Can You Do It Alone?

Successful people do not become successful on their own.

You cannot be successful on your own. You must first surround yourself with people you can learn from, gain support and get the encouragement to keep moving ahead. You must find yourself a mentor or a coach who can help propel you forward. Successful people have a support team of positive, confident, enthusiastic people who help them get to where they want to be.

It's normal to keep your dreams and goals to yourself. Most probably because you're afraid people would put you down or tell you to stop dreaming. The problem with keeping things to yourself is you wouldn't be able to get the help and support you need.

Share your goals and dreams. Ignore people who belittle your dreams. Find people who are supportive. Ask for what you need. Ask for information, assistance, support, time and whatever resources you need to help you achieve your goal.

When you ask, there's a 50-50 chance people might say yes. The worst thing that could happen is people would say no. So what? Not the end of the world. Ask another person.

One of the most important things to ask for is to ask someone else to do what you're not good at. Make a list of everything you need to do. Draw three columns on a piece of paper. In the first column, list every single task, no matter how small or trivial.

In the second column, decide if this is your core genius, i.e. is that something you can do well. Write a tick if it is.

In the third column is possible ways you can delegate. Based on the first and second column, figure out a way to delegate tasks that you're not good at.

Delegating could be as simple as getting a baby sitter twice a week so you can free two hours of your time to work on your goal. Or getting someone else to buy the groceries so that you have an extra hour for yourself. If delegating simple chores could free a few hours of your time a week so you can focus on working on your goal, wouldn't that be something worth doing?

When asking for what you need/want, keep the following in mind:
1. Ask as if you expect to get it.
2. Assume you can.
3. Ask someone who can give it to you.
4. Be clear and specific.
5. Ask repeatedly.

How Would You Like To Improve You Relationship With _________?

If someone tells you that he would like to give you some feedback, would you expect that he has something positive or negative to say? Most people would brace themselves for the critic.

When you receive a feedback, how do you react to it? Do you become angry, or defensive, or do you thank the feedback giver?

Getting angry or being defensive is pointless, even useless, because it does not allow you to improve yourself and grow. When people give you a feedback, listen, nod, thank them, and then think of how you can use the feedback to move forward. Of course it's not easy to do. Of course it's hard to sit there and listen. But if you could keep yourself from being angry or defensive, it will allow you to grow in various aspects of your life.

You can use feedback to improve your relationship with people around you. How? Ask them for feedback. Here's how you do it.

First, ask them this question: "On a scale from 1 - 10, how would you rate __________?". The blank might be "our relationship", "our friendship", "me as a boss", "me as an event organizer", "me as a team player" etc.

If the answer is less then 10, the next question to ask is "What would it take to make it a 10?".

Listen to the feedback and then think what you can do to make that relationship a 10. You can ask the questions to your significant other, friends, business partners, son/daughter, your employees etc.

I hope you'll have fun with this simple exercise. I surely did.

How would you like to be appreciated?

Do you know that different people have different preferences on how they would like to be appreciated? I didn't know until a week ago.

Some people prefer auditory appreciation. Others visual. Some other prefer kinesthetic appreciation.

For auditory people, kind words of appreciation is enough to send them over the moon. The visual type prefers things like cards, or desk clock, or flowers - things they can look and touch. People who are kinesthetic prefers a pat on the shoulder or a hug.

Why am I telling you all this? Firstly, because it's important not to take people around us for granted and to tell them that we appreciate their presence in our lives. Secondly, when you show your appreciation according to the way people prefer to be appreciated, it magnifies the impact. Not only they'd feel appreciated, your thoughtfulness makes them feel loved and cared for.

I asked a friend how she prefers to be appreciated and her answer was, "It depends. If it's from my husband, I prefer something tangible and shiny". She loves jewelry :-).

In order to be successful, you need to build relationships of success. One way to do this is by appreciating people around you - your significant other, kids, employees, co-workers etc. Whenever someone does a good job, tell them so. And show your appreciation in the way they prefer to be appreciated.

You mission this week, should you choose to accept it, is to make a list of people you want to appreciate, find out how they like to be appreciated, and list ideas how you can show your appreciation.

Don't make this a once-a-year event. Show your appreciation regularly.

Ooops... It Happened Again!

When I was about 14, a classmate had to quit school because his parents were poor and could no longer afford to send him to school. At the time, I said to myself that when I grow up, I want to make sure every child will be able to go to school.

