We aren't just the few

As much as I would like to believe that I am highly oriented towards success and I'd be the only few that have directed goals, it's actually not that feasible. There are more people willing and wanting to make it big and prove themselves. We have varying degrees of that want some more than me, some less than me. Nevertheless, since I've for a short period of time thought I was the only one, with that intense degree, I've actually been very myopic.

I always thought I was king when I hear people's reply of "I don't know" when confronted with the question of, "so what are you gonna do in the future?" Some people are not unsure, they just don't know how to begin, some have really targeted goals which they might choose not to share for fear of judgement or it may really be just that difficult to start with.

Working with a fellow malay led me to this thinking. He was but another highly motivated to succeed kind of guy which led me to think about how much I would really be worth when compared to other people identical to him. He was passionate to the extent that I would just let him talk without interruption and he'd go on and on. We had difference, but we had too many similarities in terms of goals.

He mentioned how he felt inadequate about his rambling and how many friends whom did not identify with him couldn't be bothered to listen how he shouldn't talk more about that subject. I understood, for I'd experienced it as well. I didn't share anything, I acted like a ignorant fool letting him say everything and judge that I wasn't really that interested in my goal.

I had no reason to. I wouldn't win a thing, I couldn't be bothered to.

So how about the people whom had to hear me preach about my goals not long before? They appeared below me for I was not able to seek their viewpoints in the midst of my rambling, and I judged them. For all I know, they may be looking upon me with their experienced way ahead of me, just listening.

What I do know is that I'm really not alone in my aim for it. Way too many people aim for what I aim and despite the abundance, how do I know, that I can be one of the chosen few? I'll just have to wait and see, as negativity and self-talk try to wrestle me from my goals.

(All that led to this post with no logical sequence. Too much feelings not arranged and unable to be placed into exact words, that is what I am feeling.)

Starbucks' culture

I love working for Starbucks, even though I hate the pay. There's one thing that makes working in Starbucks a very pleasant one and that is how they do not contradict the culture they are trying to cultivate. In a few companies, salespeople are told to collaborate only to have the company rate their promotions chances based on their sales, which literally tears them apart. Such kind of contradiction is not one I can find in SB.

SB is about putting partners above customers, and just saying yes to all customer needs as much as we can. We are probably talking about service to customers more than profit.

The first part is easily exemplified by this example. What would you think a wine company would do if the promoter breaks a bottle of wine? Would he be forced to pay? Would he be black listed? Just the other day, I was handling food and due to my carelessness, I dropped a tray of muffins. There were a total of 9 in there with a total cost of $27 to be. I wasted company funds of that amount. I was definitely regretful and it was done in front of my fellow partners and managers. They probably knew that it wasn't on purpose and they did not make a fuss of it nor ask me to pay for it though the wastage was all due to my one person's carelessness. To me, they understood how by making me feel degraded, I would have less performance and be unable to deliver the Starbucks experience.

At POS areas, where cash comes in and out, shortages are not a uncommon things. I still remember from a friend that at NTUC, if the cashier cashes in the wrong sum, she would pay the shortfall. Not at SB. Once I had a shortfall of $4, due to some slight confusion and they accepted it, and never did once bring it up to me. Imagine if they would argue penny for penny and I would have worked almost and hour free labour. You would think I will never do POS ever again.

SB emphasis is on providing legendary customer service. Just today, a single customer argued that both her drink would be a grande size and we were rather confused since the order was called out differently. When I asked to see her receipt, I noticed that she was wrong and that a grande size would cost her more. I immediately asked to change her drink for her to her requested size and I made her happy and she smiled before leaving even though I could argue that she place the wrong order. Was I punished for giving the wrong drink? Did I have to pay for the wrong drink? No. SB puts its responsibility on its partners and being empowered, we can do good to fulfil SB's aims.

I wouldn't have noticed this if not from a news about $1 coffees in selected stores in Seattle. Note that in all other SB's there would not be this promotion, and definitely not in Singapore. What hit me was that if a customer insist on that cup, we would "just say yes" and give that cup free to the customer. That really brought me thinking and I realised how the whole culture of SB is suitable for itself and doesn't back stab its self. I feel fortunate working in SB.

Lessons from The Apprentice

I have been watching The Apprentice quite abit after the introduction to it by a friend a while back. I'm starting to like it as I get to see people and people's interaction and the possible conflicts and then when they get interviewed, the parties normally let out all they can. It's probably identical to how we all function when we get projects.

We may get uncomfortable with how the person says or does something but we keep it under control thinking that it's no use letting out all steam and pretty soon it becomes difficult working with one another.

When troubles come, I've always thought that thrashing things out would be a good way to solve it, but from the way the show depicts it, it doesn't seem to help. One party will be less outspoken and will be shadowed and he or she will not feel that she had been thoroughly understood. Problems will still continue to ensue.

