Countdown to 2008

Count down to a new year is closing in; it’s less than 2 weeks away to saying hello to year 2008, how time sure passes quickly. Is the soon to pass year 2007 a memorable one? Well, in some ways yes and well perhaps no in some other ways, depending on how one view it I suppose. It’s time to do some soul searching, to conduct personal reflection so to speak so as to determine what we have achieved this year, the goals that we have set and how much of it that we’ve attained and accomplished.
It is also a time to consider what to be done with goals that we set out but did not achieved. The famous Chinese philosopher Confucius once said that one should not change goals that were being set but cannot be achieved, rather consider changing the method or ways to achieve the unattainable goals instead. There is also another saying that the goal is not as important as the journey taken towards achieving that goal. Well, so much so for goal setting and achieving the goals we have set for ourselves. Last but not least, set realistic goals that we are confident of achieving within the required time frame. Set goals inline with our aspirations, interest and thoughts. There is no need to chase after people’s dream.

By the way here the link to a free utility that helps you to restore the condition of your storage device, notably the computer hard disk drive after it has being affected by virus.
http://downloads.zdnet.com/download.aspx?&compid=65081&docid=332870&tag=nl.e550
My computer has been free from virus for almost a year. Installing anti virus is not good enough, one must also ensure that proper firewall is installed to minimize cyber attacks.

Persuasion

In the course of my work and dealing with people I realize it is important to master the skill and art of persuasion. Persuasion is very much an art as much as a skill that almost anyone can learn and develop. There are talented people who are natural persuasive experts and possess magnetic dynamic charisma.

Almost everything we want in life requires us to get with the cooperation of other people. Without the cooperation of others, we would hard press to get the ideal job or have any friends. Sometimes we need to use persuasion among other techniques to make children stop crying In order to gain cooperation and success, we have to use persuasion to get it.

Being persuasive though should not be equated with manipulation. Neither do we need to become a hypocrite to be persuasive. Of course if someone is able to master the combination of the skill of persuasion and manipulation power he or she is likely to achieve the intended goal and objective more quickly. There are limits though to how far one is able to deceive and manipulate people. No one likes being manipulated. We would never one to be associated or mix with anyone who has manipulated us.

We often try persuading others by rationalizing or reasoning out with people. Sad to say at times rationalizing doesn’t always work. Sometimes we try to argue with someone to get what we want or to get our message across. Smart people though use effective persuasion, convincing and effective approach by learning to give the other person something valuable in the exchange for a favor. A successful salesman knows very well the importance of persuasion to clinch the big deal.It is human nature to want to look for something in return in exchange for a favor rendered to someone.

It is also human nature to prefer dealing with people whose thoughts are align or in agreement with ours. At times it seems though that we may have to compromise our own comfort and sing to the tune of others whom we needed support.As much as we dislike not being ourselves, I guess that life’s; we may have to persuade and do others bidding so as to obtain the thing that we want in life.

Relationships

I came across a free report on how to maintain healthy relationship and preventing breakups. This is unlike many of the other dating advice freely available in the Internet whereby the guys are told not act like a wussy so to speak, to be a challenge and maintain attraction to the opposite party. I like the report because it is not lengthy, it offers pure sound common sense and practical advice, I guess couples, young and old alike will find it useful. Enjoy reading and cheers!http://www.smartrelationshipscourse.com/preventbreakup.pdf

In our quest to pursue financial freedom, it is important to remember that health is the most important aspect of our life that we should never take for granted. It is our personal responsibility to look after our health much as we desired wealth.
If you desire to maintain good health, it is important to follow up with sound advices, share experience with like-minded communities and live a healthy lifestyle.
Here’s the link to a great health forum that you can participate and get valuable information to some of the questions that you may have in mind.
http://www.healthiertalk.com
Last but not least, yet another link to information pertaining to cancer treatment and avoidance.
http://www.isecureonline.com/reports/600SCANC/E6DDHBCR/?o=1396420&u=23498359&l=835242&g=1082
Enjoy reading!

Decision making

Here a link to a great resource about decision analysis and risk management.
http://images.globalknowledge.com/wwwimages/whitepaperpdf/WP_DecAnalysis.pdf
We all have to make decisions at some point in time. Making hasty decisions based on emotional feelings so to speak can be a very costly affair down the road. There are those who are inclined to make ill informed decisions based on their own personal liking and preferences, equally bad choices.

Sunshine Empire

Recently there’s has been much publicity about Sunshine empire, a fast track growing network marketing company based in Singapore. The Malaysia and Singapore monetary authorities have both included Sunshine Empire in its watch list of companies to beware of. In other words, Sunshine Empires is currently under the closely watchful eyes of the relevant authorities.

James Phang, the founder of Sunshine Empire boasts he is a legend and smarter than Warren Buffet, now that is a tall order comments self-appraising oneself. James Phang has time again emphasize that Sunshine Empire is not an investment company though the way the business operates closely resembles those of investment fundamentals. I find this man a very interesting person indeed. Firstly, he is the founder of the Sunshine Empire yet he assumes neither official position nor responsibilities associated with Sunshine Empire. According to some members, he sees himself as the guardian of Sunshine Empire and that he’s presence is critical to the operation and survival of the company. I guess where he is coming from is that someone should take the rap for him if the authority were to go after Sunshine Empire one of these days. The way I see it, the future of a company, no matter how big or small should in principle never be dependent on solely just one man. Yet for all the promises of great returns associated with signing up to join Sunshine Empire, this man put his own worth and self above those of those who makes it possible for Sunshine Empire to flourish as it of today.

Secondly, Sunshine Empire is expanding at incredible paced. I bet a sizeable of the Sunshine Empire members do not know what businesses Sunshine Empire is into or who is driving the business deals. I have to honestly admit I am one of them who do not know what business the company is into though. It seems that some of the front end business Sunshine Empire deals with serves more like a smokescreen for some underlying more secretive, if you will secret business which very few but the top of the management knows in details. Sunshine Empire business is expanding in such an incredible breakneck speed such that it may become a serious problem for James Phang to oversee all these businesses. Unless James Phang is able to recruit and designate and assign honest staffs to manage the business empire, the company is in for trouble one of these days. What irritate and worries me most though about Sunshine Empire are the young chaps in their early 20s that are at the top of the food chain, the elite business managements so to speak who manage many of the company businesses. It is not that I don’t trust nor is it that I have no confidence with young people, the fact of the matter is that I prefer to have older experience people managing my money rather than those young hot blooded and ambitious chaps who are still picking up the ropes and has very little concern for the welfare of the members.

James Phang is no new comer to MLM business. Don’t get me wrong; I sincerely believe network marketing is a perfectly legitimate business model. There are many who have deal with James Phang in one way or another prior to the setting up of Sunshine Empire who sadly do not have good impression of him though. I am told James Phang claims that his problems with the previous company that he established were due to mismanagement of funds by some of his close associates and close relatives. A great leader is someone who is humble enough to accept mistakes and takes full responsibilities for not just his own actions but also those of that of his subordinates.

Is Sunshine Empire a business scam?
Probably not since even MAS does not label it a scam or illegal so to speak.

Would I recommend friends and colleague to sign up as members and participate in Sunshine Empire business? I will not hesitate to share with people on profit opportunities associated with Sunshine Empire, however I will not coerce or convince people to part their savings with Sunshine Empire.

Let be honest, there are risk associated with all forms of investment and Sunshine Empire business is no exception likewise even though the company claims it is into wealth distribution and not into investment. As the saying goes; you win some, you loose some. What matter most is not whether you make a loss or not, rather how often you win compare to your losses. In that regards parting your money with Sunshine Empire are a very risky business deal, the rewards and profits entails are equally enticing and rewarding though. If you have spare cash to play with, why not take chances and give a shot with Sunshine Empire rather than placing your bet with the lottery draw or splurging the money on buying a luxury car that you can afford to live without. If you do not have any spare cash to play around with, forget about Sunshine Empire completely. What I meant by spare cash is money that you have no need of be it in the near term or mid term.

