Property & Profit

I Have Found A Sure-Fire Way To Succeed...

Do you like to have a sure-fire principle for success?

Many of my friends will tell you that I've been an ardent student of the art and science of success.

Over the years, I have invested more time, more money, and more energy to learn about success than many ordinary persons-on-the-street.

I have attended many trainings and completed more than nine programmes on a tertiary level to seek the elusive truth about success.

I have read about five books every month for years and years and countless number of magazines and other publications to find the formula for success.

For years, I have travelled all over the world in search of gurus to learn from them about success.

I have invested an untold amount of resources along the way.

Fortunately, with the advent of the Internet, I found a better and cheaper way to tap wisdom of experts down the ages.

In my quest to find the secret of success, I have found an effective principle for achieving success.

Please ask me what it is.

Okay. Since you asked me, I will share it with you.

To Be Successful,...(drum roll please)...

..Don't fail.

By all means, pursue success.

At the same time, position yourself such that you will never fail.

One of the favorite lessons that I cover with my mentees is on how to fail successfully.

We examine what I call the Failure Universe.

Reflect on what can go wrong, and ensure that anything that can go wrong will never go wrong.

To succeed, you need to prepare for, prevent, and respond to failure.

You cannot be failure-proof if you do not realise that failure may just be around the corner.

Along the journey of life, there will be puddles, pitfalls, and potholes of failures.

It's a paradoxical truth that If you don't think you will fail, you will never want to change.

Professor failure is one of the best teachers of success.

The potential and possibilities of failure is the best driver to learn, improve, and achieve sustainable success.

In short, failures are signposts on the journey to success.

Therefore, learn to successfully fail your way to success.

What Can We Learn From Israel, An Entrepreneurial Nation?

I once spent time in Israel with about 100 entrepreneurs and innovators.

Although they did not represent the top business talents, I was nonetheless inspired by their entrepreneurial drives and achievements.

As I studied Israel, I was impressed that even though it was a small and relatively young nation and yet, it has planted a large footprint in advanced technology and influenced the world in many areas.

I believe there are five key lessons that we can learn from Israel to improve our entrepreneurial passions and competence.

1. Self-leadership.

The political leadership in Israel is polarized and in constant conflict.

Perhaps because of that, many of the Israelis are mindful that they cannot count on their political masters to lead them and look after them.

These people have learned to be self-reliant and creatively independent.

In addition, they have developed many personal innovations and launched various ground-up and peer-to-peer initiatives to ensure their own survival and success.

Reflection: How can we increase a healthy sense of desperation quotient to go far in life?

How can we strengthen our self-leadership, self-discipline, and self-directed ability to prepare ourselves for greater successes?

2. Culture.

The Jewish people have been subjected to thousands of years of crisis, violence and abuse.

They are still at war and are ever operationally-ready to handle major natural as well as man-made conflicts and challenges.

As a result, they know that they they cannot hold on to status quo.

They need to constantly change, improve, and press on to higher grounds for their own security, stability and sustainability.

Reflection: How can we constantly redesign, reengineer and reinvent ourselves to improve our performance and results?

3. Track Record.

The Jewish people have a commendable track record of producing achievers and achievements in almost every major field.

As a race, they have won more nobel prizes and made more scientific discoveries than many other races.

The rebirth of Israel in 1948 was in itself a modern day miracle.

How its people turned a desert land into a flourishing and progressive society is an example of effective nation-building process.

From Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Steve Ballmer, Calvin Klein, Steven Spielberg, to Sigmund Freud, the Israelis can look to many Jews as their models and pacesetters.

In many ways, success breeds even more successes.

Reflection: How can we follow and improve the pathways of successful people so that we can reach the same or even better destinations?

4. Inquiring Minds.

Many Israelis are constantly questioning, probing, and seeking root causes behind what may seem to be imponderables in life.

They are known to challenge long-held beliefs and deep-seated principles and practices.

Strangely, if they subscribe to Judaism, they they were taught that they should learn how to question their God and religious leaders.

