To keep my new-found momentum going, the following are some of the fun stuff you can be expecting this month:

I’m starting small. Three small goals to accomplish in the month of June.

Newton’s First Law states that…
“Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change its state by an external force applied to it.”

A personal development coach will have told you that…

“Every one persists in his or her own state, unless he or she feels the compelling need to change so as to escape from his or her current state.”

True? Come on. Nod your head along with me.

Newton’s Second Law states that…
“Force is equal to the rate of change of momentum. For a constant mass, force equals mass times acceleration and acts in the direction of the acceleration vector.”

Force = Mass x Acceleration

Brings back memories huh? Again, a personal development coach will suggest that…

“As long as you own a human brain, your success is equals to your mindset times the actions you take. Success acts in the direction of your thoughts.”

Success = Mindset x Action

Pretty neat isn’t it? Let’s move on to the Third Law.

Newton’s Third Law states that…
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

And it translates to…

“Don’t be afraid of failure and forego the chance to even try. Because for every action you take, there is always feedback.”

If you have done an excellent job, your boss shouts, “Excellent!” Your colleagues give you a pat on your back. That’s excellent feedback. If you performed badly, at least the boos will tell you what went wrong and you decide how to take the necessary corrective actions. Like the old English saying, “Once bitten, twice shy.” I believe in that.

Laws of Motion? Or Motivation?
That’s a lot of wisdom summarized in his three laws. And I thought they were just the usual, boring Physics laws. Simply brilliant. Thanks Newton!

My Life Has Changed For the Better
Since graduation, I have been indulging in personal development (I say “indulging” because I do enjoy it). I swear I’m a hundred times more hardworking than I was during my schooling years. Ask my close friends and family and you’ll know. Oops! You probably won’t know them. Oh well. Anyway, a friend I met up with today told me this, “You have changed for the better, Dan.” Okay. Maybe not exactly that. He spoke in Mandarin. But it was something along that line. Made me feel really good about myself!

Back in my university years, I was hit badly by the “lack-of-purpose-in-life” syndrome. I slept a lot, skipped lessons, photocopied my friend’s lecture notes (filled with his handwritten notes) and tutorials, and arrived late for class tests or quizzes. It was like a routine every semester. Duh. A fantastic “leecher” I was. Not going into my life story here. But basically, he noticed that I have since become more purposeful and self-driven. Woohoo!  

I Think I’m Starting to Influence Others…
Come on. I’m serious. After reading my blog and listening to my aspirations, the same friend whom I used to borrow lecture notes from met up with me today to discuss about starting an educational website together. Though he was a motivated individual to begin with, my high level of motivation must have rubbed off on him right? Tell me I’m right. *grins*…

Even my sister seems to have softened up a bit. She used to be kind of negative, to an unbelievable extent it was actually funny. Now, I can see some positive spark in her every now and then. She’s mad about the Korean language. And Korean guys. Any tall, handsome Korean guys reading this blog? Drop me an e-mail soon will you?

A Little Side Story
I’ll end off with a little side story. I was hanging out at the library last Sunday when I overheard a mother reprimanding her son. Fuming mad, she spoke to her son in Mandarin, “Honey. Mandarin and English are two different spoken languages. When you speak, you don’t mix them together.” Alright. A mother teaching her son to speak in a pure, well-defined manner. Sounds reasonable enough? Of course it does. Until she ended off her speech with…

“Okay?” (In English)

Talk about leading by example?! Comments?

Lesson #1: Don’t Try to be A Guru. Just be Myself.
Truth be told, I got bored with the stuff I was writing. Why? After getting super motivated by all the stuff I was reading, I tried to become a personal development guru myself. Did it unknowingly though. I thought I’ll kick off my blog with some articles that will help others who feel lost about their lives to pick themselves up. Didn’t regret doing that. But I got lost myself by trying to position myself as an expert.

Guess I’m better off just being myself! In future, I will see myself as a learner and share with you guys on how applying the concepts taught in the books help to improve my life!

Lesson #2: Enjoying the Things I Do
I’ve talked a lot about passion and how one can succeed by doing what he or she loves. And then I make the mistake of not doing what I preach. Arghhhhhhh. What I needed in my articles was some room to display my creativity. I’ve always loved to do things that impress others. Guess I’ll need to get my mojo back.

Lesson #3: Stop and Get Myself Organized
Hmmm… I think I was doing too many things at the same time. I probably thought I was Dr. Octopus. Teaching tuition on Wed evening, Sat and Sun mornings. Participating in public music performances. Meeting my buddy to practise the songs for the performances. Watching too much Youtube and online manga. Keeping up with my job. Man… I’ll be burned even if I have eight limbs. STOP. Reorganize. Get my priorities right. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do for now.