When we have conflicts with a single person who is the source of all negativity, normally, the team leader has a role to do something about it. He will pull the person aside and try to get things clear so that conflicts will happen in less occurrences. Apparently one less outspoken person did just that. He was the project manager and he pulled out one negativity king and tried to set things clear. I realised that for him, that didn't seem to work. He however, never sought to understand the other party's viewpoint.

I do realised that in a team setting, delicate balance is needed. Talk too much or contribute consistently to no good ideas, and you're out. Be too quiet and contribute not enough, and you're out. Be uneasy around and unnatural around people you work with, and you're not going to last. One setback may lead the team to always set you aside, and you will be made to feel unwanted. At least, that's what one team did to a non-stop blabbering and non-producing guy.

Sometimes people have hidden agendas in doing something. For example, Marshawn had not wanted to put on the costume and she thought that failing to present well might lead her to be fired, and that's a valid point. That however was not known to the team. The team thought she gave up on them, and she quickly got fired. When asked to justify all that, and why she refused her duty, all she said was crap. The real meaning of all that calculated acts was never revealed, pretty similar to how some people seem difficult but they would never seriously and truthfully tell you why. They definitely have something to do in them, but they would never tell you.

Steve Jobs

I've been reading a book named iCON which is about Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is a founder of Apple which started Ipod, Itunes, etc and I find the way he works amazing, irritating and immoral.

According to the book, Steve had an uncanning ability to inspire and he is a master of impossible goals. In one incident, he came into the room, threw down a telephone book and insisted that the technicians came up with one design similar size to the phone book and he set a deadline of a year, when no hardware or software for that computer was already available. Although impossible, they eventually made the timing.

Steve was immoral. He severely overworked his employees. He declared under cheers of his fellow employees this: Working 90 hour weeks and loving it! You'd expect that employees under him would have high pay and benefits to keep them going in this manner. You'd be wrong if you thought that Steve was fair. Apparently some of the supervisors had lower pay than those new-comers who came in later. He denied stock options, which gave ownership to the employees to people who helped to make Apple a success, and alot of totally selfish decisions. How did he then manage to keep them working when they weren't getting paid? He had a definite charisma. He could seduce them into his way of thinking and be so involved in it that they for a period of time wouldn't take so much notice about their paid and other results. Nevertheless, you can imagine the roar they created when they found out the truth.

Steve had a unsatisfiable need to be important. Although the founding people were Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, and an array of smaller people, when Apple became successful, he took almost all the credit even as he created many problems through his stubbornness and solving few. His personal Macintosh team was so disgusted by the way they were not even recognised that in years to come, only a handful stayed under him.

Yet, if you read how Donald Trump depicted his way of dealing, and qualified himself as a master dealer even to write, The Art Of Deal, you'd realised that Steve Jobs unruly methodologies made Donald pale in sheer comparison. When Apple was still new, they couldn't afford their own storage and had to store it on an external company's storage. One day, the data crashed and all was gone. They had to choose between an old backup or starting afresh. They chose the latter. They requested the company to replace with the old backup to which the company refused. The rationale was that they had been late in payments. Steve being the way he was promised to pay on one condition; which was if the head came over and collected the payment himself. The head didn't want to, but it was the only way to recover payment. Steve managed to convince the head to put up the old backup before coming over.

The team hurried to download the file, and when the head came, Steve refused to pay. He was now no longer dependent on the head. The head had no choice but to return empty handed and fuming.

I know more from what I've read from the book, but the methods Steve employed are simply beyond what I can do. Yet, I look at Steve, on the side of his determination, his charisma and even his gut feelings of doing things. You'd need to be an absolute cushion to be able to work with him.

Jolt

It has been quite a hectic week for me. I've been working back to back almost everyday starting from Tuesday until today where I finally got to rest and splurged all my time on merely sleeping alone. Work has never been that tiring for me while I'm on it and reality that I actually get tired catches up with me when I end work.

As I was walking back home today morning from that shift from yesterday till today morning, totally tired and desperately wanting to collapse on a bed, I thought to myself, what am I doing all these for? What is the real meaning behind it? Despite wanting more financial aid, that probably isn't the determining factor for me working this way I am.

I am myself sincerely fearful of going with the flow and start treating it as a routine, which if I do, probably will lead to my demise. My demise refers to the fact that I'd stop growing as a person and stop learning, and anything that stops that basically is a zombie.

I have always stood my ground. I wouldn't forget why I joined Starbucks for. I could have chosen a better company or a higher paid one, but I chose Starbucks. I came there to learn, and for the first part, I did really try my best to learn. As I now approach proficiency with whatever I've learnt, I wonder, if the routine of my daily work has caught up with me, such that I now forget to start learning and continue growing.

Nevertheless, that brief moment of self-consciousness has jolted me back and I now know why I'm trying to be nice, winning people who dislike me to my side, why I'm willing to be so poorly paid, why I am reading all the books, why I am willing to travel so far and all. I do need to control my thinking and so I can steer myself into the hands of my destination.

acknowledgement

Reading the fantastic book by Norman Vincent Peale made me conceive this idea, of what I'm gonna start practicing soon.

