You want me to help my competitor??

Haha, came back to office after taking a week long break to do my own website, www.chinese-wiki.com. For those of you who are new here, please have a look and send me your comments. Would love to hear from you.

Was going throught the newspaper this morning and here is the headline I want to talk about, "Just 1% of NUS Alumni donate to NUS" Well the result is expected, well in my opinion of course.

Like I mentioned in my previous blog entry. Why most of us do not donate because firstly, those Alumni that donate like Harvard and Yale, their degrees are something that can help to them to seek jobs almost anywhere in the world, because deep in many people's especially employers minds, know that Harvard or Yale grads are one of the best. In Singapore, see if you can use NUS degree to seek an international job. Most of us would have trouble, I would think. This in turn led to the fact that most of the NUS graduates would be working in Singapore, a country with only 4 Million people and anytime you do something bad at your workplace, news travel very fast and the whole Singapore population will know. So do we donate to breed more competitors for ourselves? I do not think so.

Not a lot of people heard of NUS, except what they would associate NUS with a large population of cute boys based on a certain NUS School coommercial. People want to be attached to Harvard or Yale no matter what because it means they are the elite and being the elite has its prestige, so alumni wants to donate, to be associated with these Universities.

Ask a lot of NUS graduates and most of them would tell you that NUS is a place where they get their degree, nothing else, nothing special. No sense of belonging. Maybe some of them would say that is where they meet their future spouse and nothing else.

I think there are a lot of work cut out for NUS if they want donation to be "pouring" in, which I do not think so in the near future. And they better be prepared to face the hard facts if they want alumni to start donating, because the 'terrain' they are fighting in is very different from those of Harvard and Yale.

Cheers!

Think all over the place

Well just finished reading the newspaper. Headlines are "Disabled to get stronger financial net" and "High IQ undergrad and five others convicted"

Was going through them briefly and here are some thoughts. In the article it was stated that parents of special needs children does not know how to make their kids financial secured. I think the result is expected. Look at Singaporeans, most of them do not have any financial planning in mind, some of them are struggling to makes ends meet, others are struggling to make themselve materially comfortable, others are struggling to keep their jobs, taking on more and more paper qualifications. So who got time to take care of their financial future when survival or "survival" is always on most people's mind.

The government like I mentioned so many times should put financial planning and management skills as part of the curriculum in schools and university. This is where students "have time" to study and learn about financial planning without worrying about other things. Our education curriculum are too focused on academic and working knowledge and it is not equipping our future Singapore generation with life skills. The other article that I mentioned support my point.

The other article is about an undergrad with an IQ 160 convicted with five other people on credit card fraud. Well, I am still wondering why people think that high IQ people, successful in life (being an entrepreneur) would not commit crime. Well look at the former ENRON boss, who was sentenced to jail for 24 years. He is also successful but where he ended up? Jail! Could it be because of Confucianism? Now I am not blaming the school of thought. But the school of thought advocated that the "gentelman" is learned and through learning, his morals and ethics would be higher. But that is during the time when what they learn are not life skills but how to conduct themselves, in public and private. Things are very different now compare to the situation when Confucianism was initially developed. Nowadays, what people learn ,like I mentioned before, are working skills and knowledge with little time for moral & ethics education and life skills. People should STOP associating high IQ means high Moral Grounds. Very very different now.

Another top stories is the "Pro Family Business" certification. Well another money earning scheme in my opinion. I think Singapore got a lot of different type of certification. Certification this, certification that, then after that money to check and award certificate and more money to maintain the certification. Does business really need such certification in the first place? I think consumers can vote with their money. Those who are not pro family will have lesser customer and those who does will have more. It is the natural law. Why come up with all these certification schemes to add more burden to our local business. You want them to get out of business faster ah, for those who are pro-family? Imagine they have to come up with more resources to maintain the certification. And what would consumer thinks if a restaurant does not have the certification anymore? Certification yes, but please think for the businesspeople as well. Of course consumers are important, but we also need people to provide services as well. Well maybe I exaggerated the effect, but one certification scheme does not kill a business, but several will.

Oh and those of you who are planning to watch "Death Note The Movie", if you have not read the comic series, I strongly recommend you to watch the movie first then read the comics. For those of you who have read the comics but planning to catch the movie. I think you should not because you might be disappointed by it. At least I am, but I will watch the sequel anyway.