To many entrepreneurs, the quality of their results depends on the quantity of quality questions they pose to themselves.

By asking appropriate questions, it acts as a rudder to help them navigate through fears, doubts and uncertainties.

The desire to know the unknown and discover the undiscovered can help them expand their worldview.

It can compel them to think about the unthinkable and do the un-doable.

This iterative process of inquiries, changes, and improvements can help to develop an open innovation laboratory in their minds and life.

And also helps them achieve unique and even radical breakthroughs.

Reflection: How can we get involved with creative ideas, engagements, people and environments so that our minds will becomes fertile soil for a thousand entrepreneurial flowers to bloom?

5. Foreign Talents.

Israel has attracted talented immigrants and foreign talents from more than 70 nationalities to play an active role in its economy and marketplace.

When the right foreign talents are effectively assimilated and integrated into the workforce, it can be a plus factor to society.

There are ample evidence to suggest that by having diversity, pluralism and multiculturalism, it can contribute to improving creativity and innovation.

These talents from different countries and cultures and who have different creeds and customs can inject and bring forth different ideas, concepts and initiatives.

And also contribute to unconventional breakthroughs and results.

Reflection: How can we reach out to different talents from all over the world to learn from them?

How can we cooperate, collaborate and co-create solutions with them?

I'm sure there are other factors that have contributed to make Israel a nation that's known for innovations and entrepreneurship.

Suffice to say, we can continue to learn from Israel and these lessons can help us achieve greater successes in the new economy.

Serious About Life?

Many people who want to be successful are lying to themselves.

They are not prepared to put in the commitment and sacrifices. Neither will they invest time and energy to learn and improve themselves.

They do not persist and pour out "smart sweat" to turn their dream into a reality.

Tragically, many prefer to bury their head in the sand. Some do not realise they are living a lie even until the end of their life.

Success is simple but not easy.

"Simple" because the answers are in your heart. You have everything it takes to go far in life.

"Not easy" because many will not take the first step, and then another step, and then...to be successful.

Today, you have the opportunity to create an exciting new world.

A world that has never existed before. One that you have been longing for and which will pave the way for a brighter future.

There is no better time in history to start creating that new world than today.

You can do whatever you want to do and enjoy whatever you want to enjoy life.

You can also achieve whatever you want to achieve if you put your mind to it.

The best time to dream and fulfil your dream is right here.

Right now.

I Was Almost Choked To Death...

“Why do you wake up at 4am to track up a mountain in total darkness? Why walk up a steep slope with no sight and feel of the destination and at a temperature of about four degree Celsius ?

“Why do the trip in a strange land and among strange people who speak a strange language? Why put your life at risk?”

If you had asked me these question before the experience that I'm about to share with you, I would probably have told you, “There is an adventurous spirit in me.”

If you stared at me long enough, I would admit to you, “Ok, there’s a streak of foolishness in me.

"You can call it madness but what’s the difference between that and an adventurous spirit?”

It happened on my first trip to Yogjakarta in 1991 and I was there on a business trip.

Someone had told me about a mystical mountain, Mount Bromo and it sat on what the locals called ‘segura wadi’ or a sea of sand.

The mountain has a height of about 2,329 metres of splendour. The nature reserve around it has been protected since 1919.

From a distance, it was perpetually shrouded in mist. It seemed to be sleeping behind mesmerising landscapes and shadows.

Mount Bromo stood like a wise sage beckoning me and many others to climb its slope. A call to indulge in mysterious beauty and to reflect on the vicissitudes of life.

I was hooked but the catch was I need to wake up before 4am. I had to track up the mountain if I wanted to experience what was said to be one of the most breathtaking sunrises.

It was not until I hit the track that I realised I would be walking in total darkness. It was so dark that I could not even see my fingers when I stretched out my hands in front of me.

Along the way, I was offered by different strangers to ride on horses to the top. For some unknown reasons, even though the price was relatively inexpensive, I did not accept the offers.

