Motivasia

Experimenting with Life

2010-11-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

"Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life." - Herbert Otto

The only way to obtain result is through actions. Action creates results whether it is negative or positive. Therefore it is important to experiment yourself to various trial and error in life. This is what we call experimenting with life. People do not do this often is due to the fear of failure. However, with failure only that we can know what not to do and therefore moving us closer to a success experimentation with life. Experiment with life more often so that we can achieve growth as frequent as possible.

Quote on Willpower

2010-11-22T06:58:00.000-08:00

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will" - Vince Lombardi

It is interesting to see the fact that many of the wealthiest person on earth is not highly educated and some of them did not even finish their college education. However, it is not the amount of knowledge that determines the wealth of the person but it really depends on the willpower of the person to make it happen and brings success for their life, These wealthy becomes for what they are now due to the their willpower and not just the level of their education alone. Knowledge with addition of willpower and follow through action is a definite and sure way path to the riches.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

2008-12-08T06:33:00.000-08:00

A very nice and motivating speech by Steve Jobs. The last quote he mentioned that says "Stay hungry, Stay foolish" really hit a chord. It simply mean that you must be hungry for success but yet still afford to make errors and yet enjoy every moment of it. Live your life to the fullest as if this is the last day of your life and work hard as if you can live a 100 years longer. Enjoy the video.

Strategy to Financial Freedom

2008-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

The ultimate goal of of the individuals in the corporate rat race is financial freedom. Freedom to do what your hearts desire without worrying about the monthly bills or debt that kept us working day in and day out. Freedom to enjoy your time with your family and freedom to travel as often as you like. It may seems like a dream, but it is achieveable. Below are some strategies that can be used for us to obtain financial freedom.

1. Start a side business as soon as possible.
The strategy is to create as many sources of income as possible. If you depend on just one stream of income only, the possibility of reaching financial freedom will not be as quickly as you want. Making money out of your hobby is the best way to start.

2. Buy at least one property.
Peter Lynch once stated in his book One Up on Wall Street "Before you do invest anything in stocks, you ought to consider buying a house, since a house, after all, is the one good investment that almost everyone manages to make. I'm sure there are exceptions, such as houses built over sinkholes and houses in fancy neighbourhood that takes a dive, but in 99 cases out of 100, a house will be a money-maker."

3. Knowledge is everything.
To win a war, you must know the enemy inside out. To win a game, you must know the rules of the game inside out. To win the game of life, you must know the rules that govern our everday life. By reading books, and I mean real books, not newspaper, magazines and etc. you will gain the advantage of shortcutting your life experience by learning other people's experience who have gone through life before us. By knowing and learning other people's success and mistakes, we can make the right judgement beforehand and therefore leaping ahead successfully.

Knowing the strategies to financial freedom only gives you potential power. You can only be on the road to financial freedom and achieve it when you put knowledge to action. So, to achieve financial freedom, TAKE ACTION !

Consistent Actions breed Success

2008-10-27T03:47:00.000-07:00

"In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently." - Anthony Robbins

Success has a funny way of arriving in your doorstep. You may have well done everything that you can done but if success has not arrived yet, it may probably just around the corner. It may just waiting for you to give up. Consistent actions are one of the characteristic of successful entrepeneurs. Eventhough sometimes their target have not been met, they will constantly stayed on the same path without faltering. They believe that by doing constant action and not be swayed by any challenges or problems coming their way, success will be theirs. They knew that by doing consistent actions, someday they will reap the reward.

How to Create Charming Personalities

2008-10-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words

Watch your words, for they become actions

Watch your actions, for they become habits

Watch your habits, for they become character

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny"

Building a life also means building the relationship with the people around you. Some says that if we have charming personalities, we tend to attract people towards us. But how do we develop charming personalities? As an analogy, if we want to enhance and upgrade our car, just merely waxing and polishing the body would not do anything. But in order to upgrade the performance of the car, we must go straight to the source and that is the engine of the car. The same goes with human beings. By dressing up properly or putting a mask of charm is not sufficient enough. We must work on the source of our personality. We must work on our mind and soul and upgrade it so that we really have positive energy surrounding us. People will notice this aura of positivity and in return will create a charming personality within us.

Creating and Uncreating Habits

2008-10-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

"The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act." - Orison Swett Marden

Habits are a part of human nature. Like it or not, humans are a habitual creature. We tend to create our own habits consciously and unconsciously. The only way to master our life is to learn about our habits and how it is created. Are we drawn into negative habits or do we use that habits to create positive development in our lives. If you are addicted to smoking, you will know that it is hard to break from the smoking habit without a very strong motivation or the desire to quit. But, you must realise that a habit is a result of repetitive action from our side that automatically gets embedded into our subconscious mind. Added with the nicotine, it has made our body not able to resist the temptation of a cigarette both mentally and physically. But, habits can be created and also uncreated. Learn to uncreate bad habits but replacing and associate it with other habits that have the same force or factors but wth more positive effect. People will automatically quit smoking if they have install other habits that are equally strong. Learn to know your mind so that you can control it and create the life that you wanted it to be.

Secret of the Riches: Small Step at a Time

2008-09-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

"People who write their financial goals get rich. It's a fact." - David Bach, The Automatic Millionaire

I once have been asked this riddle, "how do you eat an Elephant?’. After pondering it for five seconds and thinking that it might be a trick question, I answered, "Eat it with your mouth, of course." It was a nice try but it turns out it was not the answer. The answer to the riddle was a very simple one "Eat the elephant piece by piece."

Even though the riddle is just for fun, the answer for the riddle has made me thinking in terms of financial perspective. I change the question and ask to myself "How can you get a million dollars?" The answer to that of course, similar to the eating the elephant's riddle, is "small step at a time". Your goal can be as large as an elephant, but the step towards it can be one step at a time. The trick is to keep on moving and never stop. Slow and steady progress is better that a stagnant position. Do not feel dwarf by your ambition and goals. With patience and perseverance, you can achieve impossible dreams.

If you look at all the giant corporations, you must remember that they are all once a small corporation and was started by a small group of people. With perseverance and hard work, this small corporation blossom into giant and successful corporation as we can see them today. Individuals who have attain great wealth today also starts somewhere small. Richard Branson started his business empire small with selling student magazines. Steve Jobs started his Apple Computer business in his home garage. The only thing that stayed the same was their passion in achieving their dreams. In achieving your dreams, you must always take small step towards your goal in a constant basis. With determination, you can achieve mammoth dreams with small step at a time.

A Video Interview with Richard Branson

Secret of the Riches - Act Now ! Do it Now !

2008-09-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

"Do not wait; the time will never be "just right". Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." - Napoleon Hill

Do you know what is the major obstacle for a person to achieve success? It is called procrastination. Some people will always be waiting for the right time to do something significant in their life. The problem is that there is no such thing as the right time. Want to open a business? Do it now. Want to quit smoking? Do it now. Why wait? An action is far better than sitting still and doing nothing.

As Winston Churchill, once said, you should fear inaction rather than doing one wrong action. Just act and do something whether it is the wrong way or right way is much better from not doing anything at all. Either way, you definitely will learn something and in the process makes you a better and stronger person than yesterday. The time will never be “just right”. Procrastination is the result of trying to do something at the right time according to your ideal scenario. We have to accept the reality that obstacles and problems will always be there. By starting in wherever you stand right now and work with whatever resources you have at that time, you will move closer to your dreams. Problems and setbacks will always be there, but with perseverance you will get through it.

If procrastination still affects your daily life, the best way to overcome it is with rewarding yourself each time you have accomplished something or getting jobs done. It will help to stimulate your brain and spirit because as a human being, we will always been attracted to pleasure. By linking the activities of accomplishing something with the pleasure of rewards, it will in time eliminate the habits of procrastination. This will also in the long term, create the desired attributes of a successful person.

