the subtle lessons

The Slight Edge Was introduced to this concept recently. Will have to read Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge to find out more. Basically, the idea is that small simple actions that is done daily will compound over time and are the reasons behind becoming the elusive 5% (the successful population). These small simple actions done daily, gives the 5% of people, The Slight Edge, which over time, leads to a Hugh difference. The main reason why the 95% of us are still where we are, or not as successful as the 5%, is that these small simple actions, although simple to do, also tend to be simple NOT to do. Thus, over time, it becomes a Hugh difference, in the downward direction. Its a very interesting idea, and a great challenge. Set yourself a small simple action that you can do daily, and let's see how long you can keep to it! Leave a comment below to let us know about your progress!

Rich Dad's Guide to Becoming Rich Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards: Turn "Bad Debt" into "Good Debt" Just completed this book. Its a very thin book of only about 90 pages. However there was much more information than I had expected! The book was written from the view point that every possible future we have comes with a 'price'. There is a price for becoming rich, which was simplified to be twice the price of what the average people paid. Kiyoasaki mentioned many concepts in this short book. Some of these include the importance of education, the importance of a personal financial report and the learning pyramid. He also touch upon some of the differences between the mindset of the rich and the mindset of the poor. One of it was that the rich used the assets to pay for their liabilities. A major takeaway for me was the concept of the learning pyramid. Kiyosaki pointed out that the learning pyramid had 4 major points; mental, spiritual, phy...

Source:  http://www.stepupleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mindset.jpg "One key to successful leadership is continuous personal change. Personal change is a reflection of our inner growth and empowerment." - Robert E. Quinn Reading self-help and motivational books and quotes are only the first step to change. The next MAJOR step is to consistently IMPLEMENT whatever you have learnt from the books. After reading some self-help books, I have many concepts on positive MINDSETS mentally. However, today I realised that KNOWING the concept does not mean that you are LIVING the concepts. It took a good friend and mentor to point that out. Having lived 23 years of my life guided by my previous MINDSET, it is difficult to change completely over a few weeks or even months. To ensure that our MINDSET is constantly changing and evolving for the better, we have to make a mental note to IMPLEMENT and practice what we learn from the books. Repeat the process until the new MIN...

Man vs. Markets: Economics Explained (Plain and Simple) Just completed this book recently. It was a good summary of the financial markets and how it works, in USA. The basic way the markets work would be similar, and thus I think this book is a good overview to the financial market. The author was successful in explaining various terms and concepts by simplifying and giving excellent examples which most of us would be able to relate to. Some examples include the use of "toy lending" between kids to explain the components of a bond, and the use of the 3 little pigs' plight to explain the concept of stocks. He even simplified derivatives such as options, futures and swap through the use of stories and examples. In his words, these are simply tools which we use in our daily life, packaged in different terms. ————— Just went for a talk and book signing by Hirsch last night. He explained that futures is similar to the system we use to reserve airline tickets. Futur...

The Starbucks Experience : 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary The Starbucks Experience was an interesting book which introduces some of the key ideas principles that the Starbucks management use. It explains the success of Starbucks from the perspective of the 5 principles mentioned in the book. The 5 Principles are: 1. Make it your own -> taking ownership, and having employees take ownership 2. Everything matters -> importance of details 3. Surprise and Delight -> go the extra mile to provide customers with more that what they expect 4. Embrace Resistance -> listen, differentiate between constructive and non constructive complains, and take action to improve 5. Leave your mark -> contributing to communities Although this book was marketed as a publication written by and outsider, I felt that the author was positively bias toward Starbucks. Perhaps this was required in order to show the expected results from implementing the 5 princ...

In "The Starbucks Experience",  Michelli shared the following concept of being genuine; to Connect, Discover and Respond. Although it was taken from Starbucks, I think we can apply the same concept in our daily lives, in the relationships with our family, friends, and colleagues. No matter what we say, most of us would not mind having a connection with the people we interact with. This connection does not have to be strong or passionate or special, it just has to be present. Therefore, in my opinion, the concept is very apt. When we are busy, we might end up ignoring the people we care or come into contact with, and this might lead to negative feelings being bottled up.(I am most guilt of this) That will take a toll on future interactions, and on the relationship. Thus, even as we are busy, we should keep this concept in mind. And as we make use of this concept in our relationships, do keep in mind that the overbearing idea being the concept is to, be genuine.