Patents

My boss has been requesting the Reliability software team that I am leading to generate patents for the department. Apart from having to struggle with tight project timeline, sad to say, most of my engineers are the least interested nor motivated to think about patents. Most of my engineers pay more attention to the annual increment rather than monetary rewards associated with successful filing of patents.
Successful filing of patents or trade secrets represents the ultimate recognition awarded by the organization top management to the contribution made by the team. It is surprising how many employees overlook the lucrative cash rewards associated with patents.
Is it difficult to generate or develop patent? The answer is surprising ‘not difficult’ at all. What is required is little bit of creativity, common sense and in-depth of knowledge of the areas of your work scope. The ability to think out of the box and deriving simple solution to solving a complex issue lends itself easily to patent design.

Medical leave

Why is it some employees always ends up falling sick and taking medical leave as soon as they return from their long vacation? I have observed some employees in my department that are more prone to taking medical leaves compare to others. Guys in particular who are still liable for reservist seems to use up their medical leaves compare to employees who are not liable for reservist! There are some who are more prone to ill and taking medical leaves either on Mondays or Fridays, how interesting isn’t it?

I feel those who are healthy should be rewarded for not taking too many sick leaves. Perhaps employers should reward those who are healthy by granting the opportunity and option to convert unused sick leave into paid leave. Otherwise, those who don’t take many sick leave would feel short change, after all, there are 14-paid medical leaves per year entitle to employees in my organization and without option to convert unused sick leave to paid leave, might as well as used up the 14 days sick leave isn’t it?

Start your own business

Some of my colleagues have left their full time engineering jobs to pursue financial and investment related businesses. There is one guy who decided to go into Forex trading and investment related training business. I was surprised he decided to quit his job as Senior Manager in the R&D section of large MNC in Singapore to venture out.

One of my senior engineers has quit his job to pursue Internet related project business. It is no easy tasks to start own business. 9 out of 10 startup companies go bust before the 5th year. On the average, most small local startup companies takes 3 years or more to break even. Apart from the financial risk involve with starting up a business, there is no effective short cut to getting your own business off the ground quickly. It takes sheer hard work, dedication and determination to get your business takes off. My younger sister has also left her managerial job of over 8 years in cosmetic and beauty related business to strike out on her own with another business partner.

There is another guy, my former superior so to speak who has decided that he has enough with working for others. From being a network-marketing skeptic, he has now become a leading firm believer and advocator of network marketing and currently venturing out on his own, exploring various multi network-marketing businesses & moneymaking opportunities. Anthony Robbins, the famous motivational speaker was in town a few weeks ago. Is there any thing interesting about Anthony Robbins teachings which strikes accord with those guys I mentioned, guys who has decided to venture on out? I bet you can guess, act upon something, not later but as soon as it is possible to do so. Most of us like to procrastinate. Yes, we have dreams, dreams and aspiration without action is just that, dream in the end.

Here a link to a free resources pertaining to investment information. I stumble across it while looking for information pertaining to stock market guide.
http://www.investmentu.com/aboutiu/SignUp.html?o=1355231&u=25898271&l=812293

Loan sharks

Have you ever wonder how the rich gets richer? Have it ever occur to you to the fact that the smart and wealthy people make use of other people’s money to acquire and accumulate more wealth? Why is it that most banks prefer to lend money to customers than to have customers deposit money into their bank accounts? This is evident from the low interest rate associated with saving and high interest charge by the banks and financial institutions with regards to credit borrowing and lending.
Banks makes profit from the high credit interest charge to those who borrow money; the longer the repayment loan period the happier is the bank. Credit card companies are also making tons of money during economic downturns. How does a credit card company go about making profit despite the economic crunch? The answer is much simpler than you could ever imagine. Credit Card Company prefers to do business with the average Joe, the working class types rather than dealing with rich customers. Why is that so? Broke borrowers like the average Joe are what the banks and credit card companies often like to deal with. Those who have experience bankruptcy are more likely to struggle harder to repay the loans since they do not wish to end up in bankruptcy again.
Banks prefer borrowers to stretch the loan period to the maximum duration thus enabling maximum interest charge across time. Ordinary borrowers like the average Joe are more likely to stretch their loan repayment period.
Come to think of it, it seems that the banks and credit companies are no different from the normal loan sharks isn’t it? Banks and loan sharks equally alike charge high repayment interest for loans. Thus there are two things we must avoid if possible, the first one being to borrow money from the bank to finance our needs such as housing and etcetera, and secondly to partially pay our credit card bills since the interest charge for outstanding remaining credit card bill payments are enormous to begin with!.

Guangxi

The word ‘guangxi’ literally means interpersonal connections or networking in Chinese terms. It is well known that one of the most important requisite one must have when trying to strike successful business deals and joint ventures with China business partners and customers is establishing good ‘Guangxi’. Earlier Singaporean, Europeans and Americans learn the hard way when they tried to penetrate into the China markets. Early foreign companies thought they are good to go strictly by the books when dealing with Chinese business counterparts. Some the foreign businessmen think that ‘Guangxi’ practice is a form of corruption. Is ‘Guangxi’ a form of corruption? My personal thought is that we can’t escape from dealing with ‘Guangxi’ or networking in our everyday working life.

Consider the fact that each year thousands if not millions of students graduated from colleges and universities each year. But how do they differentiate themselves? Many of the graduates have hundreds if not thousands of classmates who are vying for the same jobs with the exact same knowledge. In my over 15 years of working experience, I am bold to say that 90% of the time, it is not what you knows or how much you knows about that lands you successfully on the job. Rather it is whom you know and who knows you that make the big differences in terms of landing that dream job of yours. It just our human nature to prefer to interact with those we know and to get something in return for our service render to others. It is thus not surprising that network marketing, shuns by many as illegal business practice has gain momentum and is regarded by business experts as the 21st century business model.

High paying job. TT Durai does it again.

It was reported in today’s Strait Times that TT Durai, the disgraced former CEO of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has been offered a job that pays well over 25k per month. I can’t help but admire this man who I felt in one-way or another a slight cut above the rest in Singapore. While many has lose their jobs due to company downsizing and having trouble getting new jobs, here is a man who has lose his position of CEO and being charged for corruption, demonstrate the ability to adapt to situations and land himself a job with lucrative pay. It was reported that he is able to pay off all the debts and charges own to the state in 4 years time. As much as I felt disgusted with this man who had misappropriated charity funds and betrayed the public trust, I must admit thought that there are things we could learn from him. I am sure many who not mind to spend money on books if any written by TT Durai on effective financial survival techniques.!

Why blog

Someone once ask me why I write blogs? Don’t I have anything else better to do? Why would anyone want to publish personal thoughts into the worldwide web for everyone to read? I don’t have particular reasons for spending time on blogs, in actual fact I don’t really care if anyone would read my blogs at all. So back to the question why do I even bother to become a blogger? The answer is simple; I just want to brush up my skill in writing in expressing thoughts. I hope to be a good freelance writer one of these days. Perhaps when I retire someday or I get laid off due to company downsizing, I may consider becoming a full time writer.

There are those who write blogs to earn money, either indirectly or directly through the contents they publish or via advertisement programs such as ad sense. It’s amazing though how the Internet has change the way we live our live. I suppose it’s wonderful indeed that we can express our feelings and thoughts through cyber world. I enjoy reading topics of interest and quality contents posted by many bloggers around the world. There is just so much we can learn through the Internet, particularly through network of bloggers who share interest and thoughts on topics of interest. However we should be mindful of what we write in our blogs. My personal thoughts are that we should never write on anything that touches on sensitive issues, in particular with regards to race and religion. Inflammatory remarks won’t solve problems, on the contrary sensitive topics would only aggravate situations so why blog on such topics?

