"Bucket List"

"The Bucket List"

Have you ever heard of the term ‘Bucket List’? Once, in church, I’d watched a movie built around the idea of having and fulfilling a bucket list. A Bucket List is basically a list that we make detailing the things that we want to experience or achieve throughout our lifetimes. Honestly, why wouldn’t we want one? It’s actually fun – mapping out things that we can work towards and maybe even sharing them with somebody else. But then, have you ever thought about the deeper pretext behind the idea of a bucket list?

I guess that you have probably heard of the term ‘drifter’. People who are described as ‘drifters’ are usually thought of as confused, as being low in morale or just unsure about what they want from life or how to go about achieving it. I feel like a Bucket List is designed just to remove any of that complacency. To-do lists have always been used to increase our productivity levels and to offer a sense of responsibility. Jotting something down onto paper is almost identical to setting it down in stone (personally, anyway). It further compels you to get whatever you need to do done and gives you an uncanny sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed your task.

Research has shown that writing down the tasks you have to do the night before you have to do them will increase your productivity the next day by as much as 40%! In the same way, writing down your goals will probably increase any likelihood of you completing them by the same amount. I suppose that the Bucket List seems a little bit more attractive to you now, isn’t it?

"My Name is Earl"

Well, besides using a Bucket List to achieve your goals, I feel like we can also use our Bucket Lists to right some wrongs in life. I really got that idea from a television series that I watched once, “My Name is Earl”. You know that they say, we shouldn’t pass on with any regrets!

I apologize for neglecting this blog for almost two weeks! I really appreciate your patronage and all of your feedback. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach me at Ordinarysgkid@hotmail.com or to mention me @NatKathXo! Thank you so much for your time J

Credits: First picture: lanredahunsi.wordpress.com, Second picture: bigbadbob113.com

Branding

Hey guys, so here’s a rather brief and (random) article for you guys. Have you ever compared big brands like Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf? I’m sure that you must have at least heard of one of these brands– and while I can’t be entirely certain that you’ve tried one of their drinks, you probably know somebody who’s had them. How about tuition centers? We could even compare a center like Mind Champ and any other lesser-known tuition center you can name. What makes Mind Champ so much more successful than other centers that provide the same benefits and teachings? Why does it seem so much more attractive when it costs more and everything basically depends on the student’s own capabilities? What sets it apart from the other centers that offer the same set of skills and methods?

I really started thinking about this when I compared my Caramel Macchiato from Coffee Bean and the one I had from Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks have drinks of quality (trust me, I know), but, personally, I much preferred the drink from Coffee Bean. I’m sure that I’m not the only one out there. And yet, if you turn onto a social network or turn to a friend – more often or not, they’d be sipping from a Starbucks cup and taking digital photos of their Starbucks cheesecake. Why? Yes, I know – there’s no denying the existence of people who genuinely prefer Starbucks products to Coffee Bean. However, more often than not – it’s much deeper than the quality and taste of the products. (Really – Starbucks and Coffee Bean just happen to be a personal example! Don’t take it to heart). When it comes down to it, you’d notice that it probably all has something to do with ‘Branding’!

Yes, Branding. Business students have probably heard this word far too many times, and even if you aren’t exactly in that field – well; I hope that it isn’t too new a word for you either. What does it mean? Well, something that I seem to like to include in all essays on Branding is how it makes use of a certain form of advertisement – endorsement by celebrities. We all have role models – maybe they aren’t our idols, but we all have a handful of people who might, consciously or otherwise, alter the way we approach or think of something. You see a celebrity you like sipping from a Starbucks cup – and suddenly, that Starbucks drink you just had just got a whole lot better than it really had been. You see a celebrity toting a new bag that you’ve had an eye on for days, and suddenly the bag is a whole lot more attractive. That’s the ‘sheep’ factor all those experts always talk about – honestly, some factors are just going to change the way we, and others, perceive things. And I applaud the ingenuity of whoever managed to come up with such a concept, but now I’d like us to think about how it’s affecting us as consumers.

Does that person you know really need that luxury bag, or that expensive meal which might easily be replaced by a hearty dish at one of our local hawker-centers? Or are they merely going for it because it seems to be the ‘in’ thing, the ‘wow’ factor that will impress their peers? Quality is quality, but yeah… just don’t feel that free to splurge on something grand simply because of the brand. Try to look at things with an unbiased mindset, and make the decisions based on the price and attractiveness of the good itself.

Okay, am I starting to preach? Well, you get what I’m trying to say right? I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew that stuff all along!

Well, I hope that I haven’t bored you or offended you. Don’t hesitate to share your views with me at OrdinarySGKid@hotmail.com or @NatKathXo J

Thank you for your time!

Credits:First:Hollywoodsandwine.com Second:Imprint.printmag.com