Did a community outreach program at Tambunan Sabah. Visited the children's foster home there and they really brought joy to us.
Will update with stories soon.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Get Back Up!
Anyway, I'm an enthusiasts for outdoor activities and I have a passion for mountain biking. The moment I got back and while I was at OBS I couldn't wait to get back on my bike and ride it, the trails at Crocker Range is an ideal trail for extreme bikers where it can really pushed your limits, you've to trail, ride and camp but overall it's an excellent trail if you are after adventure. While we were trekking, how I wished that I had my bike with me and my friends along with to cover the route up Crocker Range with our bikes.
When I got back, I met with my usual weekend group and we went riding our usual trails and it was magnificent and the following day they decided to go to a professional man made mountain biking park at Putrajaya. I was just too excited about it. We arrived at the place and the trails were awesome and about almost 2 hours into the ride we went to a fairly new and different trail from our usual trail where it had jumps, I reached the peak and looked down and the first expression was Wow! How am I going to clear this, I had feelings of doubts just looking down at the jumps and so I thought that I'm going to try this carefully and safe but I hesitated for a moment until I saw my friend passed me and went down for the jumps.
From the top it looked easy and so I decided to give it a try until the first jump, it felt really good in the air but at that time I knew I was going to crash I was pretty high up in the and BOOOOM I crashed, I must have passed out because and woke up with an excruciating pain on my cheast and shoulder. All i heard when i woke up was "Jon, can you feel your hands and legs, can you move your toes?" I tried to move but couldn't and all I wanted was to breathe.
The pain in my chest felt as if there was a knife pierced through my lungs, after a short moment, my friends decided to get me to a hospital and getting up was horror, a matter of life and death seriously! As I was walking I requested for water when I realised that there was blood coming out from my mouth and I coughed out blood. Trauma but I only knew at that time that I was in good hands and will arrive at the hospital to get treatment.
Arrived at the hospital and the first thing I requested was oxygen because it was difficult to breathe. The rolled me in for an x-ray and the orthopaedic surgeon came to me and said that I broke my shoulder bone and 2 hairline rib cracks. While waiting for the operation in 4 hours time I had my girlfriend by my side and before I went for the operation she just said, "please wake up from sleep", I'll be waiting.
It took 2 hours and when I woke up I was in the recovery room and they then sent me back to the ward. Oh boy, you wouldn't know how awake I was because of the antithetic and the medication. Soon after I saw my friends trickling in and soon the whole ward was packed. Was so happy to see all of them. The test came the next day when the painkillers started to fade off, to even move was a challenge and staying in bed without moving really is a pain in the neck. So I requested to be wheeled around the hospital but I just couldn't bear the pain.
The next day, the surgeon visited me and he said I can be discharged but he did advice me that at any point I have difficulty in breathing, please come back regardless of the time. I got home and the only place I was in is my room. I can only sleep in one straight position. Thoughts began to flow that it was very sad and depressing that I couldn't do anything but rest. My business came to a halt. At that time I realised that how important to work on my business, how I spent my time is so important that when I want to do something I can't. I began to look at life and ponder how much I can appreciate the moment that this is just an injury and it's time for a rest.
What about those without arms and limbs can do so much while I'm crying over this. So I decided that it's time to rest and rethink and improve on my business. It was a time of self connection and thinking what I wanted to do better when I get well. 3 weeks has passed and still after numerous follow up with the doctor he said that I cant do any heavy activities and so I took his advice but to ride again and even walk in trails was a phobia. And at that point I even had people saying that I'm paralysed and can't ride. Imagine how that felt. But I forgave him because experience requires time and patience. It was just his day that he felt good about it perhaps. I even had people telling me that I wouldn't be able to ride again like before and all the negative advice which I didn't need at that time. All I wanted was encouragement and positive support to get back up on my feet and face my fears.
So one day I decided to face my fears I hit the trails not riding but a walk. It felt as if a burden from me lifted and felt liberated and 2 weeks after I went on the bike again and this time with the doctors blessing I went in the trails. Boy it felt good and the best part is my usual riding group actually went along with my pace. In Feb I've to check in the hospital to remove the titanium plate with seven screws in it.
What I'm trying to say in this experience is this, at times live will really hit you and hit you really hard but it's what you decide at that moment that shapes you. I'm very grateful for this lesson, it thought me lot about patience, gratitude and love. I even found who my friends were and how much I was loved. Thats the best part of life as we are humans, as much ego you have, you'd still crave for that. LOVE. And Love above all else heals.
To those out there, you may be going through hard times in your life right now, my advice, keep going and get back up because when you get back up you can start moving forward.
