Terminator Or De-terminator?

When we stop achieving what we want, what we don't want will haunt us!
Only time will tell which zone is taking over...

Sometimes when we venture into a new job or new project or a new venture, there will be lots of variables in front of us. Only a risk-taker is willing to explore & conquer bit by bit, puzzle by puzzle and eventually a quantum leap in achievements, perspectives and of course income.

All of us can't predict the future. We can only follow-through and solve problems along the way.

Think about these series of silly questions for awhile:
"Does a mother know how to be a mother before becoming one?"
"Does a student know how to be an engineer before becoming one?"
"Does an entrepreneur know how to be an entrepreneur before becoming one?"

Obviously "No" for all! Now I began to understand successful people always encourage us to do what we love and what we are good at instead of doing it for the sake of money alone. Of course money will be a great reward and a measurement of how our performance & innovation stands. It is a major resources to build bigger dreams. But that should not be the seed of starting something.

I've tried before when money is the only motivation to work, doubts will always creep in.

When we have doubt, it is most often that we don't know what we want in the beginning. Sometimes we can terminate an opportunity in front of us only to realise this is what we want in life later.

There's no perfect life. Fast forward our life 10 or even 20 years from now, then look back from that perspectives and review back, we'll gain our guts right away, whether to pursue or not to in a new venture!

At times, good decisions are found from the journey of making bad decisions.
How many of us got married straight away with our first boyfriend or girlfriend? That proves the point!

Therefore, a Terminator destroys Vision & Dreams while a De-terminator builds it up with hard work and perseverance. Which one are you?

But becareful not to Focus Naively but Focus Flexibly as the society, market and the whole nation is changing and adapting from time to time.

Let's quit quitting to be a quitter and don't quit winning to be a winner! Yeah!!!

Plan Ahead but Enjoy the "NOW"

Got to know a friend that really appreciate life & not planning in details of how her life is going to be.
She knows the life direction but not really hoarding after money & wealth. She can work really hard and play really hard too.
She told me "What's the point of planning so detail & suddenly the next day, we die!"

In the beginning, I just listened & not really agreeing but later as I thought about it, it has some truth in it.
Not that we don't plan our life but not to forget to enjoy "NOW" & appreciate "NOW". The worst day in our life is regretting what we didn't do, who we didn't appreciate & love and places that we didn't go.
I think the worst of the worst is not eating the FOOD that we wana eat!!

Okay, let's move forward, smell the roses, move forward & smell more roses!
We have to keep on keeping on.

Let us enjoy, talk to people, call-up somebody that we haven't been contacting & make new friends.
Continue our Malaysian culture, Let's go Yam-Cha!

Our Parents... An Asset or Liability?

With all the MBA, KPI and goal settings around, some people might treat their parents as liability. Or an asset if they are rich!
But they are neither an asset nor liability, they are HUMAN BEING!

Last Saturday, I've watched "Great Day", a malaysian-made movie (I prefer "Woo-Hoo" though...and I definitely miss Ah Beng's voice!).

I did laughed & cried, though I am a man! Man have tears too okay! Overall, I did enjoy the movie.
The only setback of that movie was the transition or the flow.
It was badly done. While there are scenes where people cried (...me too!) momentarily and suddenly it hops to another scene.
Anyway, it is easier said than done. I do salute and give respect to the director. But I do like how the camera framing certain scenes from certain perspective. It was really good angles! Plus the 2 "pakcik" who acts naturally and hilariously.

Man...nowadays, don't "pray-play" with "uncles", they can act one u know!

Well, that movie triggers me to reminisce back on my grandfather during the 80s. He used to fly kites with me when I was really young. I still remember I used to dragged him back when it started to rain as I was running and he was walking with a "tongkat", without the "ali" of course....hahahah! 

Then I remember on how my father loved to bring us for peanut cream & yam cake on the roadside while driving a dark green toyota with the plate number AK 2223.
And every friday, we'll go for swimming. Eventhough until now, I still don't know how to float!
Almost every Saturday, we'll dine out.
For every Tuesday night, I'll eat what my father had bought, which is the "triangular-shaped bun with margerine & sugar" while watching Blue Thunder!
And at times, my parents would rent a nintendo set for us for a week and I am a Mario Bros specialist! I did finished level 8 ok!
The most exciting time was when my father brought back whole lots of durian with his 60cc honda cub! We'll ate durian beside the "longkang" in our house and we'll wacked the whole bag!

During my primary school days, I used to bring 60 cents to school. My mother expected me to have a typical lunch consists of soup noodles but I bought "keropok" and "Animal Survival" stickers instead! When my mother found that out, I was asked to kneel down to "Tei Chee Koong-Koong" (aiyah, don't know how to translate, I guess "The-Floor-Deity") and promised the deity not to cheat anymore!
You know what, I've broke that promise!

Well, we are not super rich, but I would say I'm quite happy & lucky in a way coz my parents are still around.

My father was a vegetable wholesaler and my mother was a seamstress. During the 80s, there was a crisis and my father's business was suffering. My mother kept supporting him emotionally and she took care of me & my 2 brothers pretty well I would say. We ate Maggi mee sometimes, but some good stuff as well. Especially my mother's home-made mini pork chop!