The author had said of worrying and holding grudges and how they harm you, and I totally agree with it. We all know that if we get angry our blood boils and our blood pressure increases. That's no good to our body. In addition to that, chemicals get released into our body and our body takes damage. In addition to weakening your immunity system, you live a tiring life. I know how the drag of every day's life bores us, and as we get on with the monotony of life, we repeat our actions without thinking and get less and less personalized, without any sense of human undertones.

Every phone call to the service center to the agent is just statistics to complete his base call, there's no personalized part of it and you don't feel any better calling them for help. Many a day we don't recognize other efforts people do for us and we hold grudges for whatever little petty issues that happen to us, no wonder that the whole world seems against us!

I'm gonna try, to thank everyone for something they've done for me every shift. I know that they definitely will do something nice for me and I'm gonna acknowledge it. I'm going to let people know they feel appreciated and that I love them for who they are. I'm going to show love to everyone, so that in turn they will show love to me. And of this in work, I will not forget to show love to my everyday family members friends and girlfriend. I will seek to be the person others thirst to be beside since I am so encouraging and positive.

I believe I will find joy in doing so rather than holding grudges inside of me which I cannot release.

My Train Rides.

The book recommended by Donald Trump written by Vincent Norman Peale is absolutely amazing. The book name is The power of positive influence. The book is totally amazing. Despite the fact that I can barely recall the contents in it, I felt totally amazing while reading the book. It kept me feeling so high.

I often tell fellow partners that I live in Boon Keng area to which they inquire.. why? why so far still come Changi Airport? I don't know how to answer them the real reason behind that but I just tell them that it's because SB-A2 is fun.

I won't refute that I came primary because I wanted to get experience in coffee service and I wanted to learn and experience the stress of fucked-up customer which I just did and it made me feel really drained. I in fact treat the journey as a good thing. During this time, I get to catch up on lost sleep, just before reaching SB-A2 occasionally, and more importantly, do my reading and listening to my MP3. My music collection is only around 45 songs but they contain some of the best songs I appreciate.

Songs like ALONEZ, sen no yoru wo koete, You raise me up, and some other songs really boost my morale and make me feel wonderful. My songs are really meaningful to me. Some of them actually describe the ways to success, and sorts. When I sing the 2 japan songs I have it never fails to raise my morale. I guess I've it pretty anchored to good feeling.

I enjoy my journey there, and I enjoy listening to music while reading the books. Though sometimes I can't last through the long journey, I set timers so I won't miss train transfers. And SB-A2 has some wonderful people. People who really make me feel good are people like Ian, Fikri, Jackson, Danial, Charlene, Ariff. Seriously, sometimes I feel so glad I have them. The rest of the partners are just fantastic, always willing to help and even to include me into their groups. I'm new but I'm definitely welcomed there.

My journey to work definitely is worth it.

Momentum

Momentum to win.

I just finished reading a book by Donal Trump titled Trump 101. In one of the chapters, there was this anecdote that happened to him:

William Levitt was a master builder of Levittown and was literally the king of 1950s. He would literally come up with new projects and made a lot of money on them. Finally he decided that he would sell his company and he did, to ITT for 100 millions. Then he made some terrible mistakes.

He retired.
He married the wrong woman.

Then ITT called. The executives of the company couldn't handle the company. They had bought some new land and didn't know some details like zoning so they sold it back to Levitt who thought he got a good deal. He went back to business and proceeded to go bankrupt.

Donald saw him at a cocktail party in 1994. He was alone in a corner looking defeated. Even though Donald didn't know him well, he went forward and greeted him,"Mr Levitt, how are you doing?"

"Not good, Donald, not good." Then he said,"I lost my momentum. I was out of the world for 20 years, I came back and I wasn't the same."

I have little business experience hands on, but from what I've read, running a business is same as anything else in life. To begin a business, it take courage to overcome the inertia, and it proceeds slowly in terms of turnover, before exponential results return. I think that exercise would be a good comparison.

When you first start running, your legs are barely warmed up. You feel like quitting even before you've started. You feel like giving up. This is the inertia we experience. We can't procrastinate and stop running, so we go on. Few minutes into the run, our legs start to warm up and we're able to maintain the run without much difficulty. Then adrenaline comes into our body and we feel the power and our exponential results come where we can increase our speed easily without feeling very tired. Then as our stamina drops, we feel tired and we slow down. If we can't take it anymore, and we start walking, our momentum is broken. If we start again, it'll be the hardest thing possible in life, and we will stop again soon even we've just started.

Momentum is that important. I believe that is also the reason why we're often told to have only one goal in our life at any one time. Have too many targets on the list and you'll waste time deciding which to shoot. Besides, you'll lose the momentum you might otherwise have as an ally if you persist and complete one before embarking on another.

