Helenbella - the best is yet to come!

Highly successful entrepreneurs and business owners don't succeed because they are better educated, more talented or luckier than everyone else. They succeed because they refuse to give up.

Persistence is the key to entrepreneurial success. Because with persistence, anything and everything is possible.

"Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life." - Abraham Lincoln

2. Vision -- Every major achievement in history has been achieved by visionaries; people who lived in a world that was, but saw a world that could be.

This ability to "visualise possibilities" is essential to entrepreneurial success. It is the characteristic that helps highly successful entrepreneurs come up with innovative solutions to existing problems.

To bring your entrepreneurial dreams into reality, you must first see it in your minds eye. Develop a strong vision and it will fuel your persistence.

"You will encounter many distractions and many temptations to put your goal aside: The security of a job, a wife who wants kids, whatever. But if you hang in there, always following your vision, I have no doubt you will succeed."- Larry Flynt

3. Belief -- The Oxford dictionary defines ‘belief’ as: "A feeling that something exists or is true, especially one without proof."

Highly successful entrepreneurs know that belief gives you the strength and motivation to overcome the many obstacles and challenges you're sure to encounter along the way. They believe in their dreams. But more importantly, they believe in themselves and their ability to make those dreams come true.

It is the belief in your vision that will give you the persistence to continue on beyond temporary defeat.

"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can." - Michael Korda

4. Focus -- We entrepreneurs are blessed with a strength that can easily become a curse and major weakness. This blessing and strength is our ability to see opportunities everywhere and in everything.

However, when this causes us to lose focus and try to juggle too many balls at once, our blessing becomes a curse, and our strength turns into a weakness.

When you learn how to focus on one thing at a time, you'll find that your vision becomes clearer, your belief becomes stronger and persistence will become second nature.

"My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things." - Bill Gates

5. Discipline -- becoming a highly successful entrepreneur is not easy. And to succeed in business you must develop the discipline of doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether you feel like it or not.

Discipline gives you a structured approach to success and greatly increases your chances of turning your dreams into reality.

Because Discipline leads to Focus; Focus creates clear Vision; Clear Vision strengthens your Belief; and Belief results in Persistence.

Get this right and your success is virtually guaranteed.

"With self-discipline almost anything is possible." - Theodore Roosevelt

总得有个契机，才能让她有勇气,撕裂规则造就的世界，撕裂过去苍白高贵的人生。这个故事归根到底，仍然温暖，那是爱。

但这一切，都从那件五彩霞衣开始。多少女人的故事从衣服开始？织锦、轻纱、软缎、雪纺……从古到今，女人从来没有停止过热爱衣服。

那些象织女一样的才女们 -

我们没有勇气，脱离按部就班的生活；

我们没有勇气，选择一个浪漫的不切实际的梦；

我们没有勇气，找一个平凡的男人来爱，是什么让我们的心不再柔软, （还是平凡的男人，没有勇气找我们来爱？）

那么，我们至少有这样的勇气，选择一件热烈的，招摇的衣服。穿着它，然后昂着头，穿过别人的眼光。

最近在筹建公司的网站， 我很想做一个季刊给我那些非常成功美丽而又无边寂寞的客户们，也许可以用这篇博客做我们的开篇吧。

自从做了小小的生意，就再也没有心情写东西了。有时候，我们做一件事情，做着做着就忘了初衷，特别是困难的时候会怀疑,为啥要那么累。 可是当初是为了梦想， 为了自由，为了做自己喜欢做的事情。

那天和妈妈聊天时说，如果公司07年派我去了香港。我就不会自己出来创业了。 就算现在，我还是有香港情结。这个我一直用“万丈红尘“描绘的城市，我曾经深爱过， 我仍旧希望有一天能够居住在那里，如果有机缘的话。

最近新认识的摄影师给了我一篇她写的香港游记。她很有才华，会给我们拍下一季的广告。她以一个局外人的眼光写香港的历史，民生，建筑和时尚，是我心中的香港，我最喜欢的是结尾，"Life is not waiting for the storm to be over, it is about learning how to dance in the rain" - 人生不是在于等待风暴的消逝，而是在于学会如何在暴雨中飞舞，- 我想更确切的是，人生应该享受在暴雨中飞舞。 我勉励自己，也勉励看我博客的朋友们。

Hong Kong Under An Umbrella By Nadine Markova

Angry grey clouds surround Victoria Bay.  I feel as if I can touch them through the picture window of the Club Intercontinental where we are having breakfast. I know that rain happens. Memories and dreams get soggy but I’m down hearted.  To sooth my sadness I pop a delicious Dim sun into my hungry mouth and order some Eggs Benedict.   So far, our trip to Hong Kong has been sweet and sour like a Cantonese soup; sour because of the grievous skies; sweet to be in Hong Kong again.

