Life doesn’t get easier. You just get stronger. Back in 2001, I started my Masters degree in Speech Pathology. It was a challenge. Even though my English was good, I sometimes thought, “Who am I to teach people how to speak?”, “What if I don’t pass my exams?”. Thoughts like these crossed my mind all the time. However, I didn’t let them get the best of me. One day, I took out a huge piece of paper, wrote “I AM INVINCIBLE.” on it and stuck it on the wall in front of my desk so I could see it all the time. Each day, I repeated this sentence up to 100 times. Only a few years ago, I found out from Tony Robbins, an amazing life coach, that this is an incantation or positive affirmation. An incantation is something that you write down and repeat to yourself so many times until every cell in your body starts to believe it and live it. Whenever things became difficult or before an exam, I quietly repeated to myself “I am invincible” many times and that gave me the strength and courage to complete various tasks and accomplish my goals.
I graduated as a Speech Pathologist in 2003!
Write down your incantations and say them every single day. Some examples are:
I am healthy.
I am strong.
I am loved.
Keep repeating them with passion and on a regular basis and see how your life changes for the better. Believe in yourself. Keep working hard to achieve your goals and never back down. You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Melody Beattie.
Packing my car with books, some clothes, and a few CDs, I left Brisbane – a very special place in my heart where I spent 8 years of high school & university.
On an evening of April 2004, my mate Evan & I made an overnight trip from Brisbane to Sydney. I got a job there and decided to relocate. Evan offered to help me out. We took turns to drive the old Misubishi that was given to me by my parents for my 21st. We stopped twice for Maccas. I fell asleep as a passenger a couple of times. The music was blaring to keep us awake!
11 hours later, we arrived at the break of dawn. I opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and sat up straight at the sight of the iconic bridge. Wow! My new home. It was hard to describe the feeling – a mixture of hope, uncertainty and excitement!
We got to our backpacker’s in Glebe – my home for a week before finding a place to live.
The next day, Evan went back to Brisbane. Before boarding the plane, he grabbed my hand and handed over a 50-dollar bill. I said: “What’re you doing?”
Evan simply replied: “You’re here on your own, this could come in handy.”
“It’s all good. I’m starting work next week and will get paid. You keep it.” – I looked away, feeling a bit emotional.
“Don’t worry. Take me out to dinner next time.” – Evan insisted, pushed the money back into my hand, then walked towards the boarding gate….
Evan and I are still great friends, and I did buy him dinner when I visited Brisbane last time. Up to this day, I’m still very thankful for that 50-dollar bill.
Never forget the people who are there for you during challenging times and be grateful for them. A small act of kindness can go a long way and make a difference in someone’s life.
Big hugs,
When people tell you not to go to India, that’s their story. Not yours!
“You’re going to get sick! You’ll get Delhi belly. You’ll get bitten by dogs. It’s too dirty for you!” and the list goes on.
Regardless of the above opinions, I decided to see for myself.
Got a few injections at my GP’s, paid for the visa, found a connecting flight to Delhi from Sydney, and off to India I went in mid-December 2015. For some reason, India had always been on my mind. Maybe it’s the colourful pictures, the food, or yoga. Who knows?! I just knew in my guts that I had to be there.
Arriving safely in Delhi after a long fight with China Southern, it felt surreal. The smell, the heat, the sight and sounds, and of course, the dirt. Getting from the airport to the hotel was exhausting due to the city’s heavy traffic. Luckily it was the beginning of winter in the north of India, so it was much cooler than normal.
View from the rooftop of my hotel in the middle of Delhi.
After checking in, I took a nap and went downstairs to meet with my tour leader, Tony, and group members. As this was my first time in India, I decided to join Gecko’s 10 days touring around Rajasthan. There were 15 of us including Tony – who was an awesome tour leader. The group members were from Australia, England, Ireland and New Zealand.
The next day we woke up very early and took a 2-hour train from Dehli to Agra to check out the Taj Mahal.
Hello, Taj. With the lovely Jane & Victoria.
On a cold winter day, a warm cup of chai tea can taste so good, made with milk, ginger and cinnamon. On the right is my first vegetarian meal in Dehli! So delicious!
With my awesome roomie, Alfie, from London.
For the next few days, we spent time chilling out in Tordi – a small village in Rajasthan – without any Wifi or Internet connection. It was a great opportunity to share yoga with the group.
Hitting the dirt road and watching the beautiful sunset in Tordi. A cold Kingfisher beer completed the picture.
