TAKE ACTION!

It time for some questions.

Can you tell me where you will be ten years from today? More than likely, with a certitude of 99.99%, the answer is no. I'll leave a .01% for anything that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. I'm sure you can assert an interesting and convincing argument of where you would like to be in ten years but since you’re all you do is talk and do nothing much about it, I suggest you shut up and listen and you will see a big difference between "will be" and "like to be".

Can you tell me where you were in your life ten years ago? More than likely, with a certitude of 99.99%, the answer is yes. I am sure there will be little arguing where you were in your life all those years ago. You can probably recount the events and include all the relevant characteristics, and qualities identifying each highlight. All this with clarity, color and total confidence. Imagine that, with total clarity and confidence. Don't you wish you can describe your future with that much accuracy and ease? I'm not at this point in time going to say whether it is or isn't.

In the blink of an eye, years can pass by. And it isn't until you have that abrupt moment realizing how much time has passed. Do you see the same person when you look back? Hopefully you don't see the same person today as you did ten years ago. If you feel that you do, how does that make you feel? Who cares, the real question is what are you going to do about it! Do you want to be the same person five years from now! Or do you want to be someone who succeeds and inspires.

1. Today, right here, right now, how do you envision yourself? What do you imagine are your future possibilities? What is the perception of yourself at point zero, today? Do you see yourself in a position or a time in your life where you want to be?

2. Has life become so easy for you that you don't need to move forward?

3. Have you become so comfortable with the way things have been all you do is just fantasize or hallucinate about moving forward?

4. Or have you created anchors in your life which prevent you from moving forward. Living an easy and comfortable life prevents you from creating an end goal for yourself and allows your surrounding environment to create and end goal for you. And anchors are distractions in life which prevent you from seeing an end goal and moving forward.

5. You can't live life on your own terms if you refuse to grow, if you refuse to move. It is also very easy to get caught up in our lives and often with the anchors, difficulties, dilemmas and confusions.

6. This only makes it seem more impossible to know what to do or how to advance with your life. Have you asked yourself what holds you back? Have you asked yourself what you are afraid of?

7. Sometimes you'll look at your past and you will think you are seeing your future. That needs to stop. If you look at your past, for any reason, it should be to measure how far you have come. To learn from any successes or mistakes you have made and to build upon them.

8. I'm not going to tell you "to" take charge of your life. Because you are already in charge of your life. You are always in charge of your life. Whether or not you just chose to either do nothing with it or consent to someone else to take charge of your life.

You chose to stay the same because you may think there is some external force which prevents you from doing what you want to truly be. You chose to stay the same because of your fear. You chose to stay the same because it is easy. You cannot fail if you do not try, nor can you succeed in obtaining success.

It is your time to wake up.

I Love My Job!

Some say that a job is what you do keep a roof over your head and bread in the cupboard. To me it’s much more than that because I just love what I do. Don’t shake your head and say, “Of course he loves what he does. He’s the CEO and he gets to literally boss people around all day and there’s no pressure for him to deliver.” FYI, I don’t push people around and being Group CEO to 6 growing companies is pretty challenging now more so than ever.

I love what I do, my job so to speak because it’s a great game. In the years I’ve been an entrepreneur, I’ve discovered the excitement of being able to pinpoint and eliminate the roadblocks, detours and obstacles that had previously prevented me from building any kind of successful momentum.

Through this desire and tenacity I have to succeed I have found ingenious ways to increase my profitability by employing my very own business growth tactics and strategies. My love for the game of winning in business has allowed me to experience a massive increase in my productivity, resulting in a measurable lift in my overall satisfaction with who I am and what I do.

And what I’m all about is that I always play to win.

Huge Opportunities Amidst Economic Crisis

Sometimes we don’t know that we are capable of doing something until and unless we are thrust into an unbearable situation. That’s when most of us will do what it takes to make it through – some do it through illegal means while others rise to the challenge and take the hard way out.

For some of us difficult times mean an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and one person who knows all about reinventing herself is Madonna. It’s been over 20 years and she’s still commanding audiences the world over and minting millions through record sales all because she knows how to keep both her style and her music one step ahead of the rest.

When bad situations arise, most people decide to grumble and make a lot of noise instead of looking at the opportunities that lay hidden. Look, if it’s so easy to be successful do you really think the world will be in the situation it’s in right now? You have to be smart and sharp. Look out for others might miss and don’t see at all.

There are many opportunities that are available – you just need to stick your nose in the right place and sniff it out. If you’re angry with me for saying this because it’s so easy to say it and not tell you where to look, then you should give yourself a knock on the head for wanted to be spoon fed and you don’t deserve to be successful for being lazy.