Cheers!

Profitability is required for sustainability and achievement to a greater end.

Well, came upon one incident which lead me back to the days when I was doing network marketing. I am wondering is it because of our Asian values which explains why such an incident can come out. I have not heard of any incidents from any Westerners at all.

Well the incident was shared by my friend. I only have a vague idea of the situation now since it was shared to me quite some time back but the actual plot is almost the same. He was consulted on a health challenges and was recommending some supplements to help the person with his challenges. Well the problem is because my friend is a network marketer for a particular companies health supplement, so the immediate question the person ask my friends was "Are you earning from this? Wah, you think all your friend are money printing machine for you ah?" And in the end, he did not buy from my friend and the likely cause if because my friend is earning profits from him.

My immediate response to this was that the person is very naive. :P Firstly, do you think the person is a god ah, can live on air only is it? He is a human leh, of course he need to settle his bread and butter issue. Right? What is wrong with someone earning his keep? You mean between two friends cannot have any business transactions, ah? I am sure you are good "friend" to your boss, why not work for free? Wah very bad leh, earning from your boss! Haha!:P

I think a service is rendered here and moreover my friend help him not because of the profits in the first place. If he does, the I think he deserve to lose this business but he is NOT. This person with health challenges is seeking help and my friend provide consultancy without the condition of buying supplements from him. So what is wrong with letting my friend earn, I am sure he benefited a lot from the consultation which I usually did when I am chatting with my friend.

My friend is doing business in the right way, by placing people first then profits which I think is very commendable especially given his circumstances, most people would look for fast profit. If he is doing business in the right way, why not show support of it by letting him earn some. As the title says, "Profitability is required for sustainability and achievement to a greater end." For a few dollars, you are support a cause that will add value to other people lives many times. Better than you let a hawker who cooks lousy food to earn, right? Because you let a lousy hawker keep on earning $$, he is going to continute cooking lousy food for many people to come.

When one is doing a business, he is not able to run it as a non-profit organization initially. He is still a human being in this harsh world that needs to settle his bread and butter issue. What if I provide you with another point of view, if he is your friends, would you not show support for things he is doing (of course this is limited to things that are within ethics and laws)? You want him to sell you at cost price, then aren't you exploiting your friend?

When I was doing network marketing, I also encountered the same problem. Then I was young and still a greenhorn at doing business. In the end, I wasted a lot of time on these "sceptics" making me burn out fast, but to put things straight, this is not the main reason why I failed in network marketing.

Conclusion here is that, if the person is doing a decent business, one of good character and integrity, well show some support by doing a profitable business transaction with him. He earns some $$ to sustain his value adding business, and you win by getting supporting a good cause and also value add to your life (assuming the prodt and svcs rendered by the friend, has intrinsic value higher than the numerical value you paid.)

Ok need to get back to my website www.chinese-wiki.com

Cheers!

Here think, there think

Waiting for dinner to be prepared so take this time to put some of the thoughts I have now. Just finish watching the news, and in there it reported the man that was killed by MRT at one of the MRT station.

Apparently, the man's family is very poor, having a hard time making ends meet with the two children in their teens and the wife earning very very little. Because the news of the poor family's plight was out on the street, a lot of people came to make some donations. The donations amounted to tens of thousands. Well, it is nice to see people doing charity like I mentioned in other blog entries, but there is one thing I cannot agree and that is people do charity when things are too late. If the helping hand was extended before the man committed suicide, wouldn't the effect be better? If people start doing charity regularly, charity organizations would have funds to help more people, before anything sad or irreversible happens. And what msgs are we sending to other people who are in dire straits? The thoughts of "If I commit suicide in a way that can get the media to broadcast, my family may be taken care of" Do we really want these people to think of that? Well some of my thoughts, of course, and you have the right to agree and disagree.

On the way back from work, well part of the discussion is on a lady. I strongly believe she is smart, and I do believe she has the potential to achieve more later in life. People ask me why I think that way, but well, I would like to put it in words, but I can't. What I can say is instinct. And she is one lady, I am willing to bet a few years on it no matter how the current circumstances is. Which explains why I want to concentrate on my businesses for the next few years and see where it goes from there. And she does keep me very motivated to achieve my vision as well, no idea why but that is so. So I guess at the end whether we are together or not, it will benefit me and hopefully to her as well. And thank goodness she is not in Singapore because the haze is really getting quite bad here.