At one point of time, where I was in a networking company called NTI, I couldn't produce results. The basis was simple. I'd just need to call and close the sale. But I couldn't. I was fearful of rejections and I push aside everything related to it. My reason for being there was to make money, but I decided to pursue everything else. I made sure I practiced public speaking, eliminating fillers, make new friends, read new books, all but forgetting purposely to make those calls. I could never get a single sale, and the reason was pretty obvious. Out of fear I threw aside what was most important to do, and did everything else not so important. There was no focus, and I never really accomplished much.

But I now understand the importance of focus, and when I attempt something, I try to make it my priority. I make sure I follow through one thing before another. Once I'm done with it, then do I go down the list and do the next solely, complete it and then move on.

A barista's thoughts

Today was my first day with Starbucks and I did my in store training. As much as I tried to fulfil my 8 hours with much energy, I ended the last module rather lethargic. It was however obviously that I was paying much attention to it.

When it came to the role of busing, it was really easy task. I was quite competent in fulfilling the role and even managed to speed up some of the processes with much productivity. Then came the timing where Samsuri wanted to talk to us, and we gathered. After a brief AAR, he came to note the name on my green apron: Rani.

So I came to realise who Rani was. She was basically a Undergraduate who was with Starbucks before me. She resigned slightly before I did. She was only 3 weeks into the programme before she left. Her claim was that it was not befitting of her to do what O levels and Poly students could do. I rather much disagree. It's not the job you do that is speaking of that. To me, she'll never be of much greatness if she sees things that way. She decided to join Starbucks but couldn't follow through. What does this say of her character? Not too good I guess.

It's not the job that matters, It's not whether it's degrading or what. It's what you make out of the job that makes you a person of fine character or not. It's how you see yourself in the job. This applies to all jobs. All jobs at this level are basically similar. They are basically task that anyone can do. Being an assistant in a tour agency probably leaves you being the office helper, to buy drinks, photocopy, and meanwhile commanding a higher pay, does not have a higher status than being a barista or digging a hole. They require no thinking on your part. Until you reach a high enough position in the corporate ladder, all jobs are typically similar as in that they are rather repetitive. It's ultimately what you think of the job that describes its role and how you see it. For me, I see a deep opportunity to learn. Being in a barista position means that I have to be outspoken. This is good as my outgoing side is rather buried. This means I get to bring it out, to fulfil my role in the course of my job.

I am happy with my performance today. I have 3 goals in my career with Starbucks:

1. To do my best and become a better person and to learn and adopt a positive mindset.
   
2. To obtain a Black apron and be titled a coffee master within my 8 months with Starbucks.
3. To do my best and prove to Samsuri that I can qualify as a full-time barista before his promise of 2 months window period.
   

Being a Black Apron is by no means a easy task. Yet, ever since I have obtained knowledge of its existence, I have always wanted to get it. I thus will have to put in an extra effort into working for it. I have to find out more about how I can do so from people who have already done so.

Starbucks

It's my fourth day with Starbucks, and I love every moment of it.

Starbucks definitely is the best choice I've made. The pay no doubt is challenging, for it's only 3.50 now as I'm training, but I have no qualms as how much the company wants me to be successful. I simply love the culture and the training they have.

I'm exposed to 2 days of training of foundation groundwork, mostly about Starbucks culture and the work ethnic, and it is definitely worth every moment. Although somewhat boring, Starbucks is providing definitely quality training.

Issues like 5's be's, star skills of communication, Latte method, CDR, are all but some of the powerful methods taught to me. They focus on interpersonal relationships, and these are powerful examples, which can even be used in other areas outside of my work life. I seriously doubt that the training is as intense as any other coffee companies, or even renounced McDonald's.

I love how friendly everyone is on the floor, I love how I'm respected. I love how I'm treasured. I know I'm definitely given a chance, and should I screw up, I will be taught patiently and carefully, and not be left alone.

Their 3 star skills for example are these:

Maintain and enhance integrity
Ask for help
Listen and acknowledge

The one I wish to state with pride is the second on the list: Ask for help.

I won't forget, for my interview how Mr Samsuri asked me: " How able are you to learn from people younger than you, as some of the fellow partners are 2-3 years younger than you, but more experienced than you."

I gave a good answer, but I never knew why that question was important. In fact, the whole Starbucks culture is like this. We ask for help. There is not a manager or partner separation. We help one another. I could address Mr Samsuri as simply Samsuri if I wanted. But I respect him.

Starbucks is really a company I'm starting to love. Definitely, I'd want to be like Starbucks in whichever endeavours I finally end up in.

Give a man a fish

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Chinese Proverb

As I am nearing my ORD, I can feel a sense of mixed feelings within me. I feel a sense of gladness that now, I'm able to start doing what I always wished to, to further improve myself, yet, I at the same time feel a sense of helplessness, as if the world now is too big and too difficult for me. The army has given me too many a fish.

