Visualized.Feel.Abundance

Hey Folks,

In our last post, we mentioned that New Economy was born as a result of Globalization and Outsourcing. Here’s a recap of what a New Economy is in general:

Definition of New Economy
“The general idea is that a business should focus on those areas of its operation which are critical to its success and where it has a competitive advantage. Other areas of its operation should be outsourced, typically using technology as the facilitator.

In a developed economy, the critical success factors to a leading business are likely to be intellectual things such as brands, products specifications and technical capabilities. Many routine business functions (such as manufacturing and customer service
desks) may be outsourced.” - Wikipedia On New Economy

Salary In The Past
In the past (prior to 1990s in US, 2000s in Asia Pacific region, other developed countries somewhere in between), we get pay rise simply because we expect our boss to give one and we did do our job. Consequently, many companies ended up with clerical officers who worked for 30 year drawing a monthly salary of $5000 or more.

Although these people were very experience, the salary could not be justified due to the nature of their job. If the clerk process 20 application forms a day for 5 days a week. That would be a processing overhead of $10.41 per form (480 forms a month for $5000) which is ridiculous!

In this model, the companies either have to keep increasing the cost of their product/services or suffer a narrower profit margin each year. At some point, older staffs would be retrenched and younger staffs are recruited where the cycle will repeat yet again some years down the road. Hence, older employees usually suffers the Axe.

Salary In New Economy
In the New Economy, Companies used the cost of their goods and/or services to decide how much to pay for their labor.

Taking the same clerical officer example, the company can decide that they will not pay more then $1 per form as processing fee and with computerization, the clerk should process 60 forms a day. Hence the salary for that position should be capped at $1440.

If the same clerk wish to get a better pay, she will have to justify with a better work efficiency (processing 80 forms a day) or upgrading her skills to a higher value position (sales consultant, customer relations officer, etc).

In this model, the salary is tied to a job’s value and not an employees seniority and older employees tend to be able to keep their job.

Who Is The Boss
The following quote from Henry Ford rings more truth today then it rang almost a century ago:

“It is not the employer who pays the wages.
Employers only handle the money.
It is the customer who pays the wages.” - Henry Ford

The customer decides what is a fair price to pay and companies will decide what is a fair labor cost to them based on the amount the customer is willing to part with. Doesn’t it give a new meaning to the phrase “The Customer Is Always Right?“.

So What Is Your Situation Now
Now that you understand our current economy better, you probably could appreciate why you were getting your current pay. No one get overpaid in the New Economy, you are always paid what the company thinks you are worth. If you want more pay, you will have to fight for it. It will never drop from the sky if you are not willing to put in the effort to get it.

Oh, if you think you are overpaid by your company or that your company is still adopting to the old model, you better make some plans or raise your value right now before bosses realized the situation.

Love,
James

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert in human resource or pay and I am not attempting to provide an interpretation of historical salary trends. This article is providing a perspective on why salaries are paid the way it is paid in our economy today (2007) in order to encourage employees to understand the situation, adjust their mindset, adapt and improve their current standing with their company and bosses.

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The greatest weapon against stress
is our ability to choose one thought over another.
-William James

Understand this - if you don’t change the way you work or improve your skills in stress management, it does not matter how many jobs you change, you will end up in same cycle again. In a way, you are attracting the stresses you are experiencing at work with the way your handle your assignments, colleagues and bosses.

Let us take a look at what are the sources of stress at work:

Assignments
Assignments are whatever task that is assigned to you by your boss and sometimes by higher management (anyone above your boss). You need to get this concept right. Only jobs assigned by your boss - yes, the fellow that does your appraisal - and by higher management counts as your assignment (since they matter to your boss) and NOT those from colleagues, other department, clients, suppliers, etc.

Assignments are stressful, even when we define it in such a narrow scope because they can be unending. You finished one and get another two! You finish two and get another four! So accept it. In a way, you may have attracted it by being too efficient. Be proud of it, don’t get stressed over it. But you need to do something to manage it. We will talk about it later.

Noises
Noises are any task that are not assignments! But they look just like assignments to your and the fellow who assigns them usually make a hell of a lot of noise if you don’t comply!

Commonly:
- Your colleagues asking a favor
- A colleague from another department demanding that you finished their task first even when the dateline is 2 months away
- You client demanding for a certain report/listing that you never heard of
- Your company’s dance society asking you to join them for practice for a upcoming dinner and dance

Well, you get the drift! In general, anything not stated as part of your Key Performance Indicator (KPI) as defined to you by your boss are noises. They can stress the hell out of you because you tend to do them first because they make noise consistently around you and won’t stop until you are done with them. But IF you comply, you end up having no time to do what you really needed to do. Now you are doubly stressed. And since they got you to do it once, you can be sure they will be back for more. See, you attracted it.