Belief of Success

2008-09-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wealth creation and distribution is actually a vicious cycle that can be seen in every society around the world. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer. In reality, the glass ceiling that separates this both societies is only a mere different mindset of how they perceived the world. The rich will always look at the world in a positive manner and how to capture opportunities so they can become even richer. As the poor societies, they will always look into the world in a negative mindset. They always consider themselves as victims of the environments and can never change even opportunities are laid down just in front of their face.

The statement that we choose our belief is very true. We choose consciously or sub-consciously to be afraid of trying something new, we choose to not achieve financial freedom and we choose a lot of things that seems to be protecting ourselves from danger in the short term but actually is detrimental to us in the long run. Therefore in being aware that we can choose our beliefs, we can then determine our destiny and not depended on the pre-programmed subconscious beliefs that have been implemented in us by our parents and the environment.

Our beliefs also effects on how we solve our daily problems. We face problems in our everyday life. The only difference is how we perceive the magnitude of the problem. The only time that we are not burden with problems are when we are dead. As Albert Einstein once quoted that we should not solve problems based on the mindset and level of thinking when the problem occurs. Our belief and that current state of mind will eventually determine whether you can solve the problem or not. You must be ahead one level as to know what exactly the possible solutions that can be. Be above your problem. Be ahead of your problem. Break out of the box. You will tackle your problems more efficiently as ever before and create wealth for yourself and the people around you.

How to Create Positive Motivation Everyday

2008-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily."- Zig Ziglar

“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals. ” - Aristotle

People who plays string intruments must know the fact that their instruments need to be tune every now and then for it to be in perfect condition. They also know that if their string instrument, for example, guitar to be left unplayed for a while, it will also be out of tune. The same goes with our mind. Even if we have the necessary ingredient to achieve our goals, we need to tune the goal with motivation every now and then. By linking the goal with passion is not enough as the passion will die as time goes by. Tune the passion with positive motivation everyday and the fire that ignites the passion will kept blazing until we reach our ultimate goal.

Positive motivation and igniting it with passion is only useful if we live our life with a purpose. Just imagine a ship sailing towards the sea without any specific destination. The ship is all fire up and ready to go but the captain has no idea where it should go. The ship will just float adrift aimlessly in the open sea. A ship with a destination and also a time to arrive will be utilizing every resource in the ship to achieve it. Living with a purpose means living with the aspiration to achieve something. That is why goals are the most critical factor in determining whether we will have a happy life or not. The notion that we have something to achieve for that will bring much joy and impact to our life will definitely fuel and motivate us to learn, develop and take action. Set your goals today and write it in a piece of paper and commit to take action and achieve the goal that you have set for yourself.

Success

2008-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Success can be likened to the tip of a tail. Say if a cat runs to catch its tail, it would have to keep running forever. However if it walks in its own style, the tail naturally follows it.

Moral of the story, live your life with your own standards. Do not follow other people's standards of success. Do not take shortcuts to success, as you may failed miserably. Success will arrive to you if you are patient enough to take the proper road.

Quotes on Visualisation

2008-08-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

"I visualise to the point that I know exactly what I want to do: dive, glide, stroke, flip, reach the wall, hit the split time to the hundredth, then swim back again for as many times as I need to finish the race." - Michael Phelps Olympic multiple medal winner

"Visualization is a very different process from seeing; seeing is physical, and is therefore related to the objective world, the "world without," but Visualization is a product of the imagination, and is therefore a product of the subjective mind, the "world within."

It therefore possesses vitality; it will grow.

The thing visualized will manifest itself in form.

The mechanism is perfect; it was created by the Master Architect who "doeth all things well," but unfortunately sometimes the operator is inexperienced or inefficient, but practice and determination will overcome this defect."

- Charles Haanal -

Story of Personal Finance - An Ant and a Grasshopper

2008-08-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

A long time ago,in a land far away, lived two insects - an ant and a grasshopper. These two insects have two distinct personalities and also two different habits in life. During the warm summer days, the ant are busy collecting foods and stockpiling it in their nest. The ant view the summer season as an opportunity for it to collect as much food as they want and also preparing the ant for the winter. As for the grasshopper, it have a different view from the ant. It see the summer season as the time to have fun and laid back for a while. "Why worked so hard?", it said to the ant. "Enjoy the summer, because you definitely will not enjoy winter", said the grasshopper as it happily hopping around. The ant ignore the grasshopper and worked hard as ever in stockpiling it nest. Finally, as the days grew shorter and nights longer, winter finally sets in and the ant is comfortably sitting in its nest knowingly that his foodstock can last the whole winter. But unknown to the ant, the grasshopper was freezing above ground, searching for food that was no longer available abundantly during the summer.

This story is a story of personal finance, and how you view your life during hard times and good times. Always practised delayed gratification and always be prepared for the bad times as whether you are prepared for it or not, it will happen.

Think and Innovate, Do not Follow and Imitate

2008-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

"What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds." - Wayne Dyer

"I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy." - Jim Rohn

As Henry Ford once said, thinking is the hardest thing to do and therefore many people choose not to be thinking and leave the thinking part to someone else. This 'someone else' can be the internet, tv, media, newspapers, magazines and even your boss or friends. This is why this group of people will lead a normal and mediocre life. By letting other people think, and you just follow the patterns and trends set by 'someone else', you will never achieve your true potential. Patterns and trends are being set all the time by people, and this group of people that will benefit from the creation of wealth that comes with it. The famous quote "Innovate and do not Imitate" is very true if you really want to create wealth. Only the person who thinks harder than anyone else will truly explore their true potential and therefore achieve success and wealth.

Quotes on Fear

2008-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

'The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.' - Gandhi.

'Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.' - Dale Carnegie.

Fear is a great paralyser. It holds you from achieving the full potential of your life. Fear comes from human basic instinct of self protection. It helps humans to avoid any necessary danger. But too much fear stifles a person from doing any action that can promote personal growth. If you have fear of public speaking for example, the logic thinking of your brain is to avoid the circumstances as best as possible. By avoiding the thing you fear such as public speaking, you are not solving any problem. You also will not challenge yourself to grow. By doing the things you fear, you will in time conquer the fear and therefore will make you the master of your own destiny.

The Secret of the Riches - Continuous Learning

2008-08-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

"The real horror of ghetto life is not the daily frustrations and deprivations. People can overcome those. The real nightmare is the effect the environment has on beliefs and dreams. If all you see is failure, if all you see is despair, it's very hard for you to form the internal representations that will foster success."

- Excerpt from Unlimited Power, Anthony Robbins

Everyone knows the magic of compounding. Even Albert Einstein was once amazed by the power of compounding and labels it as the eighth wonder of the world. But do you know that not just money but knowledge also can be compounded over time. Try gathering as much knowledge as possible in your early years. In time, your knowledge on a particular area will grow as you grow old.

For example, if you know a thing or two about computers when you are young, the knowledge will start to grow as you start to read here and there. You will also start to notice things related to computer even without trying. This is human nature that psychologist called Reticular Activating System or short 'RAS'.

Continuous learning is the absolute requirement for success in any field. The only moment in time when you are not learning is when you are dead. We start learning the moment we are born into this world. Everything that we venture for the first time has a learning curve. Whether they are playing sports, learning musical instruments or starting in a new job has its own learning curve. Successful people will always try to learn as much as they could in their new field and speed up their learning curve in order to become competent. A person who fails usually has fewer patients and tends to quit early. By staying focus and adopting a continuous learning attitude, you can excel in any field you choose as long as you can withstand the learning curve barrier.

Create and Design Your Life

2008-07-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Try and ask yourself this question, "Are you going with the flow or making the flow as you go along?" Successful people tend to have an attitude of delayed gratification. Every action they made takes into consideration of short term and long term gain. Think wisely of any actions you made as some actions would lead to instant gratification but in the long term will cause negative outcome. For example, the attitude of buying the latest brand new car or the latest gadget available in the market. This are in the short term gratification as you only can enjoy it in a short term duration only. The misery of losing a huge chunk of money will cause negative consequences in the long run. The money spent can either wise be invested in a long term gain that will last much longer. Learn the attitude of the rich so that in return you will become one.