I could do the worst job in army, and no matter what, get my small pay sum every month. Albeit little, I felt I could do anything myself with that small sum of money. Now, I know, I will not get the small sum of money anymore, and it's time to go for work. If I don't, I'll have no money.

There can be no more evil thing than feeding a man for free. There is no tamer animals than lions in cage in zoos. Overtime, they've lost their resourcefulness. They're used to being fed, doing nothing. Their children will expect the same treatment. So we practically got unnatural animals in our zoos. Give them ample freedom and get them to get their own food, and they're going to starve to death.

That is what I feel. That's why I'm afraid. That's because, for just a short period of 2 years, I've never thought about change, NEVER. I've never seen properly, what if this money expected and received due fully monthly will stop? I've stopped seeing and expecting change.

The only thing constant in life is change. Many a parables, and short stories have given excess insights to it. Go fish! Who moved my Cheese? are all a but a few books explaining the dangers of getting into expectations that nothing will change.

Why however am I afraid? If just 2 years of conditioning can make me have so much fear, I'm gonna forever be stuck the same way when I venture out in the business world, where once again, I'll be resistant to change. Yet change is not totally a bad thing. If there wasn't change of industries from the steel to the automobile to the electronics, would there be mass production of ipods for us today? Would cars be mass-manufactured? Would cars today be so cheaply obtained?

There can be no more danger than not expecting change and taking that stand all the way. It is more possible to catch a wise wild rabbit slowly step by step building a cage to lure it in than it is to catch it with a cage and a bait suddenly put there. Let me share with you this parable.

Once there was this wise rabbit living in the woods, which had caused problems to the nearby farmers. The farmers wanted to catch the rabbit, but however they tried, it was just too fast for them. They came together and discussed, and decided to build a cage to capture it. They finished the cage and left it there. Days passed and all this while, the wise rabbit kept still. It continued to ravage the crops but never once did it fall to the trap. Helpless, the farmers gave up and decided to look for a wise man. The wise man decided he was literally going to build a cage to capture the rabbit. The farmers looked at one another and told him that they tried it, and it wouldn't work. The wise man however knew what he was doing and stood his ground. He told the farmers to look and wait. The first day, he took a piece of wood and he drilled it to the ground. Beside the wood, he placed the carrots and greens lavishly. The wise rabbit was watching unknown to the farmers. He waited, days, and saw no activity. Tempted by greed and knowing that it was safe, he finally went forward to get the bite. Once the rabbit got out to the greens, the wise man prepared and the next day, he went forward to nail the second totem and the third each day, and soon, the cage was built. The rabbit all this while was led to believe that the wood pieces were just harmless. The day the cage was activated, the rabbit thinking that the cage was harmless, went in to get the greens, and just as the wise man expected, he was caught.

She without arm

A wonderful video I've just recieved from my girlfriend, make me ponder on a few issues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

It's pretty obvious what is here. What is truly symbolic of a dare to face a sense of impossiblity. Can you do that if you were in their shoes? I'm not sure myself. I do however know, that is one of the most beautiful things I've seen, against all odds, to accomplish their goals. Like the woman, touched silently in the background, I too felt that agony, I felt I could see how much they've put in, how they've perserved.

Someone who've seen this video commented on this:

This lady was a dancer since young & had lost her arm a few years. Was asked to coach a kids dancing group & she realized she could not forget dancing. She heard a guy had lost a leg & she looked him up & persuaded him to dance with her. He reluctantly agreed as he had never danced & with one leg! She started to teach him & frustration broke them up a few times. Eventually they overcome it & started training. They hired a choreographer to design their routines & beat others in the competition.
-nemesuave

I do not know how valid is what he said. What I do know is, if ever so this is true, that is one of the greatest victories in life! Many a time in life, we stand in awe of what life has for us. We give in when slight troubles strike us. But, we must not forget, that only true demonstrations of faith and courage and ability to move on can be seen. Failures are dozen for a penny. What is truly touching, what truly makes us human, what truly gives us and makes us humans, are our ability to act against our animal instincts. We know what we have to do, and there shall be no way of stopping us. That is what truly makes us great.

I stand in this place, and declare my regret of what I lack that they demonstrate. Although I just failed in my driving test due to a recent test, and managed to get not discouraged but remain rather positive, I feel what I've accomplished dulls in comparison to what the couple has achieved. If I was ever in their shoes, I wonder if I can accomplish what they've achieved.

I know which way I have to go, and that surely might trail what they've trekked. But let us keep them in picture, of the agony the woman demonstrated in our hearts. With that in mind, let's face all roughs in life with the same attitude they put into dancing.

Motivation

Motivation comes after action.
-Zig Ziglar

Often, we hear people give excuses, I planned to exercise the whole week, but now I'm too hungry, I guess I'll start after my dinner. After dinner, I'm too full to run, I'll rest a bit. While resting, it started raining, and that spoils my plan totally. I really planned to run. I guess I'll do it tomorrow. And tomorrow never comes.