Half the fun of being successful is the journey to take to get there. Sure it’s not always fun and games – but you need to persevere and the lessons you learn from it will make you truly an entrepreneur from the school of hard knocks – no business degree could be better.

Why You’re Still Dumb, Sick and Broke!

You’ve attended every single get-rick-quick seminar and internet success talk you can but there are still no results. All you do is hear what it is being said but you do nothing about it. In case you’re wondering why the earth hasn’t moved for you yet, these are reasons why:

1. You don’t know how to manage money. Fancy offices and high salaries are great ways to blow money. You need to learn when to spend your money and when you should not. For example, if your employees want fancy desks or cubicles, when it will not help them do their job better, tell them no. But if someone wants two monitors so he or she can be more productive, then buy the second monitor.

2. You don’t have multiple game plans. You can’t rely on one person, one business model, or even one solution. Things you can’t predict happen, so the best thing you can do is have multiple game plans.

3. You don’t learn from your mistakes. It is natural to make mistakes, but good entrepreneurs make few mistakes. The easiest way you can reduce the amount of mistakes you will make is by learning from others.

4. You aren’t agile enough. You have to be able to adapt quickly. If you aren’t able to adapt to market changes, someone else will.

5. You think you know everything. The reality is, you know very little. So instead of thinking you know everything, find others who are smarter than you.

6. You think you can do everything. There is only 24 hours in a day, and sleeping takes up a lot of it. I know you may be a jack of all trades, but find people who can help you out. By specializing on tasks you will become more efficient and get more done.

7. You don’t network with others. If you meet new people on a regular basis, sooner or later you will run into people that can help you out. Surprisingly, there are tons of people out there who are willing to lend a helping hand for FREE. Make sure you go to industry events, local mixers, and join any entrepreneur groups.

8. You don’t love what you do. Money is great, but everything shouldn’t revolve around it. You are more likely to succeed if you are doing what you love. Usually when you are doing things you love, you will spend more time and put more effort into it.

9. You don’t have a good work ethic. Laziness is something many of us pick up from working 9 to 5 jobs. But when you are running your own business you have to be willing to put in time. And more importantly when you working, you have to learn to be productive.

10. You aren’t aggressive enough. Don’t expect things to be handed to you or for doors to open up when you want them to. You have to be a go-getter and if you aren’t one, you better learn how to become one.

Think It’s Easy Being a Successful Entrepreneur?

There are quite a number of people who like to daydream about this. Being a successful entrepreneur is a task that many people wish that they could accomplish. Achieving the feat of being a successful entrepreneur means that you are in charge of your own destiny and independent in your own wealth creation.

If you look at the people in the past that have achieved this dream, a common thread seems to emerge. Actually, many common threads emerge as characteristics typical of an entrepreneur. Some common characteristics that entrepreneurs exude are: common sense, being a problem solver, determination, using money as a measure, hard work, complexity on thinking, being a good net-worker, and their confidence. This list seems to be all inclusive, but it isn't.

Some of these characteristics can inter-relate back to one-another. Having “common sense” means that you can rationalize a situation and deal with it in a manner that is feasible and practical. This can relate to ways to solve problems in the same mannerisms. An entrepreneur has common sense and is able to make a practical judgment on a problem or question that arises.

Being an entrepreneur is a lot more than taking out a bank loan and starting your own business. For the record this is what it means: Entrepreneur, translated from its French roots, means "one who undertakes." The term is used to refer to anyone who undertakes the organization and management of an enterprise involving independence and risk as well as the opportunity for profit. An entrepreneur, typically, is inspired to start a business because the entrepreneur perceives a consumer need that is not being adequately filled.

The most important thing that an entrepreneur must have is common sense. If you don’t have that, or worse – don’t know what it is, I suggest your find out first before deciding to fire your boss. Otherwise you’ll be out on your behind in no time – and that would be a shame.

Leaders With Scandals

You don’t need to watch re-runs of soap operas here when you can get all the drama you want just by observing our political leaders. From being accused of murder to being arrested for bribery charges enough to rival the Watergate scandal, here we have stories that can curl the hair – especially those told over teh tarik sessions.

The worse part about all of this is that a lot of them don’t learn from their mistakes. I mean, I’m sure they read the papers right? And even worse, they probably would have come in contact with the accused at one time or another. Even with observing something like this so up close and personal, they still go and do stupid things. If you’re stupid enough to get caught doing it, then you deserve what’s coming.

What’s clearly missing is integrity in leadership. "Leadership by example" is still one of the best approaches in leading the human capital. The story below often used to coach can best illustrate this point.