Are you an "I create my life" person? or are you a "Life happens to me" person? The "I create my life" person is a proactive person who does not wait for any favors. This type of person always believes that wealth will come by active action by their side. Misfortunes or problems arise from their own doing and it is up to them to resolve it without blaming on others. In a work environment, this type of person will always climb the corporate ladder fast as he does not blame others but only themselves in moving upwards in their career.

The "Life happens to me" person is a passive person who always tries to blame others for their misfortunes or problems. They believe that if they are poor, it is because it is destined that way. They always treat themselves as victims. In a work environment, this type of person will not move very far in their career. They will always complain about office politics or not being appreciated for their work. They will always have a victim mindset.

The Analogy of a Frog and Personal Finance

2008-07-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

If you were to pick a frog and put it into shallow hot boiled water, the frog will instantly leaped from the pot and jump out to safety. However, if you were to pick up the same frog a little later and then put it into a shallow cold water, the frog will not react to it and will be comfortably be sitting there as it is a cold blooded animal. But, if you were to do experiments by heating up the cold pot with a very, very slow fire with the frog still sitting in it. The water will eventually rise up to 100 degrees. As any cold-blooded animal, the frog’s body will adapt to the rising heat and will adjust its blood temperature to the environment. Eventually, when the water reaches boiling point, the frog will die as a result of adapting itself to the environment without even realizing it.

So, what’s personal financing has have to do with the frog story? A lot. People who started off their career start just like the frog in the shallow cold water. The money they received by the end of the month is enough to get by since their requirement for life is low. But, as your career and salary increase so does your desires and lifestyles. As you start to buy your first car, buy your first house, started to use credit cards, your lifestyle will change incrementally but not as fast as your salary increase. As same with the frog, you will not notice that you have a debt problem since the increment is not sudden. And when you realize it, it is too late and you will end up with a huge pile of debt.

There are many paths for us to achieve financial freedom, but the majority of us choose the path of job security. How can we blame them? The education system was shaped to produce workers and not entrepreneurs. Many people realized that as the company their working with starts to prosper, the owner of the company is the one who eventually benefits and the employees usually are not much richer compared to the first day they started working there. The reality is that the boss is not responsible to make you rich, but their responsibility is just to make sure you got your paycheck by the end of the month. It is your responsibility to make sure that you will end up rich and not somebody else.

Don't Worry Be Happy

2008-06-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here is an estimate of the things most people worry about:
40% - Things that have not happened yet
30% - Past things that already occured
12% - Health conditions that may or may not be true
10% - Petty things, such as office gossips or etc.
8% - Real problems

Based on this percentages, the only real reason for people to get worried is only a mere 8%. Therefore you have another 92% for you to free your mind from worries and simply to be happy. Happiness is a choice made consciously and subconsciously in our mind. If you have set your mind to focus on all the negative and shortcomings of your life, the mind will be set to autopilot and be on worried mode all the time. But in the otherhand, if you learn to master the focus of your mind, then you will free yourself from needless worries. As the law of the universe stated, an empty gap will always be filled by another matter, the same goes with our mind. As the negative thoughts been weed out, this will leave a gap in our mind for the positive thoughts. Happiness is the pre-requisite for success. Happiness will set the foundation needed for a higher level of success.

Set your goal and achieve it

2008-06-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Goals are a powerful tool in shaping your future. Therefore plan your goal carefully and aim towards achieving it. Goals that are too high can cause self paralysis and a sense of failure while goals too low can make it easily achieveable and does not promote significant growth. Therefore goal-setting is a critical decision that will ultimately impact your action and success.

You can overcome the obstacles to your goal by having a positive attitude and believe that the goal is achieveable. Passion, determination and discipline must be strong in your heart and mind for you to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself. And finally, do not let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve your goal, even yourself.

Passion overcomes Procrastination

2008-06-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

"Procrastination is the thief of life" - Edward Young

"Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” - Napoleon Hill

Everyone procrastinate. It is a fact in life. But successful people procrastinate rarely then ordinary people do. The reason for that is simple, successful people usually are doing things that they are passionate about. Every action brings joy to them and therefore it creates them no reason to procrastinate. So, the key to avoid procrastination is to learn to enjoy what you are doing. If you do not like what you are doing but it is important, try making fun out of it. Time is the only thing that we cannot get back once it is lost. Therefore, procrastination can be consider one of the culprit of our life that steals the most important treasure from us - 'Time'.

No 1 reason why we mess up our finances

2008-06-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

"Financial education needs to become a part of our national curriculum and scoring systems so that it’s not just the rich kids that learn about money.. it’s all of us." - David Bach

"Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition." - George Clason

The number one reason majority of us end up with financial mess is simply this - No one taught us how to. Even though money plays a very important role in our daily life, our schooling system is not emphasizing enough on financial education. Therefore, people usually graduated from school or college with little or no formal education on managing their finance. When they ended up with credit card debts, mortgage loan or car loan, they are wondering why they are not making enough money even with all the education that they have received. No wonder some star athletes or big celebrities who make big money usually ended up with a huge debt. The money is a tool for happiness but only if it is handled with care. Use the tool improperly, it would end up hurting yourself.

Pursuit of Financial Freedom

2008-06-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

"If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability." -Henry Ford

The pursuit for financial freedom is actually a pursuit to self actualisation. By achieving financial freedom, you will in the same time break the normal boundaries and stretching the limit capability of yourself. This character is basically the essence of a true millionaire. The knowledge gained during the pursuit of achieving financial freedom is much more priceless compared to the destination that you want to achieved. That is why individual who comes from rag to riches are legendary individual as these people have truly walk the golden path and gain wisdom along the way. Therefore, pursuit wealth, gain knowledge, and achieved happiness along the way.

In pursuit of our goal and happiness

2008-06-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

"Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner" - Les Brown

“By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” - Christopher Columbus

This scene from the film "In Pursuit of Happyness" starring Will Smith clearly epitomise the need for us to set a goal and achieve it by any means necessary. Dream the impossible and do not let anyone tell you to tone down that dream or said that your dream is impossible. The only limit of your capabilities is bounded by the limit of your imagination. The only person who can stop you or limit your capabilities is yourself.

Large income does not equal wealth

2008-05-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

“If you are not as wealthy as you like, there is something you don’t know.” – David Wood

“Wealth is largely a result of habit.” – John Jacob Astor

Many of us make a lot of money as we progress in our careers. Many people earns a monthly income of thousands of dollars and some even much much higher. Despite the big money, they are not much the difference between a minimum wage person who earns a few hundred dollars a month. At the end of the month, these people who earns thousands of dollars are just as broke as everybody else. This is because, the higher they earn, the larger the debt that they can accumulate. For example, bigger house, bigger car, fancier gadgets would led them to bigger debt than before.

Wealth is your net worth. Inflow is larger than outflow equals wealth. Outflow is larger than inflow equals headache. Develop wealthy habit and not a spender habit and you are on your way to financial freedom sooner than you think.

Quotes on Wasting Time

2008-05-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

It is said that IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad segmented his day based on a 10 minutes segment. He was quoted to say that 10 minutes that have passed by will never be gain back again. So make use of your 10 minutes well. Isadora Duncan also once quoted that most human beings today waste some 25 to 30 years of their lives before they break through the actual and conventional lies which surround them. Even the legendary Bruce Lee also highlighted the importance of time by saying that if you love life, do not waste time, for time is what life is made of. These people knew the power of time and a time that is well utilised will bring significant impact to your life and contribution to the society. Therefore, treasure time, as time is a gift and that's why it is called the present.