Being yourself

Have it ever occur to you than sometimes consciously or subconsciously we tend behave or react in ways that are not typical of our real self, be it to strangers or to those we know. For instance, there are times where we become more accommodating when meeting with friends, more polite or perhaps the reverse whereby we react more cautiously and even kind of hostile to those we feel may take advantage of us. There are those who try to act more confidently when dating girls. I guess there is nothing wrong or abnormal in trying to project a more confident image when we deal with others, in particular if we need to interact with customers in our daily working life. On the other hand there are those who believe that we should just be ourselves and not put on a mask or apply double standard so to speak when dealing with people. There is this saying that when you go to Rome, behave like the Romans do which exactly implies adapting ourselves to the environment.
Of course we do know and come across people who are so good in adapting, so much so that they called hypocrites!
On the other hand I feel that sticking to our principle may not be the best thing to do at times more so especially if we know that the opposite party will not give in easily or will be offended by our being ourselves actions. The Chinese or Japanese are not well known for expressing and communicating their thoughts openly. So just being yourself
regardless of circumstances or situations a good or bad thing? You be the judge!

ThinkAndGrowRich

Okay, this may not come across as a surprise to many, anyway, here's the link whereby you can download a free digital copy of the famous book 'ThinkAndGrowRich' by Napoleon Hill.
Enjoy reading and cheers!
http://www.home-business-comparison.info/secrets-of-the-rich/thinkrich.htm
Rich

Incentives for health and late retirement

The health ministry is considering advocating or rather exploring the opportunity to provide incentives to Singaporeans so as to encourage them to stay healthy.
The “what’s in for me if I should stay healthy” mentality that many has is really a ridiculous one to begin with and I wonder why the need to give incentive to people to stay healthy? Seems to me that this truly defies logic. Health is a personal responsibility as much as we consider the Government responsibility to ensure Singapore remains a healthy and safe place to live in. Just go to the hawker center and you will find people of all different races, shapes, sizes and ages gulping and eating food like nobody business.
No doubt some of the health incentive programs which has been put in place such as free health screenings, free helpline and counseling programs for those who wish to quit smoking and many other support activities has benefit much, however it will be successfully with personal mindset change. Some people would have no problem queuing up for hours or perhaps even days to buy ‘Hello Kitty’ toys or lottery tickets but would quickly shun short queue ups for free health screenings. No incentives in the form of free health screenings and this or that would convince these people.

On the other hand most of us are all aware though that our health deteriorates with age and that one can never fight against Mother Nature. We can slow down the ageing process; there is neither miracle technology nor medicine though that could effectively treat or prevent diseases due to aging process. It all written in the wall, the moment we breathe our first into this world, we begin the journey towards sunset. By the way, there is the health campaign promotion to encourage the citizens to stay healthy so as to be able to retire much later in life, say instead from the retirement age of 55 or even 60 to 65. I certainly applaud the move by the health and other relevant ministries with regards to this, not only a healthy mind and body enable the elderly to retire much later in life thus enabling them to earn their keep and to live in dignity instead of having to put up in the old folks home. We should also be mindful that some diseases such as diabetes or cancer may be hereditary in nature and thus there’s only so much we could do to prevent or delay the onset triggering of it. Some people still contract lung cancer even though they are not smokers nor have they come in contact with smokers.

Speaking of late retirement, I am reminded of a research article written by a doctorate student ‘Sing Lin’ for the ‘Member of National Council of Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA/Greater New York Chapter, and Member of Board of Director of National Taiwan University Alumni Association – Greater New York March 2002’ entitled ‘Optimum Strategies for Creativity and Longevity’. In his research paper, Sing Lin wrote that his researched studies indicate that those who retired at the age of 55 or below tend to outlive those who retire at 65 or beyond. It is pretty much up to you to believe or ignore his research findings. We only live this once, thus one thing for sure; my personal opinion though is that I don’t think it is such a good idea to work till 65 cause by then we would not be able to enjoy the fruit of our labor so what’s the point? We should work to live and not live to work so to speak isn’t it?

Scams

Of late I have been receiving scores of idiotic scam mails. Attached below is one typical scam mail which states that I have won the so and so lottery first prize ticket and that I am to contact the person in concern to get the money. Who the hell these idiotic sick people think I am? An imbecile nut or what? You would be surprised to know that there are in actual fact Singaporeans who has been dubbed into providing their bank account and other important contact details resulting in their money been withdrawn from the banks by these CyberCriminals!
Why would people believe such idiotic mails? I could only think of one possible reason, greed. Seems to me that some people forgot that there is nothing free in this world.


NOTIFICATION (UK LOTTERY ON 2007)Ref No: UK ON-5464K2/71Batch Number: AT-040SB06-03Lucky Numbers: 34.13.26.19.02.12.[08] Bonus Ball 22nd JuLY,2007. ATTENTION: WINNER , You have been Selected on the UK Lottery Draw Held yesterday 21st July, 2007.Our lottery program selection has finally been performed today which was held at the Garden close office.Suffice to say here,you have officially approved a sum payout of ?00,000.00 GBP(Five hundred thousand pounds sterlings) to you as the lottery winner. This amount is from total prize cash of ?,500,000.00 GBP (One million,five hundred thousand) randomly distributed among Two (3)international winners selected by our Lottery Random System Selection(LRSS). You are hereby required to contact your FIDUCIARY AGENT with below details for your winning funds. FIDUCIARY DEPT:NAME: Mr Bill AndersonTEL: +44 70457 04526 Email: draws_notification1@yahoo.co.uk FULL NAMES :AGE:SEX:ADDRESS:PHONE NUMBER: Congratulations. Sincerely, Mariam Lambert(Mrs)Online coordinator for THE UK ONLINE LOTTERY

Economic opportunity in the midst of national disaster

The Chinese sure do has ways with dealing with all sorts of situations. Take for instance the recent flood that has affected some parts of middle and southern parts of China in particular provinces such as ‘Anhui’, Henan’ and southern ‘Guandong’. It was reported that villagers in some of these flood-affected areas has to cope with incoming swamp of rats heading into villages to escape the riverbank overflows. At the same time we all know that some Chinese eats almost anything under the sun. It is thus not a surprised though that some of these people has decided to take the opportunity to catch and sell rat meats. The price of pork in China has increased recently thus rat meat seems to be an interesting viable alternative to pork. The Chinese in these areas were able to turn national disaster into economic opportunities to say the least. I put my hat off, salute and well, kudos to those who sell rat meat and those who enjoy such tasty delicacies in times of national calamity. On a footnote, for those who are interested to know more about tremendous opportunities and rewards associated with home business, go to http://www.home-business-comparison.info/0reports/The_Wealth_Formula_V7.pdf and check it out!

Cheers!
Rich

Taking that 1st step

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. That is the famous quote from one of China’s greatest ancient philosopher. How relevant indeed was that quote is with regards with coping with today’s life challenges and achieving our goals. Quite often we have many dreams, big dreams in life but we never dare make the first move to realize our dreams because we think it is too far fetched a dream to realize in life. Unless we take the 1st step and make the first move though, regardless of how insignificant and small step it seems, our dreams will always be just that, dreams. Usually it takes great courage, and determination to make that 1st moves. Perhaps we may face obstacles when we take or make the 1st move, life is a constant struggle anyway regardless of what we do. It is matter of time before challenges and problems knock on our door. Instead of being caught off guard, why not make that 1st move and confront challenges head on first.
On a footnote, even though yes, we need to that that 1st step however we could and can always start with a single small step. As the saying goes, think big, start small but move fast. Furthermore, Lao Tzu rightfully says that we should do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.
So there it goes, one of the most fundamental keys to success in life, taking that 1st step.