With all the ETP, GTP, NKRA ....etc to build the nation into a high income nation, please do not forget on how our parents bring the food on the table, raise us up, gave us education, shelter and love.

Well, "Great Day" is a movie reminding us of how we ignore our parents at times, as we move towards the stream of income-building & cultural modernisation! I wonder if Chinese New Year no longer serve the purpose of bringing family members together in future as the future generations have less & less childrens.

Back in the 80s, our CNY gathering consists of around 20 - 30 family members.
Nowadays, perhaps around 10 members including spouse and children.
Further down the road, perhaps around 5-6 members. Maybe some children who study abroad prefer video-conferencing with their parents instead of coming back for a reunion dinner! They might order pizza, delivers to their home and have reunion of their own!

Whatever it is, please go back for a reunion dinner on the CNY's eve and remember, our parents doesn't have much "years" to see us. Appreciate every moments of it.

A Unique School

2 days ago, I went to a property forum entitled Rethinking Property, organised by BFM radio station. There were 3 prominent speakers.

It was an eye-and-mind-opener! One of the speaker that striked me the most was John Hardy, the founder of Green School in Bali, Indonesia.

I do not know there is such school that existed.
My first impression was .... yeah, another school teaching about green stuff, recycling waste, saving energy, blah blah blah...etc.
It is much more than that. Of course listening to the founder himself talks about his vision of creating "Green Leaders" in the future who cares about what happens to the world, put my grasshopper mindset in the backburner!

John Hardy & his wife Cynthia sold off their jewellery business to set this green school up.
The whole school was made of bamboo! No air-conditioning, but natural flow of air and no toxic building material but "organic" material. What a building!

The students can learn basic skills such as reading, writing and I like the fact that they focus more on the practical side instead of boring-standard-Teach-N-Go-curriculum like most school did. They even learn art & music and most importantly, interaction skills.

All of us are Rice-Consumers but the students learn to be a Rice-Producer!
They plant, grow & harvest their own paddy & vegetables.
There's no computer software of any kind that can do a better job in teaching children about the Law of Sowing & Reaping than planting with their own labor, knowing that "If they don't work, they don't eat" principle still exist in 21st century!

Moreover, they get to interact with students from all over the world. They learn, adapt, communicate & build projects together. It reminds me of the word GLOCALIZATION instead of GLOBALISATION.
What a great example of a local village with global society in it.

In my opinion, the skills & the talent that the students potentially build up with will enable them to be more holistically balance in the aspect of mental & emotional strength.
I can't imagine our future generations are still following the status quo of going to a typical school and scoring all the As that their parents dreamt of and expect them to have the adaptability and competitiveness in the global marketplace!
It is not the sole issue of competitiveness but also the morality & respect that we need to nurture the future leaders.

Well, be sure to check the website and find out more at http://www.greenschool.org.
Thumbs up and a big salute to John Hardy, Cynthia and the team that run that place.

Speed

Some people thought Action is Power!

Last week, I explored another factor.
"The Speed of Action has more Power, coz it could win the Race!"

Have you seen some of your own ideas being virtually copied & somebody make it a reality first?
At that moment, we were like...."How did the person know what I've been thinking on all the while?"
Not really...
It is the Speed of Doing Things & the Speed of Getting Things Done that win the Race of Life.
Sometimes we need to slow down and appreciate life. But there are times that we need to speed forward.

When we have any idea and want to do something, start strategising, planning & act fast, with whatever resources that we have in hand!
Then figure out the puzzles later...
Or else, words like
"aiyah....",
"seong-thong-nin-ah..."
"I could have done that!",
"How come I didn't thought of that first?"

I did listened to someone said before, "It is not how much you make, it is how fast you make!"

Well, it make sense...

Carrot or Stick?

Use a Carrot or a Stick for motivation?

You'll get immediate result through Stick, but long-lasting result through Carrot!
Stick will only create a cyclical-reaction of "When-the-cat-is-AWAY, the-mouse-will-comes-out-and-PLAY".
Stick is using authority as Motivation Factor.
Carrot is a form of drive which derive from rewards & recognitions.

Most people are looking for Wealth, Health, Happiness, Security...etc.
Eventually, it is the Certainty, Acknowledgement & Appreciation which will move somebody from HAVING to do it --> WILLING to do it.

But the 3 factors have to come from the Heart, not the Mind.
It is not a strategy, but an Emotional Tank that needs to be filled up from time to time. Either through external or internal input.

To sum it up, why don't we lift each other up instead of stepping each other down?
Let's bring the Best in people, not magnifying the Worst in people.

Then we can create Similarity within Differences!

Eh, you got STUDY or not?....(Part 3)

To me....
Life Education is to unlock and enhance the potential of both Academic & Financial Education gained.

Because Life Education is about ....

- Mindset

- Attitude &

- Experience

Mindset:
It is about our PRE-CONCEPTION and BELIEF that we've build up over the years towards people, events, societies and the world. It affects how we see things, how we think and how we behave.