Need It Yesterday
Another huge factor of stress at work place is the date lines given for the task assigned. I call it the “Need It Yesterday” Syndrome. It typically goes like this, “James, I need this piece of assignment done, NOW! Actually I need it yesterday but now it is really urgent so get it on my desk in an hours time.” Sounds familiar? I bet you do.

Feeling Responsible
This last one is the difference between being stressed and not knowing what stress is. Responsible people feel more stress than people who don’t take responsibility. So what am I preaching now? Don’t be responsible? Hardly. You just need to know what you are responsible for and the answer is, Not Everything!

So I have listed 4 things that contributes to stress at work. So how do we manage them and make working an enjoyable experience? Well, maybe not totally enjoyable but definitely less stressful.

Knowing What Is Important To Your Boss
Most people know that working smart is better then working hard but how do you work smart? To me work smart is working on things that counts towards your goal. Your goal at work is, of course, getting a good appraisal that will result in a good pay increment and a promotion! So what you need to focus on are assignments that counts, such as those we defined earlier on.

Focus on assignments that counts towards your KPI. If an assignment is not listed as part of your KPI but your boss insist that it is important, get him to include it into your KPI so they count! If you have to do the work anyway, make them count! Oh, if you boss never set any KPI for you, you are in deeper trouble then you will ever know. Since you have nothing to measure your performance against, you WILL NEVER get a fair appraisal.

But the most important factor here is to know what IS really important to your boss! Find out which assignment matters most to your boss and put your heart and soul to it. You must have heard of those cases where a boss promotes and all his underlings promote together with him, right? That’s what you are aiming to do here. The trick is to ASK him what is important, never assume or second guess!

Eliminate Noise
As defined earlier, any assignments from people who could not possibly appraise you or affect your appraisal in any way are noises. Entertained where necessary and more importantly when you are free to do so.

Noises from supplier and clients are a little trickier. It is a common practice for clients to sometimes ask for anything under the sky, especially at the clerk-to-clerk or executive-to-executive level. Some are routine request that are completely within the contractual obligation for you to provide (your boss would have told you so), but very often they are not! The best way is to ask your boss if you should comply with an incoming request from clients or supplier. Let him decide so that you only do what is necessary and your boss gets to be responsible for all the “NO’s” to the clients and suppliers.

Get Your Responsibility Right
Remember your goal at work is to get a good a good appraisal that will result in a good pay increment and a promotion! So your responsibility is to yourself and to your boss. When you get your responsibility right, you would not feel responsible to noises or feel obliged to respond to them.

Managing Boss’s Expectations
Last but not least, what if your boss is the one that is stressing you out with too much assignments? You manage him, of course! The simplest way is to inform him of your current work load to make him aware of what you have on hand and the estimate time of completion. If you need more time then was scheduled, tell him so and explain the reasons.

When he assigns new task to you, ask him of the importance of the task. If it is real important, ask him which other current task would he like to knock off the schedule? If you let him do the talking and he will convince himself of the new schedule. You won’t even have to provide a reason for shifting any dateline, if he is reasonable.

Oh, for unreasonable bosses that never rewards their staffs, do yourself a favor and change them. They are not worth your effort and you will never meet your goal at work. This is just being responsible to yourself!

So there you have it. 4 factors of stress and 4 simple ways to manage them. It’s your turn to talk

Cheers,
James

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“In The Long Run We Shape Our Lives And We Shape Ourselves …
And The Choices We Make Are Ultimately Our Own Responsibility”
- Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of President Franklin Roosevelt)

Listed here are 10 things that no one can take responsibility for me except myself and by extension no one can take responsibility for you except yourself. This are my personal opinions drawn from my own experience and what I observed. There is no right or wrong, only whether it applies to your or not.

Attitude
You attitude determines how you interpret the events you encounter, the things your perceive and experience you gain in life. Hence, it directly affects the decisions and actions you take as a result. A positive attitude will allow you to see opportunities in adverse situations, while learning and growing stronger with the experience gained. A negative attitude will blind you from all opportunities around you while you focus on the tiniest problem. See the difference? You are responsible for choosing the attitude you take in life. Choose wisely.

Career
Someone once told me “Your career is yours to wrack”! Somber thought. What that fellow was trying to say was no one is out to ruin your career and you are solely responsible for making your career fly high or dive for a crash. You can choose to work hard or work smart or not to work at all. If you are drowning in your assignments but somehow your bosses keep piling work onto you. It is your responsibility to sound them out and decline more assignments. So far as I know, people lose jobs from a bad job done but none from declining an assignment. Think about it.