I grew up and do what most normal people do. Got busy with my own life. But for some reason that dream didn't die. From time to time, I'm reminded of that promise I made to myself. I just didn't know how to do it.

Do you want to know why I want to be rich and have loads of money? It's not about the money itself. Not about fancy cars, or big houses, or branded shoes. Money is just a means to an end. Money would allow me to do the things that I've always dreamed of doing. I want to make a difference. I want to help people have a better life.

One of my goals is to set up a foundation to help underprivileged children. I shared this dream with a few people. Last week something amazing happened.

A friend of mine (who knew nothing of my dream of helping underprivileged children) was helping her friend collect toys to be donated to a children activity center. She asked if I would like to come along, and so I did. When I was there, I realized that a door has been opened to allow me realize my dream of helping underprivileged children.

I didn't go looking for this opportunity. It came to me! Once again, magic happened. The power of intention.

When I looked back at the events that unfolded in the past few months, I could not help but feel grateful and humbled. Each time a door opened, it brought into my life amazing people who are passionate about making a difference in this world. I feel blessed.

You can read more about the children activity center at http://chowkids.org.

What Is Your Intention Today?

It's a simple question that can make a big difference in your daily life. Each morning ask yourself, "What is my intention today?". Decide what you want to do and it will happen.

I've been doing this for a week. and I'm amazed by how much I can get done just by asking myself that simple question each morning. I have a post-it-note on my vanity table so I'd see that question each morning as I'm getting ready. When I see that question, I answer with 2 or 3 things I want to do and at the end of they day, they're all done. Once again, the power of intention at work.

Another powerful tool you can implement is evening review. Every day before you go to bed, do an evening review. Take out a piece of paper and draw three columns. In the first column, list things you've accomplished that day (e.g. I finalized the schedule for the project I'm working on). In the second column, list why each accomplishment is important (e.g now I can talk to my suppliers). In the third column list down things you need to do further (e.g. call 3 suppliers and get a quote).

For each task that you need to do, visualize how you're going to do them in as much detail as possible. By doing so, you put yourself in a state where you expect things to run smoothly and you start your day with a positive attitude.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

How Many Successes Have You Had?

If you focus on something, it becomes your reality. If you focus on how much debt you have, you will accumulate more debt. You create more of what you focus on.

In order to turn your life around, you need to focus on the positive aspects of your life. Acknowledging and recognising your positive past, successes, and your current progress can make a huge difference in achieving you goals.

Here's what you can do to acknowledge your successes. Divide your life into 3 phases. For example, if you're 30 years old, the first phase of your life is between the age of 0 - 10, the second phase is between the age of 11 - 20, and the most recent phase is between the age of 21 to the present.

For each phase, list 3 successes that you had. It needn't be something big like winning a Nobel prize. It could be something as simple as tying your shoe laces on your own for the first time, or learning to ride the bicycle, or getting your driving licence.

After you've done that, make a list of 100 successes that you've had. Yes, one hundred - 100. Why? Because when you start keeping score of your successes, it keeps you motivated to work towards your goal.

Remind yourself of your successes by placing visual reminders in your environment - trophies, awards, pictures, and any objects that can remind you of the successes.

Do this simple exercise and it will serve as a motivation to propel you towards more successes.

Keep score of all aspects of your life - financial, career/business, free time, health, relationships, personal and community/contribution.

In case you're wondering, I have 25 on my list. And I know I will have many more. :-)

That's all I need to change my life?

I can almost hear the skeptics among you say, "Yeah, right. All I have to do is write down my goals and think positive thoughts and my life will become perfect. Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Of course not. It takes more than that to change your life. Of course you have to work towards your goal. I'm not a fairy godmother with a magic wand, you know. ;-)

Let's say your goal is to lose 15 kg and maintain your ideal weight. Obviously you have to start exercising. If you haven't done any exercise at all in the past 10 years, don't suddenly decide you want to jog 10 km a day. I promise you that you won't make it past the first week.

Think about what you would enjoy doing. Do you enjoy swimming? Do you like taking walks? Think of an activity you enjoy doing and start doing that as an exercise. Exercise 3 times a week. Block 40 minutes in your calender 3 times a week for exercising.

If your office is on the 10th floor, take the lift to the 7th floor and then walk up the stairs to your office.

Change the way you eat. May be you need to cut down on the chocolate and ice creams. Reduce your ice cream intake to only twice a month, say only on the second and fourth Friday of the month.