For the last 40 years I had fantasized my return. Because I had been lucky there in the past I never expected the weather to betray me.   In 1970 I wrote, “I am looking out on a wonderland that is Hong Kong through the windows of the JUNO revolving restaurant.  Hong Kong, a mini Manhattan looks exquisite from here like a fire that you can enjoy best from a distance.  Hong Kong is a city of thousands of electric beads on shimmering oriental curtains hiding adventure, love and mystery.” I experienced all three of those during my time there.

The Bible says  “don’t look back you will be turned into a pillar of salt. “  I tried to appreciate the new highly developed Hong Kong and enjoy this trip in spite of the rain and my memories.

I recalled how much I adored crossing from Koloon to the island of Hong Kong in the Star Ferry. From my seat I could observe women cooking and children playing on the decks of boats with pleated sails called “Junks.”  Each trip revealed human drama and photographic opportunities. 

When we docked on either shore"Coolies” stuffed us into rickshaws and ran us to our final destinations chattering in Chinese as if we could understand the language.

The Hong Kong I knew in 1970 was a friendly place populated by an International community comprised of foreign business men, American soldiers on “rest and recreation” from the Vietnam war, eccentric Englishmen, exiled Georgian aristocrats and journalists.

Today, the Chinese government runs the city. They are doing an incredible job of convincing the west that there is no better Capitalist than a Chinese communist.

The star ferry still crosses the bay. The trip is shorter because they have filled in the shoreline on both sides of the bay reducing the distance to the island by miles to make room for waterfront hotels, museums, office buildings and container ports. New skyscrapers scratch the clouds hiding the mountains. Commercial boats.  Cruise ships, tugs, and an occasional yacht sail by.

There is only one “Junk” left in Hong Kong Corporations rent it for business events. I made one nostalgic crossing in the ferry and then joined the other Hong Kong folks on the subway.

The refugees I saw pouring in from Mainland China in “sampans” by the hundreds in 1970 have left for Canada or the United States. Those that stayed have been moved out of their boats into jobs that helped to build the new Hong Kong. Today they live in apartments in one of the humongous high-rise buildings that cover the landscapes in the New Territories.

There were scores of things we planned to do but didn’t because of the rain. We didn't take the tram up to the peak to see  “ the best view of Victoria Harbor.”

We didn't go to Disneyland to meet a Chinese Minnie Mouse or enjoy a cocktail at the bar in Morton's Restaurant where the international community meets for drinks. We didn't see the Big Buddha unveiled in 1993.  It is 112 feet high. The worlds largest of its kind sit on a lotus throne on top of Lantau Island. Buddhism was introduced into china 2,000 years ago from India.

Since the International Woman’s Forum Conference that I was attending was held at the Marriot we went down the stairs of the hotel and found ourselves in the palatial pacific place mall, a flashy selection of up market, international boutiques from Armani to Versace. 

This is not a place for bargains but they have Skinny mirrors as part of the construction that make you look thin no matter how many spring rolls you eat.

I read about a store where second hand designer bags sold for bargain prices.The Japanese come to Hong Kong and buy the best brands and then resell them on return trips to help finance more shopping. Hong Kong businesswomen with limited funds and a lot of ambition buy the bags at vintage prices.

Because of the rain we canceled an excursion to see a horserace at Happy Valley. The inhabitants of Hong Kong are passionate about the races. The average betting turnover is the highest in the world.  I had to content myself with the memory from old times, not unlike the one in the movie "Last Emperor" replete with slender Oriental gentlemen wearing made to order suits holding binoculars in their right hands while their left (tipped by manicured nails) circled the tiny satin covered waists of their Chinese mistresses. 

I wanted to haggle with the hawkers at the Jade market so I could buy inexpensive gold and jade but the raindrops thwarted us. I missed making pictures at the bird market and the flower market also.  Forty years ago they sold dogs, snakes and monkeys for culinary purposes in these street markets. This practice is now forbidden.

We did take a subway ride to the LADIES MARKET at Mon kock station. Running between the droplets of water we bought a Mickey Mouse watch for our grandson and chopsticks for our daughter to use when she orders Chinese take out food in Mexico.  Larry bought a Chinese shirt to play Jazz in. I took pictures of shopper’s under umbrellas.