Dreams
Your dream is just that, your dream. It is not your colleagues dream, not your buddies dream and certainly not my dream. So if you want to realize your dream. Take responsibility for it, work on it and make it happen. If not, it will remain just that, a dream.

Fitness
My fitness instructor once told my platoon, if you want to pass your fitness test, you have to run. Watching your buddies run ain’t gonna help you pass. He will pass, not you. So quit watching and start running. If you want to pass, you follow my orders. I say run, you run and don’t think about stopping until I order so. And so I run and I pass! You think my instructor was responsible? Nope. He was there to do a job and his job was to make us run by motivation, coercion or any methods that will get us to run our guts out. But it is up to us, those who wanted to pass anyway, to run like hell and bring our fitness up to pass the test. If I had ran half heartedly, I doubt that I would have passed.

Health
I admit, I have to admit. I know I am responsible but I just cannot keep my hands off that fried chicken, especially Kentucky Fried Chicken. I love them. But I try to minimize consumption. I cut down from 3 pieces to 2 pieces per meal if I do indulge in them. I still enjoy them but I need to balance them with my health concerns. No one can take care of my health except myself. Just as your health is your responsibility, my health is mine to care for.

Life
Life is a journey that many people accompanied us in. Our early days are defined by what our parents and teachers taught but most people get to choose when they reach their teens and certainly have the right to choose during adulthood. You choose what you will be, could be or want to be. You can choose to be a servant of god or a slave to money or a motivation for youth or a no body slumping at a corner under the bridge. You have a choice, be responsible to yourself.

Money
Really? Do we have to be responsible here? It is our money and we can do as we wish right? I thought so until I learn that there are people who spent beyond their means. They earn $5,000 a month but spend $8000 on credit, earn another $5000 next month, pay off $5000 on credit, roll over the $3000 balance and chalk up another $5000 on credit …. and before they know it, they have reached their spending limit and have a hard time repaying just the interest! Young adults have gone bankrupt this way and there is a trend that is getting some economist seriously worried. So do you think you need to be responsible for your money?

Self Improvement
Like it or not, we are in the new economy. Company loyalty is a thing of the past, secure permanent jobs are as secure as the companies bottom line is healthy and yearly increments that employees use to enjoy in the 80s and 90s are a thing of the past. In this new economy, your increment/pay package depends hugely on the sales you can generate for your company or the perceived value you create for your company. If you don’t invest in your self improvement, you will find that your value diminishes over time and you may get to see the door sooner than you ever thought possible.

Safety
Cats are said to have 9 lives but humans commonly have only 1. But I frequently witness pedestrian jay walk with such recklessness that you thought they were daring the vehicles not to stop. Well partly, our laws here are to be blame as it penalize drivers rather than pedestrians. But I thought the pedestrians would have cherished their lives and be on the lookout for oncoming vehicles. The drivers may lose their driving license but they may lose their life. Or worst, be permanently disable, wheelchair bound or bed ridden for life. Surely that justifies the effort required just to check for oncoming vehicle and delay crossing the road for a couple of minutes right?

Time
Everyone of us are blessed with 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds a day. We could either waste them or make them useful. If we spend the time doing things in line with our goals and dreams, we are being responsible and making full use of our time. If we spend them doing thing that do not have an impact on our life, it is just wasted time. If taking 3 hours extra sleep a week means you are resting in preparation for a longer journey, it is not a waste. If you are running errands on someone else behalf that rip no benefits to your goal or dream. It would be considered a waste.

There you go. I have listed them and what do you think? Agree or not, do share with us. Or if you have other things you think should be included, share them too. It’s your turn to talk.

Love,
James

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Hey Folks,

It’s been slightly more then 2 months since I wrote my first post on the “9 Secret Steps To Life Transformation” series. It started with the simple vision that I wanted to pen down my success formula that I had put together through years of trial and error at my own cost. I wanted to share it with you and others like you who are interested to help yourself, which is probably why you are sitting here reading this blog.

I believed that abundance starts with giving and sharing. By sharing this gift, I believed that I will attract more into my life. More experience to gain, more positive people to meet, more things to learn and a more fulfilling life.