Begin with an End In Mind! Motivated now to do more! Oh and thank you, rain for coming at the right time!Dinner is ready, time to eat!

Cheers!

Here & there thinking

Finally, I have got "Passionate" man off my back. The structure in my department is finally clear. Thanks to a very nice supervisor, she will be my reporting officer from now on, and of course she will be the one who is assigning work to me and best of all, she will guide me in learning statistics which I can use the opportunity to explore how these statistical models can help in business intelligence as well. Think positive and things will fall into place! Haha!

Yesterday, there was a man killed at one of the MRT station which I always pass by on my way home from work at the research centre. It is really hard to imagine that the place you pass by now, may have someone killed hours later or even minutes later. Life is so unpredictable which is why we must live everyday like it is our last, live it to the fullest and most value add as possible, like what my good friend has said in his blog. Each day is a building block in our life. If the building blocks are strong, then the building will be strong. If it isn't, the building will collapse even when there is a minor "earthquake" in your life.

Watch a documentary on Vitamins last Sunday. Well, it said that Vitamin A can cause osteoporosis, but I think they generalise it, because actually it is talking about one form of Vitamin A which is retinol. There are two types of Vitamin A, beta-carotene and retinol, and from what I heard from my good friend and nutrition expert, it is retinol that has the potential of causing osteoporosis because it is actually toxic in nature. A documentary should be as objective as possible, how can they generalise it? Retinol is Vitamin A but Vitamin A may not be retinol. Same as saying that a square is a rectangle but a rectangle may not be a square. Very misleading to the viewers. Thank goodness, I have a bit of academic background so I was not mislead. Scary! And the ironic part is that the title of the documentary is "Truth about Vitamins" :S

Anyway, it is the start of a new day! Time to work on my website and learn more about this world! :D

Cheers!

Thoughts here and there

This guy is really testing my patience here. Everything that I do seem to be wrong to him. And he seems to be finding and making opportunities to 'scold' me. I already try my best to remain very calm talking to him and being objective in judgement. Grrrr.....

Oh, one friend is flying off to Australia tomorrow. Well have a good trip, bon voyage, have fun! I wish I could say it to you personally but circumstances does not allow. I would be happy if you get me something. :P I will definitely pray for your safe return. See you when I come back from my week long break.

Was just wondering, as we grow our network bigger and wider, the probability of getting caught in situations where it involves two best friends on each side of an argument would increase. Quite a difficult position to be caught in, in my opinion. Of course such a thing, has not happen to me as yet, but if it does, how shall I handle the situation? Is there a standard operating procedure? I doubt so. Hmmmmmm..... base on what values and principles should I resolve the situation?

The basic question would definitely be "To help or not to help?". And "How to help?" would be the next question to ask if the answer is "yes" to the first question. But how to help? :S I better think how to diffuse such a situation if it happens, so at least can improve it fast enough. Back to the brainstorming room.

Well another day has ended for me, a fruitful one indeed since I am able to work on my website, re-adjust my focus and of course a good dinner with friends help to make a this day great! And nope, "passionate" man still did not spoil my day! Haha!

Cheers!

Don't you feel bored at all?

Just came back to the office I worked for the last two years. Wednesday is the second anniversary working here. (Friends, cannot ask me for treat hor, nothing worth celebrating anyway. Haha!)

As usual, the moment I came back, "passionate" man gave me things to do. I have no problem with the things he give me to do, but he keeps on bringing up the same old issue of me handing my work on the last minute, does not allow time to tell them face to face what are the things done and where are the files. Hei, even if I wanted to, you left so early while poor me stayed back to finish the work before I go for training leh . And I sent an email to say where are the files what, don't tell me you do not know how to read English. If that is so you tell me lah, I can send you a Chinese written email.

