrow Electronics

Posted by: lionel on Jun 16, 2011

Tagged in: nlp

There are many things I need to be grateful for in life and this is one of them – that people actually sign up for a lunchtalk because they know it’s me and I deliver value.

As with all lunchtalk collaborations, I’m the one who attracts the crowd or fronts the advertisement. And it isn’t always everyday when you get to meet a room full of staff who are willing to learn. And for this very reason itself, my very presence this afternoon holds special meaning. Thank you, staff of Arrow Electronics. You make me feel extremely welcome!

Many I spoke to have heard of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) or any derivatives of it. But many, I’m sure, even till today, are clueless as to how one actually applies NLP techniques in their everyday lives. From my own practitioner programme and my interactions with all my audience through these years, this is the fruit of my labour – my very own “Applying NLP Techniques In Your Everyday Life” talk. Succinct, easy to comprehend and 100% useful I dare say.

When learnt at first, NLP may be a little uncomfortable as it means replacing your current perspectives with new ones. It’s like putting on a pair of spectacles and seeing things from another viewpoint. When you first wear that pair of spectacles, you feel a little awkward as it’s taking you out of your comfort zone.

But then that’s the beauty of NLP. When put into practice, it can be easily integrated into our everyday lives. And by doing so, it becomes so much easier to build rapport with others, especially the people around us. Whether or not we know the people around us – be they our colleagues, friends, family or even strangers is immaterial. What makes us tick and tango in a duet is understanding each other’s representational systems and matching it. Go a step further and mirror the other person’s verbal and non-verbal communication systems if you wish. Do this and watch your rapport move up a notch. Of course, there are some negative postures which you will never mirror such as arms folded and a turned torso. Because if you do, then you will be in for a rough time or be greeted by a perpetually angry face.

Judging from the rapport of the Arrow Electronics colleagues, it’s evident that they easily banter and joke with one another. And guess what? With the power of NLP, they will be able to strengthen the bonds and build even greater camaraderie to boost productivity in the office.

You have to try it to be convinced of how powerful NLP can be. If you want to be a master communicator, NLP is definitely the way to go. Contact me here if you wish to experience first-hand this unique experience.

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