Truly understand "Begin with the End in Mind"

The principle difference between a human and an animal is that a human possesses self-awareness and conscience while an animal does not. People usually take things for granted. Let me share with you a story...

Bill was at a pub late at night discussing business and realised that it was already very late and that his wife was waiting for him on the bed. Dragging his drunken soul, he rushed back, wanting to make it up for her wife's long wait. Once in the room, he immediately hopped onto bed and satisfied the tired soul. After which, he went to the toilet and was shocked when he saw his wife. "Wasn't that you on the bed?" He shrieked. "That was my mother. She dropped by to visit."
Many a time, we tend to assume and take things for granted.

Now, I have an exercise for you to do. And I hope you do it diligently because through this exercise, you will benefit aplenty. You will appreciate goal setting a whole lot great deal more.
Imagine, you happened to walk pass a funeral ceremony. You saw your family members participating in the ceremony. You joined in the ceremony and could feel the sadness in the environment. Then, you strolled to the coffin and looked at the deceased. You see your face.
Now, (regardless of your religion or beliefs) you read the programme for the ceremony and learnt that 4 different groups of people will be giving speeches on you.

Bring out a pen and a paper now. Write down what you wish to hear (all the good comments) from these 4 group of people.

1. Parents
2. Best Friend
3. Superior in your organisation
4. Your subordinate in your organisation

Spend about fifteen minutes and focus on what you really wish to hear from them, all the good things about you that you wish they will say.

"Begin with the End in Mind"

Take a moment and reflect on the speeches that your recorded. Do you already fulfil all the good points that they mentioned about you?

If you hadn't been communicating with your parents, do you wish to see them on stage and say, "I don't understand him. Ask his friends to give the speech instead."? If not, shouldn't you be communicating more with your parents, more than the yes, okay, ya, sure?

This simple exercise is for you to appreciate "Begin with the End in Mind". With the notes that you written down on the speech, use it as the list of goals that you want to achieve in your life. Start making changes to your life. Unless you wish that no one will speak good of you in your funeral.

Fighting the invisible enemy

People always say that the Internet has got its good use, but it certainly can be a dangerous zone too. While I always attempt to make use of the Internet and see it as an opportunity in itself, I cannot deny the ugly side of it. This entry is inspired by a forumer nicknamed kajunteo.

Not too long ago, there was a dispute in the HardwareZone forums regarding a service-related issue. The victims profiles were then revealed by the culprit. That certainly caused an uproar in the forum community.

At the forum where I frequent, there was this forumer who posted the happenings of the other forum, so as to create awareness of the issue as well as to safeguard others. The forumer highlighted important points in the forum and his input, I believe, has benefited many forum members.

After a few days, another forumer came in, and started to debate with him. The new forumer's posts were accompanied by a few other newly registered forum members. Plainly, there was an invisible enemy taking up mulitple identities that is launching an aggressive assault. While I tried to post independent views, I was also being attacked.

The issue however did not come to an end. It just came to a halt as the forum is now shut down. The Internet provides a very good platform for communication. However, it can also turn into a good boxing arena. And if you are not careful, you may be boxed several times in several directions by fists you can't see.

A Debt-driven Society

Sometimes I wonder, if we are a society that is driven by monetary debts. In this world where Capitalism has conquered a large part of, money has become a need rather than a luxury or a tool for achieving other feats.

Everyone is in debt since birth.

Once born, one is brought up by one's parents, sent to school, signed up for additional tuition classes and so on. Instantly, one is in gratification debt with one's parents. This debt shall be returned in the form of filial piety.

Then when one becomes a teenager, one works part-time to pay up for the debt incurred from one's mobile subscription services, facial packages, gym training packages, etc. When he gets older, University tuition fees will turn into debt that will have to take a few years of work to finish paying up.

After studies, marriage and the new home will again tie one down with debts. And this debt will then be replaced by that when the child is born.

At the government level, the pension scheme will also soon be indebted when all the post-war generation retires, leaving behind fewer people to support the larger retiring group. I guess you've heard of trade deficits as well as a bankrupt Argentina.

With all this debts rooting into society, it really makes one consider if Capitalism is now failing us.

A debt-driven society attracts crimes. Burglary, theft, robbery, swindling, cheating, the rates of criminal offences just keep increasing.

Communism lost in the Cold War to Capitalism. But will Capitalism be a loser and disappoint us all?

Entrepreneurship? Train the teachers first

How do we train our people to become entrepreneurs? How do we instill entrepreneurship into our future generation? My answer is ... Train the Teachers first!

See, the teachers are the moulders of our future generation. Every day, students attend schools and consciously as well as subconsciously gain knowledge. And every day, school teachers are sharing their experience, their knowledge, their habits directly or indirectly to students. Cheers to Teachers!

However, this means that teachers need to be equipped with the best mindset, best knowledge and best experience so that they can in turn impart them to the young.

In my opinion, entrepreneurship programmes should be catered to our teachers. And it should not just stop at this. We should encourage our teachers to take risks and allow them to engage in side businesses as well as other entrepreneurship projects. At present, teachers are not allowed to moonlight, except for tuition assignments. With additional freedom, we could groom teachers who are entrepreneurs.

If we loosen the grip on this moonlighting issue, teachers will be able to immerse themselves in true and practical entrepreneurship experiences. They can then share real-life experience to students and perhaps do it with them.

We do not like entrepreneurship taught as if it is an exam-oriented subject, a theoretical mystery or a word game. Entrepreneurship should be real, practical and exciting. And the best way to achieve this in our younger generation is by training the teachers first!

Money is an Illusion

Have you wondered why every one around you keeps saying, "I don't have money", "I need money", "I want to have lots of money"? Have you considered what money really is?