Till my next post again, Live with passion and never ever give up!
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
You will do whatever it takes when you have to survive (My experience)
I have always love to share my experiences with others and that's the best part about blogging, you get to tell it as it is the way you want it and by the stories they share you can gauge the authenticity of the story and writer. That's what is I don't see today, in my experience as an entrepreneur in the people development industry, a few that I find shares their personal experience of how they started of in this industry, to be honest this industry does not require a high capital outlay, you just need to love talking and training and you can be a trainer but it's an industry where it's very gray as compared to many other businesses in other industries. It has a clear platform that you can see and make your way up but anyway, it's still a business, you can have all the skills you have as a trainer but if you don't have perseverance and determination, just close shop la, don't waste your time. Honestly.
I wonder why these trainers hardly share their experiences of how they made it, maybe it's just me. I've met some of them, their concern is, too time consuming. Very good excuse. Yes it is I have to agree because you really need time and patience to get it started. They must know that their stories can inspire the emerging entrepreneurs, today businesses must thrive on a story because a story is built upon a legacy,values and passion of the founders. Anyway, that's not what I want to share about today, my story today is going to be about my recent experience at the Outward Bound Sabah Classic Challenge Course Certification.
I don't know how I'm going to compress all these 3 weeks of experience which I can clearly remember every detail of it and the awesome team I was with. They were all magnificent young and upcoming future leaders. I guess I have to split this into few parts but I promise i'll share the pictures with you.
This posts i'll share about the 5 things (for todays post) I've learnt during the 3 weeks of the OBS experience.
1. You've got to be prepared all the time because you wouldn't know whats coming ahead.
This was during the rafting experience where earlier in the day we had to build our own raft and we had to find our way to the next destination. The journey wasn't an easy one, it's a challenge because of the rapids and the best part is we don't know how long and where we are heading, all we know is to follow the river. Everyone must play a role because at certain parts where there is no current, you must paddle and bear in mind that the oars are not light! We break for lunch and I asked the instructor how long more, all they said was I don't know. That "I don't know" lasted another 4 hours in the sharp hot sun and by the time we reached our check point, I saw our pickup van where all our gears was. Woohoooo! Not till the leader of the day was called and we were then told then we would be camping near a construction site. First thing, how in the earth are we going to raise our camp on rock solid ground. Well, thank goodness we found our way.
2. Success is just one step before giving up.
This was a whole day event the following day after rafting. Again we had to kayak to god knows where. We started at 9 and reached our location at 6pm. Not realising just before the final corner after coming out from the crocodile prone mangroves, me and my partner decided to stop because our kayak was filled with water that the kayak almost capsize a couple of times. It took us about 30 minutes to unload while the rest overtook us. Just imagine at that point in time after almost 9 hours kayaking, you still don't know where is your base camp and that is why we decided to stop, the only thing you want is to get off the boat and rest! After unloading, about 20 meters of rowing, we saw everyone there. We were initially leading the pack and at that point I realise that if we had just continued and risk capsizing we would have reached first and get done with it. So it was like a chicken and an egg situation but a decision has to be made.
3. You will do whatever it takes when you have to survive.
We had to build our camps at the construction site and it wasn't easy after 8 hours of water rafting, but we did it because of food and rest. No campsite and kitchen means no food. It was just oneness in mind that let's work together to do our part to rest and eat. At that time, I was in-charge of setting up the cooking area and I had no choice but to master my basic knot skills, we were thought that during the earlier part of the course but I hardly paid attention to it and amazingly I wasn't assigned to handle any tasks that requires knots until this time. Because of wanting food and rest, I manage to recall the lessons and I made it.
4. Your team keeps you going.
This was during the Crocker Ranger Expedition where we had a load of about 20 kg behind us and we had to hike up 5500 feet above sea level. You are looking at gradients of 70 degrees before reaching the peak and the support while climbing is to hold on to trees. You have to stop halfway and many times you'd one to give up when you look how steep it is, we all agreed that we will hike for 5 mins and stop but the 5 became 3mins. We all encouraged each other and made sure no one get's left behind especially the last person, if someone is tired they'd shout and we'd all stop and wait but when time was getting dark we had to push our team harder and this kept us all going till we reached the peak.