Soon, I was joined by different people.

We were walking close to one another, and all of us were mad or should I say, suffering from different degrees of insanity. Lol!

It was a long walk or what seemed like a long walk because of the darkness and unfamiliar terrain. I could not recall most parts of the journey as my mind was running through different thoughts and imaginations.

All I remembered was that at one point a commanding voice ordered everybody to sit on the ground. It was damp because of the morning dew and not the most comfortable place to sit.

Soon, streaks of golden rays started to pierce through the back of the distant horizon. More rays gradually appeared, forming a magnificent sight against the dark expanse of the sky.

Shortly after, I discovered we were sitting on a ridge, overseeing the crater of an active volcano. Every now and then, it would send plumes of volcanic smoke into the air.

The amazing phenomenon was like being serenaded by a wonderful orchestra. It touched a tender part of my soul.

All around me was a dramatic scene of stunning beauty and serenity.

I felt like I had been transported into a beautiful portrait. The only difference was I had a 360 degree view of the sensational landscape.

The track back to the hotel was just as magical. It was like passing through an extraordinary fantasy.

I was walking on silky sheets of windswept and powdery sand. A dreamland created by an out-of-the-world but exceptional artist.

The paradise-like feeling literally took my breaths away.

Little did I knew that the sulphuric content of the atmosphere was abnormally high.

I was unconsciously breathing in more minute particles than my lungs could handle.

For the next five days, I had to lie in bed. I could hardly breathe and the medicine prescribed by the local doctor did not provide much relief.

I felt like I was on my dying bed, gasping for breath as I prayed to the good Lord to spare my life.

The glimpse of paradise or what felt like paradise was not enough to make me let go of my earthly life.

There were more beauty around me that I have not explored. More wonders that I have not experienced and it would be a waste of my life if I don’t go full out to enjoy much more beauty in my lifetime.

I was quickened to pursue the awes and wonders that are around me and beyond.

I want to be enthralled by nature’s captivating masterpieces – beauty that no humans can reproduce.

These works of natural art are mostly within easy reach.

What’s not easy is to free my mind to reach out to them and to have the mindfulness to be aware of and to savour the beauty and wonders of life.

I want to be in constant worship of our Creator. I want to praise Him for all the goodness that He has created both near and far.

In the final analysis, life is not measured by moments but by experiences.

The magical experiences that we spin throughout our life will make for a rich tapestry of true living.

We should therefore collect beautiful experiences and not possessions.

We should create magical experiences for the people around us.

We should collect wonderful memories so that we will have wonderful stories to tell in the future.

We will have beautiful memories to warm our hearts throughout our lives.

He Befriends Gangsters...

A friend - let's call him Luke (not the real name) - that I have not met for more than 30 years dropped by my office.

We had a wonderful time reminiscing about the past over a wonderful dinner.

Except for some wrinkles, Luke's face has hardly changed over the years.

I once joked over the Facebook group that put us together again - Luke still has the Chow Yun Fatt's style, minus the height.

We spent one part of the evening talking about how Luke got involved with gangsters.

No, he was not one of them but he seemed to interact often with them.

According to Luke, his first major encounter with them was when they tried to collect "protection money" from him.

It happened shortly after opening the door of a new retail business.

Instead of running away or cowing to them, he took great effort to engage them.

He eventually found a way to resolve the harassment.

Since then, Luke tried to understand them with a view of trying to help them.

He recalled how he once sat through a long meeting listening to a gangster sharing his life story.

My entrepreneurial friend offered them jobs and even started a business for them.

He invited them to church and in his words, he was prepared to go with them to any church that they are comfortable with.

Over a period of time, Luke won their confidence and even managed to transform some of them.

I have utmost respect for Luke and admiration for what he was trying to do.

Instead of passing judgements on the gangsters, he defended them on our Facebook group and in different ways.

The lessons I learned from Luke was that I should never run away from trouble or be compromised by the trouble.

There are always solutions within reach from both around and within me.

