The test of a winner is how you can remove impediments to positive changes so that you can adapt to and influence new realities.
Very often, the greatest obstacle to change is not out there but within yourself.
To capitalise on the future, see change not as a problem but as an opportunity to advance worthwhile pursuits.
As the shelf life of operational models and advantages are shortening, be committed to anticipate, embrace and exploit the kaleidoscopic pace of change.
Discipline yourself to let go of the past, and creatively “destroy” your current model, plan and practice.
While others are thinking about what’s next, research possible scenarios on what’s coming after “what’s next.”
Maintain a curious mind to want to know the unknown, and discover the undiscovered. Pursue what’s ahead of the curve and around the bend to stay above and ahead of the crowd.
Proactively prepare yourself for all plausible scenarios.
Transform yourself from being a custodian of current realities to being a creator of new possibilities.
Recreate yourself rigorously and relentlessly to be future-ready and to capitalise on the future.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
Hans Breiter, Co-Director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Centre at the Massachusetts General Hospital was quoted to have said;
“Monetary rewards in a gambling–like experiment produces brain activation very similar to that observed in a cocaine addict receiving an infusion of cocaine.”
Gambling can come in many forms.
Sometimes they can come in the name of business, investment, MLM, career, pleasure, adventure, gaming, and harmless bets.
In essence, you are gambling when you put money and other resources in a venture and you have inadequate knowledge about the venture and skills to manage the venture, and you have no control or influence over the outcomes.
Worst, when you expect to do little or nothing and yet, hope to gain much, it tantamounts to gambling.
The road downhill after that can be very slippery.
I have seen how gambling has destroyed families and the lives of many people.
Many more will suffer because of problem gambling – especially those who believe, “I will never be hooked to gambling.”
If you win, you will eventually lose because there are ample research that show that it’s hard to stop yourself from continuing to gamble.
If you lose, you will somehow continue to lose and lose even more.
To make matters worst, you may even drag your loved ones through the pits of hell.
Don’t believe for a moment you can escape the gambling trap.
Why take chances with your life?
Gambling is one of the fastest roads to hell.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
Cultural intelligence is one of the key intelligences needed to operate in a globalized economy.
And a vital skill to become future-ready and to avoid being disrupted by advanced technology.
To operate effectively in the new economy, it’s important to develop cultural intelligence and the ability to operate in any overseas market and for that matter, in any local market segment that is culturally unfamiliar to you.
In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, learn how to connect and communicate with others in the global community.
Have the sensitivity and competence to collaborate and co-create solutions with people who subscribe to a different creed and custom and are from a different culture, community, and country.
One of the key starting points to being culturally intelligent is to avoid adopting an ethnocentric mindset.
Stop believing that your objectives, perspectives, and ways of doing things are better than others.
It includes making judgments about other party’s behavior based on your own past experience, self-conception, and aspiration.
What works for you locally may not necessarily succeed overseas because of cultural, contextual, and other differences.
Therefore, it’s important to have a culturally-open mindset and a healthy tolerance for and sensitivity to cross-cultural nuances.
Be mindful that when you commit yourself to learn about and adapt to other culture, it will enrich your life.
In addition, it can also help you develop appropriate bridges to other people, and profit from cross-cultural relationships and other resources on a global level.
To be culturally empathetic – and not be culturally-blinded – it’s important to conduct vigorous research, especially about relevant cultural differences and how to leverage on them for worthwhile purposes.
Be humble to enquire about and learn how to operate in accordance to new and unfamiliar cultural cues, expectations and customs.
If need be, “go back to basics” and hire a assistant who understands the local culture to coach you on how to work more effectively with foreigners and in new settings.
By promoting culturally intelligence, it can foster greater tolerance, and trust and harmony between people and among nations.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
In my personal file, I have two interesting letters. One of them is a letter of offer for a job.
The other letter is a letter of rejection for the SAME job.
Long before receiving the letters, I had decided to pursue my career in the information communications technology (ICT) industry.