5. "Don't shit where you eat"
It's a Chinese proverb and I'm just translating it directly here. Imagine when you are in the jungle where you have no facilities to do your "business" but to find a place and do it safe so that you don't harm others. At Crocker Range, there was a designated "business" area which is at least 30 metres away from the campsite and if you'd want to do it you have to bring a partner with you at night. This happen to me when I had to answer my call in the morning after breakfast and so I rushed to it and did it and a word of advice make sure that you don't trespass any territory. Don't ask me how, times like this you've just got to be lucky. While answering the call, bees came after me and I had no choice but to run with my pants down, I didn't dare go back to the same place to clean up because of the bees but I did inform my team to not go there. She must have over heard and went exactly where I marked my territory and from a far I couldn't do anything but just hope that she didn't get herself in trouble.
The main entrance of Outward Bound Sabah
Me and Awang at Crocker Range Base Camp
Our Base Camp
Preparing for the expedition
Massage Service when you get cramped
Trekking to Second Base Camp
Spotted a King Cobra on the way up the peak. It didn't move for 30 mins and that was our trail up. Manage to find an alternative route
Resting before the final push
Final Checkpoint
Our Mascot
I wonder why these trainers hardly share their experiences of how they made it, maybe it's just me. I've met some of them, their concern is, too time consuming. Very good excuse. Yes it is I have to agree because you really need time and patience to get it started. They must know that their stories can inspire the emerging entrepreneurs, today businesses must thrive on a story because a story is built upon a legacy,values and passion of the founders. Anyway, that's not what I want to share about today, my story today is going to be about my recent experience at the Outward Bound Sabah Classic Challenge Course Certification.
I don't know how I'm going to compress all these 3 weeks of experience which I can clearly remember every detail of it and the awesome team I was with. They were all magnificent young and upcoming future leaders. I guess I have to split this into few parts but I promise i'll share the pictures with you.
This posts i'll share about the 5 things (for todays post) I've learnt during the 3 weeks of the OBS experience.
1. You've got to be prepared all the time because you wouldn't know whats coming ahead.
This was during the rafting experience where earlier in the day we had to build our own raft and we had to find our way to the next destination. The journey wasn't an easy one, it's a challenge because of the rapids and the best part is we don't know how long and where we are heading, all we know is to follow the river. Everyone must play a role because at certain parts where there is no current, you must paddle and bear in mind that the oars are not light! We break for lunch and I asked the instructor how long more, all they said was I don't know. That "I don't know" lasted another 4 hours in the sharp hot sun and by the time we reached our check point, I saw our pickup van where all our gears was. Woohoooo! Not till the leader of the day was called and we were then told then we would be camping near a construction site. First thing, how in the earth are we going to raise our camp on rock solid ground. Well, thank goodness we found our way.
2. Success is just one step before giving up.
This was a whole day event the following day after rafting. Again we had to kayak to god knows where. We started at 9 and reached our location at 6pm. Not realising just before the final corner after coming out from the crocodile prone mangroves, me and my partner decided to stop because our kayak was filled with water that the kayak almost capsize a couple of times. It took us about 30 minutes to unload while the rest overtook us. Just imagine at that point in time after almost 9 hours kayaking, you still don't know where is your base camp and that is why we decided to stop, the only thing you want is to get off the boat and rest! After unloading, about 20 meters of rowing, we saw everyone there. We were initially leading the pack and at that point I realise that if we had just continued and risk capsizing we would have reached first and get done with it. So it was like a chicken and an egg situation but a decision has to be made.
3. You will do whatever it takes when you have to survive.
We had to build our camps at the construction site and it wasn't easy after 8 hours of water rafting, but we did it because of food and rest. No campsite and kitchen means no food. It was just oneness in mind that let's work together to do our part to rest and eat. At that time, I was in-charge of setting up the cooking area and I had no choice but to master my basic knot skills, we were thought that during the earlier part of the course but I hardly paid attention to it and amazingly I wasn't assigned to handle any tasks that requires knots until this time. Because of wanting food and rest, I manage to recall the lessons and I made it.
4. Your team keeps you going.
This was during the Crocker Ranger Expedition where we had a load of about 20 kg behind us and we had to hike up 5500 feet above sea level. You are looking at gradients of 70 degrees before reaching the peak and the support while climbing is to hold on to trees. You have to stop halfway and many times you'd one to give up when you look how steep it is, we all agreed that we will hike for 5 mins and stop but the 5 became 3mins. We all encouraged each other and made sure no one get's left behind especially the last person, if someone is tired they'd shout and we'd all stop and wait but when time was getting dark we had to push our team harder and this kept us all going till we reached the peak.