GST hikes

Today is July 1st. What is so special about July 1st? It is the first day whereby GST (Goods & Consumer Tax) is officially increased from the 5% to 7%. In fact months before July 1st, some of the items for instance the price of coffee has already been raised by additional 20 cents! Never mind what other’s say, the cost of almost everything seems to be on the hike. Transportation cost has increased multiple folds. I have to top up my EZLink card more frequently and mind you, the SMRT business profit has increased despite the fact that the company has reported that it has spend more to upgrade its bus and train fleets. Furthermore public transport is not supposed to operate based on profit basis. How does SMRT keep up with maintaining the profits despite the increasing expenditure? Well it’s simple, by increasing the bus and train fares.

Singapore has overtaken New York in terms of being the more expensive city to live in.
It is not something I am proud of by the way, to live in a city that is rank top in terms of cost of living. We used to hear about how Singapore has achieved world-class standards in terms of transportation, health care and education. Are we really and truly living a in a world-class city with regards to this? I doubt so.

One of my friends works in a local computer IT company mentioned that her company is currently engaged by SMRT to develop a GPS system to track the SMRT bus fleets while on the road. It is hope that such systems would result in a more accurate and timely manner for projecting bus arrival and departure time. Trial runs were being conducted in and around the Changi International Airport vicinity.

There are proposal to install display panels on some of the bus stops to indicate the arrival time of the next bus. Commuters would know when the next bus arrival time. All this seems pretty cool; I bet the bus fare is going to rise once they start to implement this system though. Just the other (yesterday evening to be exact) I had to wait for almost 40 minutes to catch the bus service 911 from Woodlands Regional Interchange to my home in Woodlands Street 82, so much so for world class transport and high tech vehicle tracking system.

Good mutual fund

For those who are interested to invest in mutual funds, here’s the link to a great mutual fund company which is rated one of the best in the world. Check it out at http://oakmark.com
Cheers!

Is it too much or too little information?

Have it ever occur to you sometimes we don’t act on something or we are afraid to act on something simply not because we don’t have the necessary information to make the appropriate decision but rather we have too much information and hence became confuse and do not know what to do?

Just consider the stock market pickers up there. Go to any bookshop and you will find dozens of those selves proclaim gurus publishing self-improvement books proclaiming on how to become the best stock traders. Newbie in stock trading would have become confuse with all the different techniques pertaining to stock trading.

The same goes for those books on how to become rich or how to become the best Internet marketers. At the end of the day it up to us to filter out those tons of information and to pick up those ideas, techniques or advice that best suits our risk appetites and expectations. What works for you may not work for another person though? As the saying goes, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. There is nothing wrong with gathering information before we decide the next course of actions. However we ought to set a limit as to how much information is considered enough and to act on it thereafter. A good analogy would be that of reading and gathering as much information regarding computer programming but missing the point of not actually getting ourselves with the actual hands on such as writing a program and seeing it runs on the computer.

In summary, set a date as to when, how long and how much you wish to gather the information of interest and after that set another timeline to act on it. As you carry out your objective, in most circumstances you will know deep down inside you if the information you have thus far gathered is adequate or if you need further information to fill the gaps. If you feel that you need further information to proceed, set a new timeline as to how much and how long you will spend on the information gathering process and a new time to act on it. By doing so you will not fall into the trap of experiencing the fear of too much information and not knowing how to act on it.

What is hard work?

There is a general misconception that rich people do not need to work as hard as ordinary folks because they have money. This is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, many rich people work as hard if not twice harder than the ordinary folks who live on day-by-day basis. Donald Trump, the multi billionaire once wrote that he sleeps less than 3 hours daily because there is just so much to learn and to do with regards to expanding his business empire. Donald Trump is a prolific reader who would spend much of his time to read as much as he could. That billionaire Manhattan business mogul understands that knowledge is power. How many of us could boast ourselves with regards to spending time to improve ourselves intellectually as compare to him? The way I see it, most of us ordinary folks prefer to idle away our time in canteen gossiping and talking about others.
There are those who would rather leave it to fate and luck to become rich. Just take a look at the crowds that gathers to try their luck with 4D and Toto bets. It is funny though that there are people who would rather spend time to queue up to buy lottery tickets rather than to pick up a book to improve oneself.

On a footnote I am afraid that the rich dad poor dad author does the general public and readers a disservice. His concept and idea that we should not trade time and effort for money earn is rather misleading. Robert Kiyosaki should have clearly point out that hard work alone cannot guarantee us success in life. We should work smart. Instead that fellow goes beating around the bush in his rich dad poor dad book that we should learn to take risks and all the nonsense how he became one of the most successful real estate agent in the world! I bet if here were born in Singapore he would probably become another statistic of the ordinary folks.!There are those who prefer to bury themselves in their work and claimed they have done their best but just that luck or fate is not on their side. How silly of these people! As the saying

If only

If only I possess the skill and education…
If only I have the money…
If only I am not married and have no family.
If only I come from a rich family.
If only I am much younger..
If only I am half as smart as he or she..

Does the list above of ‘if only’ sounds familiar to you? I am sure at one time or another one of these ‘if only’ comes to our mind. Somehow I feel that the ‘if only’ is as good as useless and unproductive thinking since it does not help us to solve whatever problems and challenges we face in life. The ‘if only’ thoughts serves more as an excuse and easy way out for us to lament the problems and challenges in life.
We cannot change the past. Having thoughts of the ‘if only’ cannot change what that has occurred in life nor does it help to address the reality in life.
We must take concrete steps and measures to address all problems in life instead of indulging in self-pity. Yes, it is human nature to lament over problems we faced in life and to envy others. At the end of day, having said thought of all the ‘if only’, no one can help us if we do not help ourselves. So the next time if we feel being inclined to or having thoughts of ‘if only’ why not switches off our negative thoughts and re-enforce our positive thoughts, not of trying to change the past, instead to learn from the past, to learn from our mistakes and to face the future with confidence, knowing that success is not the destination but part of the journey.

Doing what you know best versus knowing what you do

Most of us are contented with doing what we know best. Most of us are do not like change to our life style, be it work or personal social life. Subconsciously and deep down in our hearts, we are resistant to change. Most of us are afraid that change in our life, in particular with regards to the nature of our job would displace us from our comfort zones.
There is an ancient Chinese saying that if we love our job we don’t need to work a single day. However on the other end of the spectrum it also make sense that at times doing what we love and what we know best may not be to the best of our interest. I once work in a disk drive company for close to eight years simply because I love my job. As years passed, I realize those who left the company ahead of me has gone to make it big in other companies whereas I continue to remain in the same position for the past six years.

Some of the successful people, in particular those who achieve financial wealth can testify to the fact that sudden and unexpected twist of events, at times due to company lay off or unforeseen events force them to rethink their priorities and strategy to coping with financial responsibilities. Some of these financially successful people who would never have make it big time should they continue to work in their previous company. Change of environment and new challenges brings forth new opportunities for those who dare and game enough to seize it. The rich people knows what needs to be done to achieve their financial goals, it may not be something they love to do, the middle class do only the things they know best and always afraid to consider and venture into new opportunities.
Therefore, I say that even though it is important for us to do things that interest us and which we appreciate, we should never lose sight of the bigger picture, bigger opportunities that may come along our way only once in our life time, in which at times we may have give up doing the things that we love and know best.

Who to listen to?

Insurance agents and friends who are into fund and wealth management related businesses have approached me the past few months to consider signing up and to engage their services with regards to investments, be it mutual trust funds, forex trading, equities or stocks. I am no expert when it comes to investment but I do make it point to read up investment related articles. At times I wonder if those involved with investment such as fund managers are really that good then they would in actual fact have no need to approach others to keep their business activities afloat since they would have make tons of money themselves and retire comfortably so why go around struggling to look for new leads and customers? One common tactic used by financial advisers to convince customers is the so-called past performance indicator. Sad to say, most of the time looking at past performance alone does not guarantee nor does it help us make money now. Furthermore most of these financial advisers don’t even has the slightest clue as to knowing what was creating these incredible past performance. One needs to understand exactly what actually leads to the outstanding gains if one is to hope to replicate that performance over the next couple of years.
In summary I suppose we really shouldn’t be asking mutual fund managers or brokers about managing money. We should ask millionaires and billionaires who made their money buying and selling stocks, bonds, and real estate. With luck perhaps they'll tell us what to do and I bet the chances of it working and being successful is much higher than those so-called financial advisers. Last but not least, don’t be stingy when it comes to investing in financial knowledge. Invest time and money is necessary to acquire sound knowledge of wealth and financial management. We are better off managing our own financial well being rather than to depend on those so-called financial advisers and experts.