Over the next few days, we visited Jaipur, the pink city. Above is the Hawa Mahal – a palace built with a high screen wall, so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.
Learning about the Hindu gods.
In India, the cows rule the streets.
Good morning, Tordi.
The sacred lake in the middle of Pushkar. Being blessed here was an experience that I’d never forget.
On the way back to Dehli, we visited Jodhpur – the blue city. What a sight!
After spending Christmas Eve in Nimaj, we were back to Dehli and hanging out in Old Dehli. In life it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.
India is chaotic, enchanting and true. I’d go back there in a heartbeat!
Go and experience this amazing country and see for yourself. Your experience is yours to keep.
Once you’ve stepped your foot on this spiritual land, come back and tell me how you go!
We all look for motivation from others who’ve been there and done that. These are the wise words that mean a lot to me and have helped shape my life in so many ways. I’d like to share them with you and hopefully they will unleash your inner strengths too. Enjoy!
1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain.
2. “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” – Tony Robbins
3. “The sun shines down, and its image reflects in a thousand different pots filled with water. The reflections are many, but they are each reflecting the same sun. Similarly, when we come to know who we truly are, we will see ourselves in all people.” ~ Ammachi
4. “Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”. Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…” ― Timothy Leary
5. “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis of Assisi
6. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu
7. “If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.” Jim Rohn
8. “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” Nelson Mandela
9. “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” Maggie Kuhn
10. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“My mission in life is to help as many people as possible with speaking, reading and confidence.”
Good morning,
It’s time to grab some breakfast: multigrain toast with scrambled eggs. I’m getting some energy for a busy day ahead.
8 AM. Feeling awesome and preparing therapy materials for my clients. It’s time to get creative and tailor various activities according to their needs.
First up, I’m helping an adult who has been diagnosed with speech apraxia. We’re working on the consonants R, V and TH to increase the clarity of their speech. Lots of practice to strengthen those neurological pathways for speech and coordination.
Next up, 2 Accent Training clients who happen to work on one of the hardest sounds of English – the TH sound. It isn’t easy to place the tongue in between the teeth to make the sound, but we manage to say our words (e.g., the, think….) and even practice them in phrase and sentences. We also practice word, phrase and sentence stress at the conversation level. A Toobaloo, a mirror and a set of teeth are used regularly to give my clients auditory, visual and tactile feedback, assisting their pronunciation and helping them to articulate various sounds correctly and clearly.
1 PM. Having lunch in the sun at a local cafe.
After lunch, I meet up with a 3-year-old who used to be non-verbal. This client can now speak in phrases and sentences and can also follow simple instructions. Fantastic! I was given some Easter eggs too.
Next, I’m working with a young client who has problem articulating various sounds such as the SK cluster (e.g., school, ski….). We start with some listening exercises and then proceed onto single words. The pirate game helps a lot when it comes to providing positive reinforcement.
At the end of the day, 2 High School students come to work on their reading and spelling. We have so much fun learning and practicing these skills.
The day has ended on a positive note. I am exhausted but feel so thankful to be working in an area that I’m absolutely passionate about: speaking, language and literacy.
Thank you for reading. Hope this blog gives you an idea of what it’s like to be a Speech Pathologist.
Life can be busy and we can easily lose track of things. Sometimes, instead of focussing on the list of things to do, it’s better to take 1 or 2 most important actions that will bring us closer to achieving our goals.
MIA = Most Important Action
“MIAs can give you massive leverage in time, finance and freedom, even if you ignored everything else.” – Natalie Sisson
ONE Most Important Action that I am going to take in the next 15 days (and for the rest of 2015) is to tell as many people about “Accent Training” as possible.
At 15, I came to Australia speaking English with a strong accent. Over the years, I’ve been lucky to learn from my local friends/family and train myself to speak clearly. My mission is to help immigrants, just like myself, speak clearly and integrate into the Australian culture. This way, other aspects of their lives can also be improved such as social relationships and career.
My dream for 2015 is to help at least 100 people improve their accent.
What’s your MIA for the next 15 days?
Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.
Do you have a morning ritual? How do you set yourself up to have an awesome day?
Here is my morning ritual or The Hour of Power to get me started.
The alarm goes off. It’s time to get out of bed. In order to set myself up to win, I have to be ready physically and mentally. Here are 6 things that I do on a regular basis:
1. Have a big glass of warm water with a few slices of lemon. This will help alkalize my body after a long night sleep.
2. Spend 10-20 minutes on a rebounder, getting the blood pumping and waking myself up.
3. Make a green juice and drink it all up, throw in some spinach, celery, cucumber, kale and ginger. Outcome: alkalizing effects on the body.