When I found out how Luke took a contrarian approach in bringing out the good in every gangster, I re-learned another useful principle.

Expect the best from people so as to bring out the best from them.

If complaining, criticizing and condemning others can change their lives, the world would have been a better place.

There will be lesser of the bad and ugly living amongst us.

Our words can become rivers of life - rejuvenating, inspiring and energizing the people that we meet every day.

If all of us reach out and try to resolve the problems in our community; instead of just passing negative judgements about them, the world will become a better home.

When we run away from problems, we have also unwittingly allow those problems to grow.

Eventually they will bring more problems to our lives.

Thank you Luke for an enlightening time.

It’s Time To Learn From Criticisms - Story 2

"Patrick, get ready to fight the mother of all battles in your lifetime.”

Those words were spoken by my lawyer.

At that point, he had spent months to help prepare my company to become a public-listed company.

Towards the end of the project, he had a warning for our management team.

When our corporate aspiration was made known to the public, we could be stirring a hornet nest.

In a nutshell, anybody and everybody could lodge a complaint about us to the relevant authorities and they can do it anonymously too.

These complaints can be raised on cyberspace as well as through many different channels.

What's more, the relevant authorities can direct us to investigate every complaint, even if it meant delaying the listing process and spending a lot of money to clear the air.

That warning was confirmed and repeated to us by our banker, accountant, and other professionals working on the project.

My lawyer told our management team, "These complaints can be largely divided into two categories.

"First, allegations that you did not meet the high legal, ethical and moral standards to list on a credible securities exchange.

"Then, there are frivolous complaints to hold you back or prevent you from a successful listing.”

Our investor relations consultant further added, "Some of these complaints may be leaked to the public.
"As a result, they will haunt you and shame you, your company, or any or some of your senior executives for a long time.

"Furthermore, these complaints can be raised by almost anybody, including foes, fools, friends, or even family members.

"They can be anybody who has crossed your path, including a disgruntled ex-colleague, an unhappy ex-lover, or an unethical competitor.

He can also be a dissatisfied customer, a hateful enemy, or even a friend who is jealous of your achievement.”

Our banker did not help in lessening our worries. He told us, "Before being listed, 99% of companies has received such complaints.”

Obviously, I asked about the 1% of companies that was spared from the anguish.

The banker laughed and said, "I do not know of any company that has not received any complaint.

"I have to assume that there may be such companies out there.”

In other words, no company is spared.

After hearing the warning, every single executive in our management team was deeply concerned.

All of us have our fair share of enemies in our lives.

In the final stages of the project, I had to search my soul.

I revisited past experiences and reviewed how I have conducted my life.

If I was worried, the worry did not last long because my conscience was clear.

Right from the first way I walked into the business world, I knew I wanted to do the right thing, to do well, and to do good.

At the end of the journey, I aimed to look back and be proud of myself. I would be able to give a good account of myself to our Creator.

And so I was able to lead my team to complete the listing project without being distracted and without carrying unnecessary emotional baggages.

Right till the day we rang the bell and became officially listed on the securities exchange, we did not have a single complaint.

If the relevant authorities had received a complaint, they must have felt that the complaint was too frivolous and unsubstantiated to warrant a response.

Moral of the story?

As you go through life, whether you are on the right track or on the wrong track in life, there will always be enemies.

In fact, if you have no enemies, you may have to search your soul. Chances are you are not on the success track.

You may think that by doing nothing, you will have lesser or no enemies.

Unfortunately, there will still be people who will hate you even for doing nothing.

Throughout the journey of life, I've met many people who are fond of criticizing others and throwing mud at people around them.

Why do they do it?

Let me hazard the following guesses:

1. It makes them feel that they are better than others. They feel that they have a right to pass judgements on them.

They feel good and superior about themselves.

2. They do it as a way to escape from themselves.

Instead of confronting their own weaknesses and feeling bad about their weaknesses, they redirect their attention on others.

3. They do it as a revenge and to spite others.

They don’t have the courage to straighten things out with the other parties and they consciously or unconsciously decide to bring others down.