Lesson #4: I Was Wasting Time on the Low Value Stuff
Finding public domain pictures on the Internet. Brainstorming content that I intended to teach (Yeah… the “I-am-a-personal-development-guru” syndrome). Finding references on the Internet. Hmmm… Got to find a way to tackle these activities. Either I eliminate it, do less of it, find a system to make it simpler for me, or get someone to help me out.

What’s Next?
I’ll need to get my mojo back. And I’ll need to get my engine up and running again. This time, making sure that I’m enjoying every moment of blogging.

BUT… be warned my friend. He WILL return stronger and better than ever.

“I’ll be back.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator

The Meaning Behind a Praise
When you are given a praise, it can only mean one of the following…

How to Praise Someone
Praising someone is pretty simple actually. Let it come from your heart. A praise is nothing more than a set of heartfelt words delivered to show someone your appreciation or admiration. It’s different from flattery, which is usually excessive, intentional and unnatural. We don’t praise others “on purpose” just to get into his or her good books.

Why You Should Praise Others
So that others will praise you?! Haha. Nahhhh. That’s not the reason. These are some of the things a little praise can do for you:

I used to be stingy with praises. Whenever somebody asked me for an opinion, I always responded with something like, “Not bad.” “Nice.” “It’s pretty.” And never like, “This is the work of a genius!” “You handled the situation like a pro!!” I was afraid that unnecessary praises will only make them proud and overconfident. Nowadays, I try not to sink into that kind of mindset. Sometimes, all a person needs is a little praise to keep him or her drive going. It defines meaning to their work.

 
Why not pick up praising as your new hobby?

What is a Financial Sailboat?
I was talking to my financial advisor one day, and he gave me this analogy that I’ll like to share with you guys. He says a financial plan is like a sailboat. I’ll throw in a picture for your understanding.

Ermmm … did that help?

On average, you should set aside at least 15 to 20% of your monthly NET income to building up the three essentials of your financial sailboat – the hull, the sail and the life buoy.

The Hull
The hull is like your savings, your fixed deposit and any other fixed income instruments. Building a sizeable hull provides stability. However, too big a hull will get you nowhere when pitting against the waves of inflation. So what’s the minimum amount of savings you should have? Most financial advisors recommend an amount that is sufficient to support your current lifestyle for 6 months. This is your emergency fund. Make sure that you keep it in somewhere fluid, like in a high interest rate savings account, for easy access. If you were to lose your job suddenly, at least, you’ll still hold out for six months. Way to go, tough guy!

The Sail
The sail is like your investments (e.g. unit trusts, equities, real estate, business ventures, bonds etc). A strong sail helps you to cruise through the waves of inflation, and speed up your financial journey. However, too big a sail will cause you to capsize or take on the wrong course during stormy economic weathers!

The Life Buoy
The life buoy is your insurance policies (e.g. whole life plan, endowment plan, personal accident, medical etc). Invest some money in a sizeable buoy. It keeps you afloat when your sailboat capsizes during financial storms.

Imagine if John, a married man with two kids, were to meet with a traffic accident. Say he’s lucky enough to survive, he’ll be in for a rude shock. Depending on his condition, the hospital bill might just hurt more than his physical pain! On top of that, he’ll be pouring in his hard-earned savings just to settle the bills. Not very wise indeed. With a hospitalization plan, he’ll be asking for an extended stay in hospital just to take a break from work! Even in the worst case scenario – he passes on – he can be sure that his whole-life plan will continue to watch over his family by financing their daily expenses!

YOUR Kind of Financial Sailboat 
Remember I mentioned setting aside 15-20% of your net income? You should further apportion it among the hull, the sail and the life buoy. How much to apportion? You may ask. An interesting rule that I learned and still apply now is this – use your age as the apportioning factor!

Say I’m 25 years old this year. Out of the 15-20% that I set aside, I will put 25% (my age) in the hull and the life buoy. The remaining 75%, I put them in the sail. As you grow older, naturally, your risk appetite will shrink and the amount you invest in the sail decreases. When I reach 30, I’ll have 70% in the sail. Get the picture?  

When is it the Right Time to Start?
It’s NOW. The inflation rate won’t wait for you. Your money in the savings account is depreciating by the minute. The stock market won’t wait for you either. You might be missing on a chance to earn compounded interests of 20% per year. Still bent on waiting?

Forget about scientific evidence and let’s all start believing in it. Don’t agree? Alright, I’ll do a little research and prove you wrong.

Top Six Health Benefits

I did a bit of googling and these are what I find. Great! Does that inspire you to have a good laugh now? Come on. Force one out now!

Are you laughing?