4. Practice thankfulness: think of all the things that I’m thankful for such as the air that I breathe, my family, colleagues and friends. There’s always something to be thankful for.
5. Meditate and do my breathing exercise: sit in silence and breathe in (8 seconds), hold (32 seconds) and breathe out (16 seconds). The body needs a lot of oxygen and therefore this exercise is crucial.
6. Incantations: repeat to myself 3 positive affirmations.
“All I need is within me now and I have the courage to see it through.”
“Every day and in every way, I’m getting better and better;
Every day and in every way, I’m getting stronger and stronger.”
“I love my life and I am so blessed.”
So there it is – my morning ritual. Everyone is different and you should create one that suits your needs. Comments are always welcome!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.
Arrived in Brisbane, Australia, at the age of 15 (from Saigon), I was absolutely excited, until I asked someone for directions to get to a destination – at the time, due to my foreign accent, turned out to be “Could you show me the way to the b*tch?”. They looked at me all puzzled, unsure of what I was trying to say! A picture of the Gold Coast was helpful in this instance as they now realized that I tried to find my way to one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia. Boom, that was the moment when I thought to myself, “How can I improve my English, change my accent and speak like a local?”. I had to quickly find a way to learn the Aussie lingo. It was tough as I could only comprehend approximately 10% of what was said in any conversation. I was also shy to speak in a public situation, just in case I’d be laughed at.
The Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
Traveling to a new place and speaking the local language will give you an advantage. Firstly, it will break the ice and people will warm up to you as you’re obviously making an effort to communicate. I’ve learnt to never say “Can you speak English?” in a non-English speaking country as that, in my opinion, is kinda disrespectful. For example, if I’m in China, where the most common dialect is Mandarin, then why would I expect a local to speak English? Instead, saying “Ni hao!” will definitely make them smile and open up to a conversation. Secondly, speaking the local language will make you feel like you actually belong to the place, instead of feeling like a stranger.
Over the years, I have accumulated some valuable experience on how to effectively learn a language and I’d like to share these tips with you.
The acronym DISCOVER will help you remember these tips. It stands for Dive into it, Interests, Search, Copy, Observe, Venture out, Explore and Rehearse.
Dive into it: The best way to learn a language is to start speaking it whenever and wherever you can. Most of us are afraid of making mistakes. Keep in mind that it’s perfect to be perfectly imperfect. Making mistakes is the best way to learn. I got into trouble a few times for saying “Let’s go to the b*tch!” instead of “Let’s go to the beach!” because I couldn’t tell the difference between the vowel sounds. Luckily, my best friend in High School used to help me out. At least we had a good laugh about it.
Interests: What are your interests? Soccer, tennis, reading, art, dance…whatever it is, find an interest group where you can spend your time with like-minded people. My English improved “dramatically” after joining a drama class in High School.
Search: Not sure what a word or a common phrase mean? Nowadays, it is a privilege to have a smart phone or a tablet as you can search for any word you want in a dictionary. It’s a good way to look things up instantly when you need to. Back in the 90’s, I used to carry a small dictionary with me everywhere I went. Technology has changed the way we learn languages. Why not use it for your advantage?
Having a great time speaking French in summer 2010, Paris.
Copy: Have you ever observed a child learn a language? He/she will constantly repeat what is said by other people. They imitate the pronunciation and the words in a given situation. Later on, they learn to generalize and use them in other situations. I used to ask my Aussie friends to repeat their words so I could copy them. It might be difficult at first, and the more you do this, the more confident you’ll be at speaking.
Observe: Practice paying attention to detail with your eyes and ears. How does a local pronounce a word, a phrase, a sentence, and in what intonation and situation? Keep on observing. The more you watch, the more you will absorb the information and learn. You don’t always have to speak. Just listen, and observe.
Venture out: As humans, we’re attracted to people that come from the same place as we do because they share the same culture and language. We like spending time with them, talking about similar things, and speaking the same language. This is good for personal relationships, but not good for your language learning. Break out of that comfort zone. Spend time with people who can speak the language that you’re learning. You will learn faster this way.
Absolutely fascinated by Italian. I love this language!
Explore: One of the best ways to learn a language is to go where it is spoken. Immerse yourself in an environment where you have no other choice but speaking the language, from ordering food to asking for directions. Australia has been a fantastic place where I can practice my English daily!