However, I did not have the right qualification and neither did I have the appropriate experience and competence.
I applied for every available job and was rejected for every one of them.
I did not even get a chance to go for a job interview.
When I found out that one of the top ICT companies was planning to hire a new salesperson through a head-hunting firm, I wrote to the firm.
Deep in my heart, I knew I would be rejected again.
I was not the most suitable candidate. And there were much better candidates out there in the market.
Meanwhile, I muster the courage to call the Director of the ICT company.
It was not the required response in the advertisement and neither was it the normal thing to do.
I convinced the director who’s responsible for hiring the new staff on the phone that it would be worth his time to meet me.
It would make a difference to the future of his company.
I “sold” him like I have never sold anything in my life before. It was as if my life had depended on it.
Till today, it remains a mystery if he was convinced by my well-prepared script, or by my passion, or by whatever that is still unbeknown to me until today.
In any case, he finally granted me an appointment.
When that fateful day came, I was all prepared for the job interview.
It was very clear in my mind what the objective of the meeting was – I must get the job.
I knew how I intended to achieve it – at all costs that were within legal and ethical limits.
I was going for broke. There would be absolutely no turning back for me.
I researched about the company and came prepared with an action plan.
At the core of the plan is me – the corporate Rambo who would go out to the field with a take-no-prisoners mentality and achieve all kinds of victories for the company.
I would charge through the most terrifying terrains and blazed a trail of glory.
After preparing really hard for the job interview, I was dying to hear myself on “D” day.
I was so impressed with my focus and dedication that I would hire myself at the drop of a pin.
During the interview, I presented a strategic plan on how I can improve the company’s bottom line.
For every question that was raised, I had a well-rehearsed response.
I had an assurance for every concern.
At one point when I thought I had lost the battle, I looked at the director squarely in the eyes.
I told him, “I will prove my worth and value to your company.” To convince you that I will deliver results, I will put my wallet where my mouth is.
“Here’s the deal. You don’t have to pay me a basic salary.”
“I will work for you FREE OF CHARGE!”
“Just pay me a sales commission or on a profit-sharing scheme.”
“In other words, I will work for you on a success basis only.”
There was no question in my mind I would offer so much values that the Director would be more than happy to pay me handsomely.
I would become a prized asset to the company.
Still, getting the job was not an easy task and in fact, it was an uphill climb.
I met the director again and again to prove myself and to convince him.
The director finally agreed. He created a new job just for me – a junior salesperson’s position.
I suspected he did it mainly because of sympathy rather than conviction.
Now you know why I maintain such a pitiful look. Lol!
And so it happened that on the same week, I received two letters for the same job.
One of them was an offer of employment from the company.
The other letter was a letter of rejection from the head-hunting firm. The firm was kind enough to inform me that the job had been filled.
I was quite sure the head-hunter did not realize that the job was filled by me.
That was the beginning of a long and arduous journey to live up to my pitch and proposal.
I had to deliver massive values to the company and its stakeholders. I had to deliver required results because results is the only true measurement of life.
To cut a long story short, I was promoted shortly to become the commercial sales manager. Subsequently, I became a member of the management committee.
I became one of the youngest persons in the industry to hold a regional sales and marketing position.
I then became the regional CEO and shareholder of a multinational company. At that point, my boss used to say I was one of the highest paid in the market.
Through this part of my journey, I learned that most people are sprinters – but life is a marathon.
If you are focused on moving in the right direction and if you keep pressing on wisely, you can win any major race.
To open the door to immense wealth and success, you need to unlock it with an important key.
It’s one of the most important keys in your life. A key that can open the door to achieving stable, secure and sustainable prosperity.
I call it the Values Key.
Value-add to whatever you set out to do and to the people and environment around you.
This is one of the keys to achieve quality and sustainable results.
When you offer nothing of value, chances are you will achieve nothing.
If you expect to achieve something by offering nothing, you are gambling with life.