Yes, it's just an illusion.

Money, really is a piece of paper. You add some ink on it, put a handsome photo on, give it a signature and chop. Put a value on it... And there you go. Money.

So if I were to draw on a piece of paper and then deemed it to be money, can you say that's not money?

Money is an illusion.

It is the reason for crimes, for family disputes, for emotional breakdown, for dignity loss, etc. Why do we fix such a great importance on a piece of paper?

I believe people should be educated to see money as an illusion. Money is everywhere. If you translate money into happiness, then if you are happy, you are rich. Likewise, if you believe money will cure your woes, then you can be the money that settles your problems.

Money is not your ultimate goal, neither is it to the richest magnate on earth. Money is simply a tool for one to achieve one's aim. And that aim is nothing to do with money. That aim is to fulfil one's burning desires -- help others, enjoy life, retire early, tour the world, be a happy man. Nobody will die saying he is satisfied with his life because he had the money with him at his coffin. People will be proud of things that they had been able to do with or without the tool.

Money is an illusion. Blinding people from reality. The most powerful illusion in the lifetime of Earth $$$

The Luck Factor in SUCCESS and failure

Often than not, a successful person and a not so successful person are just the same. They are both human beings, may have the same qualifications, live in the same area. There are various mindset differences that might resulted in their degree of success. However, when sometimes luck do factor in as well.

Luck is a factor because if you are there at the right time, right moment, with the right person, you might just take up a deal and immediately alleviate yourself from the rest. For example, if a network marketeer approach you and after seeing the model of business, you are optimistic, you pick up the offer and you are already in a headstart.

The same goes for the misfortune part. If you meet the wrong person at the wrong moment, at the wrong time, 3 wrongs can't make one right, and so it might spell trouble and misfortune. I believe such events are pre-destined and people are fated to encounter luck and misfortune.

However, this goes to show that one should immediately make a wise choice when deals are presented to one. The courage, determination and experience would then factor in as well.

Successful people make the decision (not necessarily a popular decision at the moment) with a far sight and then benefit from it while the norm people don't or have failed to appreciate the goodness.

The End Result of Success

I was presented to an idea of the end result of Success by a Chinese man.

The end result of Success, according to him, is that you add value to other people. For example, Bill Gates became a billionaire with his Microsoft company. Now he is getting out and setting up a Gates Foundation to help other people improve their lives. Same goes for Bill Clinton and a lot more other wealthy people.

As a person gets to know different kinds of people, his horizon gets broaden. And once it widens, there will be people in the inner core trying to convince him to return to the core level. For a person to be successful, he has to deal with the negative voices within him and passed on to him by people who are afraid he might fail, people who care. And so as he sets out and go beyond the boundary, he will be successful, and his scope, his viewpoint will never be the same again.

Financial Literacy is a Life Knowledge

Financial Literacy is one of the most important survival knowledge that one needs to know, and this is increasingly so. It is not a subject for the rich or for the poor, its for everybody.

According to Rich Dad's Prophecy, Robert Kiyosaki stated that financial education is crucial for every individual. While you might be investing, you are not necessarily an investor. You might have entrusted a 3rd party to help you invest, but without the essential knowledge, you will not be getting the most out of an investment.

Many people belong to the category I call "sheeps". When one goes into investing, the whole flock follows. When you ask them if they know the profile of the company that they are investing in, they might give you a blank stare and tell you that their agent told them it was a good buy. While some may have earned from investments blindly, others do not.

I have some friends who are earning a hefty sum of money every month. They are spending more and more because they are not keeping track with their personal finance. Splurging on luxorious liabilities will create a drag in one's financial health.

Financial Literacy has not been emphasised in schools. I believe that children should be equipped with basic financial literacy so as to be prepared for a better future ahead. And there is a lot more to go on spreading financial knowledge...

Towards a Network Marketing future

I had a bad experience with network marketing in the past, but recently, I find that network marketing is something that can no longer be ignored. If you, like me, have had bad experiences with network marketing, it's time for you to open up your mind. If you love network marketing or are now into it, cool. If you don't even know what is network marketing, it is time for you to wake up!

Someone recently told me that the idea of network marketing derived from the concept of franchising. When the idea of franchising was first mentioned, there were many people who thought it was illegal or it should be made illegal. But franchising did not break any laws. So, the people who supported the idea of franchising went on to develop big businesses such as the famous example: MacDonalds. Those who rejected the idea lived on to face the reality that franchising is the new world of business expansion.

In Singapore, we are facing network marketing as the people in history were facing franchising. Network marketing was legalised by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in the early years of Independence (as so I was briefed) as he saw the potential in it. It was marred by unethical pyramid selling methods and other ill-minded organisations but such parties are increasingly getting rare.

Network marketing increases the efficiency of selling a product. With network marketing, which employs word-of-mouth advertising, advertising costs are avoided. There are other benefits in the system itself when coming to selling products, but that's not in my area of discussion, so ... next.

However, there is a difference in network marketing and franchising. If you see that there's already a MacDonalds in your area, you most probably wouldn't want to set up another similar franchise beside it. So the problem of over-crowding is very limited. But in the case for network marketing, everyone will try to attract every other one to join the company and be their downline. Because every other person, individual, human, can just join the company, there comes a problem of over-crowding.

Of course, I would agree that over-crowding is a very pessimistic view of the market. We have so many people in the world. The only concern is that because population is a number, not an infinity, so there must be a point of saturation that will be reached one time in the future that will slow down the growth of network marketing firms. As in the case of franchise, there are also a defined area in which you can expand on.

The moral of this article: Embrace Network Marketing as it will soon be part of our life.

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