You'll find short-term thinkers tend to focus on small-people & insignificant events while long-term thinkers discuss on ideas, strategies and vision. It is all about having a Microscopic-Mindset or Telescopic-Mindset.

Sometimes people tend to put a lot of time scratching and digging the ground looking for a RM1 note while they ignore the RM100 note which just flew by their head! They are busy worrying not to lose the RM1 but forgot to look at how to earn RM100!

It also touches on how we PERCEIVE FAILURE; do we personalize it, magnify it, ignore it or USE IT?
You know the answer!

Attitude:
Besides being positive, SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE will help us tap into the Network entity to create success.

Success is about the wealth of having good friends around us as well, besides monetary gain.
It is a person's down-to-earth personality that enable him / her to blend well in societies. What I like the most are those friends / relatives from "kampung" or far from the city. They are so genuine and free from manipulation! It is rare nowadays.

RESPECT & APPRECIATION are another 2 significant factors to build bridges & bonds with people instead of walls. Because our association with people determine our quality of life. It is a war between Virus & Anti-Virus in the society, depending on which program we want to install in our mind!

I've known a person who is not highly educated, got divorced, no goals or directions, not much discipline but managed a few businesses with success lately. Why? He changed and mix with the right crowd! He had developed quite a healthy level of social intelligence!

Experience:
It is all about being RESOURCEFUL to gain valuable experience. It is our personal journey, personal understanding, personal encounter, personal learning & personal adaptation that form our experiences. But make sure we keep uplifting experiences and dilute-off the bad moments.

Keep a wide experiences of knowledge & exposures!

Let's triple-up our Education!

Eh, you got STUDY or not?....(Part 2)

Well, Academic Education does form an elementary staircase for us to climb. But it is definitely not enough.

We need Financial Education.

To make money, there are 4 entities for us to tap into; P-I-C-N

Physical - which is our Neck-Down ability or commonly known as Hard Labour.
We can't progress much using this part of our body. Perhaps RM5 - RM20 / hour! We can survive but can't afford to support a complete family expenses or retired.

Intelligence - which is our Neck-Up ability. It is the ability to manage, analyse, rationalise and calculate. It enable us to look at where we are and where we want to go.

Capital - Use money to make money. The best is to use Intelligence + Capital to generate more Cash! The difference is using our own Capital or Other People's Capital. We can venture into business or investments.

Network - which is our contacts. I've known some people creating investments or business opportunities through the contacts that they have established in the past years. That's where learning to play Golf came in, haha....! Hence, I totally agree with "It is not what you know, it is who you know that matters!"

Today I've got to know a person making RM30,000 in a day in which most people use a year to earn it.
Surprisingly, that person is using "C" & "N" entities only, not using any "I" entity at all!
Hmmmm.....that got me thinking a little.....

Financial Education is about creating Wealth, expanding Wealth and managing Wealth, tapping into the I-C-N entities.
It is about knowing which tools or methods to go about it as well.

In wealth creation, it involve risks. That's why some people are meant to be employee while risk-takers have the potential to be great entrepreneurs or investors. It also depends on whether we are looking at Fast-Short-Term-Income or Slow-Long-Term-Income.

Those who tapped into I-C-N entities are normally creating a Steady & Long term income. While those who tapped into C-N entities only are creating Fast & Unsecured income.

Success is build on the basic pyramid of Academic Education --> Financial Education --> Life Education.
Let's explore that...

To be continue....

Eh, you got STUDY or not?....(Part 1)

Education....
Is it a Springboard or a Stumbling Block?
It depends....
In my opinion, there's 3 main significant types of Education:

1) Academic Education
2) Financial Education
3) Life Education

Academic Education - that's the foundation of equipping us to Read, Write & Calculate. I wanted to put "Think" as well but I beg to differ on this. Sometimes Academic Education crippled most people than bringing them up to explore life. Why?

Looking at my own academic life, did I use any of the knowledge to achieve a very successful life? The answer is a big "NO".

In Academic Education,
...We are taught to memorize, not to question...
...We are taught to learn, not to think...
...We are taught on theories, not on applications...
...We are taught on scoring grades, not on exploring alternatives...
...We are taught that "A" students are the best and "D" students are the hooligans!

Don't forget, normally "A" students work for "B" students and "B" students work for "C" students.
Eventually, "D" students own the business!!

Quite commonly, I've found out people of low education are more Flexible, Resourceful and Street-Smarts than the graduates who are more Rigid, Planful & IQ-oriented.

Therefore, it is not surprising to see Ah Beng who sells Fish-Head noodle or Hakka Yong Tau Foo can afford a banglo and drive a Mercedez than Mr. Manager, Mr. Engineer or Mrs Accountant.

Later in our life, until we realized something is wrong, we'll begin to question....
"Why am I broke?"
"Why can't I afford that car?"
"Why do I need to pay my house for 30 donkey-years and some can afford to buy cash!"
"Why do some people earn a yearly salary that is equivalent to some people's monthly salary?"

Well, it is better to ask the "Why" now than later. That's why we need to explore Financial Education.

To be continue.....