You may go down the slippery road of rejection and failure.
However, when you are able to provide massive amount of value-additions, you will attract more friends and greater opportunities to achieve financial success.
To value-add to others, be mindful that every person is unique. He has unique views about life and value different things in different ways.
Every person has unique needs, wants, and other requirements of the other party.
Therefore you need to define the requirements of the person you are working with. Deliver the values that best meet his needs on an ongoing basis.
Customize a set of solutions, deliverables and other offerings to satisfy and even exceed the expectations of the other party and achieve the highest possible returns and results.
It’s not only about doing the right thing but also about doing the right thing in the best possible way, including the efficiency and productivity of how you achieve desired results.
There are times when the other party doesn’t know what he wants or that there’s a better solution for himself.
Therefore, you have to educate the other party and help him see a better way to fulfill his expectations.
Improve your values to him and also create new values to achieve not just incremental but also quantum leaps of results.
To do that, you have to constantly learn and change your mindset, behavior and modus operandi to add massive values to the other party.
First, you have to believe that you are a person of great value and that you can deliver great values to the people and environment around you.
By loving yourself and being comfortable under your own skin, it’ll help you to become more emotionally stable.
Emotional stability will help you win more friends. On the other hand, if you are emotionally unstable, it will repel them from you.
The more you have faith in yourself and work on improving yourself, the better you can value-add to others.
Besides valuing yourself, you must also know how to appreciate and value others.
Ensure that you let them know that you appreciate them and can add more values to their lives.
The more you value-add to others, the more you will also value-add to yourself.
By the same token, the more you value-add to yourself, the more you will also be able to value-add to others.
It is a virtuous cycle that can only take you to a higher level of achievement.
Decide how you want to value-add to the people around you and your desired outcomes, results and impacts.
Start by developing yourself. Improvement starts with an “I”.
All changes must begin with yourself. Ask yourself constantly:
To achieve better, faster, and more impactful results …
What must I start doing? What must I stop doing?
What must I do more of? What must I do less of?
Put together a detailed blueprint of action and discipline yourself to execute it. Then coach and mentor others on how they can also improve their value-addition and achieve better results.
Build a track record for helping others to succeed in their work and life.
As a result, you will always be a respected and desired member of any organisation, community and society.
Aim to deliver so much values to others and values that are better than what your competitor can provide. As such, your clients cannot help but feel obligated to pay you well.
They are more than happy to continue to do business with you. Otherwise, you can always have a choice to take your business to their competitors because they are more than happy to work with you.
When you help others reach a higher plane in life, they will also help you reach a higher plane in life.
Strive to be a hub and a router of value-additions.
Connect with the right people and multiply your values exponentially by working with others and improving your synergy with them.
Learn how to cooperate and collaborate with them so as to co-create better solution.
Help to receive, configure, and transmit values from individual to individual, group to group, and organisation to organisation .
Develop a network of resources and leverage on system, people, technology, innovation, and other resources to improve your performance and results.
Soon, you will become a magnet of success and a hub to distribute values to others.
However, remember to share values with people who need and appreciate it so that they’ll take action to benefit from the values.
Continue to increase your value-addition quotient (VQ).
Today, you must offer more values than what you did yesterday. Tomorrow, you must offer more values than what you did today.
To do that, you need to stretch yourself. You will never know how much you can stretch until you stretch yourself.
When you do that wisely, you will be amazed at the tremendous amount of potential that our Creator has given to you.
You can continue to improve your value-addition and results. Achieve ever-more and ever-better results with ever-less resources by developing and riding on leverages.
Challenge yourself to see how far you can go to value-add to others and to the environment.
Improve your value-addition through lifelong learning.
To improve your value-addition, you must commit yourself to lifelong learning.
When you bring out the best from yourself, you can also bring out the best from others.
However, just as you cannot be all things to all people, you cannot learn everything and pretend that you can be an expert in every subject matter.
You need to focus on learning what is important to your life right now. Then, learn what is important to the future success of your life.