It is also my hope that my 9 steps has helped at least some of you in some ways. If it did, thank you. I thank you because, you made my sharing valuable and meaningful. If it had help no one or motivated none, it would have been futile. So, Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

If you have benefited from this series, I welcome you to leave a note or comment here. If you have any suggestion for me to improve, you may leave it here too

Before I sign off this post, here is a summary of all the post in the series for your easy reference:

Step 1 - Take Back Your Full Responsibility
Take Back Your Full Responsibility
Story 1 (Part 1)
Story 1 (Part 2)

Step 2 - Show Your Gratitude
Show Gratitude To What You Have
Karen’s Story On Gratitude
A Technique To Give Gratitude

Step 3 - Find Your Dreams
Find Your Dreams
The Ladder Of Dreams

Step 4 - Visualize Your Dreams
Visualize Your Dreams
8 Steps Visualization Technique

Step 5 - Feel Your Dreams
How To Keep Your Dreams Alive (Part 1)
How To Keep Your Dreams Alive (Part 2)
How To Keep Your Dreams Alive (Part 3)
How To Keep Your Dreams Alive (Part 4)

Step 6 - Take Action
The Unspoken Secret Of “The Secret” Movie
Take Action
Do You Procrastinate
Bury The Procrastination Monster

Step 7 - Feel The Abundance
Do You Have Limiting Beliefs
Knowledge Creates Abundance
Karen Lim’s Abundance At Work

Step 8 - Stay On Course
Stay On Course
Learning From Steve Jobs

Step 9 - Study Your Reflection
Study Your Reflections
Study A Successful Refection
How To Choose The Right Mentor

Love,
James

PS: I came across this site telling this touching story about making a difference and it describe how I feel when I know I had made a difference. Enjoy - http://www.makeadifferencemovie.com/  (We are not related to the site but I love the story)

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Hi Folks,

In my last post, I mentioned how you can learn from the reflections of a successful person. In my past 3 years, I had learned from 3 different folks and I will be sharing with you how you can choose the right mentor, how to benefit from this relationship and how to maintain a healthy relationship.

The 3 things that I will be touching on today are :

• Choosing the right mentor
• Emptying your cup and learn from your mentor unreservedly
• Be accountable for your mentor’s time.

Choosing The Right Mentor
There are many successful people in any market. From the top tier big players to fiery hot newcomers. So who do you learn from?

First, you need to choose a mentor from within your industry/market, preferably doing or have done what you are about to do. This is an important because you want your mentor to teach you based on relevant experiences and process that works for whatever you are about to do. For example, If I were to be in the property market … would I chose a share trading expert to be my mentor? Probably not!

Second, you need to choose a mentor that is willing to teach you at your level or have a course tailored for your level of experience. For example, if you were new to share trading, if take Warren Buffett as the first mentor, chances are you won’t understand anything! Don’t get me wrong, he has a wealth of knowledge to impart. It’s just we won’t have the necessary knowledge to understand them. But if he has a program/course tailored for newbies, go for it.

Or alternatively, you can choose a good trader with a good track record with about 1 or 2 year experience and is willing to impart their knowledge. These folks have relevant experience for newbies and you can follow their footsteps. Oh, one advantage here is that their fees tend to be more affordable

When you have learned all you can from your current mentor, move on and seek out the next that you can learn from but don’t dump you current mentor. Now that you both have parity in knowledge, you can work as partners or in Joint Ventures! Never burn your bridges!

Emptying Your Cup
Scrutinize every potential mentor when you are choosing whom you would like to work with and learn from. But once you have decided on a mentor, put aside your personal opinions, throw away any preconception you have about the industry and it’s practices and bury any processes you thought may or may not work. In other words, Empty your cups! Open your mind and accept what your mentor teach and learn from them unreservedly. You have to trust your mentor, you have to trust that your choice was correct and cast away your doubts.

No mentoring program will work if you keep doubting what the mentor says and never put the process they teach into practice. If you cannot excise your doubt, don’t start any mentoring program. It will just be wasting both your time and your mentors time.

Be Accountable
You will probably be spending a small fortune getting yourself into a mentoring program. You will probably be thinking since I paid the fee, I should be entitled to the mentors time, right?

Yes, you will be entitled to whatever process that brought them success and he will spend the minimum amount of time required to impart you those skills.

And No, you will not get any second more then the basic entitlement. If you want a second more, you will have 2 way of getting it, pay more or show them that you deserve it! And from my experience, if you want the best advice and attention from your mentor, you have to show results! Results from following the advice. Results from your unrelenting hard work and pro activeness. They will be attracted to your success and willing impart more knowledge to make you more successful.

This is what I mean by being accountable to your mentor. Show them that you have trust in them, that you understood and followed their teachings and you have results to show. Given a group of students, 2 with results and the rest doesn’t. Who do you think the mentor would choose to spend his time with? Or ask yourself, when you conduct your own mentoring program and given the same situation, who would you spend the time with? Simple answer right?

So if you have never considered getting a mentor, I hope you will see the benefits of getting one. If you are looking for a mentor, I hope this article will help you choose the right mentor. If you already have a mentor but not getting result, reevaluate if you have got the right mentor or could your own attitude be the hindering factor? Understanding your situation and studying your own reflection will help you getting consistent success in whatever you do.

Love,
James

PS: I left out my own story as the article is getting too long. I hope to be able to include it in a future article or my upcoming Ebook.

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