The problem isn't that you're too hungry full or if it's raining or if there's a fire next block. The primary reason is a lack of motivation. Motivation, however does not come easy. There will be no motivation, before some action is taken. During a run, The starting part is the hardest, with the continuing part becoming more pleasurable and easier. Wanting to run does not cause your body to release endorphins, which make your run less painful. It's only after you started running do your body start releasing these pain-killers.

As there is momentum to a moving object, things get easier while they are moving and the starting is really the hardest, called inertia. So never complain when it's difficult to start, that someone should motivate you. No one is able to. You have to get started before you'll feel some sense of motivation.

You don't pay the price for success, you pay for the price of failure.
-Zig Ziglar

That is indeed true. You don't pay the price for success. You enjoy the fruit of success, but you pay the price of failure, if you fail to attain your goal. When you want to have a healthy lifestyle and you embrace a plan to work towards it, you don't pay the price and pain of having to run everyday. You enjoy days without feeling ill and increased alertness and productivity. When you fail to keep fit, you pay the price of suffering from illness.

There is a reason why people always fail to attain their goal. They believe that nothing in the world is free. In order to get something, you have to give up something, which is thus the reason why you pay the price. In that kind of minimalist thinking, there is not enough for everybody, everyone has to fight for their small share of the prize. That is not true. Think big. Think abundance. Instead of fighting where you think is limited, why not seek out "Blue Oceans" places, where no competition is, and make your own share as you define it. Just for example, money is not limited. However, people tend to think of it as limited and hence the thinking that I have only so many ways to go about earning it. In an event I'm tight for cash, and I have no other way out, there would only be these many ways to get money; robbing someone of their earning or other deprivation methods to get money from others. Why not think about creating your own share?

Know the company The Body Shop? Founded by Anita Rodrick, it was only an attempt by a mum trying to earn money to support her child to go to school. Had she see it as a minimalist, for her t o have money, someone must lose it, would we get to enjoy the fragrant shower foam made purely of natural materials?

You Are Not A Barracuda

You Are Not A Barracuda
Posted: 16 Nov 2007 07:46 AM CST
Listen to this story. Sometimes ago, scientist carried out a simple experiment on a barracuda. They put the barracuda into a big glass aquarium. They began to feed the barracuda with small fishes. The barracuda would swim towards the small fishes and in one gulp would swallow the fishes. They continued putting the small fishes into the glass container as good for the barracuda. Then on day the scientist put a glass partition at the center of the glass aquarium. They put the small fishes into the opposite side of the glass aquarium. As the barracuda approached to have it’s food, it would hit against the glass partition. It was puzzled in the beginning, but it kept on trying.
And It kept on failing and hitting against the glass partition until one day, it stopped trying. The scientist then removed the glass partition, and the small fishes were released to swim all over the glass aquarium. The amazing discovery was that the barracuda did not try to go for the fishes. It has been conditioned to think that it will only hit against the glass partition. The sad thing was that, eventually, the barracuda died surrounded with abundance of food. And the moral of the story? Just like the barracuda most of us will stop ourselves from trying just because we experienced failures in the past. We will think that since we failed before, why we should try again since we will probably get the same result. We prefer to die rather than try, just like the barracuda. We have been conditioned not to try anymore because of the fear of failure. To be successful we have to get rid of this limiting belief, and accept a new and empowering belief, “the future foes not equal the past”.This is too right, the future will not equals to the past. What’s past is just history, the future will be different. If you failed before, don’t worry, stand up and try again. It doesn’t mean that you are going to fail all the time. So don’t get hit by the phobia, the feeling of afraid to lose again. Success will not come in the first try. Since from before, we human uses the trial and error method to achieve success. Which means that if you never fail before, you are not going to discover how to success. Therefore, don’t stop finding your route to success.

on my mind

There has been quite a few issues on my mind recently.

I've been confronted by my parents about sunshine empire, the imminent pending of the sale of our coffeeshop and sorts.

He came to me and told me he had 2 issues to settle with me. The first was regarding the recent article about CAD with sunshine empire. He wanted to know about my involvement into it. He wanted to know how much I've put into it, how much I've gotten it back. To me, it felt like an utter put-down by him. I felt like I was told by him, that I've made the worst choice of my life, any idiot could do better, and as a result, I need him to manage it for me. I told him: I don't want to tell you it. Let me settle it myself.

The next was a consultation about whether he should sell his coffeeshop. Normally we would have a good discussion, but, I couldn't talk to him about it. I felt put-off, I felt that, It's not like my decision would be considered anyway. So fuck it. I told him: I think you can settle it yourself, I don't have any opinions. What he said made me think alot. He said: I feel that I'm sure I won't leave it for you, you won't be taking over am I right?

Deep in me, I know, I'll open a cafe, but, I guess, I won't do it on their plot. I guess, I'll do it the way others do. By renting.