May be you need to eat more vegetables and fruits. Start stocking your fridge with fruits you like.

If your goal is to get promoted in the next 12 months, go talk to your boss and finds out what you need to do to qualify for that post. How many more customers do you need to bring in? How many projects do you need to complete? Once you know what's required, sit down and break it down into a few milestones and work on a schedule to achieve them.

And then, decide on 3 things you have to do each day to bring you closer to that goal. Make sure you do that 3 things everyday without fail.

No, I haven't forgotten the challenge I promised in my last posting. Here it is.... (drum roll). By now you know how to write specific, measurable goals. Now write a list of 101 goals you want to achieve before you die. It could be things you want to do, places you want to go, charities you want to support, etc. Make a list of 101 things you want to do before you die.

I have 18 on my list. 83 more to go. :-)

Beware of Your Thoughts

"A man is literally what he thinks."
-James Allen

"You are today where your thoughts have
brought you; you will be tomorrow where
your toughts take you."
-James Allen

We are what we think. Most of us are not aware of the power of our thoughts on our lives. Let me give an example that I think many can identify with. How familiar are you with the phrase "Money don't grow on trees!"? Hmmm.....

I dare say most people grow up believing that making money is hard work. You have to work hard to earn it.... because money don't grow on trees. You believe so because that is what you see around you - people working hard for money. If you want to earn more, you have to work harder and longer hours. What you see affirms your belief that making money involves hard work.

You believe that making money is hard work, therefore, it becomes hard. If you're like me, you came from that same background. So if one of your goals is to related to making more money here's a positive affirmation for you to try. Everyday, repeat this to yourself: "Making money is easy. Money comes to me easily and frequently in large sums."

The first step towards getting what you want is deciding what you want. The second step is to write specific, measurable goals that you want to achieve. The third step is replacing your negative thoughts with positive thoughts - let's call it positive affirmation. I just gave you one about money. Let's see if we can try write another one.

Are you a parent with teenage children? A handful, aren't they? I know I gave my parents a hard time at that age. If you feel like you have an impossible time communicating with them, try this affirmation: "My son/daughter and I have a wonderful relationship based on love and mutual trust and understanding. We can talk about anything and resolve any issues amicably and find a solution that is satisfactory to both."

If you're a teenager with unreasonable parents who don't understand you, modify that affirmation a bit ;-).

I hope you get an idea what positive affimation is about. One thing you must remember is it is about you. It's not about changing another person.

Now sit and write down a list of negative thoughts you have. After you've done that, write positive affirmations to replace the negative ones. Repeat the positive affirmations at least twice a day.

Next, I have a challenge for you. :-)

What would you like to have in life?

What would you like to have in life? We are often vague about what we want. For example, we might say, "I would like to have more money". Sure we want to have more money, but what is more money? How much is more money? Can you visualize how "more money" look like?

You should be specific about what you want. Instead of saying "I'd like to have more money", be specific about how much money you want, for example, "I want to make $5000 a month". It's much clearer. You can easily imagine $5000 deposited into your account every month. You can now improve it by specifying when you want that money. Add a date and time, so now write down "I want to make $5000 a month by 12.00 pm 30 June 2008." That's very specific. Now you can visualize that much money deposited into your account every month.

Use the same approach for whatever you want in your life. If there is a dream house you've been eying for ages, write down, "I will buy and move in the house at 123 Elm Street by 5.00 pm on 31 December 2008."

If you're overweight and would like to lose weight, find out what is your ideal weight and write down "I will weigh 55 kg by 5.00 pm on 12 February, 2008."

If you're waiting for your soul mate to walk into your life, you may want to write a statement like this: "My soul mate is out there and is finding his/her way to me. We will meet by 6.00 pm 30 May 2008."

If it's a promotion you want, your goal might be something like this: "I will be promoted to the post of Art Director by 4.00 p.m. on 30 April, 2008."

All you need to do is decide what you want, set a measurable target and when you want to have it. Remember to allow a reasonable time for what you desire to manifest. If you're 15 kg overweight, there's no way you can lose 15 kg healthily in one week. So be reasonable and set realistic goals to acquire what you want.

If what you want does not happen by the deadline, don't be discouraged. It doesn't mean it won't happen. It simply means that more time is needed. Why? May be you're not ready to receive it, or may be the time is not right, or may be something better is in store for your. If it doesn't happen by the target date, simply give it more time and choose another date, perhaps a few months later.