The Six Basic Human Needs

2008-05-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

According Anthony Robbins, human being regardless of race, religion or nationality, all have in common the six basic human needs. Whether in a relationship, pursuing a dream or life habits all correlates to our basic instinct of trying to fulfill the six basic human needs. An activity that fulfill just only the three of the needs will get you addicted. If it fulfills all the six, you fill fulfillment in life.

The Six Basic Human Needs
1) Certainty
2) Uncertainty
3) Significance
4) Connection / Love
5) Growth
6) Contribution

You can check out more on this here:-

Have Dreams, Explore Life

2008-05-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

"You can either be an actor in your own life, or a reactor in somebody else's." - Hillary Rodham Clinton

"To have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are expressing your unique talents you lose track of time." - Deepak Chopra

They always say that people who lives in depression are said to be people who have lost their ways. They lost their ways in life and are struggling to climb back. But actually, people in depression is not people who are lost. They are actually people who are drifting by in life without any specific destination in mind. Lost people in the other hand, have a destination in their mind, they just cannot find the way. People who are drifting are far more dangerous as they have no intention of living their life and does not even react to the happenings around their life. They only float by in life waiting for it to end. Referring to the above two quotes, it is important that we have a definite goals for ourselves as to not let us float by. The goal will drive us forward and live life to our potential and not let the environment control us. It does not matter how big or small the goal is. By having it, it will give the energy for us to take control of our life and pushing us to explore life and living it to the fullest.

Illusion of Employment

2008-04-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

Don't let the illusion of full employment entrap you. You may feel important, you may feel a part of a team working towards a common goal, but basically, employment only taps a small portion of your potential limits. That's why it's called the 'Rat Race'. You run blindly towards what your job requires you to do while enriching the owner of the company. The potential of your limit is not bounded by what your job is or what role you are in your work. You maybe working on the lower rung of the corporate level, but by tapping inside your inner self, you do have the potential as big as the owner of the company. The potential of your limit is determined by your own mind and action. Imagine the impossible, act towards it, and success will be yours.

Conquering Fear

2008-04-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

'The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.' - Gandhi.

'Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.' - Dale Carnegie.

Fear is a great paralyzer. It holds you from achieving the full potential of your life. Fear comes from human basic instinct of self protection. It helps humans to avoid any necessary danger. But too much fear stiffles a person from doing any action that can promote personal growth. If you have fear of public speaking for example, the logic thinking of your brain is to avoid the circumstances as best as possible. By avoiding the thing you fear such as public speaking, you are not solving any problem . You also will not challenge yourself to grow. By doing the things you fear, you will in time conquer the fear and therefore will make you the master of your own destiny.

How to enjoy your job

2008-04-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Jobs = Life - Dream

This equation can be true if you start to believe that your job is not your dream job. Enjoying your job requires you to do your job with passionate attitude. Not many people can claim to this. People who enjoy their job can spend hours doing his work without even realising the time flies by. They will accomplish their job to their best as they feel satisfied in the final outcome. Being praised by their boss or colleagues for their work is just a bonus as the completion of the work is already satisfying for them. So, how do you turn your job to a dream job?

1) Try to find your strength and what you are good at. You can only be truly satisfied doing things that you good at.
2) If your current job does not fully utilise your strength, you should start be looking for another job.
3) You can only be passionate doing things that you are good and passionate about. If you are good and enjoy working in technical areas, what are you doing in management? If you good at management, why are you working in technical?

Know yourself, find your strength and start enjoying your job.

The Power of Now

2008-04-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

We as a human being have always associate our image with relation to our past. What have happen, who we have grown up with, who have we met, what experience that we have gone through makes the very essence of what we are today. Therefore the feeling that we have now, whether it is good or bad, we assume that it is interlinked with our past. Eg:-I have grown and raised in a bad neighbourhood and therefore I deserve to be angry and resentful. I have bad experience and traumatised by past event and therefore I must feel depressed. This is not true. The moment you realised that the past does not equal the present and the future, the more you will feel that life does not control you at all.You are what you think right now. Do not be burden by the past and learn to live in the current as whoever who finish first is the one who does not look back.

Going with the flow .. or Making the flow ?

2008-04-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

Going with the flow? or making the flow as you go along? Successful people tend to have an attitude of delayed gratification. Every action they made takes into consideration of short term and long term gain. Think wisely of any actions you made as some actions would lead to instant gratification but in the long term will cause negative outcome. For example, the attitude of buying the latest brand new car or the latest gadget available in the market. This are in the short term gratification as you only can enjoy it in a short term duration only. The misery of losing a huge chunk of money will cause negative consequences in the long run. The money spent can eitherwise be invested in a long term gain that will last much more longer. Learn the attitude of the rich so that in return you will become one.

The most precious gift - Time

2008-04-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

"The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." -C.S. Lewis

"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow." - Denis Waitely

We only have 24 hours in a day. That counts up to 1440 minutes in a day. That's the same amount of time every people on this earth have. It is an equal gift to every person. How we use it, it is really up to us. Before you sleep at night, take a moment and try to look back at your day and note how do you spend the precious time given to you today? Is it productive or a wasteful day? Make the most of your time as each time passing by, it will never come back again.

I create my life

2008-03-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Are you an "I create my life" person? or are you a "Life happens to me" person? The "I create my life" person is a proactive person who does not wait for any favors. This type of person always believe that wealth will come by active action by their side. Misfortunes or problems arise from their own doing and it is up to them to resolve it without blaming on others. In a work environment, this type of person will always climb the corporate ladder fast as he does not blame others but only themselves in moving upwards in their career.

The "Life happens to me" person is a passive person who always tries to blame others for their misfortunes or problems. They believe that if they are poor, it is because it is destined that way. They always treat themselves as victims. In a work environment, this type of person will not move very far in their career. They will always complain about office politics or not being appreciated for their work. They will always have a victim mindset.

To succeed in life, active and affirmative action are required. Have positive mindset and do not let others to decide your fate. You yourself are the captain that decides the destiny of your life.

How do you see the world?

2008-03-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

Received this story by email. Just to share..

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room ' s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind ' s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue:
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can ' t buy. "Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present ."

The Wealth File

2008-03-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

Everyone of us has a wealth file stored in our brain. This file has been created and developed since we are a child. Every experience concerning money whether it is good or bad experience will be stored there in our file. Therefore, for some people who grew up in family that always view money as evil, will tend to follow a negative pattern. Negative thinking on money such as "Rich people are bad people..", "Money don't buy happpiness..", "Rich people are not happy", "Having money will atract criminal" and so on will be stored in our file and therefore creates a self-sabotaging attitude towards accumulating wealth. Be aware of this wealth file and try to store it with good experience related to money whether through self experience or other people's positive experience. This will in turn create positive thinking about wealth and therefore translates wealth creation into reality.

Want to increase wealth? Be comfortable with uncomfortable

2008-02-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

"The only time you are actually growing is when you are uncomfortable" - T. Harv Eker

People who are always working out in the gym and building their staminas and bodies will always exercise until their body feels the pain. They know that the body only grows when it is stretch beyond its comfortable zone and the pain signifies growth for their muscle. The same thing goes in accumulating wealth. You will never grow your wealth to an astounding limit if you are not willing to leave your comfort zone. By investing your money and taking risk, you will definitely be in the uncomfortable zone. And by being in that zone, the higher percentage it would be for you to outstrectch your wealth to the limit that you dream of.

Tuning our Motivation everyday

2008-02-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily."- Zig Ziglar

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents." -Andrew Carnegie

People who plays string intruments must know the fact that their instruments need to be tune every now and then for it to be in perfect condition. They also know that if their string instrument, eg. guitar to be left unplayed for a while, it will also be out of tune. The same goes with our mind. Even if we have the necessary ingredient to achieve our goals, we need to tune the goal with motivation every now and then. By linking the goal with passion is not enough as the passion will die as time goes by. Tune the passion with positive motivation everyday and the fire that ignites the passion will kept blazing until we reach our ultimate goal.

