“No matter how much it rains, or how much it pours, the sun will always shine again. It may not be today or it may not be tomorrow, but it will shine.” Joann Lim
Invisible Mentor: Joann Lim, Making It Happen Specialist & Professional Coach
Company Name: Big Picture Fine Focus
Website: http://www.bigpicturefinefocus.com/
Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Joann Lim: I’m a connoisseur of life and a make-it-happen specialist. I’m a lover of all things food and world travel.
Avil Beckford: How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
Joann Lim: Most of the time it’s fairly synergised in the sense that what I do professionally comes into my life personally. The context and the discussions pieces that I have with clients are things I internalize as well. I often give make-it-happen opportunities in my client sessions, and they are pieces that I would never give somebody that I wasn’t willing to do myself. Part of my work is to help people grow within themselves, to have a deeper connection to their lives and to others, by having a deeper connection with themselves.
My work is simply an extension of who I am personally and the more I am as a person the more I am able to offer, the more enriching my professional life becomes.
Avil Beckford: When you have some down time, how do you spend it?
Joann Lim: I love to travel. I love seeing the world. I think it’s one of the best and most nurturing ways to learn about people and life. I love spending it with family and friends – the people who inspire me, and help me to see things from a different perspective. I love cooking, for me it’s a freedom of expression and creativity, taking ingredients and making it into something of value, of nutrients of nurturing. It’s just a wonderful experience. The last part is just having quiet time. I think that it’s in the silence that I get inspired the most.
Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
Joann Lim:
- To truly embrace life we must be willing to face death. And face death in the sense of coming to terms with what death means to us, and how it’s going to impact our lives, and how we may live life differently.
- To be completely free, I have to be completely me. We embrace who we are and take responsibility for our lives, and then we can experience true freedom.
- Richness and abundance is available to all of us. There are a lot of people who think materialistically, which isn’t abundance that stems from within, and it’s when we have that attitude and perspective that everything in our lives becomes more valuable, meaningful, richer and more abundant.
- Let love rule! Love is the ultimate power in our lives. As human beings we have the capacity to love and be loved, and it’s when we open ourselves up, when we’re vulnerable, when we’re willing to give the very best that we can that we truly set ourselves up to receive the very best that life has to offer.
- Laugh! Life is not that serious. Have fun, and for some people it may be scheduling fun. If you need to do that, then that’s great. Life isn’t meant to be serious, we’re meant to have a great time. Make it a point to celebrate each day. Find time to make “now” moments “wow” moments because this is your life. Make it one of purpose, meaning, richness and amazingness. Celebrate each day and have fun.
Avil Beckford: What process do you use to generate great ideas?
Joann Lim: I listen to a play list every day, it called my big picture play list, and it has artists of all genres that inspire me. Just listening to their words, and the way they communicate truly inspires me. It’s in reading all sorts of different books. Dr Seuss is probably one of my favourite, and sometimes even just looking at a blank journal. Seeing a blank page and having colourful markers in front of me, that’s sometimes all I need to just let loose and be free.
Avil Beckford: What’s your favourite quotation and why?
Joann Lim: “Dying is an inevitable consequence of life, living is man’s privilege.” In that quotation we are challenged or invited to think of living as no longer an obligation of “I have to,” but it’s a privilege of “I get to.”
Avil Beckford: How do you define success? And in your opinion what’s the formula for success?
Joann Lim: Make success part of the journey. If success is the journey, every day will be a success. Love what you do, give everything that you have, give your best every single day, and you will set yourself up to have the very best that life has to offer.
Avil Beckford: What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
Joann Lim:
- Identified what success meant to me. To make success meaningful to me I needed to understand how I defined it.
- Asking myself what it would look like to give my best to the world.
- How can I be more completely me? And that ties into the step above. How can I give more to this world? What do I need to give my best?
- Sharing, sharing with everybody. Sharing honestly and authentically. Just being me with the people around me. Be willing to be vulnerable, sharing the ups and the downs. And beyond that, giving them a space to be completely them.