Love speaking my mother tongue every time I’m back in Vietnam.
Rehearse: Keep on listening, repeating and writing a word, a phrase, a sentence until you feel confidence in knowing how to use them in the right context. Remember, practice makes progress!
All the best with your language learning. Thank you for reading and please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. I’m more than happy to answer them.
This is how much I could write after a few weeks of learning Spanish. Follow the above tips and you can too!
Until next time, keep on learning!
Binh
For more information on Binh and his passion with helping people with their communication, reading and confidence, go to http://www.speakable.com.au
Ever since I was a kid, I had always been fascinated by the Great Wall of China. Why did they build it? Who built it? How long did it take? Can you really see it from space? What would it be like to walk on? and was it built to keep the rabbits out? (simply explained in a commercial advert back in the 90’s) lol
In January 2014, I came across this awesome Marathon Trailer and it ignited that burning desire in me to travel to China.
I started training vigorously. Mind you, the longest distance that I’d ever run was the City to Surf (from Sydney CBD to Bondi Beach – 14 km). So this would be my first marathon ever. Apart from training the body, I also trained the mind to stay calm in difficult situations by practicing yoga regularly.
McElhone Stairs – Potts Point and the Blue Mountains were the places where I did most of my training for the stairs. The rest was around the local areas and on the treadmill.
13/05/14 Leaving for Beijing, feeling very excited and nervous!
14/05/14
Met the most amazing and inspiring group of runners from all over Australia
Photo: @ Tiananmen Square
15/05/14
Inspection Day – up early and caught a bus for 2 hours from Beijing to inspect the wall. We walked 3 km on the wall to get used to the structure and to see what we were up against! I was absolutely enthralled by the beauty of this manmade structure. We were notified that there would be over 2000 participants on race day. WOW!
17/05/14 RACE DAY
Rise and shine at 3:30 AM. Took a bus to the section of the wall (2 hours from Beijing) for the 7:30 AM start. It was freezing cold and dark!!!
The atmosphere was amazing!
With Paul, Laura, Erin & Myriam
Was lucky to run alongside these most athletic ladies from Brisbane, Erin & Donna
Before the race with the awesome Myriam
….and the happy Laura, who was cheering and taking photos before I took off! Getting very nervous now!!!
1,2, 3…….GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
After running for 5 km up the hill, I finally reached the entrance of the Great Wall
The moment we’d all been waiting for…. Man, it was steep and those steps were so uneven. Lucky it was a cool and sunny day and I didn’t sweat too much at this stage.
Off the wall and into the villages….the locals were so warm and welcoming, saying hi to us along the way!
….and into the valley….At this stage, my left knee started to hurt, which forced me to walk and run at a slower pace.
Still had time to take a selfie 🙂
….Had been downing over 15 bottles of water and 3 bananas…gotta keep going….
…31 km already? I’ve made it this far? No way!!!
11 km to go. Gotta get going! Back into the wall for the second time for all the full marathon runners. At this stage, I could only drag myself by pulling on the hand rail, one or two step at a time. The left knee was hurting badly, so I needed to straighten the left leg whenever I went down the steps. The view was stunning from above.
“I’ve made it this far. Don’t give up now.”
Very exhausted! It was approximately 2 pm at this stage. I’d been running/walking/dragging for over 6 hours now. Still had to get out of the wall, and down the hill for 5 km before reaching the Finish line. “I can do this!!!!”
Regardless of the sore knee, I got out of the wall and slowly ran/walked down the hill for 5 km before reaching the end.
Almost there!!! 1 km to go!!!
Spending some time at this sign, 42 km, thinking, my goal has been reached!!! It was an uplifting and happy feeling. I got a bit emotional!
…ran to the finish line and discovered that my teammates were still there waiting to cheer for me after all this time. They’d been standing there for as long as I’d been running. I was SO THANKFUL, and with all the energy that I had left, ran to the FINISH LINE.
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
I’m dedicating this journey to my beloved parents, my family, my life coaching team, sponsors and supporters and to all the new friends that I’ve made during the marathon. Thank you for your love and support.
A massive THANK YOU to the Felicity Kent & Angela Everett from Travelling Fit for their commitment, effort and organisation from the beginning until the end of the trip. They definitely made everything so much easier for us while in China. Thank you guys, you truly are amazing! For more information on Travelling Fit, go to http://www.travellingfit.com/home/.aspx
Binh Doan 