To do that, you need to spend time with yourself and reflect about life. Take time away from your daily routine and free your mind from the noise within yourself and without.
Only through clarity and a focused effort can you then put together an effective learning plan to multiply your values in life.
In the process of learning, growing and achieving better results, you need to enjoy the journey.
Celebrate the process and achievement of value-adding to others.
When you’re more excited about improving yourself and having fun, you’ll put in more heart and soul to improve your value-additions.
Value-adding on all your endeavors can be one of the most dynamic and exciting commitments in your life.
Obviously, as you value-add to others, do not focus on getting any reward and recognition. Value-add out of a heart of love and kindness.
Do not live to expect anything from others. Instead, constantly seek to be of greater value to them.
For example, do not seek to have the best of friends. Instead, seek to be the best of friends to others.
Do not expect to have the best spouse. Instead, be the best spouse to your soul-mate.
Whatever value-addition that you provide, do it out of love and for the love of people and the environment.
This is one of the ways to reignite the power of love and bring humanity back to where it rightfully belongs – a community of love.
When people perceive that you have a good heart and that there are values in building a relationship with you, they will be attracted to you.
Opportunities will also gravitate towards you.
Success will become a natural milestone in your life.
In conclusion, let’s live for others and not only for ourselves. Serve their best interests and not only ours.
As we value-add for a higher good, the world will be a better place.
Let’s share the message about the Values Key with our friends and loved ones.
Question: How can you improve and increase your value-addition to others and to the environment?
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
Patsy, Lucky, Storm, Canute He goes by the cutest names! He gives a fussy warm feeling To everyone he meets along the way.
A little pet, alright That’s all he really is A little guy who can’t even talk But see, he lends all ears.
He seems to feel what we feel And offers the best comfort With him around days can never be lonely He always keeps us in good company.
Just a little pet, alright But a big heart he has, all his love to give A loyal friend who stays true He cheers you up when you’re blue.
Some people can be cruel Some can be so unkind To a vulnerable and trusting Little pet, little guy.
Time comes when man becomes beast And beast becomes man One loses the heart and soul To him is given.
The Creator of heaven and earth Gave man stewardship over pets For all the goodness they offer Love and respect to them we must proffer.
Pets don’t quarrel, war or argue Pets don’t lie or speak ill They don’t rejoice in our failures They don’t smirk at our foibles.
The heart of men in pets delight To the abyss of loneliness we are spared Life is a struggle, accept it A pet make our burdens lighter to bear.
Can you truly say your heart is golden? When one too many times a pet lays beaten Uncared for, unloved, abused, neglected These damnable acts by Heaven forbidden.
Heed the words of one of our society’s champions, Mahatma Gandhi would say ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress Can be judged by the way its animals are treated.’
The true mark of our nobility and dignity Arises and shines forth when In our hearts we treat our pets With love, respect, and utmost care til the end.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
I love horses and all the wonderful virtues that they stand for. They represent positive values that should be a part of our life.
First, when I think of horses, I think of passion, energy, and spirit.
I see a magnificent being standing tall and proud with heads lifted high.
I am drawn to the beauty of its presence, its powerful body, and the speed and grace of its gallop.
That’s probably why the Chinese wish for each other to have the passion, energy and spirit of a dragon-like horse (龍马精神).
This is one of the wishes that I have for you.
Secondly, horses are sensitive to their circumstances and environment. They are mindful of every sight, sound, taste, smell, and sense.
Their keen sense of consciousness leads them to find places for food, water, and other means of sustenance.
Like horses, my wish for you is that you will always be mindful of the ‘here and now.’ Be fully present – body, soul and spirit – to savor and enjoy every moment.
May you enjoy life to the fullest.
Thirdly, horses are stable-footed and balanced beings. In the same way, to ride life effectively, you have to live it in a stable and balanced way.
I wish for you to have a balanced and well-managed life so that you will be successful in your work and other endeavors.