Other People's Money

If you look around the personal finance blog world, you will probably notice that most people fall in one of the two categories – those that always save up for purchases ahead of time or those that almost always leverage available credit. People in the first category are careful about their spending habits, have at least three months of living expenses stashed away in emergency savings and are in general prepared for what life throws at them (or at least working towards that goal). People in the second category usually try to gain the most possible leverage out of available credit by obtaining low interest debt and investing it in endeavors that offer better returns. If you ask the question “Should you pre-pay your mortgage?” people in the first category will likely answer “Yes, it’s a huge debt, so get rid of it as soon as possible” and people in the second category will likely answer “No way, stretch it as much as possible since the interest is low and has so many tax benefits”.

http://gradmoneymatters.com/2007/11/spending-habits-that-defy-logic.html

If you can make sense of what is said above, that's perfect, if not, the quote is just talking about the 2 kinds of people who use credit card. One of which uses it to splurge, the credit-card company's best friends, the other uses it to get loans without interest, the credit-card company's worst customers.

It leads me to what Robert Kiyosaki said. He said, "Money isn't dangerous, the investor is." He also said, "There are good debts and there are bad debts."
What is good debts and what are bad debts? Bad debts are debts that take money out from you while good debts does the opposite. Now, you may say, but don't all debts take money out from you? I beg to differ. If your debt is meant to pay for a commodity that does not repay you any monetary value, it would be considered bad debt. Let's say, what if you took a loan to purchase a house and rented it out? Or maybe relevant to this post, take a loan from the credit card, put it in a bank account to earn that small interest and return it before the interest start charging?

By charging to credit cards, you've already incurred a debt. By putting it in bank to earn some money, you've converted it to become a good debt.

If you purely insist on not having debts, be it good or bad and think all of which are bad, you would be losing out on opportunity to deal with other people's money (OPM). If you haven't already realised, the more money you have, the faster your money comes in. If you wish to start a business and you need capital, you take a loan, you've already started to use OPM. The money in the loan does not belong to you. It's the bankers'. If you insist on not using OPM, then how long would it be before you can start a business if you have to save up every cent of it?

In other words, OPM gives us leverage. Never in this world has money been so easily available. Now, we get the 5 mins loan from POSB bank. Before that was 2 hour loan approval. Year before, weeks would have to be taken before approval could be given for a loan. There thus, has never been an easier time to make use of the leverage present, OPM.

imagination

After reading an article from this website,

http://www.firstmillionchallenge.com/the-dreams-young-people-have/

,I realized, and asked myself, how long have I not let my imagination run wild? For just how long have I always done the norm? For how long when I travel, I limit myself to merely taking buses; I could have walked or considered alternatives. For how long when I wanted to do something, I did it based on what came to my mind first without any deeper consideration of other methods?

Recently I went over to Sim Lim Square. I could have taken public bus there, but Since SLQ was neither close nor far, I decided to save my fare. I could have chosen to walk; but I had to carry my whole computer there and it was too heavy. I could ask my parents to fetch me there, but I didn't. I borrowed a bicycle from my friend, and rode there. It wasn't exactly like I expected, but I was glad I did the unexpected. It was quite an experience riding a bike. I managed to combine having fun with settling my spoilt PC. Not a bad experience.

What I'm trying to say is that we should do the unexpected. Think about what you can obtain if you did it in another way. The result may not align perfectly with your expectation, but I'm sure the ride will be fun.

So, on the page it wrote,

If you have just 2 hours a day and $500 in savings, what will you do to accumulate $10k in the shortest possible time?

And I started to think. I didn't think it was impossible. I came up with blogging as one method. I thought that affiliate programs might be another. Perhaps even, with that amount, money can be made through network marketing. I could even write a book to make up that amount. I could make small gifts, Sell them on a festival day for a higher amount, reinvest that amount, and make more gifts for sale.

Which reminded me of this company, which sold rocks. It basically got garden rocks, allowed people to personalize message on it and sold it to them. Not a bad way to make $10000 with just $500

Blue Ocean

In a book recommended by one of my friends Paul, I found some key to how I should change my life. The book is called Blue Ocean Strategy and what does it mean, you may ask me. A blue ocean is a direct opposite of a red ocean. In a typical red ocean, companies compete bloody, slashing prices and offering roughly the same services to attract more market value. In a blue ocean, there is no competition, as it is unchartered water. It's essentially the same as the quote, "Take the road less taken, as it will lead you to new discoveries."

Red oceans are typical. Companies fight amongst each other like no other way. If today the in thing is donuts, I can assure you, in a single lane of shophouses, at least 3 competitors will be together and the whole singapore will have more than 10 unique companies trying to sell the same proven donuts at roughly the same price. Additional companies joining the fray will only cause the saturation of the market and as oversupply occurs, the whole idea about donuts will fall apart, taking along it, the newly established companies. A history of which can be seen in Singapore alone, as with Bubble Tea, Portuguese egg tarts, Apple strudels, Coffee buns, and cake shops. These low entry entities present no barrier to anyone willing to step in and thus, overcompetition occurs.

