Yearly Archives: 2011

Often a helping hand or a simple warm smile, can brighten someone’s day.
Sometimes a random act of kindness can change a person life.

That’s right!  You don’t need a lot of money to change the world.
Just a big heart.

I came across this wonderful story about giving.

As you Live your life Beautifully, remember to Share Beautifully too with people around you
because Life is just like farming – you always reap what you sow

A little girl came to live with her grandfather after the death of her parents. The elderly man farmed the land as he had from his youth and was known far and wide for the most delicious crops. He walked and talked kindness to all, including his granddaughter. He loved telling her about farming.

“Now this plant is one that needs lots of water under that hot old sun,” he would tell her as he pointed to a certain crop. Or he might tell her, “This plant is a weed that we must watch out for and pluck up as soon as possible, or it will take seed and take over the garden,” Of course his favorite saying was, “Life is just like farming — you always reap what you sow.”

The girl listened intently as her grandfather spoke about farming. His deep, robust voice always turned gentle as he talked about the earth and the rain and the growing season.

“The land is just as alive as the plants and flowers,” he would tell her. “It needs food and water, too, or nothing will grow from it.”

As they huddled by the fire on cold December days, he would encourage her with the words, “Winter may seem to last forever, but just remember that spring is a ‘coming and the land will soon awaken.”

One day the grandfather died, and the local authorities put her in an orphanage in the middle of a city a hundred miles away from her beloved farmland.

At first she was afraid of all the noise and smells of the city and of the rough, calloused children at the orphanage. She cried herself to sleep for a week before she remembered her grandfather’s words about weeds and how they need plucking as soon as possible or they will take over a garden. She realized her self-pity was taking over like weeds.

Suddenly it dawned on her that all of the knowledge and sayings her grandfather taught her could apply to the orphanage. The next day she awoke to find new ways to use her grandfather’s wisdom. She looked around and saw a very shy child who the other children often made fun of.

Now this plant is one that needs lots of water under that hot old sun, the girl heard her grandfather’s voice in her mind. She went over to the child and started to make a new friend.

As she looked closer at everyone in the orphanage, she saw how many needed love and attention, despite their gruff or rough exteriors. She remembered her grandfather saying, The land is just as alive as the plants and flowers. It needs food and water, too, or nothing will grow from it.

She was soon reading favorite stories to the children, soothing frightened youngsters during lightning storms, helping newcomers adjust, acting as referee for the boys’ rough-housing games, and comforting anyone with a bruised shin, broken nose, or heavy heart.

Sometimes it was her heart that grew heavy, but she comforted herself with these words, Winter may seem to last forever, but just remember that spring is a ‘coming and the land will soon awaken.

With the patience she learned from her grandfather and farming, she kept up her efforts for many months. Eventually she noticed a stirring of souls within the orphanage, not unlike the first signs of spring. The older kids slowly started to take care of the younger ones, adult caretakers became a little softer and gentler as the kids changed, and everyone began to feel a kinship they had never known before at the orphanage.

Several years later, when it came time to leave the orphanage, the little girl had grown into a vibrant and energizing young woman. Because of her, the orphanage had been transformed over the years into a welcoming family. Both children and adults wept to see her go, but her leadership and ability to work with people had landed her a job with a huge charity that worked mainly in agricultural areas. She was going back home again. As she walked out the doors of the orphanage and saw just how much the place had changed, she heard her grandfather’s words again, Life is just like farming — you reap what you sow.

In most of my seminars and talk, often people come and ask me “How can you be positive and motivated all the time? Where do you get all this energy from?”

Well, every single day, we all have a choice on what kind of feeling that we want to have.

I choose to be positive and happy.

Though it’s not easy, it’s important to stay positive in all situations, including the negative ones. Research show that people who were pessimistic had a nearly 20 percent higher risk of dying over a 30-year period than those who were optimistic.
 
So, it’s worthwhile—and possible—to learn how to think more positively. 

You can train your mind to think positively and learn to accomplish all that you dream. If you utilize positive thinking throughout each day it will become a very close part of your life.