Doesn't he feel tired? Or he lack creativity or is that the only thing he can use it to 'scold' me? I was like "What? AGAIN?" So this time round, I could not be bothered to argue with him, just keep on saying "Yes, yes, yes. Is that all? No more? Can I go and do the work now?" And it works! I think he is looking for someone to argue, so now I know. Just keep on saying "Yes" and then later do what I want. :P

Yesterday night was watching the first episode of latest season of The Apprentice. Just in case you are wondering, yes, our TV station sucks. The season has ended in the US for a few mths, now then they show. Pathetic. During the boardroom, that lady call Summer really deserved to be fired. Like I mentioned before, there is always a time and place to say something. A particular sentence's effect varies with time, place and the person you are talking to. It was so obvious that Mr Trump was going to FIRE Tarek, so why not shut up so that you can have another shot at being the Apprentice. We are talking abt a shot at US$250,000 per mth and working in a large corporation. Would do almost anything to save my own skin. In the end, her stupidity saved Tarek instead. Mr Trump must have seen potential in her that is why he shifted her target to Tarek because he is the 'easy' target as a project manager. Well, who to blame?

Now after the chat with my good friend about using thoughts to achieve success, it seems that my pursuit for the elusive piece of jigsaw puzzle (it has been a long time since you heard this right? :P) seem very trivial now. And I always feel fresh and enthusiastic to take things up. In fact, my thoughts are not on the puzzle piece at all anymore. Things will fall into place when they need to. So at the moment now, since there are so many opportunities on hand, I want to concentrate on turning them into something concrete and that means picking up new skills. Great! Haha! Let's see where I will be 2 years from now by putting my focus on my biz and investments.

Oh today, one friend of mine called up to ask me for biz advice, haha, quite surprised though because this friend is already into business while I am only a greenhorn in the business arena. But I am glad to be of help. At least it offers me a chance to revisit by business knowledge and also know where I lack so I can read more about it. It always feel good to help people. And at least I know I can add value to people's life. Hmmm.....maybe I should set up a small biz consultancy firm. Haha!

Cheers!

Charity pays in many different ways

I just realise I have so many work on hand I need to clear. Business process and systems to work out, websites to work on (For those who are interested please have a look and feel free to give me comments: www.chinese-wiki.com), books to read, training materials to go through. Arrgghhh..... so many things to do, nope, I am not complaining that I do not have time for them. :P Since becoming a freelancer now, I realise I should really manage my time well, because I have just make a direct link between time and money. Tough balancing act on hand now.

Well, it has been more than 20 hrs since I participated a charity relay run at my office. Who wants to know how a jelly felt like can come and touch my legs. Hahahaha! But during the run, I took up the challenge of jogging the full distance, but alas at the end of the distance, a drop of concentration and I walked for a short distance. Damn it. I was not able to overcome that challenge. :S Anyway, it felt good after run though because I recover from my flu, very strange enough, and also given the fact that I have done something for charity.

This morning while I was going through the newspapers, I come across an article where some volunteers was helping a charity organization to harvest vegetables. So it seems there are plenty of ways to do charity and again it is up to one's imagination. There are many ways to do charity, so go on choose something that you like, do a bit of charity.

I donate money most of the time and strange enough, the payback is sometime almost immediate. It is very strange how this world works, but yes, donate with your heart and it pays. But if you donate because you want payback, the world will recognize it and does not pay you at all. And like my previous blog, like I said, you need to sow first before you reap. If you are the person who reap first and sow little, very soon people will leave you and after then when you realise the law of sowing first, you might need to sow A LOT MORE, compare to when you sow it initially.

Have fun doing charity, and if you are in Singapore, the ST School Pocket Money Fund 2006 is back. Do help if possible, just go to the link below to find out more information.

ST School Pocket Money Fund

Cheers!

Spending Money Wisely (Revised)

Well, recently seen too many examples of people, not using money to the greatest effect, well in my opinion of course, so would like to put my thoughts into it.

Now most of us in Singapore, earns a lot actually compared to our neighbours, but no idea is it because of our education system or because the huge reality sets in once we are working.Wait I think I know why, because many a times, most of us experience increase in the price of necessities with no corresponding increase in value.So much so that we have become used to the fact that price increase in Singapore usually there is no increase in intrinsic value. Thus we seems to be holding to each penny as much as possible. Meaning we decide our expenditure by the numerical value of dollars and cents. For example, when we go to a hawker centre to eat, usually when we heard of the price that is not the usual level, we would immediately reject that choice even before finding out whether it is worth the price or not.

