James Altucher's Choose Yourself

I am a fan of James Altucher's writing. I got to know him through Lifehacker's How I work series. This is an excellent series and I always look forward to read the latest updates on Lifehacker.

When I read his book -- Choose Yourself!  I was going through a crisis. I was alone and lost. During that period, waking up in the morning to face the day requires loads of courage. I am always tired, always distracted and I was angry at everything. I was angry at myself. Angry at my work. No matter what I do, I just do not have any sense of accomplishment. My direct manager was upset at me for not performing in my work and my business is still struggling. Due to my work and business commitment, I hardly had the time for the family. I was burning both ends of the candle with nothing to show for!!! Everyday I would listen to motivation speech on Youtube so that I do not blow my brains out.

I pick up Jame's book while browsing the local bookshop. He made a lot of bold claims about the economy and the corporate world. I do not know whether there are any truth in it but my company is indeed going through a restructuring and I do beleive that the jobs lost will never come back again. What had really helped me was his suggestion on taking care of my four bodies. The physical body. The emotional body. The mental body. The spiritual body.

While I was busy trying to get my work and my business back in order. I have neglected almost everything else in my life. I took pride in going without sleep, rest or exercise. Unfortunately, it came at a great cost and my world just come falling down.

I took up his advice and try to improve the four bodies. Things are slowly improving. Improving as in I am now able to tackle some of the issues heads on. My problems and challenges will never go away. Jame's idea are never meant to help you to get rid of the problems. Rather, his suggestion is just to help you to hang on and tackle life's hardship one moment at a time.

You can find his site here.

Never Work In A Job That You Hate To Buy Things That You Dont Need

I know a couple of friends who recently lost their job due to organization restructuring. Most of them has worked in that organization for more than 10 years, one of them was as long as 27 years.

There were a lot of anxiety and self assessment. I asked whether the job that they were in is their dream job? Almost most of them said no. When they graduated and joined the work force, something just changed. Piece by piece of themselves got buried by work, family and commitments. At the same time they grew to resent their job and even their life. I asked why they cannot change? Here are some reasons.

• Student loans
• Housing loans
• Car loans
• Children's education
• Household expenses
• etc...

As such, they have to hang on to a job that they do not like to pay off the commitments. It is a fair statement. But I would like to go deeper. Look at the expenses, do they see anything that is a "want" as opposed to a "need"? Is the latest Apple product a need? A car is a need for many but not the latest German marquess. A smaller car loan would mean smaller commitment. The same goes to a house.

Yes! You could be in a job that you hate, you have commitments to pay. If you are only focusing on the essentials and watch what you spend, you may still have extra resources to built your own dream, to achieve your aspiration. Use the extra resources to invest into your dream, it could be investing in yourself by going back to school or even saving up to built a small business for yourself.

Most people just do a job, raise a family and then die. Is this what you want? You do not want to wait until you are old and tired to figure out that you have lived a life that you do not want.

Start from today, challenge yourself to go deeper whenever you need to splurge on something or spend your time. Is this a need or want? Ask yourself whether you are happy in your job. If you are not happy in your job, what can make you happy? Do you have a plan to achieve that happiness?

Not all of us can work in our dream job but we can manage how long we need to work in a job that we dislike. For a start, manage your wants and slowly built towards your dream. At least, this makes the job that you hate feels a little bit better and you know you are not trapped.

Never work in a job that you hate to buy things that you don't need.

Inside Everyone Lives A Walter Mitty

Over the weekend, I saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It is a simple wonderful movie stared by Ben Stiller. He plays a day dreamer who dreams of heroism and doing great things.

Not many would admit that but I totally understand Walter Mitty. I am just like Walter Mitty. Since young I would day dream of heroic things that I would save the day and walk among the greatest on earth.  Probably this is why many of us enjoy watching movies, a sense of escapism and to be away from the life that we are living.

For many of my day dreams, I dream of running my own business, signing deals, enjoy financial freedoms and send my kids to university. That was my dream and I dream of it everyday. I have tried many times and many times I lose steam and have failed spectacularly. It was only through the support of a friend and family members where we are able to start something on our own.