We went to Shanghai Tang to browse the colorful and sexy CHINOISERIE CHINESE satin dresses known as CHEONGSAMS. Originally the cheongsam was a loose fitting ankle length dress with long sleeves and a high mandarin collar and slits on both sides. With the changing times the hemlines rose. The dress now has a zipper on one side and slit on the other showing off the long legs of the Chinese figure

"Come let me make you a dress," said a statuesque, slender Chinese sales clerk who looked to me like an Oriental "Nichol Kidman," She wore a bright red and black dress embroidered with golden dragons. It boasted a high collar and an even higher slit up the side of the skirt revealing  "Nichol's " perfect thigh.

“There is a beautiful legend from the Manchu's about the cheongsams.” She shared with us.“A young fisherwoman lived by the Jingbo Lake. Who was not only beautiful but also clever and skillful? When fishing, she felt hindered by her long and loose fitting dress. Then an idea struck her: why not make a more practical dress for work? She then produced a long multi-looped-button gown with slits, which enabled her to tuck in the front piece of her dress, thus making her job much easier.

The young emperor who ruled China at that time had a dream that his dead father told him that a lovely fisherwoman in cheongsam by the Jingbo Lake would become his queen. After awakening from his deep sleep, the emperor sent his men to look for her. This is how she became the queen of Manchu.  She brought her cheongsam with her and soon all Manchu women followed suit and soon the cheongsam became popular.  Are you sure you don’t want to try one on?”

 "We’ll talk about it in my next life, " I told her " when I come back to earth looking like you."

We were invited by the Forum to dinner at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant at Wong Chik Hang in Aberdeen. Forty years ago a similar restaurant with the identical Chinese menu was floating in the bay surrounded by sampans and small junks. The JUMBO is still decorated with dazzling dragons and party lights but it is in a Yacht basin surrounded by high price condominiums

We never got to eat with the locals at DAI PAI DONG food stall at Gogh Street or slurp oysters at the cafe Deco But we did put on our finest traveling clothes to have “High Tea” at the Peninsula hotel were we were guests for two nights. Maybe there is a more elegant hotel in the world   than the Peninsula but I have never been a guest in one.

Surrounded by the sounds of live classical music and formally dressed waiters we washed down plates of sumptuous pastries   and crust free sandwiches with Chinese porcelain cups full of royal English tea and Chinese milk tea, a local black tea served with condensed milk.  High tea in the Lobby of the Peninsula reflects the classical grandeur of this legendary hotel and was the only wonderful thing that didn't change all these years. It is a must for travelers to Hong Kong.

I didn’t miss the traditional sneaking into the Men’s room at the Felix restaurant designed by Philippe Starck so I could see the famous view of Hong Kong from the window.

We didn't go to the tea ware museum, the Space Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Hong Kong Science Museum or the Hong Kong history Museum but we were VIP guests at a cocktail party to inaugurate a traveling exhibition about the history of Luis Vinton at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Since Luis Vinton has a store in all the five star hotels and malls in the city it seemed correct to present this exhibition of works from the Vinton Foundations featuring large scale works by European, American and Chinese artists reflecting energetic urban culture. Recent work by young Chinese artists including Nadim Abbas, Pak Sheung Chuen and Adran and Doris Wong were also on view there.

At the Heritage Museum we went back in history and learned about the Cantonese Opera. And we were invited to attend a performance with a couple of hundred elderly fans the following Saturday afternoon. We discovered that the show came from Seattle Washington where Cantonese opera is a popular attraction in the Chinese community.

As they say, " it's an ill wind that blows no good” We thoroughly enjoyed our suite at the Intercontinental where you have the best bay views in the city.  Every night at 8:00 rain or shine there is a spectacular light show on the buildings that creates a kaleidoscope of colors reflected into the water.

I have to thank the weather for the rain that made it possible for me to shoot many unconventional and dramatic photos and to thank Anonymous who wrote: “Life is not waiting for the storm to be over. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” We did just that.

In the last two days, I've kept on telling myself, remember today and keep going on.

Yes, after more than a decade's corporate life, finally I'm moving on by myself.  From now on, I don't have this big corporate name to back up anymore. It is what I planned in the last eight months, but when the moment is coming, it is not easy.

I always say that we live in a golden cage, not everyone inside really likes it, but the glamour. comforts and security we get - not easy to say NO, though the price is never low.

Now I am getting the freedom I wanted, I just need to learn how to live with this new freedom.  People think I am brave. actually, I am terribly scared more than ever. We are losing courage to try new path when we are aging, with much more knowledge we have now.  However, we cannot just let the fear stop us to reach the next goal.

Of course, every woman need a good pair of shoes to keep her up and deal with the big changes. So today I got my first pair of Manolo Blahnik.  At the end, I should enjoy this interesting process.  From the heart, I am truly grateful for what life has offered me so far.