Fourthly, horses are highly adaptive beings. They are able to adjust to any environment and condition.
They have a strong survival instinct that can help them find food and flourish even during tough times.
I believe this ability to thrive is the reason why the Chinese has a saying, “马到成功.” What it means literally is that wherever the horse goes to in the wild, it can enjoy success.
I wish you, “马到成功.”
May you achieve your dream and every desire of your heart.
In conclusion, may the profound meanings, values, and significance that the horse represents be a part of your life forever.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
As I sat at Toast Box in Kuala Lumpur, the nostalgic ambience brought back fond memories of yester-years.
I spent a lazy morning taking a trip back to my childhood days in my mind.
I saw myself standing at the junction of Kent Road and Rangoon Road once again, looking at my old house.
This is a small SIT flat – a much older and simpler version of the HDB flat.
Many parts were already badly run down, and surrendered to the ravages of time and nature.
The paintwork had long been chipped away.
It would not be too difficult to spot the repairs needed to make it functional like today’s houses.
However, there was an old–world charm about my first home – thoughts of which would trigger beautiful memories for the rest of my life.
Behind and beyond brick and mortar, I could still see smiles and hear laughters.
Recall the wonderful people I grew up with – including those that have left us – and the times we spent together.
During those days, we had no television, computers or any other modern luxuries.
What we had was a playful spirit and a creative mind to come out with all kinds of games and other activities.
We came out with all kinds of plans – both good and bad – and made them happen.
There were enough programmes to occupy a child’s mind for happy memories.
One day, we would be organising a relay race – with obstacles thrown in – around our “kampung” (village).
Another day, we would have a lot of fun catching fishes in “longkang” (small drains).
Now and then, there would be some brave souls who would pop a few of the fishes into the mouth – sashimi-style – to prove their manhood.
And then, we would have a good laugh when they suffered from diarrhoea for the rest of the day.
There were also endless expeditions to capture the best fighting spiders.
I held on to a long-standing myth that the best spiders would be found in the deepest parts of the bushes – bushes that were taller than me.
I had to suffer bites from mosquitoes and other strange insects to catch the next killer spider.
Sacrifice blood literally to catch the illusive king spider.
I was proud to have won our “kampung” fighting spider championships more than once in my childhood days.
At the start of the kite-flying season, the “kampung” kids would busily prepare for the battle ahead of and above them.
Every child would have his special recipe for making the meanest strings to cut loose competitors’ kites way up in the sky.
My secret formula was to dip the strings in strong glue and wax.
Then, I would coat it with the finely grounded glass made from fluorescent tubes.
Just to hold the strings at the end of the arduous process, I would need to wear a pair of strong gloves.
Repeat the process until my strings could even cut through the door. (If you believe me, you can believe anything in the world).
My secret formula was a losing formula.
I have never won a fight in any of the kite-flying seasons. Still, I had a good time.
As if the day’s momentous events were not enough, the “kampung” kids would organise overnight activities too.
We organised night races and hikes around the city (and ‘red light’ areas too but we were too young to know much about “horizontal” activities).
Sometimes, we would buy a cup of coffee for five cents and have a marathon story-telling session at the nearby “sarabat” stall, a push cart of tit-bits stationed along the main road.
As we could not afford to buy more than one cup of any beverage, we would sip on the same cup of coffee sometimes for about three hours.
Whenever we had a new guy joining us, at the end of the session, a signal would be given.
Then, we would suddenly run in different directions.
The poor guy would be left behind, wondering how he could settle the bill.
Of course, we would return after awhile to bail him out.
By then, you should see the looks on his face and hear our demeaning laughters.
I was a ‘key-less’ kid, not a latch-key kid.
My parents had to work very hard and they would never entrust me with a key.
I had to climb in and out of the flat by using water pipes, ledges, and windows.
For overnight activities, I had to wait for my parents to be asleep before I could slip out and I would return before they were awake.