How to leverage 10K to get 100K

2008-02-15T00:29:00.000-08:00

From all the books that I have read about how to become a millionaire and also financial self-help books, all the books seems to be pointing to one path, invest in REAL ESTATE. No matter what the strategy is laid out in the books, it simply focuses on leveraging small amount of money to obtain a large amount of asset. No other investment can do this except Real Estate investment. The strategy is to have delayed gratification, save enough money and invest 10% as down payment for the real estate and having someone else paying off the rest of the mortgage. Seems easy isn’t it? But, then again, nothing comes easy. Perseverance, waiting for the right purchase and a lot of cheapskate attitude will determine whether you will succeed or not in making the investment in Real Estate.

A Millionaire in me

2008-02-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

When you have set yourself a dream of becoming a millionaire, the first thing you must do is to envision the feeling of having that one million in the bank. Visualization of that feeling will actually help you to give the motivation and the push forward in acting out the necessary action in accomplishing the dream. It is all hard work to achieve the dream but there is absolutely no harm in having a feeling of a millionaire inside. As you create that strong feeling of a millionaire inside you, it is just a matter of time that you will actually become one.

The First Step towards Wealth Building: Take Risks

2008-02-12T23:48:00.000-08:00

If you look at any successful individuals, the most common trait that you can find is the willingness of the individual to take risk. As Henry Ford once quoted “Problems and risks are the thing that distracts you from the original plan.” That’s why the more longer a person have been living on a paycheck, the more reluctant he would take the risk of leaving his job and venture into a business of his own. The more comfortable you are with your status quo, the more heavily the decision you have to make in quitting your day job. But as the status quo of the industry is also right now, not many people can get rich by just working for other people. You can only get rich by employing others to work for you. Try to rethink your current position now and probably it is high time for you to take that calculated risk and dive in towards uncharted territory.

Want to solve a problem? Get your hands dirty

2008-01-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

Just want to share with you a very interesting story about the management principle of Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Corporation.

One day Kiichiro Toyoda was walking through the vast plant when he came upon a worker scratching his head and muttering that his grinding machine would not run. Kiichiro took one look at the man, then rolled up his sleeves and plunged his hands into the oil pan. He came up with two handfuls of sludge. Throwing the sludge on the floor, he said: “How can you expect to do your job without getting your hands dirty!” - Excerpt from Toyota Way

This story clearly shows that in order to fix a problem, you must be prepare to get yourself to dig into the problem even if it requires you to dirty your hand in the process.

Plug the holes

2008-01-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

Imagine that you are set to begin a new era of your life by embarking a journey towards financial freedom. Imagine that you have set sail and ready than ever to begin on the voyage of your life. You lift the anchor and cruised towards the open sea heading the destination that you dream of. But suddenly, hard fact hits you back as you realized that your ship is not moving as fast as you wanted it to be. Even worse, the ship starts to sink as you embark from the port. Why does this happen? As you check your ship, you then realized that your ship is full of holes and water is fast flooding your ship. Your exciting journey comes to an abrupt end as more and more water floods the ship.

How can this story related to your journey to financial freedom? The hole in the ship can be analogous to debts that you have acquired in life. A life with a lot of debt will either slow you down or cripple you to the ground. So, if you have a dream of living a life of financial freedom, the first thing you must do is to eliminate your debt or analogous to plugging the holes in your ship. A ship with no holes will cruise faster and better than a ship with even one hole. You will arrive to your destination even faster.

The importance of Goal Setting

2008-01-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some quotes from famous people that clearly stated about the importance of goal setting.

“ I don't care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants. ” - Zig Ziglar

“ If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things. ” - Albert Einstein

“ Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. ” - Henry Ford

“ Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals. ” - Aristotle

The true defintion of living a life is by living with a purpose. Living with a purpose means living with the aspiration to achieve something. That is why goals are the most critical factor in determining whether we will have a happy life or not. The notion that we have something to achieve for that will bring much joy and impact to our life will definitely fuel and motivate us to learn, develop and take action. Set your goals today and write it in a piece of paper and commit to take action and achieve the goal that you have set for yourself.

Constant Improvement on a daily basis? Why not.

2007-12-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

"We place the highest value on actual implementation and taking action. There are many things which one does not understand and therefore, we ask them why dont you just go ahead and take action; try to do something?. You realize how little you know and you face your own failures and you simply can correct those failures and redo it again and at the second trial you realize another mistake or another thing you did not like so you can redo it once again. So by constant improvement based upon action, one can rise to the higher level of practice and knowledge” - Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Corporation, 2002

The quote above made by Fujio Cho really sums up the essence of Kaizen, a Japanese Management philosophy. The spirit behind kaizen is making changes in incremental way that will eventually in time creates big changes. The key factor here is very simple... Action! Just act and do something whether it is the wrong way or right way is much better from not doing anything at all. Either way, you definitely will learn something and in the process makes you a better and stronger person than yesterday.

The Man who shape his destiny

2007-10-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Besides many admiration for his powerful martial arts, Bruce Lee is also admired by the principles that he holds and the belief that he controls his destiny. Therefore, he have become a legend in his own rights. Below are some quotes made by him during his lifetime that we can reflect and learn.

"I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee

"To hell with circumstances, I create opportunities." - Bruce Lee

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made of." - Bruce Lee

" Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind" - Bruce Lee

Tend your Mind

2007-10-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

Everyday our mind will filter an enormous amount of information from getting through to our mind. Just imagine if we start to focus on everything that we see, hear or feel at every moment of the time. Even the buzzing of mosquitoes or the beat of your heart sometimes are filtered by your brain so that you can focus on more important matters. Therefore, it is important that we select appropriately what we focus everyday in our life. Focus on negative things, magically or by coincidence, bad things keeps on happening around us. Because the mind will delete the positive things happening around you and therefore amplified the bad things that is happening. And you keep wondering what has happened to the world? Actually is not the world that have gone bad, but it is more of your perception of the world. Clean your mind and the world will become a better place for you.

Pain and Pleasure

2007-09-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

For programmers, they know that behind all the complexity of the software and hardware of a computer, the most fundamental and basic of computer programming is the binary code, 1 and 0. Put it together like 1011, 0011, 0011, it can perform multiple functions. Suprisingly, the human brain also has this most basic and fundamental program imprinted in our brain. The binary code for our brain are pain and pleasure. Combine it together, it forms the very basis of judgement and action that we take in our daily lives. For every reality that we are facing, our brain quickly compute whether the activity is for pain or pleasure. Facing any danger situation, the brain will automatically know that this will lead to pain and we will either run away or face head on. We will always try to stay away from pain and moving towards pleasure and therefore making the basis of our own personality. For example, people who link pleasure with playing sports, will always move towards sports. But there will also be people who link pain with sports and therefore avoid sports. This judgement forms the personality of the person. By knowing and be aware of this basic programming of our mind, we can actually manipulate and create the action that we desire in life and fully achieved the life that we want.

Morning Wakeup

2007-09-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

Do you want to start developing more enthusiasm into your life? Do you want to get the right mental attitude and high spirited to start your day? Why not start at your own bed. Wake up early and with enthusiastically. Do not get up with moaning and hoping to get another minute of sleep. Many people start off their day just like any other day and because of that, the day will become the same day as they have already visioned.

Try this procedure for 21 days. Everytime you wake up, immediately sit straight and shout 'Woohooo!! It's another good day for me." I know it sounds silly and maybe you will feel not in the mood of doing it early in the morning, but whether you are in the mood or not, just do it. You will noticed a slight change of emotion for you in starting the day. Instead of feeling sluggish to go to work, you will feel more vibrant and this will lead to positive day ahead. While you at it, try to sing a little. This simple procedure will bring huge differences into your life.