The numerical power of money seems to have taken control of our lives. If that is the case, if you put it in another point of view, you have become the slave to money. What do I mean? It means that the money now dictates what you buy now, but that should not be the case. It should be the intrinsic value of the product or services that should determine your purchase, then later should be the numerical value. Numerical value should not be the main factor to dictate what we buy.

For instance, if there is a health drink that can help maintain your health for a cost of $1 per day, that is very cheap in my opinion because firstly maintaining our health in this modern age is so difficult, secondly, usually these health drinks are already mixed in the correct proportion of nutrients and vitamins and last but not least, most of these health drinks are in powder form so preparation is very easy. Just scoop stir and drink. To me, such a drinks' intrinsic value is definitely higher than $1. That is a small price to pay for better health in the long run. But this is a hypothetical example of course. You have to give a value to it. If the value of it is higher than the value you pay, then the numerical power of money should come in.

When you come to the stage of using the numerical value of money, it should not be difficult at all. This is a time when lack of money is not a problem at all. Think and try to find more sources of money. Relying on your job income definitely will let numerical power of money controls you because it is your boss that will decide numerically how much u get which you cannot do much abt it at all.

This is why I always tell my friends to pick up investment, use your money to grow money. And in this way, you would not be controlled by the numerical power of money. Your money would then become a tool that would value add your life to the fullest. Know what I mean? So start spending money wisely. Money is suppose to be a tool that adds value to our lives, not run our lives for us.

Cheers!

Eureka! I think I might have found it.

Wah this morning when I wake up, the haze has gotten worse. :S. My throat starting to get dry quite fast. Better get a drink of water. Give me a minute ..... ok I am back!Haha! (Crazy leh, this guy, like that also want to write inside the blog.) Well, this is my blog, u can skip the part, but you already read it. :P

Anyway, I was doing a bit of compaining abt in my previous blog that I was not able to reach the goals I set out on time. Which means that things were moving too slow for my liking and I was finding the reason why that happen and any solution for it. The reason was finally found when I was chatting with my good friend.

We were discussing what was the starting point of successful people. And the conclusion reached was all successful man, they started with a thought. A thought that they WILL be successful. Of course, all people can come up with this type of thought, but the thing is people forgot to make it 'concrete'. What I mean is this, in one of my friend's blog, after reading some replies in it, I realise how I can make it 'concrete'. We have to use our mind and heart.

To make it concrete, the first ingredient is to believe you WILL achieve the life you want it to be. Next, you should use your mind to conjure up images of your successful life. For instance, your success terms is to achieve $100,000 passive income per mth. Now you do not imagine the process, what you should conjure up are actual images of what you will do when you achieve that. The key here is this, all these images are easy to imagine but what makes it concrete, something you can really feel and touch is you need to use your heart. You have to attach some feelings or emotions to it. Using back the same example, imagine you have achieved it, and you are going to a country to travel, now you need to attach the feeling of excitement of being in a new country, attach the fun and happiness in it as well. Conjure up more images of you and maybe your spouse spending a fabulous time there. Also conjure up images of you are enjoying a carefree life, reading your favourite book at your favourite spot. Then attach the emotion of feeling great that you are able to achieve what life HAS OFFERED to you to the image.

For me, I conjure up the image, of being in less developed countries helping people, see and feel the happiness of the people I have felt. I conjure up images of me and my wife strolling along the beach, enjoying the sunset. I also conjure up images of me and my wife travelling to other countries, discovering what the world has to offer and enjoying the rich culture and history of each place we visit. Now I used to have these images as well, but the thing here is that sometimes when I conjure it up, my other mind start to throw doubts that I can achieve it. But with emotions and feelings thrown into it, my mind and body can feel the images, almost like it is reality. Once my body is able to feel the 'realism', I get very motivated, and I believe I can overcome obstacles and STRONGLY believe I can achieve what I want. Which explains why I am writing this blog so early! Haha!

Now the story does not end here. You can feel strongly abt achieving something, but you still need another key ingredient and that is ACTIONS. There is no way you can achieve anything without action. Even gambling, you still need to take action like buying a lottery ticket, play cards and so on. Start by taking steps, that the current circumstances allow you to take. Like I mentioned in my previous blog entry, don't wait. Just do what you can do and resolve those you cannot do later, because you never know, by the time when you really need to face it, you might have develop new skills or achieve new resources that can help you overcome the obstacles easily.