Posted are some of the great scenic views of China that I took some time way back.

In particular I am impressed with the suspension bridge located between two colossal and towering mountains.

Proactive

It’s been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. I am going to have busy weeks looking forward ahead. Why is that so? All thanks due to one of my engineer who will be going to be station in Suzhou for a year upon an ‘Ang Moh’ request. His short-term assignment of one year to Suzhou could not have come at the worst time indeed. Now I am left with no choice but to get personally get involved in software development project and day-to-day software maintenance and sustaining activities myself. I am a technically inclined manager, perhaps one of the very few managers in the company that still prefers to the hands-on to the typical people management role. Why would one engineer have so much impact on my team? Reason being that he is the only engineer in my team that received the software training from the US counterpart. Secondly he is a very resourceful and diligence in his work. I have always wanted to get myself personally involved with some of the software development projects but finds it hard to do so due to lack of software and hardware developments system.

Well, how do I feel about the whole thing? Nothing much except for the fact that I will be more occupied in the office, busier and has less time for tea break during weekdays. Sometimes I wish I could hit the jackpot and retired early to enjoy the finer things in life. I could imagine all the things that money could buy and the holidays I could take all year round. At times I wonder if it takes certain twist of events to make us realize that life is very unpredictable and that we should make full use of the good times on what we have to achieve our goals and dreams while we can. Without pressure and discontent in work life some of us may procrastinate and not make effort to set goals to improve our quality life so to speak. Most of us are contented to stay put within our own comfort zone. We hardly give a thought to our future so long as we feel comfortable with where we are.

Which of these would you prefer, to be push and driven into seeking new opportunities or to be attracted and drawn to pursue our goals and dreams, the push or the pull factor to start to keep the ball rolling with regards to achieving your goals and dreams so to speak? Anthony Robbins, the motivational speaker rightfully spells out in his book ‘ Awaken The Giant Within’ that most people procrastinate so long as they don’t feel any pain. Why wait to get ourselves to experience pain before we do something to improve our quality life? Isn’t it better to plan for the future while we are in still living within our comfort zone? Be proactive and preemptive in our desire to seek for better quality life by, through actions with regards to our goals instead of being reactive and just daydream about it so to speak.

Overwork

The Singapore ‘newpaper ‘ dated the1st of May 2007 reported the unfortunate and untimely passing of a 29-year-old woman whose cause of death was suspected probably due to work stress. Apparently the unfortunate woman collapses after 8-hour marathon working on laptop. When contacted, the woman’s superior told the deceased family the company did not overloaded her with work! What a pity for the woman lost her life due to work! I suppose people have different tolerance to work stress. Some people are more easily succumb to work stress while others has higher thresholds. I am okay with working on the desktop or laptop for over 12 hours! Know your limits and take the appropriate actions accordingly to safeguard your health.

The woman wanted to earn more money to take mum on holiday but struggled with her job. It sad to know that despite knowing that her health was deteriorating, she continues to push herself to the limit. Yes, money is important but so is our health. Yes, it is important to for us to do our best with regards to our job responsibilities and tasks, to put in extra hours if needed to get the job done; however we should be mindful of our health. I have friends and colleagues who spend long hours in stressful jobs, some are contemplating of looking for less stressful jobs elsewhere while some has resign to their fate and get so used to the stress job so much so it becomes part of their life. There are those who complain about their stressful work but do nothing about it.
There are those who stick on to their jobs despite the stress for the sake of the anticipated compensation benefits associated with work force reduction.

I guess in the end we should all ask our self what kind of life we want to live.
Do you enjoy what you do in particular to the nature of our job? Do you mind the stressful and the challenging nature of the job? Do you find ourselves stress out by the job? Are you in dire need of money so much so that you can’t do without the stressful job? Is age catching up with you so much so that you feel it becomes more challenging and difficult for you to compete with younger generations for getting new jobs? Do you live to work or work to live? Is it worth it to risk your health and happiness with regards to your jobs? Learning is life long experience. Invest time and money if necessary to upgrade yourself so that you will continue to become employable, even as you grow older. Far more important, equip yourself with the necessary skill-set that would enable you to have more choices with regards to job opportunities.
Bottom line, don’t get yourself stuck in a job you don’t like, don’t yourself get stuck in a stressful job that is detrimental to your health and disruptive to your personal life, and certainly please don’t get yourself stuck in the kind of job that does not guarantee you financial freedom and financial independent when you grows old.
For those who are looking for tips to getting rich, here’s a link to a free e-book on getting rich. Enjoy reading and cheers.

http://www.home-business-comparison.info/6extras/Secrets%20of%20the%20Rich.pdf

Busy week

It’s been a rather busy week for me of late. Spend most of the time responding to emails to clarify situations and to get myself untangle from the ugliness of office politic situations. Sometimes it is just hard to ignore office politics because whether you like it or not, someone may just get you involved in one-way or another.

I have been busy the past few days after knocking off from office to meet up with friends and colleagues to discuss on possible tie up to develop business web sites. Nothing-concrete being size up to date. What’s interesting though is the tremendous opportunity with regards to promoting products and services via the Internet it’s been quite awhile since I last do any Internet web site programming. I am not a solid programmer though; it’s been years since I last did any hardcore software programming. I love programming.I consider myself fairly knowledgeable with regards to software programming, it takes time for me to refresh and get familiarize with new software technology, the syntax and last but not least the commitment and the determination to accomplish on the goals that I have set.

Maintaining healthy skin complexion.

I usually receive compliments from people who said that I look amazingly young for my age of 43. It is almost impossible to guess my age by my look. Many women wonder if I have any special secret for maintaining my smooth complexion in particular my face. Quite a number of people in particular ladies spends hundreds and to some extend thousands of dollars to seek treatment for their skin problems. Facial care and beauty skin treatment is big business with profits surmounting to hundred of thousands of dollars being made throughout the cosmetic industries. Do I have any secrets with regards to maintaining a good complexion? The answer is a definite no. So how do I keep my skin in good health condition? The answer is as simple as pure ‘A’, ‘B’ ‘C’.

Here they are:

1) No smoking and no drinking
2) Drink plenty of water
3) Have adequate rest (quality sleep)
4) Avoid touching your face with your finger. If your face itches for any reasons, use an antiseptic wet facial tissue to clean it and apply anti itch facial cream or pimple cream. Make sure your hands or fingers are clean before you apply the cream or lotion.
5) Avoid intake of oily food
6) Take plenty of fruits and vegetables
7) Wash your face with warm water first, thereafter apply the appropriate face wash such as facial scrubs or foams, work through your face slowly and massage gently and then finally use cold water to rinse it off thoroughly.
8) Use clean tower to dry your face.
9) Make sure your pillowcase is clean. Change your pillowcase and pillow cover regularly. Having dirty pillowcase in close contact with you skin and face is surely an invitation to outbreak of pimples and skin rashes.
10) If you are a female and you notice that your facial skin itch and pimples relates to your period or menstruation, my advice to you is to go and see a doctor or a skin specialist. Hormone changes and imbalance could result in skin irritation and itch. Your doctor will be able to recommend and prescribed the necessary medicine for you in this case.
11) Clean the pollutants and dirt from my face with the SG-2000 hydro bath spa. The ultrasonic wave, the ozone and far infrared emission by the SG-2000 helps to get rid off the dirt, gems and pollutants from my body, in particular the face. Daily work pressure could impact your health. Use the SG-2000 to de-stress yourself in the evening before you call it off a day.