Self-Discipline

2007-09-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Elbert Hubbard once defined self-discipline as the "ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."

If passion can be define as the fuel for any person to succeed, self discipline is the engine that maximise the fuel to gear towards success. A passion without self discipline is like a car running wild without any self control. A person who have self discipline will be more productive and will not let any distraction hampers his way to success. They tend to be more organised and more proactive in handling things that matters the most.

Continuous learning

2007-08-31T01:11:00.000-07:00

"Continuous learning is the absolute requirement for success in any field." The reason I say this is because the only moment in time when you are not learning is when you are dead. We start learning the moment we are born into this world. Everything that we venture for the first time has a learning curve. Whether they are playing sports, learning musical instruments or starting in a new job has its own learning curve. Successful people will always try to learn as much as they could in their new field and speed up their learning curve in order to become competent. While, people who fails usually has less patient and tend to quit early. By staying focus and adopting a continuous learning attitude, you can excel in any field you choose as long as you can withstand the learning curve barrier.

Creating or Uncreating Habits

2007-08-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

"The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act." - Orison Swett Marden

Our mind is a very powerful supercomputer. It will detect things that we do repeatedly either we aware of it or not, and programmed it into our subconcious mind and set it as autopilot every time we encounter the same experience. For example, if you start a new habit of waking up late and consistently doing it for 21 days, your mind will accept it as a habit and therefore you will have hard time to woke up early after that as the habit has been programmed to your brain. Habits are not borned in us but created by us. The way we do things in our daily routines will become habits as our mind wants to ease the operation of the brain and therefore it can make room for other new input and tasks. Knowing the power of the brain and the way it works can help us to develop the character that we want.

Sunken Ship

2007-08-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

How to know that you are already in heavy debt? These are some indicators stated on the book by Azizi Ali, Millionaires are from a different planet!

1) Missing payments
2) Paying less than the agreed amount
3) Paying the minimum due
4) Busting your credit limit on the credit card
5) Having to borrow more money to settle old debt commitments
6) Not able to handle minor financial emergencies
7) Avoiding calls of creditors
8) Wondering how on earth are you going to get out of this mess

So, if you are having some or all of the symptoms as stated above, you are in big trouble. Having debt is like cruising the sea in a sunken ship. The more holes the ship have, the more deeper the ship will sank. Therefore, the first immediate step you should do is to try to find the biggest hole in the ship and plug it quickly. In the financial world, it means try to identify which debt carries the highest interest and eliminate it quickly.

The 80/20 Rule

2007-08-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

"The first law of success is concentration - to bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left." - William Mathews

The power of effective action is by knowing what to focus on and making it happen fast. By applying the universal law known as Pareto rule, 80/20, we can be certain that in order to successfully complete a task efficiently is by focusing on the 20%, or the most critical part of the task. By tackling the 20%, the rest 80% will follow suit. We are bounded by time and therefore this law will be helpful in reducing the amount of time and work required in our journey to success.

Characteristics of Successful People

2007-07-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

There is no one sure way of path to becoming rich. But there are certain characters and attributes of people that give them an advantage and the ability to create wealth. These people usually have these following characteristics:-
1) They are dilligent people.
2) They do not waste time, they do not procrastinate and work hard in everything they do
3) They will always try to be good and efficient in whatever they do
4) They have multiple streams of income
5) They control their spendings and moderate in living
6) They pay themselves first
7) They save more and spend less
8) They rise early in the morning

The Money Trap

2007-07-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

The major reason why so many people are struggling financially is because when every time they get an increase in their salary or making more money, they also increase their spending habits. These includes getting into a larger debt, buying more items that are not a necessity in the first place. As I can quote from a book entitled Cashflow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki
"It's not how much you make, but it's how much you keep, how hard it work for you, and how many generations you keep it for."

Success Quotes

2007-07-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

"Most people live - whether physically, intellectually or morally - in a very restricted circle of their potential being. We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon of which we do not dream." - William James

"The great end of life is not knowledge but action." - Thomas Henry Huxley

Habits of success : Act now, Do it now

2007-07-15T01:27:00.000-07:00

"Do not wait; the time will never be "just right". Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." - Napoleon Hill

Do you know what is the major obstacle for a person to achieve success? It's called PROCRASTINATION. Some people will always be waiting for the right time to do something significant in their life. The problem is that there is no such thing as the right time. Want to open a business? Do it now. Want to quit smoking? Do it now. Why wait? An action is far more better than sitting still and doing nothing.

Monday Blues

2007-07-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

“The man who does not work for the love of work, but only for money is not likely to make money nor to find much fun in life.” - Charles M. Schwab

Ask any ordinary people why they wake up in the morning and go to work diligently and they will tell you that they work for “a living”. How can I suppose to feed my family if I don’t work? I prefer to spend more time with my family but that won’t pay the bills. That’s why there is a term called “Monday Blues”. God gave us seven days a week to enjoy, but we choose to enjoy just two of the seven days given; Saturday and Sunday. Isn’t that a waste?

We should always keep our thoughts in a positive mode to any thing that we do in our daily life and that includes working. We should live our life with passion. The right spirit and attitudes can make any necessary work pleasant. If we enjoy our work, everyday will be a Saturday and Sunday. The attitude that we bring to our work has everything to do with the quality and outcome of the work produce and the influence it brings to our character.

Strategy for Financial Freedom

2007-06-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Building up financial intelligence

2007-06-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

1. Don't get into large debt positions that you have to pay for. Keep your expenses low. Build up assets first. Then, buy the big house or nice car. Being stuck in the rat race is not intelligent.

2. When you come up short, let the pressure build and don't dip into your savings or investments. Use the pressure to inspire your financial genius to come up with new ways of making more money and then pay your bills. You will have increased your ability to make more money as well as your financial intelligence.

Excerpt from Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

How do you eat an Elephant?

2007-06-15T20:27:00.002-07:00

"People who write their financial goals get rich. It's a fact." - David Bach, The Automatic Millionaire

I once have been asked this riddle, "How do you eat an Elephant?'. After pondering it for five seconds and thinking that it might be a trick question, I answered, "Eat it with your mouth, of course." It's a nice try but it turns out it was not the answer. The answer to the riddle was a very simple one "Eat the elephant piece by piece."

Eventhough the riddle is just for fun, the answer for the riddle have made me thinking in terms of financial perspective. I change the question and ask to myself "How can you get a million dollars?".. and the answer to that of course, similar to the eating the elephant's riddle, is "small step at a time". Your goal can be as large as an elephant, but the step towards it can be one step at a time. The trick is to keep on moving and never stop. Slow and steady progress is better that a stagnant position. Do not feel dwarf by your ambition and goals. With PATIENCE, you can achieve impossible dreams.

Your Boss is the last person who wants you to be rich

2007-06-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

There are many path for us to achieve financial freedom, but the majority of us choose the path of job security. How can we blame them. The education system was shaped to produce workers and not entrepreneurs. Many people realised that as the company their working with starts to prosper, the owner of the company is the one who eventually benefits and the employees usually are not much richer compared to the first day they started working there. The reality is that the boss is not responsible to make you rich, but their responsibility is just to make sure you got your paycheck by the end of the month. It is your responsibility to make sure that you will end up rich and not somebody else.

Quotes of success

2007-06-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

The essence of any plan for financing old age is saving - to put aside some part of today's earnings for the future. Anything that saps the value of savings - and inflation is the worst single threat - is the enemy of the aged and of those who exect to grow old. Bernard M. Baruch

Men never plan to be failure; they simply fail to plan to be successful. William A. Ward

I can give you a six-word formula for success: 'Think things through - then follow through.' Edward Rickenbacker

The Millionaire Mind

2007-06-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people. - Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

If you read some of the self-help and the 'how to get rich' books, they tend to point to one same point and that is if you want to be rich or successful, think like a rich person or successful person. But how on earth that we can think like a rich person if we ourselves are broke all the time. The secret to that is just by looking around you. Look who are your friends. Look who is in your social circle and you will found out that mostly the income bracket of people close to you is on average networth as same as you. Associate with positive, rich and successful people as many as you can get and therefore it will create a new pathway for a new and exciting life.