5. "Don't shit where you eat"
It's a Chinese proverb and I'm just translating it directly here. Imagine when you are in the jungle where you have no facilities to do your "business" but to find a place and do it safe so that you don't harm others. At Crocker Range, there was a designated "business" area which is at least 30 metres away from the campsite and if you'd want to do it you have to bring a partner with you at night. This happen to me when I had to answer my call in the morning after breakfast and so I rushed to it and did it and a word of advice make sure that you don't trespass any territory. Don't ask me how, times like this you've just got to be lucky. While answering the call, bees came after me and I had no choice but to run with my pants down, I didn't dare go back to the same place to clean up because of the bees but I did inform my team to not go there. She must have over heard and went exactly where I marked my territory and from a far I couldn't do anything but just hope that she didn't get herself in trouble.
Homestay at the peak of Crocker Range
The "Construction" Site
"You can't connect the dot's looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards"
When I first started this company in 2009, I had Big Dreams, Big enough than i'd be called very idealistic. I wanted a company that can make a difference in others, I wanted to change the world to make it a better place.
I took action to make it possible and not knowing that there so much to do and I was all by myself, there were many times I gave upon this dream thinking it's never possible to make this dream come true, but along the way, every time at the verge of giving up, there will be messengers, that just appear and provided me with clues and ideas and again I began to see the possibility and went on to create and pursue this dream.
It was one evening earlier last month when I lost all hope about this dream that is because sometimes when you try to hard, things doesn't seem to appear the way you want. It was one night when I just woke up from sleep and set myself down an all silence and wrote down these important questions:-
Jonathan Boudville, if you had 1 week to live in this world what message would you want to convey to the world?
What is the message you want to get across to them, where would you spend your time and how would you spend it differently and who would you call to speak to and who would you want your team to be to continue your legacy?
The message was "My experience as an entrepreneur and how you can not repeat the same mistakes I've made because it's never ever too late to start now!"
- Be yourself, Nothing Else and never ever sell out your dream for something else than what you were meant to be
- If you want to do something, you've got to first fall in love in what you do because that love will see you through the hard times
- Money is not everything, you've just got to love what you do!
- If you have a dream, go get it, but you can't do it alone, You need a team and take good care of them!
- When you find an answer it's because of the questions you ask and the decisions you've made. When opportunity strikes, you must be prepared and you will see that all your hardwork has not gone to waste. The little setbacks was just preparing you for a bigger plan.
- Never ever, ever stop learning
- It's Never ever, ever too late
- Sometimes the people around you influence who you become and the decisions you make but it takes courage to step up and stand out.
- If you can have an excuse to not do something why not have an excuse to succeed?
- Be foolish when learning because only fools have courage to be better
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Nothing Changes Until you decide to make it happen.
Dear friends,
Thank you very much for taking the time and patience to spend some time on reading through this copy which me and my team has carefully put together so that you will be able to get to know us about what we are about to offer and what we are so passionate about
When we created the leadership transformation experience we had 2 things in mind, will they buy into our idea and would we stand a chance to serve you. Honestly, it took me about 6 years before this came into reality, i had this idea before I left my profession as a chattered accountant with one of the big 4 organisation and the all i knew at that time that I wanted to start a business that can help others live a meaningful life and question next is how?
Well, i put a plan together and got certified, put a program together, travelled here and there to gain the necessary experience and certifications and I packed my bags and approached companies, and my feedback was I was too young and inexperience, I had so many rejections that at one point I decided that it wasn't for me and so I gave it up a while and went back into employment.
However along the way, there were little ideas that came along the way that made me see the possibility of pursuing on this initiative, i accepted the feedback and continue to engage myself with experiences, I think i've learnt so much that to a point a burnout and totally decided that its a silly and absurd idea.
I totally gave it up and tried again to do something else, which again I hit the wall. It wasn't till one evening when I was called to give a talk about "what made me, ME and how you can be YOU. At that talk, which wasn't scripted at all because it was just a chance for me to share and empower others to make a difference, to my amazement, i had so many welcoming responses that encouraged me to give it a go again.
Again, I went on with it. I knocked on doors, paired with consultants and again, to no avail not till one evening, I met with one of the participants of one of my talk that evening, What happen Jonathan? What you presented wasn't what we see now. You inspired us and this is just not you. Well, that just knocked me off the floor and this time I had more than what I wanted and i began to see how all the dots began to connect.
Just like what Steve jobs mentioned, you can only connect the dots when you look back. This time instead of seeking businesses, I seemed a team, a team that shares a common vision to empower others to lead meaningful lives and I'm ever so grateful of having them at my side to make this possible.
And to you my, I am looking forward to have a chance to serve you not only in business but also your personal lives. Business is measured up by money but a relationship is priceless.
Till we meet soon, live with passion and never, ever, ever give up on your passion!
Post by Jon Boudville.
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