Other Benefits of Laughing
Even if you are not a believer of health, how about the next few benefits:

Okay, fine. You were right. Laughter does not make you any smarter. But it’s definitely smart to laugh! My throat’s turning dry now. Hope I’ve delivered my point. And brace yourself now.

Are you ready for a good laugh?

By the time you really stepped out, you start to get nervous. No one’s there to take you by your hand. You are really on your own now.

“As We Go On We Remember, All The Times We Had Together…”
Sounds familiar? This is the Graduation Song by Vitamin C. Read into the lyrics, and if you are the sentimental kind, I bet you’ll get all emotional.

An Exciting Life Ahead?
Don’t get too comfortable. At this phase of your life, you probably have a few things to think about. Like where you should be going for your graduation trip. Just kidding. It’s beyond that. Something like…

I’m not suggesting that you should turn into a worry freak. With proper planning, it’ll save you from all the unnecessary woes you may have in the future.

Let me leave you with an excerpt of a commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs at Stanford University, June 12, 2005:

“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” 
– Steve Jobs

It Doesn’t Have to Be Like That!
His words awakened me. I still remember his first few words of wisdom went like this:

I was just randomly browsing through some books in the library one day when I came across this.
Those thought-provoking first few pages really impressed me. Then, I got wary. Is he another so-called expert my friends were telling me about? Hmm… National bestseller? Can’t be that bad right? Half skeptical and half curious, I read on.

We All Have the Same Hardware? 
Adam starts with the premise that we all have basically the same neurological make-up. Then came his epic question-of-the-day:

And his answer – the key to those differences lies in the behaviors and habits that get installed while we grow up! Most people are not exactly brought up with a winning mindset. And unfortunately, the same people never question what they do and never change their habits. It probably never occurs to them that they could! But of course we CAN change habits, behaviors and beliefs by stimulating our brains in the right way and creating new mental patterns.

The technology Adam uses to reprogram the mind is NLP, i.e., Neuro-linguistic Programming, which has proven to be highly effective at that task. And after carefully reading it, I found that Master Your Mind is not just another book on NLP, useful as that may be, but it goes waaayyy beyond that.

What Attracted Me Was…
The comprehensive, thorough, and easy-to-follow description of the actual techniques that are necessary to accomplish that goal. And it doesn’t stop there. This book is also an extensive workbook that helps the reader to put all those techniques to use right away! Thirdly, it offers a wealth of inspiring examples.

In fact, this book was the only reason why I started this blog. It really changed my perspective of life. So I’ll recommend it to anybody.

From an Under-achiever to Millionaire By Age 26!!!
Adam Khoo himself is a case in point. Starting out as an academically weak student at the very bottom of the pile, he used some of those very strategies he teaches here to reprogram himself and turn himself into a top student. Unlike his fellow students who were satisfied with a normal career path and income upon graduation, he set himself the goal to become a millionaire by age 26 – and achieved it.

He started his first business while still in high school, and several more while in college, and he even became a best-selling author with his book on how to become an excellent student. He developed a program called Patterns of Excellence that he used to teach others to re-pattern their mind to achieve success as well. Quite an inspiration indeed!

From the outset, Adam urges us to have the right mindset. Which I later on adopted as one of my core beliefs. And one of the key parts of that mindset is planning for success by setting specific goals, developing strategies to achieve those goals, and putting them into action!

You Too Can Empower Yourself By Having the Right Mindset
From his book, you can…

And the Drawbacks?
This book is really not for whiners but for people who are prepared to do serious work on themselves. And with that in mind, each chapter also requires you to follow through the exercises and action questions to be effective in helping you master your mind. If you used to copy your buddy’s notes in school, I’m sorry. Not this time. This is something you’ll have to do yourself.

Also, with its 364 pages, it seems kind of long for an e-book, and it may be a bit of a pain to read on the small screen of your i-book. But it is so worth it that you probably won’t mind anymore once you get into it. Besides, with the upcoming e-book readers or i-books with larger screens, this wouldn’t be an issue anyway. And, of course, you can always print it out or read on your computer!

Take caution too. He’s an action-oriented person. And his words will coerce you into taking some form of action. It’s that powerful. There’s no escape. On a lighter note, it’s nothing like how our parents like to nag at us. Don’t worry.

So, what’s your take? Trade that pair of movie tickets for a life-changing book… or continue dreaming?

Yes! I want to TAKE ACTION NOW!!!

B-A-A-mazing Notes from the Blogger:
About 80% of people who buy books (or e-books) do not finish reading it. Out of the remaining 20% who do, about 25% actually act on it. Simply put, if 10,000 people were to buy a book, only 500 of them will complete it and put what they learned into practice! Are you among that 500?