4. It is also possible that they have good intentions to help others to change and to become a better person.

They have a mistaken notion that the more they criticise others, the more and faster these people will improve their lives.

What are the consequences of being judgemental?

1. If you are a judgemental person, you will eventually paint a poorer image of yourself than the person you are criticizing.

In fact, you may already have unknowingly built up a negative reputation for complaining, criticizing and condemning others.

2. Nobody likes a self-righteous person.

People will avoid you if you continue to play ‘god’ or ‘judge’ in their lives.

If you persist, eventually there will be nobody to judge as your friends would have abandoned you.

3. When you judge others, you will have no space in your heart and mind to see the good in others and build a positive relationship with them.

You may end up living a lonely life and the only person left to criticise is yourself.

4. When you pass judgements on others, you are also inviting others to pass judgements on you.

It’s a fair game.

If you expect others to be perfect or to set a high standard, others will also expect you to be perfect and to set a high standard in your life too.

5. People will hold you to your yardsticks in life and are inclined to expose you if you don’t walk your talk.

In fact, they may become more conscious about the downsides of your life.

As a result, you may bring unnecessary attention to your weaknesses and magnify them for the world to see.

6. When you point a finger at others, four fingers will be pointing back at you.

People will soon notice that your fingers are not entirely clean and innocent too.

7. When you judge others in their absence, they may also judge you in your absence.

If you don’t give them a chance to defend themselves, they may also not want to give you a chance to defend yourself.

8. Soon the people who genuinely want to help you will stay away from you for fear of being judged by you.

As we are all frogs in the well to different degrees, you will suffer the Johari Window syndrome.

Nobody will help you see your downsides and help you improve yourself.

You'll be none the healthier, wiser, and better as a person.

Judgmental persons should realize that throwing mud at one other will only make each other muddy.

Spewing poison at one another will only cause each other to die of poison.

The saddest words from a mouth, pen or keyboard are just three simple words, “I should have ...”

Live With Dreams.

Successful people have one common denominator – they have dreams.

They know what they want and they work towards achieving it.

When there is a dream, there is life.

Without a dream, you will float in the sea of dissatisfaction.

And drift through the passage of time.

Without dreams, you can never live a meaningful, exciting and fulfilling life.

You are created and designed to dream.

I believe that our Creator has already placed a dream within you.

Oftentimes, amidst the noise and haste, you fail to recognize the dream and live it out.

Dreams are a preview of the different lives that you can experience.

They are stories that your heart wants to craft for your life – and they help you choose and craft your destiny.

You will never be free unless you free your mind to explore the ends of the world.

You will always be imprisoned if you cannot mentally traverse the expanse of space, time, energy and matter – and see how things can fit into your dreams.

Everything great starts with a dream.

The world around you is created and re-created by dreamers.

Dreamers see a new world before the rest of the world.

They see the world not for what it is but for what it can become – and they advance to redesign the world.

Dreams are like a compass.

They help you to navigate your life to success.

If you don’t have a dream, you will always be moving in the wrong direction and will end up in the wrong place.

The greatness of your dreams will determine how great your life will become.

When a dream is so electrifying that it consumes you, you cannot live at the same level.

You’ll be compelled to live up to your higher potential and calling.

With a dream, you can feel that there is something great awaiting you.

That feeling can give you a sense of strength, control, and direction.

When your spirit, heart and mind are set on fire with a dream, you will be more motivated to plan for and to design your life.

You will better organize your life and discipline your lifestyle.

Channel your resources to attain the next level of achievement and growth, and
fulfill your dreams.

And learn how to value your life and the people around you because they, too, have dreams.

Together, you have a much better chance of fulfilling each other’s dreams.

When your mind is stretched by a dream, you will improve your personal development to become a better “you” so as to better achieve your dream.

Dreams that occupy your mind limit the room for fear and worries.

They drive out other negative emotions and inhibitions.

These baggage have no useful place on the journey of dreams.