In the movie, Walter said he actually day dream less after he embarked on his remarkable journey. I did day dream less but was I living the dream? Not really. Starting a business is a lot of hardwork none of the scenarios that I dream actually came true. Maybe not yet. Was it a nightmare? Not really as well.

I supposed it is better than living a life where we dream our life away. Walter Mitty only dream about the good parts of life. There is no effort required, there was no pain or any frustration. Maybe the only frustration was getting back into reality. That is not life! In life, there is always challenges and frustrations. Day dream gives you the possibilities. A hook or an sense of target to encourage you to take that journey.

It is ok to day dream and think of the wonderful things of life. In fact, I encourage it. While dreaming for it, imagine yourself what would it take to live the dream? You may already have the solution. Go for it. Who knows, you may not need to day dream anymore.

Do Your Part No Matter How Small: Lesson Learned from Agent Coulson

I have a confession, I am not exactly a fan of any Marvel Comics. Nonetheless, I enjoyed their movies and the way they set up their movies. In today's blog entry, I do not want to talk about Iron Man or any other major super heroes but a character that started off with a minor role but eventually given top billing with his very own TV series. The person that I would like to discuss is Agent Phil Coulson.

Agent Phil Coulson is played by an actor Clark Gregg. According to IMDB, he is a veteran of both TV shows and movies. What fascinates me is that how could a character who had less than five minutes of screen time in Iron Man when on to have his own very TV series. In short, this actor has won over the hearts of fans and leadership of Marvels.

I do not know Mr Clark Gregg in person, but I would like to hazard guess about his success. Despite having a minor role in Iron Man, Mr Clark has worked hard to play the role of Agent Carlson. He went on to appear in multiple Marvel movies and short films. Most of his screen time is relatively short, but he is portray as Agent Phil Coulson has made an impact and has won fan's support. Fans wants to see more of Agent Coulson and the inner workings of SHIELD. Thus, giving birth to the TV series -- Agents of SHIELD. In life many people and including myself complaining that they are not given any big opportunity. The thoughts is always -- "I can do more, I deserve better". There is nothing wrong with having such thoughts. Rather the question that we have to ask ourselves is -- "Have I played my role as best as I can play?". If we cannot even play a small role well, how could we expect others to give us a chance to play a bigger role? Just when we thought that no one is watching, please think again. No matter how small is our action and role, someone is watching and judging. Mr Clark Gregg is a good example -- short screen time with huge impact.

There is really no such thing as a small role in life. Each role has a part in life's puzzle. Play your role well and do your best. You will never how your hard work will be rewarded. Please let Mr Clark Gregg be your inspiration.

A Failed Cafe and Cost Management

Over the weekend, I received a sad news. A cousin of mine who opened a cafe in December 2012 has decided to close down the business. He said the business is running out of cash and it is not doing that well. Since Mark Suster talks about failure, I too would like to chip in my 2 cents worth of opinion about it.

I visited cousin's cafe two weeks after its grand opening. My first visit was on a Saturday night and I was surprised to see the place was barely 20% occupied. I followed up with a few more visits and the situation remains the same. The location of the cafe is all right. It has ample of parking but in a location where I will not call it as popular. At night, there are hardly any traffic around the area. There is a famous food joint opposite the cafe. The location is really not that dead. Nonetheless, I still feel the place has the potential.

The operation hours is from 7 am until 3 am daily. Cousin was very tight lip about the operation cost. The following calculation are based on my observation. Each shift, he has around seven staffs and approximately five kitchen staffs. Assuming that he has two shifts with the same number of staffs. Each staffs draw approximately 800 MYR (246 USD) a month, he would need a net profit of 19,200 MYR a month to pay his employees!

The above is only the cost of his employees. The size of the menu is also rather large, especially for a new cafe. The cafe offer close to a hundred types of drinks and dishes. I can imagine the amount of money has gone into food wastage. As I write this blog, I wonder how many dishes that are ordered less than 10 times.

In all honestly, the cafe has a lot of potential. I learned that its lunch business was doing fine. They could have reduce the operation hours and focus on lunch services. No doubt they could be forgoing business opportunities in the evening and night. The very least they can slash their employee and food cost by half. Probably they might be able to keep their head above water for another few more months.

Next is to rework the menu. The menu size can be cut down by half. Focus on the 20/80 rule. Chances are they will have 20% of their menu is taking up 80% of their orders. The business should then focus on that 20% and make it better.