There is a story about a lady who brought her sweet-loving son to Mahatma Ghandi. She hopes that some wise counselling will convince the boy to stop eating the sweets that were obviously bad for him. The great leader told the lady to bring her son back to him in a week.

The week went by and the lady brought her son back to Gandhi who very simply told the boy to stop eating too many sweets as they can be harmful. The lady was astonished and a little upset stating that this could have been told to the boy the previous week. This is the reply she received from Gandhi," I myself used to take sweets till last week. I needed a weeks' time to quit eating sweets so that I could counsel your son with conviction".

Scandals happen in the absence of integrity. People get greedy not just in terms of money, but also power and status. When we try to get that extra bit through illegal and unnatural means, we upset the scales. And just like in nature, you know very well what happens when there is am imbalance – get ready for some chaos.

It’s time for the serving leader to emerge.

Shocking Stats: 85% of all Businesses Fail within First 5 Years

It’s a well known fact that the failure rate for small businesses is extremely high. We have heard the statistics, but what are the reasons? These are the apparent business failure rate as the years roll by:

First : 85%
Second: 70%
Third: 62%
Fourth: 55%
Fifth: 50%
Sixth: 47%
Seventh: 44%
Eighth: 41%
Ninth: 38%
Tenth: 35%

These statistics are, of course, reflective of small businesses in general. Nonetheless, it can be deduced that no matter what industry you are in, there is a high failure rate, and generally speaking, the top three issues or reasons for small business failure are relatively consistent.

Almost every study or report indicates the main reason for small business failure is improper planning and expectations. When we dig deeper into these reports, there are three critical areas of planning that are often overlooked or underestimated:

1. Financial requirements to get the business started.
2. Generating/developing business and revenue.
3. Managing and controlling growth.

It is the small business owners who are able to figure out how to accomplish and overcome the challenges that accompany those three critical areas who will typically enjoy a long, fruitful business life. The variable is figuring out how to do it. Most small business owners are very proficient at the product they supply or service they deliver.

It is rare that a small business fails because the owner does not understand what they are doing.

So before you get excited as the prospect of being your own boss, please have an expert understanding of what it is you want to do. Don’t just talk to people who have succeeded, speak to those who haven’t as well because it’ll help you to really understand what goes into sustaining a business – learn from their mistakes and don’t have a repeat performance.

Amazing Race Asia – Our Malaysian Participants Make Us Proud!

Malaysians can be quite a hardy bunch. And of late, we’ve been witnessing a lot of tenacity from Ida Nerina, Tania Khan, Bernie & Henry Chan – the Malaysian contestants for The Amazing Race Asia – Season 3.

These participants are testimony to what we can do once we set out minds to it – and the journey we choose to take in order to get there.

While it’s great to win, it’s also important that you get there with some amount of dignity. You want people to be rooting for you, not wishing that you’ll fall off the mountain or get horribly lost.

Our Malaysian contestants are great in that they may be impatient with each other – but you don’t see them at each other’s throats. This has been the same with all the other Malaysian contestants in Season 1 and 2.

These are the people who put the “Amazing” in The Amazing Race Asia. Good job to all.

It Takes Two to Tango!

We conducted a teambuilding session last week for GAB – and what an experience it was. As with all other workshops and teambuilding sessions we’ve conducted, there are always lessons learnt – this one was no different.

Whenever a teambuilding session is conducted, it isn’t just for the client – but also a test of teamwork for us as well. From the time is session in confirmed, everyone bands together to make sure that all items needed are bought, sorted, packed and loaded.

There are times when our fuses go off and our patience wears thin. We’ll also be very tired, exhausted – but we can’t complain about being tired, because this is a job and we’re pulling off a very big production. No matter how tired or hungry we are, it’s always show business as usual and the show must always go on.

When a teambuilding session is conducted, there must always be accountability on both sides – the client and the provider. If a problem or an argument involves two people then both people are responsible for the problem – hence it takes two to tango.

Coordinating a teambuilding session is very much like conducting an orchestra. Everyone must know their place and watch the conductor so they can come in at the right time and not mess up the entire performance.

An event of any kind can only be truly successful if both client and service provider work together and we experienced this with GAB. Of course there was the initial grumbling, complaining and dragging of the feet – but with some pushing and motivation, we saw how a group of entirely different people can come together and make it work.

There were exemplary instances of leadership, dedication, empowerment, accountability and action from both sides. It was a session that will be remembered.

Dirty Politics, Dirt-ier Politicians!

History shows that these sorts of unsupportable attacks and seemingly childish antics are not new to the politics. Candidates for all sorts of public office have engaged in name calling and public denunciations of their opponents from our earliest days as a nation.