It is therefore clear that we should all look for blue oceans. The question would now be how to find the blue oceans. If you differentiate from let's say the donuts business and make more varieties, you are still not creating a blue ocean. You are still fighting in the Red ocean, trying to gain more market share. Such a battle is tiresome and meaningless. You might win, but the battle will be a long and worrisome one. So how may I create a blue ocean? A few companies have effectively done it. Think about a hotel business and big names like Hilton or Fullerton will come to your mind. They have effectively competed based on their luxurious suites and each seek to gain more market share by providing a better experience. The market is saturated.

One company I feel that has explored and found a blue ocean would be La Quinta Inns. What is so different about this hotel? The big hotels compete based on price and they attract big customers like businessmen and tycoon, who are able to pay for the luxurious rooms. They have full suites with full restaurants and wedding rooms and recreational machines and purposes. For La Quinta, It did not model itself after them. It took out wedding rooms and other entities that did not earn money for it and made it into a budget hotel away from the market of the big hotel. As a result, La Quinta rose fast to become a million dollar enterprise.

An additional issue I picked up from the book was about competition between alternatives and substitutes. Firstly I have to define substitutes and alternatives. Substitutes are products or services similar to one another. You could choose to watch the movie Spiderman or Superman, or even The Devil Wears Prada. They are all substitutes for one another. Alternatives are of higher level. People watch movies for entertainment so people could effectively watch a movie because of boredom or sing in KTV or go into a lan shop to play some games to relieve some boredom. These are alternatives.

Commonly it is regarded that if I own a coffeeshop and the other guy opens one across the street, he would be regarded as my competitor. If the other guy opens a supermarket selling litre fruit juice in packets, I wouldn't see him as my competitor directly. That is but a narrow side of the view. There can exist competition between alternatives. The reason the customer drinks is due to his thirst. He could give his business to the supermarket over you even if the supermarket is not directly competing with you. With such knowledge, competition is really complex. Instead of thinking, how can I gain more market share from commonplace competitors, We can start to think, how now can we gain more market share that we commonly leave out due to perceived market barriers.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille means rat stew in French. Despite it being a out-of-a-box movie, there were a few points to pick up fro it, unlike the other show The Simpson, which aside being a good laugh, nothing to learn.

Firstly, There were occasions, where Gusteau the fabled chef appeared in the rat's mind. Gusteau was a figure of the rat's imagination, meaning a higher self. This is evident in the secret, where a genie pops up and asks, "you wish is my command". Basically, fulfilling whatever is thought of, no matter good or bad. So if you think about failing a test, the genie or your higher self, thinks that it's your desired outcome, and fulfills it, only to leave you feeling more depressed.

As a higher self, the life must be hard. Despite always looking out for the rat, and giving advice and ideas, what to do, for everything else, he was blamed. However your higher self is after all still part of you and no one likes to be punished for anything. Although not depicted in the show, in reality, constantly blaming your higher self, makes you unable to utilise it in the way you want, since doing so, makes you feel unbalanced.

The famous sentence was this: Anyone can cook. This sentence changed the mind of the girl, twice, as she recalled that sentence, she found herself again. She was a firm believer of that message, and she was proud to defend it, even at the expense of her job. But, she even so, at times lost her belief, even if it was for a while, showing that, not everyone is able to maintain the beliefs all the time, and even occasional lag time occur, what's important is that there are things or people ot bring you back to that state, for her in this case, the book with that line.

That line was also the basis where the rat took up cooking, even under disapproval of his dad, he however ended up doing well. His dad didn't even know how good he was; he refused to believe it and try to shape his son into what he was. No one knows for sure what good things you can attain, but if you do take their ideas of what you are, you will slowly mold yourself into their opinion, nothing more.

Sharing

Just met with Paul. Had a rather long talk for a round 3 hours. Talked about stuff, and lots of stuff, stuff like my personal fears, goals, experiences and difficulties.

Now I know, that my personal fears are more clearly put, can actually be tackled. I just need to focus on them, Since I also know the reason I'm trying my best if for whatever reason that it's not appropriate to illustrate on a public blog.

We have goals, not too common but all that are far far above what we know we can achieve now. We are all working for them, working towards them, and we both don't want to give up on them.

He shared a lot with me, his personal experiences, experiences of his teacher, business experiences, difficulty with difficult people, and how open his mind was.

I also come to realise, how actually, I could just re-read books to gain the knowledge in them, since I missed out quite a lot from the first read.

Mostly importantly, I was re-orientated. I know what I want, not so how to achieve, but revitalised to work towards them, and to do what I know is right, though not really what is most easy at that point of time.

I would be looking forward towards talking with him again, since there's so much to learn from sharing experiences.