Visualise your dream and goals

2007-05-18T00:17:00.001-07:00

"Imagination is very important. It's a preview of life's coming attraction" - Albert Einstein

In order for you to achieve a goal, the first step is to visualise the goal wholeheartedly. Dream it, feel it, absorb it, obsess about it and the universe will conspire to get what you want. But the FIRST step, is that you have to ask and visualise as if you have already receive it. If you want a dream car, feel as if you are riding right now and be confident that you will receive it in the future. The universe in one way or another will deliver it to you. Always be confident and positive thinking when dreaming your goals.

Are you a saver or a spender?

2007-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

..the wealth-seeking world is divided into two camps. In one, you have the wealth accumulators: men and women who are cautious about spending but eager to save and invest. The other camp is populated with spenders; men and women who are obsessed with things. They spend all their spare money, and often much more than that, buying things that say "rich" but actually impoverish them. ....
Excerpt from "Automatic Wealth: The six steps to financial independence" by Michael Masterson

Success breeds success, failure breeds failure

2007-04-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

Birth of Excellence

2007-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

"The birth of excellence begins with our awareness that our beliefs are a choice..... The trick is to choose the beliefs that are conducive to success and the results you want and to discard the ones that hold you back" - Excerpt from Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins

The statement that we choose our belief is very true. We choose consciously or sub-consciously to be afraid of speaking in public, we choose to be afraid of trying something new, we choose to not achieve financial freedom and we choose a lot of things that seems to be protecting ourselves from danger in the short term but actually is detrimental to us in the long run. Therefore in being aware that we can choose our beliefs, we can then determine our destiny and not depended on the pre-programmed subconcious beliefs that has been implemented in us by our parents and the environment.

The Story of the Frogs Race

2007-03-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

There’s a story about a group of frogs that arranged a running competition. The ultimate goal is that whoever reaches the top of a very high tower first wins. So, on the day of the competition, a big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheered for their favorite runners. As the race began, the groups of frogs immediately hop their way into the race.

As they were hoping their way to the finish line, they could hear the rumbling and mumbling of the crowds. The heard statements such as “Oh, the race is way too difficult!!”.. “They will never make it”…”Not a chance a frog would be able to finish this race. The tower is too high!!”.. As the race pursued, the tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one, leaving several frogs that were very determined to finish the race. The crowd continued to mumble “This race is way too difficult!!”..”It is impossible for any frog to finish this race!!”..

More and more frogs get tired and gave up.. But strangely, only one frog was left in the race who continued higher and higher and even higher. At the end, the crowd who was following the frog gave up as the frog continued to reach to the top of the tower.

Finally, that one frog managed to reach the top of the tower and win the race. All the other contestants was amazed by the frog and naturally wanted to know how the frog managed to do it. A contestant asked the tiny frog. It turned out that....

The winner frog is deaf

The moral of this story is:

Never be influenced by people’s negative and pessimistic attitude
Words have powers, so always beware of what words that enters your head because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore:
ALWAYS be… POSITIVE!
And above all:
When people say you can’t do it, be deaf and ignore completely the statement
Always think:
I can do this!

What to do with $1,000?

2007-03-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Once you start earning a living,you quickly learn that you always seem to need more money, no matter how much you make. You can easily spend $1,000 in a day, perhaps to update your wardrobe, book a holiday or buy the latest iPod.

However, the money can be wisely invested in your future. As a young adult, you know it is time to get serious about money, especially if you have been living from pay cheque to pay cheque. You may be keen to start investing but do you have a rainy day fund to see you through the unexpected? Here are a few things to consider

1. Start paying off your debts
2. Cultivate a saving habit
3. Invest in a growth fund
4. Build a cash cushion
5. Buy peace of mind
6. Get financially savvy
7. Enhance your earning power
8. Invest in a hobby

Article excerpted from Personal Money, November 2006 issue

Solving Problems

2007-03-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein

We face problems in our everday life. The only difference is the magnitude of the problem. The only time that we are not burden with problems are when we are dead. So, it is imperative that we should learn on how to tackle our problems than just to avoid it. As Albert Einstein once quoted that we should not solve problems based on the mindset and level of thinking when the problem occurs. You must be ahead one level as to know what exactly the possible solutions that can be. Be above your problem. Be ahead of your problem. Break out of the box. You will tackle your problems more efficiently as ever before.

What is defeat?

2007-03-12T05:35:00.000-07:00

"What is defeat? Nothing but the first steps to something higher." - Wendell Phillips

Failure or defeat has no meaning unless it is define by us as something negative and destructive to ourselves. For a man whose spirit is high as the mountain, failure is just things that happens for him to go even higher. The larger the failure, the larger the lessons he learns and therefore the larger the improvement that he will make to improve further. He knows that for every hardships, dissappointment, obstacles and roadblocks will only brings him closer to success.

Either you control money, or it will control you

2007-03-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

Actually, it does not matter how much you own, but it is really on how much do you spend. One critical step in your journey to financial freedom is to know your current status of money spending. How much do you pay yourself and how much do you pay others? How much do you save and how much do you spend it on debts? You can only know these information if you track your spending daily and summarise it all monthly. By doing this, you will have greater control on your money and be more alert on where did your money go. Get control of your money first before you can even think of becoming financially free.

Rich people constantly learn and grow, Poor people think they already know

2007-03-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

One thing that I learn from observing the lifestyle of the riches are that their house is usually full of books. Tons of them. These groups of people usually love to read. But, in the other hand if you go to a 'not so rich' people, you can hardly find any books. So, I think the statement 'Rich people or success people constantly learn grow, poor people think they know it all' is quite true. The more you read books, the more you know how limited knowledge you have and therefore the more hungrier you become for acquiring knowledge. This is a pattern that will lead you to the key of success.

The Roots Create the Fruits

2007-02-26T07:24:00.000-08:00

Imagine a tree. Let's suppose this tree represents the tree of life. On this tree there are fruits. In life, our fruits are called results. So we look at the fruits (our result) and we don't like them; there aren't enough of them, they're too small, or they don't taste good.

So what do we tend to do? Most of us put even more attention and focus on the fruits, our results. But what is it that actually creates those particular fruits? It's the seeds and the roots that create those fruits.

It's what under the ground that creates what's above the ground. It's what invisible that creates what's visible. If yu want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.

Excerpt from "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

How to get chaming personalities

2007-02-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

Found this article by Dr Sidney Newton Bremer on how to build attractiveness and charm personalities. Interesting perspective on life..

"If we want to add power to our automobile, we do not wax and polish the body, do we? We go directly to the inside of the engine, we go to the source of the automobile's power. It works the same way with individuals. We can not gain a charming personality merely by putting on the mask of charm. We must work on the source of our personality. We must work on the within of us. ....... The greatest thing in life should be to develop ourselves into fullness by calling out all the hidden beauties of our being. In so doing, we attract others to us and become useful beings for the social order of man. It is not enough to build piles of money. We should build a life in the process."

Happiness... A state of mind?

2007-02-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

"It has been my observation that people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be" - Abraham Lincoln

Happiness, as often presumed by people is the state they want to be in everyday life. To some, they spend a lifetime chasing for happiness. They presume that happiness could be gained from outside factors. They thought it can be found in material things. Owning a brand new car, new house, glamourous life even is some of the factors they thought might bring happiness. They might as well chase the shadows as happiness can only be generated from within. You can be as happy as you want to be. It depends on you.

Happiness is in the journey, not in the destination... Happiness is just a state of mind.