I am going to apply all these and ACHIEVE what my life can give me! Reading my friend's blog and having a chat with my good friend, have now 'equipped' me with this new skill now. So guys who want to achieve your dreams, no worries, just do what you can do and you never know when the skill you need will pop out in front of you. And when it does, GRAB it!

Cheers!

Sharpen the Saw

Wah the haze is very bad today leh, really wondering how those people with weak constitution is able to handle it. Do drink more water, my friends to prevent dehydration and try to stay indoors if you have asthma, coughing or sneezing. My eyes a bit irritated but still can bear with it. Haha!

Anyway, wanted to talk abt something that most people who have read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits would know what i am going to talk abt. In life, we are ever so busy with our work, busy until we forgot to 'sharpen our saw' or should I say forgot to increase our effienciency at work, for example, picking up new areas in a certain skill, spending time to perfect a certain skill that is essential to our careers, rest and relax so that we can do our work at a relaxed rather than a burn-out mood and so on.

Recently, I read an article that says that on average, a person has 43 hours a day, compared to 'I do not know when' because of the improvement in technology, boosting our efficiencies, but people have to realise, even when we are using technology to improve our efficiencies, there are still ways which only the human can improve. One good example is programming. 2 or more different program code can derive the same result, but there maybe a lot of difference in them, one maybe shorter and faster while another maybe longer and takes longer time to complete and so on. So we need a human brain to improve the efficiencies and the extent of improvement will depend on how 'how sharp our saw' is. And to sharpen the saw means to gain more knowledge and experience of others. So again like I mentioned a lot of times, we must have an open mindset so that we can continue to improve our lives and efficiency at achieving something. We cannot think that we are perfect with our existing skills cos the world is always improving with or without u improving at all. So we must not have the complacency that our skills are good enough which will never be true at all.

So take time to improve your effiency so that you can achieve many more hrs in one day. It is simple mathematics, if you spend an hour 'sharpening the saw' and you are able to saw a tree faster by 1.1 hrs, then of cos you will sharpen the saw rite? The mathematics in life is of course not that simple but there would be a certain gauge that you have in your heart and mind to see whether which area is worth sharpening the saw at the current moment.

Well time for me to sleep so that I can improve my efficiency during the weekend. Cheers!

Let's wait for the all the traffic lights to turn green before we move!

The haze is back. Well, thank goodness to supplements and exercise, my mild asthma does not seem to be acting up during these hazy periods. Wondering how she is coping, really hope she is coping well. But although I am not affected healthwise, I am affected environmentwise. The weather is so HOT!!! Haha!

Anyway, I just realise that when I go to restaurants with friends, I do not start looking at the price anymore. I look at the items that I want to eat first and then look at the price and decide whether it is value for money. Last time when I have limited budget, I usually look at the price first and then decide what I want to eat. Looking back, such a way is really sad leh. Life could be better and I am glad that I seize the opportunity to conduct training. Having more money on hand really open more options for me.

When I seize the opportunity, there was a lot of scepticism in my workplace, the "passionate" man was saying, you only have one year of experience using the software, you can teach meh. Others was saying, teaching not easy leh and I have to prepare the materials within 2 weeks from course and have to make sure I am well versed with the syllabus. So things got on to a rough start. But like all routes that would lead to success, there will definitely be obstacles along the way. Those who are destined to be successful will tackle them head on, whereas others would just turn around and go back to square one. So I sat down and tackle one problem at a time. Space out my schedule to accomodate time to revise the syllabus, read up books on how to conduct training. Go through the course in my head. Plan the syllabus and many many more. All within 2 weeks. I was defintely nervous at first when I trained but very fast I got into the rhythm and was not nervous anymore. And I got a nice rating from the trainees. Now as time goes on, conducting the training got easier and easier, less and less obstacles along the way. In fact coming back, I have given more than 30 days of training and things are really getting easier and easier now, and I was able to put aside some of my attention to take note of the expression of the trainees during the training so that I can cater to their enquiries faster and clearer.

