Experimenting with Life

"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

"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

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

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

"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

"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

"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

"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 !

"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

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

"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

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

"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

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

"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

'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

"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

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

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

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.