Mom said she does not want to do a full health check up because she rather no know if there is anything wrong with her health. This episode reminded me of the picture above. How would you define risk? Someone once asked me if what the man is doing in the picture above, is risky. To me, it was and it still is. However, the answer I got was "No, it was not risky". The argument was that, everything was calculated, safety measures were in place and the man had experience. Something that looks risky to people who are not trained in the art can be less risky to people who are trained and experienced. Therefore, to minimise and manage our risk, we should learn as much as we can, and make informed decision. So would you rather know what you are up against and understand your risks before taking action. Or, would you leave everything up to 'faith' and just step up to the tightrope?

This was one of the advice I had received when I first starting reading books on motivation, improvement, and finance. I used to think it was easy to be receptive, since I did not know anything. I was only half right. As the amount of books I read increased, I started to subscribe to some school of thoughts. This became a barrier. It is becoming tougher to keep an opened mind. Recently, I began reading a book on stock picking, based on growth investing and picking momentum stocks. Some of the theories stated were contradictory to those I have read before from value investing books. All of a sudden, I found myself debating against the theories of the book. As I was about to put the book away and write off the book as one being 'senseless', I was reminded of the quote above. Remain open minded. You do not have to agree with everything you hear or read, but at least be open to the different school of thoughts. This way, you can learn about how others think, and maybe even...

Love these notebooks which I got from Daiso. Being brought up with the formal education has its perks. Taking notes is a norm for me, since I tend not to be able to remember everything I read the first time. I used to hate it when people wrote in my books, even the textbooks. Now I realised how much it helps to highlight the key points. Copying these points down into a notebook helps to drive the point in further. Taking notes is only the first step. Going back and reviewing these notes is a major step that was important to me. After reading several books, I realised that I have some of these notebooks lying around, however I have already forgotten the lessons from these books. Reviewing the notes is the next important step in helping me remember and to remind me of lessons I have learnt. It also helped me to identify important takeaways from the books which I have yet to implement. Sometimes, the gems of the books are overwhelmed by the vast amount of information, I just had t...

"Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who dont want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people."  - Randy Pausch Whenever in a slump, just think of this quote.

Source:  http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/4909553055_a6359761bd_z_5.jpg " If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need " - Marcus Tullius Cicero Today, I would like to point out one of the greatest source of information. Libraries. In this digital age, the internet provides a vast array of information. However, libraries remain one of the key source of information and reading material for me. (Yes, I still prefer holding and reading physical books.) Libraries provide me with great access to information, especially if you have access to libraries of education institutes. (another upside of formal education is its resources) These libraries tend to have a wide array of specific resources for various industries, and many a time the books are idling on the shelves waiting to be discovered. Therefore, to all who have access to such libraries, I would urge you to make good use of it. There are knowledge i...

Source:  http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/p480x480/488346_441807519230718_1550064922_n.jpg While attending a talk recently, the speaker said something which struck me. " Everybody has time, it just depends on what we want to do with it ".  How true. Seems like successful people tend to make time for things that are important, rather than giving excuses like 'I am too busy'. I've got so much to learn

(Source:  http://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/sites/default/files/stay-focused-in-school.jpg )  "Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus" -  Alexander Graham Bells As graduation loomed, I started to freak out. I became overly paranoid about the future. Would a job be able to cover me for the rest of my life? - Obviously not. How else can I increase my possible income? I started to learn about investments and part time businesses. There were so many options, and it felt like there was no time. I end up signing up for many courses, way too many. Having choices is a good thing, but trying to do all of them is definitely a BAD decision. I had to try to remember stuff that I read from one investment book, and at the same time, divert my attention to another investment vehicle. It was too much. The lesson here is to focused. There are many ways to earning extra bucks. However, we should onl...

Outliers: The Story of Success The first book of Gladwell's which I have read. Liked the style of writing, with reasons and experiment details to back up his views. Due to the style of writing, I found myself agreeing to what he wrote, a little too easily. The analytic side of my mind did not like that. Interesting read nonetheless. It did convinced me that successful people are not the outliers or rare talents that they are portrayed to be. Rather they are average people who are able to identify opportunities, take action, and work damn hard. Major takeaways from this book were: > the 10,000 hours rule (work damn hard rule, and the importance of passion) > effect of culture > concept of power distance I look forward to reading other books from Gladwell.