In life, the opportunity to success is always full of obstacles, if it is not, maybe you are travelling the wrong way. You cannot wait until everything is smooth and steady then you embark on your success journey. No such thing. It is like saying, you want to wait for ALL the traffic lights from Jurong to Changi to turn green than you start your journey. No way ALL the traffic lights will turn green. Same thing, when you meet with obstacles, think how you should tackle it. Or even better, when you seize the opportunity, start thinking what are the possible obstacles and the solutions to it, in that way you are able to clear obstacles fast and achieve success faster.

As many people say, life is never easy. A life leading to success is supposed to be tough, because the rewards that awaits at the end is too immense. And the price we pay to reach success sometime can turn out to be a tool that would lead us to more success. Because with every obstacles we clear, we pay a price and gain a skill that will make us better and such skills can help us achieve more success. So seize opportunity, don't hesitate too much thinking of the obstacles. Grab first, think how to tackle possible obstacles, and when you encouter them, then you think of how to overcome them.

Cheers!

Here is the instruction Manual

Going into the fourth leg of training, and thank goodness my voice is still around and still loud enough. Haha! Yes yes, I have receive complaints about my loudness, I did try to bring it down, because of you know who but it makes me too uncomfortable. So heck it, not worth anyway. Haha! At least, I have an indicator to see if I have good lungs or not. Haha!

Just read a good friend's blog, and was thinking a bit. So decide to write this blog. Anyone know the key to unlocking power?? Well, people say knowledge is power. With the correct knowledge, you can do things fast, efficient and cut down time which is very precious in this society of ours. For example, if you have the knowledge of who are the people that can help you, how you can approach them for help, and how to make them say "Yes" to your request and so on, you would have been able to achieve quite a lot. Now many of us read books, from books we gain a lot of knowledge, knowledge abt people skills, motivational skill, business skills and many many more. But have you ever thought, you have read so many books, if knowledge is power how come you are not powerful yet?? Especially when I have a huge library of books at home, I should have been the most powerful person on Earth, except the owners of Libraries :P

The key to unlocking these 'power' is actually application. Now easier said than done, right? Well when did I say it was easy? Knowing how to apply is just part of the key. The whole key in my opinion is made up of the following:

1) How to apply
2) When to apply
3) Where to apply

How to apply: well, sometimes the knowledge that we gain from books come from a different domain, but because some similar rules still applies so we are able to apply these knowledge, but one must know that, you do not bring the whole knowledge and apply it direct even though there are some similar rules. You still need to make some changes so that it can suit the environment that you are using. And moreover, because the environment we are in has become more dynamic, circumstances can change very fast, so even when you have the knowledge and need to change it to be able to use in the environment you are in, you also have to think and be able to change it VERY fast. So HOW is part of the art of Application of knowledge.

When to apply: Well what can I say. I always believe in timing although this is not advisable in investing. But when it comes to information, I believe in releasing relevant information, when they can derive the largest value. Last time, I used to blurt out everything and in the end cause some hurt to people. After reading Chinese History and Works of Chinese Ancient Military Strategist, I realise when to release information is also very important. The wrong timing of release of information can cause ripples effect which sometime can turn into tsunamis! Haha, right?? ;) That is why one must learn also WHEN to apply, because the consequences of a certain action can change with time and again because of the dynamic environment we are in, the possible consequences can change very fast.

Where to apply: Well most of us, especially youngsters would lament this. Most people would complain, other people never give them the platform to apply the knowledge they have. Just look at me, I want to mix business with Chinese War Strategies and Thinking, but most people would say, "Aiyah, you are so young and never do business, who would give a damn abt what you say?" Most of us are looking for a platform to apply our knowledge but we lack the credentials and so on. But let me ask you something, have you tried to buid the platform?? We are living in the information knowledge. If you do a little self marketing and have a portfolio to show people what you know despite lack of experience and being young, I am sure sooner or later someone would be willing to offer the platform to you. When this happen, your disadvantage of being young would turn into an advantage because since you are young and know so much, what more can be said when you are older? So maybe it is time to quit complaining that you lack a platform to perform, go out there are seek or create the platform.

Only when you have worked out properly the above three parts during the process of applying your knowledge, then the potential power of knowledge can be fully released and be harness to our advantage. Well, my opinion of course, if you know anything that I missed out, do share with me.

Cheers!