My thoughts out loud

My ChelseaManic Origins

2009-09-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Giafranco Zola - Chelsea Greatest Player Ever

In November 1996, Zola joined English Premier League club Chelsea F.C. for £4.5 m as one of several continental players signed by Ruud Gullitand wore the number 25 jersey. In his debut season he put in several notable performances and scored a series of memorable goals. In February 1997, after spiriting the ball around Manchester United's defence in the penalty area before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, he was described by United manager Alex Ferguson as a "clever little so-and-so."^[6] He was a key player in Chelsea's resurgence that season, helping them win the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough at Wembley having scored four goals en route to the final, including a 25 yard curling shot against Liverpool as Chelsea came from 0–2 behind to win 4–2, and a "twisted blood" effort in the semi-final against Wimbledon, backheeling the ball and turning 180 degrees before slotting the ball into the net. At the end of the season he was voted FWA Player of the Year, the only player ever to win the accolade without playing a full season in the English league and the first Chelsea player to win it.

In 1997-98 he helped Chelsea win three more trophies, the League Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup. An injury denied him a place in the starting line-up for the Cup Winners' Cup final against VfB Stuttgart at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm, but he came on as a second-half substitute and scored the winning goal within 21 seconds. With only his second touch of the game, he struck a through ball from Dennis Wise past goalkeeper Wohlfahrt into the roof of the net to secure Chelsea's third major trophy in a year and the second European trophy in the club's history. In the same season Zola hit his first professional hat-trick, in a 4–0 victory over Derby County at Stamford Bridge in November 1997.

"Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard and the wizard must try."

-Claudio Ranieri reflecting on Zola's back-heeled goal against Norwich in 2002.^[7]

Zola scored his final goal for Chelsea, a lob from outside the penalty area against Everton, on Easter Monday 2003, and made his final competitive appearance for the club on the final day of the season with a 20-minute cameo against Liverpool, beating four Liverpool players during a fantastic dribble late on in the match, gaining applause from both sets of fans. This would become the final class moment of his Chelsea career. He played in a total of 312 games for Chelsea and scored 80 goals. In early 2003, Zola was voted as the best ever Chelsea player by Chelsea's fans. In November 2004, he was awarded an OBE - Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire in a special ceremony in Rome.^[9] In 2005 Zola was voted into the Chelsea FC Centenary Eleven, occupying one of the two forward roles. Whilst the club has not officially withdrawn Zola's number 25 shirt from circulation, no other player has held the squad number since his departure.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianfranco_Zola

EPL

2009-09-06T08:58:00.001-07:00

7 Ways to grow the action habit

2009-06-15T13:57:00.001-07:00

People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.

Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:

1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect - If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.

2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it’s forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.

3. Remember that ideas alone don’t bring success - Ideas are important, but they’re only valuable after they’ve been implemented. One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”. If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere.

4. Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak? Even professional speakers and actors experience pre-performance anxiety. Once they get started the fear disappears. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.

5. Start your creative engine mechanically - One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, start your creative motor mechanically. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. By moving your hands you’ll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire yourself.

6. Live in the present - Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won’t get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never.

7. Get down to business immediately - It’s common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings. The same is true for individual workers. How often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you’ll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader.

It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that’s why initiative is a rare quality that’s coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.

This article is taken from here.

Motivational quotes Vol 1

2009-06-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.. that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~ Zig Ziglar

“If you don’t have daily objectives, you qualify as a dreamer.” ~ Zig Ziglar

“Forget yesterday. It’s gone and you will never get it back. Focus on making today a day you will not regret tomorrow.” –Stephen Mills

2nd entry of my blog a.k.a Last entry of 2008 huhu

2008-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this entry at 2358hrs of 31st December 2008; 1 more year WILL go by. To recap 2008 was quite a good year. At least I think I have matured more in being a man, husband and father. Got to go and catch the fireworks. Happy New Year!!

1st entry

2008-12-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

My 1st atempt to blogging. I don't know whether I'll make it through the week let alone a month. But since new year is just around the corner I thought why not, let's take up something new. Actually it was my wife who started to blog earlier and to be honest I do enjoyed following her blog. Yes, she surely brags if she reads this.Anyways I can really see the advantages of having a blog. It's like an online diary, I've hopped onto a few blogs and their entries traced back to 1998. Thats 10years of memories man. Just picture your sons or daughters browsing through your life's journey. That's kind of cool..So why not..Welcome me to the world of blogging...

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