Here are 40 ways on how to do it. You can choose one or more that work for you:

1. When you wake up in the morning think 10 wonderful thoughts about yourself.
2. SMILE and open your eyes wide for a few minutes
3. Play uplifting music, skip the sad love songs
4. Read an uplifting book
5. Choose a song that cheers you, and sing it until you feel better
6. Listen to a positive audio CD
7. Set time aside for yourself everyday
8. Make a list of all of your accomplishments and read them at least once a week
9. If something doesn’t go according to your way, learn from it
10. Do a breathing exercise

11. Exercise daily
12. Eat right, at least 3 meals a day
13. Tell yourself positive thoughts
14. Call a friend
15. Think of 10 positive words that describe you
16. Stay away from negative people
17. Keep an attitude of Gratitude
18. Do a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward
19. Watch something that makes you laugh out loud.
20. Meditate and practice positive visualisation

21. Smell your favorite aromatheraphy oil
22. Praise yourself and others
23. Laugh, Laugh and Laugh
24. Get enough sleep
25. Go shopping, go to the spa to calm your mind
26. Read inspiring quotes to help stay positive
27. Take time to enjoy neature
28. Take pictures. Create a scrapbooks
29. Spend time with your loved one
30. Get fresh air !

31. Take a herbal tea break
32. Do your favorite hobby
33. Play musical instrument
34. Pat your pet or play with her
35. Tidy, clean and organize your environment everyday
36. Write down what you’re grateful for everyday
37. Imagine you just won the lottery, and think about how you are gonna spend your millions
38. Surround yourself with positive people. Find people who will challenge you, believe in you and inspire you to improve
39. Pray

And last but not least …

40. Follow me on twitter @merryriana

(You can click on the picture above to bring you to the Watson’s FanPage and read my post from there, or alternatively, you can read from my post below)

It has been a super busy week for me.

The past 7 days, I have 4 different talk in Singapore and in Jakarta,

In all my talks and seminars, there’s always one message  that I never fail to mention.

“Dare To Dream Big !” That’s the message that  I always preach every time I get a chance to conduct a talk for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and also the public. And that is something that I truly believe.

Today, I’m going to share with you a simple steps on how you make your dream a reality

I believe everyone of us has dreams. Some are much larger and more complex than others, but they all have value. The dreams that you have are there for a reason: to be realized as a part to fulfil your life purpose.

Many people give up on their dreams. Have patience! Although your dream may not have come to pass yet, it can still be realized.

PLAN FOR YOUR DREAMS
Eventhough you can’t force dreams to happen, you can take steps toward actualizing it. Perhaps you want to travel to your favorite destination. Do you know anything about the culture and language there? Are you saving money each week or month toward your trip? You won’t magically arrive there. You must plan and work toward what you want.

The same is true if you want to have a family, write a book, help others, start your own business, or anything else that interests you.

THE POWER OF VISUALISATION
In addition to physically working toward your dreams, mental preparation is important. That means you need to keep visualizing and dreaming.
Hold on to what you believe in and what you want to see happen in your life.

POSITIVE THINKING
Use the power of positive thinking in order to see your dream becoming a reality
Here’s a few things that you can do:
• Make a vision board where you can pin or glue everything that you want to see
realized.
• Write down your dreams to keep them fresh in your mind.
• Keep a journal of what you’ve done toward realizing your dreams each day or each
week.
• Remember to enjoy and respect the present moment.
• Talk with others who share your goals and dreams to stay encouraged and excited.

DAILY AFFIRMATIONS
Many successful people focus on positive affirmations and meditation to help them see and realize their dreams. By meditating on what you really want and how you’re going to get it, you may come up with solutions that you would otherwise not have thought about. Meditation gives your mind some quiet, peaceful time to work behind the scenes.

Positive affirmations also help keep your spirits up and keep you moving toward your goal, even when you don’t really see a way. Just because the way to your dream doesn’t seem obvious to you just now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.

Something could change in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, you’ll be able to see how and when your dream will be realized. If you hold tight to your goals, you’ll find it easier to stay on the right track.

EMBRACE THE PROGRESS
Training yourself to observe progress can be important, too. This will help keep you motivated.

Regardless of what your dreams are – however big or small they may be – you can usher them in to your life.

Believe in your Dreams! Believe in Yourself!

It is my honor to be the one of the Ambassador for the ‘Live Beautifully’ Campaign by Watson.

(You can click on the picture above to bring you to the Watson’s FanPage and read my post from there, or alternatively, you can read from my post below)

For the past 6 weeks, you all has been inspired by the other top bloggers, on how you can Create beautifully, Feel Beautifully, and also Look Beautifully.

The next 2 weeks, I’m going to share with you how you can share beutifully as well.

But as a start, let me introduce about myself first.
My name is Merry Riana, I’m an Entrepreneur, Author and Speaker.

I consider myself a very blessed person to be where I am right now.
Actually, I have a very humble beginning in life. I didn’t come from a very wealthy family and I was really struggling financially when I first arrived in Singapore.
I still remember vividly even until today, how I survived with just $10 a week.
I’ve been so blessed and fortunate that I’ve managed to overcome many difficulties in my life and achieve success at the young age

I’m currently living the life that I could never imagine to be possible.

