Visualized.Feel.Abundance

Hey Folks,

We have recently talked about why career planning is important, if you want to refresh your memory or if you missed them, click here to trace the story.

Ladder Of Dream - Career Sample
Today I will give an example of how simple it is to create a career plan using The Ladder Of Dream (Click on image to get a bigger view):

Method Of Planning
This is a sample of career progression from a fresh graduate aiming to be a Financial Controller one day, not so far in the future. Was that hard to fill? Not really, you just need to know your goal and where you are now. Then you fill in the blanks in reverse (i.e. the logical step just before you reach your goal, etc) and your career path is drawn.

Important Note
It is important to remember that you don’t need to like any of the job in between, they are there as part of a career progression. You need to learn the skills in that position and do well enough to progress and move on. Your dream is that job listed in the number 1 position. But of course, if you like the job in between, it helps to keep you motivated naturally.

Why It Benefits
The number 1 factor that kept many employees from progressing (other then not having a plan) is - “I don’t like the next job that comes along with that promotion” but they love the next job beyond that. The job that incinerated most careers are called “Middle Management”. But with a little planning and a new perspective of it, you will be able to handle it.

Get Your Planning Tool Today
If you have not downloaded the free template and guide, click here to get it absolutely free. Share it with your friends and colleagues. Keep yourself updated when we release new tools, tips, templates and guides by subscribing to our newsletter here

Cheers
James

Popularity: 9% [?]

Hey Folks,

Last night I caught a show about the real life story of a local entrepreneur, Mr Mustaq Ahmad, who runs the hugely successful retail mall Mustafa. I have a real soft spot for any stories on successful people, especially successful entrepreneurs.

The show was very short, just 30 minutes but it focus on Mr Mustaq’s childhood days and significant lessons that he learn since young. From milking cow in India to selling teh terik (milk tea with foaming bubbles) to selling textiles in his later years!

What Mr Mustaq Learned
Here are some lessons he learn as I appreciate them:

1) If the price of your merchandise is fixed by external source, sell more to increase your income.
- He learned that from a milk man collecting milk that his mum milked from their cow in India. “One rupee per bucket. You want to earn more, get me more bucket of milk” says the milk man.

2) Be honest in your business dealings.
- His father taught him that whatever he wants to do in business, he must remember to be honest. They were so honest, they even refused to pay street gangs “protection fee” (that’s 1970’s Singapore). By the way, the mall is named after his father.

3) Fixed a price that is lowest in the market for your merchandise and sell lots of it.
- In 1970’s Singapore, price haggling is probably the default mentality of consumers. They haggle over any purchases, even a cup of tea! He noticed the trend and decided that he wants to focus on selling and not price haggling. He did that by fixing a non-negotiable price that is lowest in the market for his merchandise.

4) He never gives up!
- While operating their road side stall, they were frequently harassed by street gangs and even the police (in the later years when street hawking became illegal). It was actually at this point when he got his first shop space, just 500 sq feet but he bought it - never even considering rental!

5) Treat Your Customer Well and Listen To Their Needs
- His father taught him to treat each customer with respect and he, in his later years, taught his father to listen to their customers need. He say “If they want henna (a type of hand paint), we get henna. If it proves a mistake, we learn from it.”

It was at this point the story ended and it showed how successful Mr Mustaq Ahmad has become. Click here to take a look at his website and his retail mall. The story of what happened after the first shop can be found under history on their website.

What I Learned
So why am I telling his story here? This certainly is not a paid post (maybe I should contact him to see if he is willing to advertise here :P). What I wanted to share was what I saw on the show and how it relates to the Law of Attraction and Positivity.

Mr Mustaq is a positive man. In the show (that’s all I can tell since I don’t know him personally) he has a simple objective - to make himself rich (it’s every migrants dream). He choose to focus on things he has control of (fixing the price and sell more) and ignoring the things that waste his time (price haggling).