Finally, it is to promote the business. I believe the business owners did some promotion. I shall refrain from commenting as I do not know what they have done. For myself, I would encourage my patrons to check into Foursquare or Facebook. Any form of check in, the customers will get 10% from the bills. In addition, I would partner with any car clubs to visit the cafe. There are ample of parking space around the business, car clubs members will not have any issues finding parking. For car club members, I too would throw in 10% off on drinks. As you can see, I try to refrain from going into expensive advertisement blitz. I am certain advertisement would work, rather I would choose to exhaust all my lost cost options before bringing out the big guns.

I do not know whether my strategy would work, but that's how I wold manage the cafe business. In any business, managing cost and cash flow is important. If the owner let any of it gets out of control, chances of failure increases exponentially. Still I hope cousin and his business partners can learn from this incident. A business can fail, but this does not mean they are a failure. 

There Is Always Need To Learn

I have only started working since I graduated in the year 2000. My background is accounting and finance with a post grad in computer science. After nearly ten years in the IT industry, I got involve in the hospitality and residential building industry.

At the beginning, I came into the business as the bean counter and IT guy.  As the business expands, I have to start dabble in the business side of things, especially in project management. Since I am already a project manager in my full time job, it is not a problem. The biggest challenge is understanding the hospitality and building industry.

When I first started, I could not differentiate between materials nor its usage. My business partners has been patient with me and work allocation never really demanded me to have any industrial knowledge. Nonetheless, I have never like to fall behind or needing people to tip toe around me.

Whenever I have the chance, I would grab a copy of the materials pamphlets given by our suppliers. I made sure I read whatever I can from it. The vendor's sales person are a perfect source of information. Being their customers, they are more than willing to share their knowledge and opinion. There is really no such thing as asking a stupid question. As far as these sales person are concerned, not all their customers are familiar with the industry. As such, they are used to strange and out-of-this-world type of questions. I even asked for samples and test out whatever vendor has claimed to be working. Through testing, I was able to provide feedback and understand the products better.

Spending time with the vendor actually helps two things. One is my understanding and also building up relationships. I was able to make my order more accurately and getting better deals from them. Of course, being a good paymaster helps a lot as well.

As a matter of fact, I actually find myself studying a lot harder than during my school days. In school I was not really sure how it will impact my life. In business, your knowledge determines the success of your deal and each decision's effectiveness.

Regardless which industry you are in, it is never too late to start learning. To be successful in your industry, all you need is to know 10% more than your competitor.

Decluterring

The last two weeks, my house is being renovated. The plan was to tear down the whole kitchen and put in another one. The rest of my apartment will then get a new coat of paint. The last time that my house did anything this major was 10 years ago. As the renovation progress, I would need to move furniture around and put stuffs away to make way for the workers to do their job. It only begin to dawn to me that I actually have accumulated a lot of stuffs through the years. Camera bags alone, I have counted four! One brand new backpack and a brand new computer notebook bag. There were also files and notes that I have collected for "future reference" that has never arise. As such, I have taken the opportunity to declutter my life. First I separate my stuffs based on its functions. For examples, books and notes will be piled together. Bags will be piled together etc. I do it one room at a time. In each pile I will go through one item at a time. I ask myself when is the last time I have used or needed that item. If is more than 12 months ago, chances are I will not be needing it anymore. It either goes into the donation pile or to sell pile. By just going through that activity, I have thrown away most of my old notes and gave some of my stuffs away.The exercise is not easy at all. I have to ask myself this question whether do I really need it. Or I just keeping it for nostalgic reasons or creating a false sense of security. If the item is hardly ever used, chances are it is not needed anymore. For the stuffs that I need, I will separate it into three categories. The ones that I use regularly, use at least once every three months, every six months and finally every 12 months. The more frequent ones will be kept in a more handy area, while the ones that are lesser used will be kept in storage. I have to be honest, chances are the ones that are kept in storage will ended staying there for a long time until I decide to clean it out again... Another tip which I think is great to have is the One In One Out policy. For every item that we buy or bring into the house, I should also dispose something from the house. If this does not reduce the clutter, at least it maintains the clutter does not get worst. We actually have more things that we actually need. Clean out your stuffs today! Believe me, the energy within the room is better and whole house breath better too.