To me, true success in life is not measured by how much you make,
but by how much of a difference you make in the life of others.

And that’s why when I celebrated my 30th birthday last year, I’ve made a resolution
For the next 10 year of my life (before I celebrate my 40th birthday), I want to create a positive impact to the lives of at least 1 million people, especially in Asia.

As much as I’ve been inspired by many successful people out there, I too want to be an inspiration for others. As much as I’ve been blessed, I too, do my best to be a blessing for others.

It is my greatest joy to know that my life experiences during my personal success journey has made an impact in the life of others.
And I hope within this 2 weeks, I can share with you more about my philosophy of life so that not only you can live beautifully, but also share beautifully.

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

You can’t always wait for success to come to you. You have to be proactive to ensure that you will attain the success you desire. Take the initiative to do more than what is expected of you each day. Be excellent in your work so you will be noticed. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, take the steps you need to make the most of it.

What will you do to create that new opportunities?

One of my favorite story!

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

I’ve been writing my blog since 2009, and for the first time, I’m going to write this blog post (just this post only) in Bahasa.

Pardon me if you don’t really understand the language. This blogpost is actually for my friends in Indonesia only.  If you’re not staying in Indonesia, please ignore this post. You can read my other post

Saya selalu percaya bahwa Sukses tidak diukur oleh berapa banyak uang yang Anda miliki, apa jenis mobil yang Anda kendarai, seberapa besar rumah Anda, dll
Bagi saya, keberhasilan diukur oleh seberapa besar dampak yang Anda buat dalam kehidupan orang lain.

Dan itu sebabnya, resolusi saya sejak tahun lalu (2010) adalah untuk menciptakan dampak positif terhadap hidup dari 1 juta orang, terutama di Asia, dan terlebih lagi di negara saya sendiri, Indonesia.

Saya menyadari, salah satu cara untuk melakukannya adalah melalui saluran yang dapat diakses oleh ratusan ribu atau bahkan jutaan orang setiap hari. Dan TV / Radio adalah salah satunya.

Ini benar-benar mimpi yang menjadi kenyataan dan akan menjadi berkat bagi saya jika suatu hari saya bisa punya TV / Radio Show sendiri yang dapat menciptakan dampak positif bagi jutaan orang

Dan saya percaya bahwa perjalanan seribu mil, selalu dimulai dengan satu langkah. Itu sebabnya sekarang saya sedang mencari orang untuk membantu saya dan bekerja FULL TIME bersama-sama dengan saya untuk membuat acara Radio baru yang unik, segar dan inspiratif.

Berikut ini adalah kriteria orang yang saya cari:

Produser TV / Radio Program
1. Pria / wanita, 20-35 tahun
2. Pendidikan Min. D3 * Semua Jurusan
3. Memahami proses Program Acara Produksi TV / Radio
4. Memiliki latar belakang pengalaman sebagai Produser / Produksi Asisten di Radio, Production House atau Televisi minimum 1 tahun
5. Kreatif, Fleksibel dan Dinamis
6. Disiplin, memiliki integritas yang kuat dan dapat mengatasi dengan tuntutan standar kerja yang tinggi
7. Punya ketramplian komputer dasar dan memiliki kemampuan interpersonal dan komunikasi yang baik

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Life is too short for monotony. For this reason, I ensure that I take part in at least
one new experience each month, and that includes changing a hairstyle

I decided to do Volume Rebonding. This is very popular among Koreans. Volume Rebonding which not only straightens hair but gives it volume, therefore it wont be like normal rebonding which is flat and thin.  Clear example is like what you see with Korean Star.

So today, I went to the famous Korean Hair Salon ‘Jiwon’ which is located at Wheelock Place. My hairstylist is Mira, she did my hair previously and I really love it.

Since many of my friends from facebook and twitter were asking about Volume Rebonding, therefore I decided to share my experience and the whole process in my blog. Hope this information will be useful for you.

Actually at this step, you can see that the result of the rebonding is very different from the normal one, it already has volume

My hairstylist said that volume rebonding has many different types, the picture that you see above was one of it, simple and natural. If you like this type, they will just do the final touch with is adding the natural curl-in, and it is done !

However, since my hair is quite thin, and I LOVE to have more volume for my hair, therefore she created more curl-in for me with digital perm.

And last but not least, after 4 hours of waiting …  Voila !

After the first wash, the curl will be more natural. 
Simply LOVE it !!