“In life, if you give yourself a concession, you’d take it” -Alvin Poh

As part of my exercise regime when I was younger, I made it a point to have a run around my neighbourhood as often as I could. Although when I say “as often as I could”, it usually meant only once every week, or none at all. But I was still proud of fact that I ran. The route was pretty tough for me, with slopes and small hills, and finishing every run gave me a sense of accomplishment and made me feel healthier and fitter.

Anyone who runs knows that you will always have urge to give up, or to cut short your route. When going gets tough, you go home and relax. It’s human nature. And this is what is going to be main topic of this book - Overcoming human nature.

The fact really is that many of us have potential to perform, and to excel. What do you think of quote you see at top of page? Do you agree with it? This quote was actually invented during one of my runs. I remembered that day was exceptionally hot, but I had missed a few days of exercise, and sedentary lifestyle was getting to me. So I went to put on my running shoes, and started on my usual route. I was like a caged-up dog finally let loose, and practically pranced down stairs to street. My mind was full of high-energy, positive thoughts:

“This is great! I’m finally going out – Time to work those legs!”

“I’m raring to go! Lemme have ‘em!”

When I hit pavement, I let go of my pent-up energy, and really ran. I was fresh as a daisy, and ran with wind in my hair. It felt really good. I was f-r-e-e!

Ten minutes later, I couldn’t have felt worse. The heat was getting unbearable, and humidity was horrible. I was sweating profusely, and my legs felt like lead. The initial freshness had all gone away, and I was feeling like hell.

This was when little specks of negativity started to appear in my head.

“I shouldn’t be out here in this weather. I should be resting at home.”

“I’m risking heat exhaustion here.”

“I run a lot anyway – what’s one run less?”

”That hill in front’s so long…I should probably just turn back.”

With every one that came into my head, my perseverance dwindled. Every negative thought that came into my mind seemed to take root, grow, and multiply. And with every negative thought, my steps grew smaller, and slower. My lungs felt constricted, and I had an overwhelming urge to stop.

Interestingly, I think I felt almost like how those cartoon characters would, with a small devil and angel quarrelling above my head.

This was when realisation suddenly struck me though. The thought hit me square on face, and I could have sworn that there was even a loud “wham!” when it connected.

The age-old question as to 'what women want,' is still left unanswered to men. Even when we reflect upon 2000 film, What Women Want - lead character, Nick Marshall (played by Mel Gibson) seems to have all answers. But does he really?

Is it an inevitable fact that men and women are predestined not to clearly understand one another?

I vividly recall a playtime conversation between my son and daughter when they were just preschoolers. In amusement, I watched as my son took his metal matchbox cars and drove them all over his roadmap carpet. 'Vroom...vroom...' he mumbled. And there beside him, sat my three-year old daughter, tightly clasping her little fingers around her own two cars. Adamantly, she waved them in front of her older brother's face and attempted to make her cars have 'dialogue' with his cars. After a few moments of no response, (other than 'vroom, vroom'), my daughter quickly became frustrated.

She folded her arms and marched over to me, "...Mom, Ryan isn't playing right," she said matter-of-factly.

Initially, I wanted to chuckle but I knew she was quite serious. I asked her, "...what do you mean - he is not playing right?"

She blew out a huff and responded, "...I want his cars to talk to my cars and all he does is crash his cars into mine!"

Peering over her head, I saw that my son was unnerved and oblivious to his sister's obvious irritation. While she stood there with absolute disgust, he continued playing with his metal vehicles.

It was at that point that I let out a little giggle, and I gave her a simple answer, "...sweetie, boys like to play and girls like to talk."

It may not have been answer she was seeking, but this tiny event has shed some light to a wide-spectrum issue in two, very different sexes. Throughout life, I have personally learned that men are action-oriented, whereas women are interaction-oriented. And from personal experience, I have seen that many of these attributes are innate traits stemming back to prehistoric times where males were considered hunter/gatherers and females, considered nurturers.

While human evolution has dramatically evolved with modern technology; longer, healthier life spans and overall improved communication skills - it seems that men and women still do not speak same language.

Inherently, men use interactions to fulfill essential purposes: entertainment, information communication, task completion, and other related needs. Women on other hand, prefer to interact to deepen levels of relationships - to better understand their counterpart, or to bring about resolution through interaction. In other words, when men and women communicate, we hear same dialogue, but we perceive and practice verbal communications very differently.