How to Eliminate Debt - the Art of War

2007-01-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading an article on Alexander the Great. It mention that Alexander doesn't have a huge army when he started his conquest to rule the known world. But, strategically he has a very diversified and well skilled army.

When confronted with a huge army, one strategy that he used is by attacking the smallest unit but yet he found most threatening first. In one case, it is the archery unit. And then he will use his mighty army to defeat the heavier unit.

I like to make the same comparison with how we can eliminate debt by using the same strategy. We can use all the resources that we have to eliminate the smallest debt but with the highest interest first. After we eliminated that debt, we can then use the resources we have to start attacking other debt is not critical. Just a thought.

Do It Now

2007-01-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Most desires for improvements and alternatives for action are relegated to tomorrow - and tomorrow never comes. If you want success, you must act. Success will not just happen. An excellent definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and somehow expecting a different outcome. To get off the path has never provided happiness, harmony, prosperity, success, peace, or balance, you must get off the path. You must do something different. Not to do is insane.

Excerpt from "Wellness Just a State of Mind?" by Eldon Taylor

Forgive and let go

2007-01-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Do you consider yourself to be a victim? A victim of your circumstances? Or are you willing to assume responsibility for who you are? There are two ways to be tied up. One is to be tied, literally, by someone else, and the other is to tie yourself, figuratively, by refusing to let go of beliefs that limit your expression of the whole and complete being you are. In other words, as long as you shift resonsibility by blaming someone or something for who and what you are, you remove from yourself the power to be anything other than partial and incomplete.

In fact, as long as we blame, we effectively eliminate our ability to grow, to be in control, or to experience peace, balance, and harmony. Power to grow resides in forgiveness. Forgiving and letting go will set us free. Forgiving everyone, including ourselves, provides the opportunity to become more than we have been, which for many is but a mere shadow of our real selves.

Excerpt from "Wellness Just a State of Mind?" by Eldon Taylor

Compounding Knowledge

2007-01-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows the magic of compounding.Even Albert Einstein was once amazed by the power of compounding and label it as the eighth wonder of the world. But do you know that not just money but knowledge also can be compounded over time. Try gathering as much knowledge as possible in your early years. In time, your knowledge on a particular area will grow as you grow old.

For example, if you know a thing or two about computers when you are young, the knowledge will start to grow as you start to read here and there. You will also start to notice things related to computer even without hardly trying. This is human nature that psychologist called Reticular Activating System or short 'RAS'.

Emotional Bank Account

2006-12-25T07:55:00.003-08:00

An emotional bank account is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust that's been built up in a relationship. It's the feeling of safeness you have with another human being. If I make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with you through courtesy, kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a reserve.... But if I have a habit of showing discourtesy, disrespect, cutting you off, overreacting, ignoring you and etc. eventually my Emotional Bank Account is overdrawn.

Excerpt from "The 7 habits of highly effective people" by Stephen Corvey

Hmmm... just realised that I always withdraw emotional account.. no wonder it's empty.. time to make some deposit asap. :)

2006-12-25T07:55:00.001-08:00

Who took my money?

2006-12-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

People always think that big paycheck can solve financial problem. For me, it’s partly true. The most important part before thinking and dreaming a big paycheck is to plan your expenditure.
Do you know that our expenses can be categorized into 3 parts?

1. Necessity
2. It’s Good to Have
3. You Don’t Die if You don’t Buy it

Firstly, let us look into Necessity expenditure. It is an expense that you MUST pay for it. If you don’t do it, you can lose yourself and your family. For example house mortgage payment, foods, diapers for your baby, water and electricity (utilities bill - but not ASTRO please!), charity & donation, your children school’s fees, insurance and others.

Next, It’s Good to Have expenditure. For most of people, a handphone’s bill. Books & Magazine. Annual Family vacation. Your first car that is used to go to office and for your family arrangement. Broadband connection for your home and others.

The the last and the most important category to be discussed, You Don’t Die if You don’t Buy it! It is expenses for your paid television channel - ASTRO, your second or third car, teh-tarik and roti canai at Mamak Bistro with you friends every day after work, new dresses and accessories just to follow the latest fashion on earth (which was actually also a new fashion in 1970s!) and all things that you buy and dream to have it for just for fun. And you will still alive healthily on earth even if you fail to have it.

However, different people have different needs. For me, handphone bills and broadband connection are necessity because I can’t make money without both of it. I’ve once “lost” around $5,000 - $10,000 just because I don’t pay my handphone bills earlier. Sigh. A very hard lesson for me though.

For now, just think about it seriously. Categorize your expenditure into 3 parts. Next post, you will learn how by doing these simple steps, you can reduce your debt headache, credit card burden and end-of-month financial cries, just by doing this.

excerpt from http://bicarajutawan.com/blog/?p=35

Which kind are you ?

2006-12-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

1. Takers receive and never give.
Many people focus on themselves and rarely go out of their way to do anything for others.
Such people are takers. They worry only about what they can get, and they are never
satisfied.

2. Traders receive and then give.
Some people focus on keeping score. They are willing to give, but their primary motivation
isn't to help others. They see relationships as an exchange. Often they give because they
think they owe something to someone who has helped them, and they desire to make things
"even".

3. Investors give and then receive.
In this third group, people focus on others. They give first and then receive if something is
offered in return. They believe that success comes from being helpful, caring and
constructive. They desire to make everything and everyone touch better, and they
understand that the best way to accomplish that is to give of themselves.

So, which group do you belong ?

Excerpt from "Winning with People", John C. Maxwell

The power of the sword, the jewel and the mirror

2006-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

The sword symbolizes the power of weapons. The jewel symbolizes the power of money. The mirror symbolizes the power of self-knowledge. This self-knowledge, according to Japanese legend, was the most treasured of the three.

Excerpt from “Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki”

“He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” - Lao-Tsu, Tao Teh King

This two quotes truly shows that if you want to be anything that your hearts desire, whether its filthy rich, studdedly famous or get the woman / man of your dream, the FIRST STEP IS TO KNOW YOURSELF FIRST. Identify your strength and weakness and then you can conquer the world.

We all have dreams

2006-12-11T17:13:00.001-08:00

We all have dreams.. We all want to believe deep down in our souls that we have a special gift, that we can make a difference, that we can make a difference, that we can touch others in a special way, and that we can make the world a better place. At one time of our lives, we all had a vision for the quality of life that we desire and deserve. Yet, for many of us, those dreams have become so shrouded in the frustrations and routines of daily life that we no longer even make an effort to accomplish them. For far too many, the dream has dissipated – and with it, so has the will to shape our destinies.

Ecxerpt from “Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins”

Analogy of a Frog and Personal Finance

2006-12-11T00:02:00.001-08:00

If you were to pick a frog and put it into shallow hot boiled water, the frog will instantly leaped from the pot and jump out to safety. (As any right minded creature will do). However, if you were to pick up the same frog a little later and then put it into a shallow cold water, the frog will not react to it and will be comfortably be sitting there as it is a cold blooded animal. But, if you were to do an experiment (if you are sick enough to do this, though), heat up the cold pot with a very, very slow fire with the frog still sitting in it. The water will eventually rise up to 100 degrees. As any cold-blooded animal, the frog’s body will adapt to the rising heat and will adjust its blood temperature to the environment. Eventually, when the water reaches boiling point, the frog will die as a result of adapting itself to the environment without even realizing it.

So, what’s personal financing has have to do with the frog story? A lot. People who started off their career start just like the frog in the shallow cold water. The money they received by the end of the month is enough to get by since their requirement for life is low. But, as your career and salary increase so does your desires and lifestyles. As you start to buy your first car, buy your first house, started to use credit cards, your lifestyle will change incrementally but not as fast as your salary increase. As same with the frog, you will not notice that you have a debt problem since the increment is not sudden. And when you realize it, it is too late and you will end up with a huge pile of debt.