Few campaigns in the modern era have been completely free of dirty politics, which generally means the use of slander, libel, forgery, or other potentially criminal acts to embarrass a political rival.

Dirty politics can occur at any level of public service. Local political candidates often use financial records to embarrass an opponent. Family members and known political associates may also become fair game in dirty politics.

A candidate's mental stability may be challenged, especially if he or she offers up an emotional or overheated response to dirty politics. A negative ad campaign is not always the same as dirty politics, provided the charges in those ads are true and confirmable.

Dirty politics often occur away from the scrutiny of the press, so many examples rarely come to light until years after the campaigns have ended – and this will then result in conspiracy theories which have more truth to them than all the politicians put together.

Multi-Racial Lion Dance – Truly Malaysia

What do you think keeps us united in a country that is a melting pot of races, cultures and religions? Let’s bring it a little closer to home, what do you think makes this work in Malaysia?

Personally, I don’t think it’s the campaigns of loving Malaysia carried out by the government. I truly believe that we, each and everyone of us are doing what we can to keep scales from tipping over.

We are united because we choose to be, we make the effort because we are wiser for the mistakes of our forefathers. Take the Muhibbah Lion Dance Group for example. Lion dance troupes have long been a mainstay of the Chinese community but here you have 40 members of various races taking a multi-cultural route. And what’s more, the troupe also has two women - a Malay and an Indian.
We should make a stand which does not tolerate stereotypical references to which race is lazy, which race is backstabbing and which race would sell their own mother for a bit of profit.

The next time someone of a similar race as you makes a racial slur, remind them about your mutual racial flaws and highlight that you’re not as perfect as you think you are. It’s these distinctions that make us so alike and yet so unique. It’s not enough that we are proud to be Malaysians – we should be proud of each other and celebrate our differences that bind us together as a nation.

Life’s a BITCH!... if we let it be

Have you ever asked someone what they had for lunch and they, roll their eyes and say something like, “I had Chicken Rice AGAIN.” And when you say to them if they don’t like it, why not have something else, they reply, “I don’t have a choice.” This is a load of rubbish – and believe me I’ve heard plenty of idiots speak in my lifetime.

Of course you have a choice!

You can decide to wake up a little earlier and make yourself a sandwich for one – or look for other places to try out. You can decide to make life simple, or choose to bitch about every single thing that comes your way. If things are not going well for you, grow a backbone and stop slithering about in self-pity. Pick yourself up and move forward.

Bad break in love? Stop all the crying and wallowing. Tell yourself you’re going to get really successful and win this person back – provided they’re worth the work you’ll be putting in. Otherwise, get successful for yourself. After all, success is the best revenge.

If your job is bringing you down, look for something else that you really want to do. Yes, it’s really that simple. Get out of your comfort zone. Change for the better is never easy – you need to challenge yourself and go through some rough patches in order for you to really appreciate all the good that is in your life. Once that happens, you’ll bitch less and be a nicer person to yourself and those around you.

Turning 35!

I know someone who turned 35 today. When I got to know her some time back, she came across very strong, defensive, guarded to people and unsure of what she was truly capable of. Her forte happens to be writing, but she did it without much enthusiasm or realization of how good she was at it. Over the months, that has changed in leaps and bounds.

It really is a joy watching her work now – and her enthusiasm is very real and infectious. How did she do it? I think it’s because she discovered it’s ok to let her guard down and let go of things that are not in her control. She did this by accepting that there are certain things that can change overnight, while others require time and patience.

A loner at the earlier stages, I can see that she has found friends within the workplace – and the genuine camaraderie is great. She laughs more now and finds joy in being surrounded by people who sometimes, I think drive her half crazy with their requests for help. I think she secretly likes it though as she seems most at home when doing something for someone else be it a friend, colleague or the organization as a whole.

They say life begins at 40, but she has proven that it can start much earlier – only if you will it and want it bad enough.

Happy Birthday my friend.

Selamat Hari Raya to All My Muslim Colleagues, Friends, Clients all over the World!

Today is the day where collective cheers revel in being able to eat at any time of the day. But above and beyond this it is also a day where many old wounds will heal and the opportunity to start over avails itself. I love Hari Raya and all the delicious trappings that come with it – the food is phenomenal and the hospitality extended to me by my Muslim friends are stuff legends are made of.

I’ll be visiting some of them a little later, and I am looking forward to it – yes, because of the food, but more so because I have come to love having them as my friends, colleagues - my family in short. It is also a great reminder that in spite of the pretty crappy things happening, we are still bound to each other as Malaysians through time-honored celebrations such as this.

Cut the ketupat, lay out the lemang and dish out the rendang. I’m on my way over.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin.