What Mel Wants

I recently received an encouraging message from an online friend who I do not see in person. I receive encouragement from close friends in person when needed. But there is something special about reaching new lives in new ways. It adds priceless value to what I am doing. This feedback was just the motivation I needed to keep producing more of what I do. It could be a Facebook status, or a blog post, or a speech. It affects people more than I realise. This friend said, "woow you're so amazing Melanie..." That is overwhelmingly sweet. Although it doesn't tell me a reason behind the compliment. And no, comments like this do not come along often. The explanation was not just flattering, it encouraged my work. The online friend said, "Melanie you are such an inspiration to many... keep the good job on always..." Someone on another continent took the time to say this. I felt overwhelmed - and no, not overwhelmed with narcissism. The one thing I try to do is

Plan To Fail They say that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. This is quite a stereotypical cliché. Failure happens even with the best of planning. The phrase assumes that we have complete control over our fates, given we provide enough effort. But failure is guaranteed, thanks to external factors and our own human Failure is inevitable in professional lives. Few of us get straight A+s forever. I have failed plenty of times in academia. I have failed assignments in high school, subjects at university, and deadlines at grad school. I know. You would think I had this whole academic routine down pat by postgraduate life. But the rest of life gets the better of me. It happens.   Perhaps I am too comfortable with academic failure. Our current digital world is dominated by entrepreneurs who failed academically. Steve Jobs dropped out of Stanford to create computers. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard for Facebook. Lady Gaga left Tisch School of the Arts to perform

To some extent, I believe in the "See Food Diet." By that, I mean we should eat what we want to eat. I am writing to bust the myths of both healthy and unhealthy extremes. We all know diets are unproductive. Deprivation causes a compensatory binge. The emotion after this binge is even less productive. Will guilt make us eat better? No. Eating better will make us eat better. I recently attended a formal dinner after eating practically nothing all day. What a silly mistake. Was I any thinner after that deprived day? No. Was I any more alert and social after skipping meals? No. Dieting was not worth it at all.     The opposite is just as worrying. As a thin teen, there was pressure for me to 'fill up.' Sorry. What If I'm craving lettuce? What if I love the taste of a perfectly ripe avocado? Does that make me anorexic? The thought is an insult to those with real eating disorders.   We should be free to eat what we want, without stereotypes. Some days might be ha

Delegation is the buzz word of the management world. Empower teams to create projects. Of course others should be included, both emotionally and practically. But sometimes delegation is used to avoid responsibility. I am speaking from personal experiences.   This is the first stage in my life where there are teams to help products I believe in. These could be services, events, and so on. I wrongly took those teams for granted. Leaders need to do the little nitty gritty tasks. The enlightened reason is to inspire others to do the little things. Another reason is just to get stuff done. I personally love all the little tasks which build up in my day. They are things to do. And my general motto is that some people knit, but I communicate. Then all the required communication builds up to an overwhelming capacity. I whinge, figuring surely someone else could do all this. It shifts the responsibility. But I am normally in those positions because I know how to do these particular skills

There is too much pressure these days to 'fix' any 'unhappiness or whatever it might be labelled as. It should be ok to react realistically to what's going on. Why pretend things are fine when they are not?  Months of depression resulted after I experienced turbulent times within my career and family; and myself. My priorities are normally arranged in that order. Kidding, family are number one – but they want me to prioritise my career the most. Perhaps my last priority is looking after myself. It's only now, after enough drama for one lifetime, I have to look after myself.  I'm unravelling. My emotions are like a ticking time bomb. Nobody knows when I will suddenly burst into tears. The most isolating moments are the most depressing. Sitting on the train in the middle of the day, eating dinner alone occasionally, figuring out how to use the light rail... The smallest things trigger tears to drip down my face. This is usually hidden by strategically place