- Perseverance – to not let one closed door end the dream. More often than not, one closed door results in another amazing door to open. Embrace opportunities as they come, and maximize very ounce of who you are, everything you know and everybody you know, take them along the journey, and the journey will be a success.
Joann Lim:
Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
Joann Lim:
- Jesus Christ
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Mother Teresa
- Pope John Paul
- Dr Seus
The question I would ask is, on the days that you may have not felt good enough, what pulled you forward? What helped you to keep going, what inspired you, and what pulled you to the next level?
Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
Joann Lim: One of the books that had the most profound impact on my life was a journal that was written personally to me. It took place over the course of a year, and this person as opposed to writing a journal recounting things to him, he did it to me – he wrote it to me. There is only one in this entire world and I have it. it was beautiful because this person wrote this intentionally for me, sharing in an experience from a different perspective, and it is something that I will always hold close.
Avil Beckford: You are one of the 10 finalists on the reality show, So, How Would You Spend Your Time? Each finalist is placed on separate deserted islands for two years. You have a basic hut on the island and all the tools for survival; you just have to be imaginative and inventive when using them. You are allowed to take five books, one movie and one music CD, and whatever else you take has to fit in one suitcase and a travel on case. What would you take with you and how would you spend the two years? T he prize is worth your while and at this stage in the game there really aren’t any losers among the 10 finalists, since each are guaranteed at least $2 million?
Joann Lim:
Two Years
You know what, I actually don’t know how I’d spend my two years. I was thinking to take each day as it comes. I’d spend a lot of time reflecting, exploring, and just being in the moment. There is a great saying that says, “Man plans and God laughs.” We can plan all we want to the nth degree, but more often than not, it’s not the way it happens. So it’s embracing the here and now and making use of every moment, and giving my best into every moment.
Five Books
- Blank journal: For the inspiration, for the empowerment, for anything that came to mind.
- SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions
by Rainn Wilson from The Office: It’s really a fun book, but has all sorts of questions that probe deeper, let us challenge who we are, that help make meaning in our lives.
- Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection #1
(Your Favorite Seuss (58 Volume Set)
): A large book that has 12 of his most famous books. They are fun and inspiring.
- Daily Readings from Love Your Life
by Victoria Osteen: She is a spark plug from Houston, Texas, who speaks with passion and vigor, and has a zest for life. She is someone who women can learn from.
- The journal that was written especially to me. It’s a reminder of how somebody feels for you, how somebody sees things, and what it means to care for somebody, and what it means to create a customized experience for someone.
Movie & Music CD
My one movie would be Something’s Gotta Give
Something’s Gotta Give – Trailer
Cannot view this video, click here. Uploaded by TheMovieSceneUK on Jul 20, 2010
Soweto Gospel Choir – Amazing Grace (Most beautiful version!!)
Cannot view this video, click here. Uploaded by scutter4christ on Mar 4, 2009
Avil Beckford: What excites you about life?
Joann Lim: The potential of it. There is so much to experience and so much joy to be had. The potential is truly outstanding, and I think it’s when we embrace what life has to offer with very little attachment to the outcome, life is amazing. It’s an adventure, and it becomes like a maze where we don’t necessarily know where we’re going to go next, but at the end, we know where we’re going to be.
Avil Beckford: How do you nurture your soul?
Joann Lim: Surround myself with amazing people, spend quiet time with my Heavenly Father, reading great books, spending time with mentors, and showing up every day. And not just showing up, but asking myself what I need to do to give my best, and to do it – to really give everything that I have, everything that I am, everything that I know to each and every day are the best ways I know to nurture my soul.
Avil Beckford: If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for?
Joann Lim: The group of people I would use it on are the people who feel most alone in this world, the people who have never been told that they matter, those are the people I would use this wish on. To let them know that they do matter, to let them know that they are loved, and no matter how dark it may seem, there is light and to offer them that glimmer of hope to remind them that you matter and there is more to life than what they have experienced.
Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when…..
Joann Lim: I’m happy when the sun is shining. I’m happy when I’m surrounded by people who I love, care about, and am fascinated by. I’m happy when I’m giving the world the very best that I have.
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