That made for some exciting moments, especially when I had so much fun that I would sometimes forget totally about time.
You could imagine how I had to rush back to beat the “deadlines”, otherwise I fear I would not have a life to live through another day of fun and excitement.
Just like Cinderella, if my parents ever caught me, they would turn me into something that neither Cinderella nor myself would like.
Remember, those were the days when most parents abided strictly by the saying, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”
I have always tried to hide the rod in the hope of being spared.
I might also put my school textbooks to good use by hiding them in my shorts to protect my bum.
It didn’t work.
All in all, I had a happy and memorable childhood.
I would not exchange it for any other childhood life.
Looking back, I’m mindful that all of us can find joy and beauty in our lives if we look for them.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
According to my friend, Robert Kiyosaki, ‘Wealth is the number of days you can survive forward if you stop working tomorrow.’
To me, wealth is more than just about staying alive. It’s about having a life.
Have you heard of the poor man with lots of money but nothing of lasting value? Sad, isn’t it?
The root word of ‘wealth‘ is an archaic English word. It is a combination of ‘wela’ which means well-being and ‘th’ which refers to ‘condition’.
Wealth in essence refers to the condition of well-being. It is a state of the body, soul and spirit.
Wealth also includes physical, emotional, social and environmental well-being.
Being wealthy is to have the resources to live a meaningful, exciting and fulfilling life.
More importantly, it is having adequate resources so that your loved ones and the people you want to help can enjoy a great and purposeful lifestyle.
Wealth is not just about money. It’s also being rich in spirit, compassion, and contribution.
Being rich is to have the money and material possession to achieve the same aspiration. It is just as important to be rich in action, service and contribution.
To be wealthy, you need more than riches.
To me, an asset is anything that grows my wealth. A liability is anything that decreases my wealth.
In other words, your property, car, savings, and other possessions may not be an asset. They can be a liability.
Wealth is a tool to help you fulfill a worthwhile vision.
I believe if you don’t have money, you can still work towards becoming wealthy.
However, if you don’t have a dream, you will be poor forever.
That’s the reason why I believe the greatest poverty is a poverty of dreams.
The greatest problem in investment is not a lack of money but a lack of dream, skills, and confidence. When you have these three qualities, you will be on the way to create wealth and enjoy life.
Henry David Thoreau phrased it aptly, ‘Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.’
Do You Want Money?
I realized none of us – including myself – want to have money. We don’t need money.
Surprised?
If I give you all the money in the world but you cannot see, touch, or use it, do you still want it?
My point is this, you don’t want money. You only want what money can do for me.
In other words, if you don’t know what you want to do with money, you can’t be truly rich.
If you don’t know how you plan to use your money and what you want to contribute to in your life, you will never be totally motivated to create lasting wealth.
You do not want to be like the person who spent the best years of his life to make money and then spent all his money to try and recover the lost years in his life.
Socrates once said, “If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.”
The person who craves for too little wealth is as pitiful as the person who is obsessed about too much. The question that begs to be answered is, ‘What do I want to do with wealth?’
Many people tragically do not believe they can be wealthy. They do not know why they want to be wealthy and what they want to do with their money.
When friends told me they knew what they could do with lots of money, I would look into their eyes to ascertain the truth in their statement.
Many did not believe in what they said. They have absolutely no commitment, the kind of dedication that will make sacrifices and pay a high price to be wealthy.
There is no passion in them. They were uttering merely words.
Hence, it is important to keep asking yourself, “What is My Compelling Reason To Be Wealthy?”
Do you have a purpose that is so important – that you’re so passionate about – that it will drive you out of bed every morning in pursuit of wealth?
If you know the ‘why’, you will find out the ‘how’. It is your purpose that will drive your performance.
Even when you have found a compelling purpose; every now and then, the fire within you will die down. you need to rekindle it.
With a burning desire, your dream of great wealth cannot but must come true.
Will you join me to create wealth so as to help others live a better life and make the world a better home?
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
Transformation 