There you go, simple steps to maintain a healthty and smooth complexion! Why spend and waste your money seeking expensive cosmetic treatments? Forget about botox and other facial treatments.

When MLM is not suitable for you?

Go get yourself a discern job and forget about those MLM which are nothing but scams and illegal business methods to con you off your money and time. Are you in for MLM or are you against it?
Never mind what others think or say, if you aspire to setup and run your own business, in particular home business do give yourself a chance to consider MLM.However to be successful in the MLM business you need to honestly assess yourself if you are cut out for it.

All successful MLM achievers possess certain characteristics.If you are an introvert, not sociable, sensitive to what others may say about you or if you prefer a nine to 5 o’clock kind of job than MLM is definitely not suitable for you.
If you have tendency to procrastinate, do not like to set timeline to achieve the goals that you have set or perhaps do not have any specific goals in life than MLM is not suitable for you either. If you are comfortable with where you are and simply just looking for some activities to pass your leisure hours then MLM is not suitable for you.
If you are risk averse to the extend of not being able to accept any calculated risk leading to acceptable lost then MLM is not suitable for you.
If you are the kind of person who does not like to share good news, wealth or experiences with others than MLM is not suitable for you.
If you are an inpatient person who could not control your temper or easily get agitated than MLM is not suitable for you.
If you do not believe in the product or service that you wish to promote than MLM is not suitable for you.Last but not least, if you are the kind of person who keeps complaining under the sun about how rich others are and how you wish you as rich as them yet not doing anything to improve your lot than MLM is not suitable for you either. MLM is not suitable for everyone. Am I suitable for MLM? Maybe yes, maybe not, what about you my dear reader?

For those who are interested to consider online business marketing, here's a great link to a free ebook on what to avoid with regards to Internet Marketing.
http://MichaelRasmussen.com/newsletters/ims16.pdf

Lesson to be learn from badminton match.

I love to watch badminton game on the TV. One of my favorite games is badminton.
There is an important lesson to be learned from the man’s single final Asia Badminton match over the weekend between China’s incumbent Cheng Hong and the Indonesian champion Taufik.

There are basically two ways to overcome your opponent in any badminton tournament, techniques that allow one to win the match decisively. The first method involves speed and power attack strategy in the form of swift powerful smashes and deep angle drop shots to deliver the element of surprise and thus catch your opponent off guard. The 2nd method involves defensive playing technique that emphasize on patience and less focus on smash or deep angle drop that requires extreme mental fitness and physical focus. You can easily tire and worn out your opponent using the 2nd method. Some opponents gets distracted, agitated or worn out if the game stretch beyond their stamina. As a result of tiredness and impatience, silly mistakes such as bad judgments with regards to smashes, drop shots and even shuttle cork serve could become costly. All one need to do with regards to the 2nd method is just simply to maintain the regular game pace without aggressive attacking play so as to wear out your opponent in a long drawn out match.

The same strategies, be it the 1st of the 2nd methods are relevant under today’s political, military and even business context. Access your own capability and standing position with regards to your ability to challenge and beat your opponent confidently; apply the appropriate method accordingly. Half the battle is won if you know your enemy and apply the appropriate method to best overcome your opponent in the least physical and mentally taxing game play. If necessary you may also with to combine both methods to achieve maximum results. Apply the 2nd method to wear off your opponent strength and setup for the kill using method 1.
Small and medium enterprises can strive and compete with global and giant competitors if they play their cards right. Modern business strategist recognizes the relevance and importance of deploying Sin Tzu’s art of war strategy in order to survive in today’s unforgiving and fast pace business world. It is no longer adequate and advisable to compete with the big players direct head on. Create a niche market whereby you can grow your business initially without having to directly compete with the other major players. Conserve and multiply your business cash flow by serving dedicated customers and thereafter expand your business to compete with other direct competitors when the time is ripe. Plan your business strategy carefully and execute it promptly. Keep a close watch on the progress of your startup business and made the necessary adjustment and fine-tuning accordingly to ensure you stay on course to achieving your objectives and goals.

Defensive winning

Everyone has his or her own perception of what winning means. For some winning means getting what they want in life and entails some form of struggling or challenges or perhaps even a little bit of luck so to speak to achieve their objectives and goals. Most people would easily and readily associate winning with cash prize rewards such as striking the jackpot, lottery, grand lucky draw prize or any form of gains that enhance wealth. There are those who would prefer to look at winning from a bigger perspective.
These include successful businessmen who understand that to win is to willing to take calculated risk in one way or another in order to achieve the ultimate goals whatever it is. If one is able to minimize risk and increase success chances than winning is assured ultimately. Not everyone would agree with such definition of winning though.

Those who acquired wealth through investment knows that it is impossible to time and beat the stock market all the time. The stock market is rather unpredictable and volatile. It is very risky and costly to try to time the stock market. How much and how big we make and gain depends not on how much and how frequent we beat the stock market during the good times rather how badly we lose during the worst time. We may have running streaks of winning and beating the stock market but one major bad investment to wipe off all our previous gains. The art of defensive winning involves the application of strategy to limit loses during unexpected bad times while focusing on winning.

Making money online

Do you wish you could make money online? No doubt there are a plethora of advice given by many Internet marketing gurus around the world what you may not know or aware though is that 9 out of 10 start up online business or e-commerce business so to speak do not last more than 5 years or even if they do last they hardly break even at all. Having said that it does not mean going into Internet business is risky. As a matter of fact millions if not billions of dollars of transactions are done via the Internet daily. With the job market getting tighter and age catching up for some of us including me of course, the Internet offers immense opportunity for one to start business. Here’s a link on information regarding making money online. Enjoy reading and hope it would be of use to you.http://www.12makemoneyonline.com/

Cheers
Richard

It is not what you know that matters rather who you know.

I just got to know that some of the nastiest, most arrogant, inconsiderate people in the design center of the organization which I work for have been promoted to directors.
I personally felt that some of these people do not even deserved the engineer position much less a promotion to lead important functions within the design center. All that some of these nasty people do is just talk and no action. Some of these people are very good in indulging in office politics and currying favors with their upper management.I suppose after all said and done politics rules in almost any situation.
Sometimes it is not what you know that matters; rather it is whom you know that matters.

What is wealth without health?

Nina Wang, the richest woman in Asia dies at the age of 69. It was reported in the news media that she is a very frugal lady with regards to spending money despite the billions of dollars that she amass and owns throughout her business empire. It was mentioned in the press that weeks before her death, she was still working hard on business investment deal amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Not sure how true it is, it was also reported that she is so thrifty that she takes porridge and beans occasionally. It was only towards the very last few months or perhaps weeks of her life that she sought treatment in the United States, Singapore and other countries for her terminal illness.

I am reminded of another Hong Kong celebrity and famous actress, the late Anita Mui. It was reported that she was involved in many overseas concert preparations despite knowing her illness.

At times it makes me wonder what’s on the mind these rich and famous people when they realize they have contracted terminal illnesses? We could look at it from the positive aspect that despite their terminal illnesses, they have the guts and never say die altitude to press ahead with whatever goals and plans that they have set. On the other hand, it seems to me that their quest and thirst for wealth has clouded their mind so much so that health is secondary and that money related matters takes center stage. It was reported that Anita refuses repeatedly to heed the doctors advice to undergo surgery that would have probably save her life. Instead she put her effort and focus on overseas concert tours.

Furthermore, I was told that 2 out of 3 of the founders for SCM, a local high tech company has died of cancer during their 50’s age.

Nina Wang and Anita Mui are not the only people who work hard throughout their lifetime to be successful, accumulate wealth but sadly never get to enjoy the fruits of their labor to their ripe old age. Wealth without health is useless and meaningless. It is sad to know that many Singaporeans and locals’ thinks alike with regards to wealth over health.
We don’t mind spending big money on entertaining and luxury items such as cars and properties but not on things that could improve our health.