On this journey, potholes become pots of gold to inspire you to success.

They are useful experiences for feedback, learning and improvement.

Therefore, dream impossible dreams.

It will drive you to stretch yourself so as to make achieving the dreams possible.

When you plan to go farther than you thought you could, you will know what it means to live life to the fullest.

Unrealistic dreams in the past have become real because of humans like us.

These people saw a different “reality” – they do what ordinary people won’t do, and won’t do what ordinary people do.

They perceive a different “reality” from us.

You, too, can live on their plane of “reality”.

Tragically, there are many who are dreamers but not doers.

There is a rare few who are achievers – they dream and do what is necessary to make their dreams come true.

The good news is that it is never too late to start a journey to turn dreams into realities.

The transportation system of life will continue to improve so as to take you farther and faster to your desired destination.

Crafting a dream is not a one-time process but an ongoing one.

You need to review and improve your dream throughout your journey.

Dream on, my friend!

It’s Time To Stop Running On A Treadmill.

One evening, I had a heart-wrenching meal with an old friend who was also my customer.

It was heart-wrenching because we were trading stories about the ugliness that we have seen in the marketplace.

Between both of us, we have worked for more than 70 years in the corporate world.

We have worked in a wide range of industries and organisations, including charity bodies and civic societies.

The discussion actually brought tears to my more soft-hearted friend on a few occasions.

Much later, I had to double-checked my heart to see if it had not become hard, cold, or skeptical after going through these heart-breaking experiences.

It's sad that in the process of making a living, many are not mindful about living life.

Some may not even know how to live and live well anymore.

The modern world has compelled them to run on a meaningless treadmill.

The running occupies their mind but they are not getting anywhere with their soul.

There is not much room for developing a meaningful and purposeful life and serving a worthwhile cause.

Along the way, they are subjected to the pervasive influence of a materialistic world.

The alluring and ever-improving commercials and advertisements made them believe in pursuing the so-called "finer things in life."

They became a latter-day emperor without clothes, believing that they would soon "arrive" and would be living a make-believe life or lie.

At some points, they lose themselves and lived lives that were not their own.

They lived a lie and never quite realised it.

I told my friends, "I would love to bring these people around and see the poorest of the poor, and those who suffer intensely through life."

Perhaps, they might realize that many of their blind ambitions would ultimately lead to nothing.

All the energy used could have been channeled for a worthwhile cause.

In the end, as a prophet would wisely said, "If you chase after the wind, you will reap a whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7).

I hope that on your journey in life, your motives, means and missions will always be clear.

Your actions will be conducted in good faith and for the greater good.

May you constantly seek to put others before yourself and seek a you-should-win-first-before-I- can-win outcome. That is what I call a won-win relationship.

It's sad that humankind can rise to the highest level of love and compassion. Yet, we can also stoop to the lowest level of hate and cruelty.

We have the capacity to create. We also have the capability to destroy.

We are surrounded by material comforts. Yet, we are also saturated with emotional conflicts.

We judge life by what we have rather than what we gave.

We pursue quantity of possessions but not quality of contributions.

We have a wealth of knowledge, but we still lack the wisdom to eradicate poverty.

We have advanced technology to communicate but we don’t know how to collaborate effectively to bring forth global peace.

We r**e and pillage planet earth and we wonder why she does not cow in silence.

Our planet has manifested her hurts and scars through global warming, tidal waves, and earthquakes.

Yet, we sleep through the signs and signals.

We continue our march down the slippery slope to destruction.

Today, humankind stands – literally one bomb away – from the brink of decimation.

We need an awakening call like never before.

Our collective conscience must rise up - for the sake of humanity - to fight abuse, evil and violence.

Tomorrow, when the sun rises, I pray we will wake up to a new day. A new day of love, hope and optimism.

We must stretch out our hands - not for more power or possession - but in compassion and cooperation to make our world a better home.

Together, as one human race, we need to reignite the love within ourselves so as to fulfill our destiny for greatness.