He set a goal where Mustafa (his company) will be known as the cheapest place you can get the best merchandise and he sets out to achieve it. His action speaks louder then anything he could have said. His father was not agreeable to price fixing and even laughed at him when he started selling silk handkerchiefs at fixed price. He was mocked by customers too for the same reason but they ultimately came back to him when they found that he was the cheapest in the market!

His goal set almost 40 years ago continues to be the pillar of his business and he continues to innovate by listening to customers feedback! It is the only retail mall in Singapore to operate 24 hours and it made the news for being the first and probably the only retail mall in Singapore to sell automobiles as part of their merchandise. Customer who feels appreciated will come back to buy from you. Another good example of like attracts like.

I love his story and I hope you love it too

Love,
James

Popularity: 7% [?]

Hey Folks,

Today I would like to share with you Stella’s (my little girl) manifestation. But before I do that, let me just recap on what she knows about the Law of Attraction and Manifestation.

Stella And “The Secret”
I remember that when we showed her the movie “The Secret“, about a year ago, the first thing she did was to wrote down what she wanted and paste it outside the main door to our house and a few weeks later, she got her wish in the form of a lucky draw!

Since then, we have always encourage her to dream and manifest and more importantly to take action to get what she wants. We observed that when she wants a particular thing bad enough, she will take action get it and she always start by asking!

Ask And You Shall Be Given (most times anyway)
For example, she wanted a balloon at a theme park but we wouldn’t get one for her. So she starts asking every stall owner where she can get one or if someone was holding a bunch of balloons, she will ask them for one. The thing is, she usually gets what she wants that way. She has gotten free drinks, extra serving of drinks, balloons, sweets, stickers, even not-for-sale items, etc

So can I say she really knows how to manifest? I still can’t say for sure. But we do know that she understands the need to ask for what she wants and what she desires. We always encourage her to dream and we encourage her to actively pursue her dreams. We always could tell if what she says she wanted was really what she desire - we look at her action.

What Makes You Take Action
Dreams come from thoughts and when you think hard enough and sufficiently, it turns into manifestation. Manifest sufficiently and you get the desire to take action and live your dream.

So by looking at what she does, we can tell how badly she wants it and if she was willing to work for it. But we still apply an acid test, we ask her to justify to us why she wants or needs whatever she was trying to get. It helps her to understand if she really needs it and to vocalize it in a logical manner. Whenever she desires something sufficiently, she can come up with a load of good reasons to justify it.

Stella And Her Manifestation
And it was such a situation that led us to 2 days of shopping and assembling her new work/play area. Take a look at these photos:

She did it again! Got a sales guy to part with his promotional stuff toy
- A cute trio of birdies (Mascot of LCD manufacturer ViewSonic).

And we didn’t even buy any LCD screens.

We started out shopping with the aim of getting kiddish (in Stella’s term, it’s anything pink!) looking. So we looked around for pink computer case and I didn’t realized how tough it was to find one, all other cases we came across was BLACK with an occasional blue, red, beige or while. Not only was pink case difficult to find, pink computer tables were non-existent (certainly not in Sim Lim Square - the famous electronic and computer hangout in Singapore). But with a little persistence, we finally found the perfect table at IKEA (our famous Swedish Furniture Mall) along with a pink chair :P. Check this out!

Now look at our girl. Totally engrossed in playing her game on her new PINK computer, at her new PINK desk and sitting on her new PINK Chair!

You can click on some of the images to look at a larger version if you want to. Did you guys notice the pink pig wrist rest and the pink pencil case on her desk (just beside the LCD)?

So that was what we got ourselves into over the weekend. We manage to attract the correct furnitures and items (a little bit of focus and some persistence does help) to make Stella’s Dream come true!

What’s The Moral Of This Story?
Sometimes we have dreams that are completely beyond our means to achieve (you can’t expect a 6 year old girl to have the resources to buy and assemble those stuff right?) but it doesn’t mean there is no hope. You can still achieve your dreams by getting your questions heard by people with the right resources or people with the right connections.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend because we sure enjoyed ours

Love,
James

Popularity: 7% [?]

“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

Popularity: 9% [?]

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)

Popularity: 40% [?]