So the next time while you are busy working to earn your living, do give a thought to maintaining your physical health much as you desire to maintain a good financial health.
What is wealth without health? Be proactive to maintain your health, not reactive for we all know that prevention is better than cure right?

Ridiculous junk ads and gimmics

One of my favorite hobbies is collecting magnetic stickers and labels. Attach is a photo shot of my woodland apartment refrigerator with nice stickers. Aren’t they cute?

I am really put off by those junk mails put into my home mailbox almost daily. I have to sort out the junk mails from the rest of the important ones. Sometimes in the fit of agitation and impatience I would end up unknowingly discarding important mails such as bill notifications together with the rest of the junk mails, only to receive reminder mails to settle my outstanding credit card bill payments promptly and urgently.

If you ever subscribe to the Reader’s Digest you would have notice that each month’s printout contains advertising gimmicks and junk notes. First there is the congratulatory note that informs that you are the very few selected lucky readers to enter the grand lucky prize draw. Also attached are ridiculous stickers and labels which states explicitly you need to paste on to the notes and return with the enclosed reply envelope so as to qualify for the grand luck prize draw. What Reader Digest don’t inform the reader is that the chances of being becoming the grand lucky prize draw winner is as good as the Singapore Luck Draw Grand Toto 1st prize chance.

It takes extreme patience to figure out which labels and sticker to place on which reply notes so as to qualify for the grand luck draw! Apart from the grand lucky draw, readers also qualifies to have the opportunity to win other interesting prizes and other side luck draws if they agree to sign up to buy other promotional items listed in the junk ads! One major thing that really piss me off regarding Reader’s Digest advertising gimmick is that they made you to go through almost certain each month’s subscription repeat process of having to reply that you are interested to qualify for the final grand draw sans the rest of the promotional items! Goodness me, can’t Reader’s Digest sees that most people only wish to reply once to indicate that they are interested to be enroll into the grand luck prize draw, which subscriber wouldn’t anyway so why the heck the need to made readers go through each periodic reminder of having to indicate reader’s interest to qualify for the grand lucky?
I like Reader’s Digest; the articles and information are great, I have been an ardent fan of Reader’s Digest since I was a kid. Perhaps it is time for Reader’s Digest to return to its core business, that is of publishing great books and magazines without the stupid junk mails and ads about lucky draws which piss many people off!

Today is a public holiday, Good Friday, so I get the opportunity to take a break from work. Hurrah!

Human personality

I am reminded of an interesting observation about human personalities and what to do about them by one of my friend. Apparently the source of this interesting topic comes from a German General during the 1st world war.

Given 4 kinds of human personalities namely

1) Ignorant and lazy.
2) Smart but lazy.
3) Smart and hardworking
4) Ignorant but hardworking.

What do you do with a person with any one of the above personalities?

Quickly hired the person with personality item (3). People who are smart and hardworking are valuable resources and asset to any organization. These are the people who make things happen.

Leave those with personality item (1) alone if you have such people within your organization; they won’t do much harm if they exists within your organization, neither do they ever contribute to the growth of the organization. On the other hand avoid hiring such people if you can at all cost.

Promote those with item (2) quality to become managers and leaders within your organization. These are the people who are able to improve the efficiency and productivity by constantly finding ways to get things done using less resources, time and energy.
Get rid of the people within your organization with item (4) quality. It is definitely most unfortunate for any organization to have such people as managers or decision makers within an organization. These are the people who waste the organization resources and time unnecessary by setting wrong priorities and having valuable resources to work on the wrong things at the wrong time!

So there you go, 4 personality types and what to do about them.

Who is your greatest enemy?

Have you ever ponder who your greatest enemy is? Is it the person who is hell bent on contradicting and opposing all your views and opinion and thus making your life a piece of wreck in your work office? Is it the person who loves to gossip, slander and criticize right behind your back? Is it the person who causes you to loose your promotion or your job? Is it your boss who does not appreciate your hard work and contribution, a boss who only knows how to load you with more and more work assignments? Is it a friend who repays evil for good?

Have it ever occur to you that your biggest enemy may just simply be yourself? Sure, we all do seems want to love ourselves foremost but how many of us do really do give a thought to living the best quality life that we could possible deserve by taking the necessary actions and efforts to achieve it? We want the best in life but never seem to set the necessary goals, plans and actions to achieve it. Mother nature has bestowed upon us we humans the natural tendency to procrastinate and to find fault and blame others for all our misfortune. We blame the government, and almost anything under the sun for all our dilemmas except ourselves. Yes, it is true that at times there are situations in life that are beyond our control; you may call it fate if you wish. Putting fate aside we are the masters of our own destiny! No one can help us if we refuse to help ourselves. So lets examine yourself before you start to point the fingers at others for all your calamities. There is no shortcut to achieve success and quality life. Either we work for it or we don’t, no two ways about it.

Ponder this question. Would you prefer to adapt yourself to suit the environment you are in or to change the environment so as to suit your needs in life? The path you choose may very well determine your success of failure life. Challenges in life are inevitable, what matter most if how we deal with the challenges in life and be accountable for our actions, not to seek to place blame others when things don’t turn out the way we want it to be.
Do remember that you are your own greatest enemy. Overcome the enemy within yourself and half the battle is won!
The choice is yours; the battle is yours.

Highlighting problem is not good enough

I have learned much from my boss who is considered successful given the fact he is just 3 years my senior and currently holding the position of executive director of a large multinational corporation. As much as I may find him an extremely difficult boss to deal with many a time, and highly demanding and having high expectations from his subordinates most of the time, I have to honestly admit though he has outstanding and unique qualities that enable him to reach the position of his as of today.

I had a not so pleasant discussion with him yesterday regarding human resource deployment. The discussion mood was tense and at one point of time he felt I was challenging and acting tough on him. As the discussion move forward one of his casual statement and remarks struck me. He said one of the main reasons why his boss likes him is because for any issues that he discuss with his boss, he will provide paths or solutions to the problems.

Most superiors or bosses normally does not like to listen to problems or issues without any recommendations or suggestions to alternative paths to resolve it.
Hence the next time when you wish to discuss an issue with your boss, always be prepared to propose or suggest solutions to circumvent the problem. Your boss may appreciate that and reward you accordingly. That is one of the key factors to have your boss appreciate and value your presence in the organization and thus perhaps help you in your career advancement.

Win and loose

Win and loose are part and parcel of life.
Nobody wins all the time, neither does anyone loose all the time.
Unless we are born looser which I don’t believe anyone is a born looser, winning or loosing in life are by and large within our control and ours for the taking if we make effort to achieve it. As much as we desire to win as often as we can and to loose as little as possible, we should realize that with careful thoughts, considerations and actions on our part, we can increase our chances of winning and minimize losses. Sometimes it is worth to take immediate short-term risk for the greater sake of future gains and benefits. The rich take risks to improve their chances of winning while the poor avoid risks to minimize their chances of failures and loosing. I am sure we have all heard the saying ‘No risk, no gain’ and ‘No pain no glory’.

We must take decisive steps and not to waste time nor should we procrastinate when the window of opportunity comes knocking at our door. I am reminded of a friend who is afraid to part with his money into investing unless he can be assured that there is no risks involve whatsoever. It is absolutely normal for us to win some and to loose some. That’s the name of the game. So long as we able to keep up with winning more than loosing we should count ourselves successful so to speak. This by no means implies that it is okay for us to gamble incessantly and foolishly for we know that the odd is stack against us as far as gambling is concern.

Beautiful sceneries

Attached are some additional photographs of the waterfalls and other great scenic views of Guizhou. You would’ve notice the beautiful rainbow hovering across the waterfall.
It is wonderful sight to behold. China is the land of my forefathers; it is a big country with many great places that one could visit. There are numerous beautiful lakes, ponds, colossal mountains and Great Plains to behold. China has undergone tremendous economic growth in the past few years. It is expected to overtake the US, Japan and Europe in terms of economic might in the next decades or so.