Write all your goals on a small card that you can easily carry with you. Put it on your desk, in your purse, on the night stand next to you. Read it out loud to yourself at least twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening.

When doing this exercise, it's important to cast away any doubts. If you say to yourself "I will weigh 55 kg by 5.00 pm on 12 February, 2008" and then think, "Who am I kidding? I'll never lose that much weight". Your negative thought will sabotage your efforts to lose weight. Believe with all your heart that you will have what you want and that you deserve to have it. Don't let negative thoughts sabotage you.

What Is Your Life Purpose?

What's my life purpose? That's the first thing I had to figure out in the coaching program. Identifying my life purpose allows me to focus on what's important for me and what I want to achieve in my life. The other reason identifying my life purpose is important is it helps me to set goals of what I want to achieve - short term and long term.

So if you've been wondering why you're here and the purpose of your existence, you might want to try this exercise.

Find a quite, comfortable spot. You can sit or lie down - it's up to you. Whatever makes you most comfortable. You can put on some light music to help you relax. Breathe in and breathe out. Concentrate on your breathing. Ask yourself this question: if you were provided with everything you wanted and needed to release your full potential an achieve your highest vision, what would your purpose be?

Write down whatever comes to your mind. Note what pictures come to you. Write all of them down. Do not judge the picture that come to you. Accept them.

You might not get any answer in the first attempt but keep trying. Eventually the answer will come to you. I promise you it will be a pleasant surprise.

The Power of Intention

"Doing isn't difficult. Deciding is."
- Foster Hibbard

What is the one thing that you want in life? A loving spouse? A mansion? A sport car? A promotion? Go to grad school?

Regardless of what you want, the critical step is deciding. Decide what you want. If you do not decide, you won't get it. It's as simple as that.

Once you've decided, take steps to move yourself towards your desire. It doesn't have to be something earth-shattering. It could be something as simple as putting aside $10 a month to buy that fancy dress you've been eying. Each day, take small baby steps to get you there.

I know that deciding and taking small steps work because it has worked for me. If it works for me, it would also work for you.

Since I decided I want to be financially free and start taking baby steps, a series of events have occurred that take me closer to my goal. A seminar invitation, a new contact, new acquaintances, new opportunities. When I look back on what has happened in the past 6 months, I could not help but feel amazed by how things seem to fall into place.

When you read books on how to be successful, all of them advice you to get into the company of like-minded people. Surround yourself with successful people. When you do so, you cannot help but be influenced by their success and that will help propel you forward. The next most common advice is to find a mentor. A mentor is vital in securing your success because s/he had done it and can guide you, and reduces the chances of you making unnecessary mistakes.

I asked myself for months, how and where I can find like-minded and successful people. An opportunity presents itself last May. I heard this really loud voice telling me, "Go join them. Go for it. If you don't do this you'll regret it for the rest of your life." I followed that voice and found myself in the company of like-minded people and some very successful ones too! This is the power of intention at work!

My next concern was finding a mentor who can guide me. Last month, another opportunity was presented and I decided to grab it. I am now working under the guidance of a success coach. This is my second week in the program. What an awesome 2 weeks it have been.

If you've ever tried to enroll yourself in a coaching/mentoring program you'd know how costly it can be. I can barely afford it myself, but I decided to jump in anyway because I know that if I can go through this and achieve my goal within the next year, the reward I'll receive will far exceed the price I'm paying now.

I'm going to let you know what I'm doing in this coaching program. So if you can't afford such programs, pay attention, and I'll share what I learn with you.

September has been exciting!

Yup, it sure has been an exciting month. One of the speakers at the National Achievers Congress (NAC) that I attended in May was Roger Hamilton who talked about the path of least resistance to your wealth. Each person is born with a certain wealth profile. If you want to be wealthy (the definition of which may vary depending on who you talk to), you must first identify your wealth profile. This is important as it allows you to follow your natural flow of building wealth.

If you read the biographies of famous people, you'll find that they have different strategies in wealth building, e.g Donald Trump's approach is to make himself accessible whereas Oprah Winfrey says make yourself inaccessible. Neither advice is wrong. Trump's advice suits his profile. Doing otherwise would be disaster for him.

Before you decide whose advice you want to follow, you must know what is right for you. How do you know what is your wealth profile? Roger Hamilton introduced a wealth profiling system that tells you what is your path of least resistance in building your wealth. You can read about it in his book Your Life Your Legacy. After reading that, you might also want to read WINK - an interesting parable of wealth building.