Guizhou

It’s been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. Attached are some of the photographs that I took during my tour of Guizhou, China during the Spring Festival or rather better known as Lunar Chinese New Year.
Guizhou is situated between Sichuan to the north and Yunan to the south.Guizhou is among the poorest province of China. It is one of the few provinces of China whereby the native tribes form the majority of the population. Guizhou is rich in culture due to its diverse tribes. It is a hilly province with breathtaking natural scenic views comprises mountains, waterfalls and rivers that are left undisturbed for hundreds of years.

I had the opportunity to get as close as one could experience the freshness of the air near the waterfall. It smells sweet and the air was clean and wonderful.

One could never recreate such natural force of elements at home except with the SG-2000, the ultrasonic bubble bath.

Nothing much to write.

It’s been weeks since I last updated my blog. Well I have been rather busy of late with work assignments. I also have to admit that laziness and procrastination is getting the better hold of me of late. At work most of the time I am involved with unproductive and non-value added work such as meetings that serve no purpose other than to listen to others blabber away.

Apart from that I almost became history while trying to beat the traffic red light all because my stupid boss called me through my mobile phone while I was on my way to the company! Important lesson learnt: Never talk over the phone while you are trying to cross the traffic.

Rumors have been rife regarding the impact of the product direct transfer (product launch from Seagate Design Centers directly to Seagate manufacturing facilities in China and Thailand) to the future of Design Reliability. All of a sudden it dawns on me that there is no such thing as permanent secure and stable jobs. We should count ourselves lucky if we are able project the company direction for 3 years accurately. Companies everywhere are looking to cutting down operating and expenditure cost, increasing profits by downsizing and by moving operations to countries with cheaper labor manpower.

We must always remember to be prepared for rainy days. Seek alternative source of income while we are still gainfully employed. I am not advocating anyone to do any sideline work during office working hours. We should always give our best to performing and delivering what is expected of us from our employers; we should never misuse nor abuse the company assets for our own personal gain (sideline jobs) during office working hours. Rather we should spend our after office hour’s time wisely. Thus instead of idling away our time during the weekends why not make it point to building up our part-time or sideline income business? What part time income business can we do? There are plenty of business and part-time job opportunities for the taking if only we care to look for it.
Consider those part time businesses and sideline projects which yields reasonably return investments with regards to the number of hours and efforts that we invest in.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is just around the corner. It’s pretty tiring to tidy up the house, mop the floor, dust off the dirt, clean the windowpane and etc. House chores that seem so simple to perform are easier said than done though. Well, there are still couples of things that I need to this week before I go for my holiday tour during the festive season. That’s all for new till then wish everyone a prosperous and happy Chinese New Year!.

Bachelors more prone to get aids?

Time sure pass quickly. I celebrated my birthday alone with cakes and tidbits in the evening. Poor Richard. Was a bit frustrated the day before yesterday when I was informed by my AIA insurance agent that I had to go for medical checkup with regards to the AIA investment fund that I sign up with about two weeks ago. I was rather upset with the AIA policy that states all new single male AIA policyholders of above 35 years of age must undergo compulsory AIDS blood test screening. I waited for almost 1 hour before I get to get the blood sample collection and other medical test done. To aggravate the situation, there was like seven or eight patients in queue the clinic to see the doctor.
Most of the patients were coughing and sneezing incessantly.I wonder if those married male above 35 years of age would not go hanky panky and go astray somewhat. A significant number of married males contracted aids through unprotected sex with other women and in doing so ended up passing the disease to their spouse. So much so for single male potentially having higher probability of contracting aids as compare to married men.

Tall people earn higher salary than short people?

Is there any truth with this statement?
Recent survey and research indicates that taller people earn more than shorter ones, with an extra inch of height associated with a 1% to 2% increase in income.

http://yahoo.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2007-01-26-skin-tone-study_x.htm?csp=1

http://www.slate.com/id/2148759/?nav=navoa

Furthermore there are also research findings that indicates taller people are smarter therefore earn more money. Is there any link between height and intelligence?

Do you agree with such research findings? I bet some people in particular those who are not so tall or diminutive may probably find such research conclusion to be offensive and discriminatory? What about you my dear reader and friend? If there are indeed any elements of truth with such findings then I suppose many people will conclude that life is not fair after all. Most Caucasians are taller than Asians. Does that mean Caucasians are smarter and richer than Asians?

Well, my experience within the current surrounding environment does indeed indicate that there are some elements of truth with such findings. My immediate superior is taller than me and so are many of the company directors who earn at least two or three times my monthly pay. Most of them do seem to be slightly taller than me, at least it seems. On the other hand I also do know of many successful entrepreneurs and businessmen who are by inches shorter than me. At times I do wonder that perhaps taller people should be less intelligent since it takes longer time for the heart to pump up supplied oxygen cells and blood to the brains of tall people.

For those who welcome such research findings, for you ladies out there, get yourself a tall husband if you want a more stable, successful and secure family life.

Hair care tips

Here’s some simple hair care tips to keep your hair in healthy condition.
Avoid applying shampoo on dry hair. Use mild warm water to rinse your hair off dirt and other pollutants first and thereafter apply shampoo. If you have oily scalp it is important to avoid using hot water to rinse your hair because it will excite your scalp to produce excessive oil from the sebaceous gland.
Take the opportunity to massage your scalp to stimulate blood flow around the scalp while you are shampooing.
Blood circulation in the scalp is important and helps to keep our hair healthy and strong. Always remember to use the tip of the fingers to clean and massage your scalp instead of using your fingers as it might bruise your scalp and damage your hair. Always remember to rinse the shampoo off your hair thoroughly with cold or mild warm water and tower block dry your hair when you are done with the rinsing.

Show me the money

I rang up one of my ex-colleague a few weeks ago. We chatted over the phone for quite awhile and before I hang off the phone I took the opportunity to ask him if he is interested to consider exploring business startup opportunities. Immediately he asked me to show him the money before he would ever think about venturing into any business startup deals. There are many people out there who feel the same way just like my ex-colleague, people who feel that they need to have the money to begin with.
I beg to differ in opinion though. We don’t need to be great to start; we certainly need to start to become great. Well anyway, this is just my personal opinion, food for thoughts so to speak.

The times of your life

Time sure pass quickly. It is wonderful and sometimes kind of funny to take a look at yourself way back when you were just a kid. What better way to mesmerize and recollect the past by keeping photographs and photo shots of yesteryears? Thanks to the advent of digital technology we can now scan and digitized photographs for archive purposes.This is exactly what my younger sister did. I was surprised when she passed me a CD containing JPEG files of the family. I suppose you could guess which tiny tots in the picture is me cant you? Cant exactly remember how old I was when the picture was taken, I suppose I was probably around 3 to 4 years old. In between I like the song written by Paul Anka named ‘The times of your life’. I am reminded of my earlier childhood years each time I listen to the song.

Permanent base on the moon

Well it’s being quite awhile since I last update my blog. Time sure pass quickly. One of my favorite sci-fi television series is ‘Space 1999’. Back then during the 1970s when ‘Space 1999’ was popularly shown on TV, the year1999 seems like a far distant future where it seems highly probable that man may someday conquer and dwell on the moon on permanent basis. The author and inventor of the ‘Space 1999’ TV series would be surprise to know that we have yet to establish any permanent base on the moon. Yes, man has landed on moon since the 1960s. It is now technological feasible to establish a permanent base in the moon so why aren’t NASA or the Russian Space Agency doing so? The answer is surprisingly simple. We may now have the necessary technology and the knowledge to build a permanent base on the moon; however so long as it is cost prohibitive and expensive to maintain such a base, NASA or any space agency would seek alternative cheaper solution to house human in space such as the European Space Station.
The lesson that we could learn from this is that a product or a service has to be economically viable to be accepted and being considered for use. We may have the most advance and high tech product in the world; it would be useless though if the price for such a product is too high and beyond the reach of the mass population.