At NAC, I also signed up for the Wealth Dynamics seminar, conducted by Roger Hamilton, which was held 2 weeks ago. It was awesome. That was the most amazing 3 days of my life.

One of the advice I encountered repeatedly is the importance of a mastermind group. Members of this group shares their goals and challenges with each other, and help each other move forward. I've been asking myself how I can form a master group. I found it at the Wealth Dynamics seminar. One of the things that we're required to is to form a team comprising of people of different wealth profiles. I now have my mastermind group. I'm so excited. I really hope this groups will work as planned and that we'll help one another to achieve our goals and be successful.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

The Paradigm Shift

No one likes to fail. Everyone wants to be successful. We may have different definitions of what success is, but we want to succeed in what we do. A paradigm shift happened when I decided that I want to be financially independent. It requires me to do things I've never done before. I have to venture into the unknown. If we want to get more from life, it often requires us to leave our comfort zone.

This is where many people stop. Why? Because venturing into the unknown is scary. It's always easier to stick to what we know and what is familiar to us. But if we keep doing things the way we've been doing it for the past 5 years, can we really expect that our life would change? Very unlikely.

If, say, you want to start your own business. You have to learn about how to build a business. If you want to be a world class athlete, you had better start finding a coach or a mentor that can help you train and guide you to achieve that goal. Regardless of what it is that you want to achieve, you have to first decide what you want and then focus your attention on achieving your goal.

If you want to go on a vacation and you don't decide where you want to go, where do you think you'll end up? Just about anywhere.

Deciding what you want and setting your goal is not enough to guarantee that you'll achieve it. You have to focus and concentrate you effort in achieving it. Believe in you heart and soul that you'll achieve it. Convince yourself; leave no room for doubts. Ignore people who say you can't do it. Once you manage to do that, things will start to happen. Doors will start to open. It's as if the entire universe conspires to make your dream a reality.

You don't believe me? You're skeptical? Have you heard of The Law of Attraction? That's what this is all about. Wallace D. Wattles wrote about this more than a century ago. His writings, "The Science of Being Well", "The Science of Being Great" and "The Science of Getting Rich", are all about using the power of your mind to attain a successful and happy life. Check them out.

Enough talk...

Talking about how we can go about generating passive income is one thing. Doing it is another story.

I really like the idea of financial independence. I would like to be able to do what I love to do without worrying about money. I mean, if you love you job, there's no reason to quit. But that doesn't mean you should deny yourself financial freedom.

So I asked myself.... what do I want to do? Real estate requires quite a considerable initial investment. I would like to start with something that I can do on a part time basis because I have obligations that doesn't allow me to quit my current job. I want something that I can start with low initial cost. I do have savings but I don't want to blow everything in case it doesn't work out. So I look around and ask myself... what can I do? What business can I start given the constraints I have?

I stumbled upon Internet entrepreneurs that have been making a handsome amount of money on the Internet. Some of these people are millionaires. Irfan Khairi is our own Malaysian home grown Internet millionoaire. I reckon if I need to learn about Internet business, I might as well learn from someone who has done it successfully. So I enroled in his seminar and learnt the basics of what I need to know to start an online business.

One of the reasons I decided an online business as the way to go for me is because I need very little capital to start. Basically, there are two things that I need to start - a web hosting service and an autoresponder. There are many web hosting service providers. Depending on the service you choose you can get one for about $50 - $70 per year. You can set up an autoresponder account for about $20. So my initial cost was only about $90 (< RM400). Pretty cool, eh.

If you want to know what's a web hosting and what's an autoresponnder, stay tuned.

I made a number of mistakes when I first started and lost some money. I would like to share my mistakes with you so that you can avoid them if you're thinking of starting an online business.

I have to sign off now and continue my keyword research (I'll tell you more about this later).

How to generate passive income

Goodness! It has been three weeks since I last blogged. I was kept busy by a number of things. Anyway… I was talking about how to create passive income.

How do you create passive income? I mentioned writing books or producing an album and earning a royalty from your work as a means of creating passive income. But let’s face it – not all of us are John Grisham or Britney Spears or Shakira. So what alternatives do we have?

There is one form of investment that has stood the test of time as far as generating passive income is concerned. This investment has been used for centuries and produces returns without fail (when done correctly, of course). What is it? Real estate. The idea is quite simple. Search for a property in a strategic location (e.g. near the city center, within easy access to the city, walking distance to the LRT/tube station etc), buy it, find a tenant and you earn passive income every month. Look at any of the super rich, and rest assured that real estate is one of their investments. Does the name Donald Trump ring a bell?

What else can we do to create passive income? Build a business. How do we build a business? We build a system. I can almost hear you think… what on earth is she talking about? Here’s an example of one of the most successful systems in the world.

Ever heard of the name McDonald? Yes.. the fast food chain that sells burgers. What the founder of McDonald, Ray Kroc, did was build a system. He created a system that trains people to cook burgers, serve and sell them to the customers. Walk into any McDonald outlets and you’ll see the same menu and the burgers taste the same. Why? Because there is a system in place to train people to cook the burgers according to a certain standard and serve the customers.

This system is important because it allows the business to expand without Ray Kroc cooking all the burgers and serving everyone who walk into a McDonald outlet.

When you have a system that is efficient and effective, you needn’t be there 24/7 to run your business. You could be vacationing in the Bahamas or Hawaii and your business is still generating passive income for you.

But I don’t know anything about building a system and a business, I hear you moan. That was exactly how I felt. But you know what… don’t let that be a stumbling block. More on that later.

Why is passive income important?

So why is passive income important? When we work for a salary, what we're really doing is we're trading time for money. Therefore, if we want to make more money, we have to spend more hours working. The problem with this is that since there is a limited number of hours a day, there is a limit to how much money we can earn by trading time for money. There are only 24 hours a day, and nobody works 24 hours a day. Give it a try and see how long you'll last.

The most important concept of passive income is that you only do the work once and it generates a continuous stream of income. Want an example?

Think of your favourite singer. S/he records his/her album once but as long as the CD sells, s/he will earn a royalty. Do the work once and enjoy a continuous stream of income. Do you know that Elvis Presley earns more now that he's dead than when he was alive?

Novelists like John Grisham (BTW, not a favourite but his name just pops up in my mind), for example, writes his novel once. As long as people buys his novels, he earns a royalty. His novels are sold worldwide. Just imagine how much money the guy's making.

"But I can't sing, and I can't write a novel... how am I going to create passive income?", I hear you protest. Aaaah... stay tune for the answer. ;-)

My quest for financial independence

If you've never heard of 'financial independence' , you're probably thinking, "Huh, what's that?". It's quite simple really. If your passive income exceeds your living expenses, you're considered financially independent.

What's passive income? Passive income is any income that is not derived from a salary. If you work for someone and receive a salary each month, that's not passive income. Passive income is income you receive from your business and/or other investments.

For example, you may have a 9 to 5 job that pays $3000 a month. In addition to your salary you may receive $500 a month from an apartment that you rent to another person. That $500 is considered passive income. You may have invested in your brother's company and that generates an additional income of $1000 a month - that's also passive income. So your total passive income a month is $1500.

What is your monthly expenses? If your monthly expenses is $2500, you're not financially independent yet because your passive income is only $1500. But the moment your investments generate at least $2501 a month, you're considered financially independent.

There are various ways to generate passive income - start a business, invest in someone else's business, invest in real estate, invest in shares etc. The idea is to generate multiple streams of income - that is how you build wealth.

That's the basic idea of financial independence.

Wow... my first blog!

I guess I should start by writing a bit about myself so that you can make sense of my rantings later on. I'm an average Malaysian who was born and grew up there. Like many brainy people, I got myself a university education. Then I spent a few years abroad (on that part of the world called Europe) and did a lot of growing up while I was there. I finally came home because the weather (winter and I don't get along) and the bland food finally got to me.

Malaysia is definitely the most wonderful place on earth. Take my word on it. Those years abroad made me appreciate how wonderful Malaysia is. The mult-racial, multi-culture, multi-everything elements make Malaysia truly unique. Where else can you find such a unique blend of culture. Anyone who loves food should definitely visit (and stay) in Malaysia. How I miss Malaysian food when I was abroad!!!

Upon returning home, I found myself a job - like most normal people. I was quite happy doing what I was doing until all the office politics got to me. Anyone who has been an employee can surely relate to this.

I'm a book worm and I LOVE to read. While browsing the books in MPH one day, I came across Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". That book changed my perspective of life and what I want to do. And so began my quest to be financially independent. More on that later.