Exercising On A Busy Schedule

As many already know, I am currently holding a full time job and trying to running my hotel management consultancy. Since I have a young family, getting things done is already a challenge. No matter how busy is my schedule, I would do my best to stay active and workout. Here are some few things that I have tried and it works for me. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, as soon as I get up I would hit the floor for a 30 push ups and brush my teeth when done. After cleaning up myself, I would do another 30 pushups. That is already 60 pushups before taking my morning shower. When I get back from work, I would do another 30 pushups before changing and shower. While other days such as Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I would do the crunches with similar sets and numbers. On Sundays, While my kids attend their swimming lessons, I would be doing my laps next to them. I may not get the kind of workout and sweat that I wanted but it is still way better than doing nothing. Regardless of the schedule, there is still pockets of time that you can work out, if you are willing to search for it. Stay fit and stay active.

Never Trust Other People With Your Own Money

Two weeks back, a friend whom I have known since high school called me and told me that he needed cash to help his company to turn around. We used to hang out and attended each others wedding ceremony. I would actually consider him as a good family friend, we go as far back as 1992.

When he needed help I went all the way to help him. At that time, I have some cash that I was preparing for my kid's education insurance and vehicle tax. He promised that he will return the money in a weeks time. The money should have been back before I needed the money. At the time of this writing, the promise was made two weeks ago.

Sadly, I have to pay for the vehicle tax which I have to borrow money from someone else. My insurance will be due soon and I honestly doubt I will be getting my money back soon. I have called him and make appointment with him. He kept on saying he has the money with him. Yet, there are all sorts of lame excuses, unanswered calls and mobile phones that are switched off.

I have been brought up with a strong beleive in having trust in other people. This is how I live my life and this is also how I operate my business. It is only through trust that we can have a long term successful business relationship. No doubt I feel the pain of my monetary lost, but it hurts most is having to lose trust and faith in a friend. If he had told me that he is in financial difficulty, I may not have lend him so much but I am sure I would still lend him some and prepare the write off the amount.

What has this world come into? If we cannot trust our friends and family. The only thing that we can really trust is money? I honestly hope not! Maybe this is why I am struggling with my hotel management/ supplier business. I actually put trust ahead of money.

Do I still trust my friend? Sigh... I am afraid I have lost faith in him. Even if he does returns the money to me, I would still see him as my friend but I would be extra careful with his request.

As I am struggling in my own red ink. I know for sure I will NOT drag my debts. I would rather go without food than destroying the trust that others has given me.

A Thought on Lance Amstrong Interview

Lance Armstrong the former winner of seven times tour de France had admitted to taking drugs on the interview with Oprah Winfrey. This individual literally went from hero to zero within 24 hours. I fully understand the outrage and disappointment. In fact, I got even suck into reading his book -- It's Not About the Bike.I was touch by his struggled against cancer and it has been inspiring. It came to me as a surprise that he admitted for taking drugs. Through the book, he has been a strong advocate of against taking any performance enhancement drugs.

I do not follow any cycling sports nor his career in any way. All I knew he was someone who beat cancer and went on to dominate an era of sports. With the recent confessions, he has lost his winning results, his sponsorships and his legion of fans. The question now for him is, what next?

Apologize. Besides just being coming clean with his actions, he would need to spent the rest of life apologizing to the world. If I am were him, he has to wear the badge of shame and reach out to the younger generation about the danger of drugs. Spent time at hospitals talking to cancer patient on how he has messed up and wanting to make a change. I understand the whole wold refuses to forgive Lance Armstrong, but I also willing to see the fact that he has done a lot for the cancer community. He still has an able healthy body, for many that's already a blessing. Lance should use that to reach out and touch everyone's heart that he is indeed sorry. Could this also be a potential reality TV series?

During the interview with Oprah, Lance has mentioned that he want to compete again. I do not think that is something that he should pursue in both short and medium term. This is not what he should be doing as his brand is in tatters. Whether he wins or loses, it is still a lost to him as a brand. Why? There are lack of trust.

Speaking of brand. The brand of Lance Armstrong will never be the same again. Nonetheless, it still catches attention for both right and wrong reasons. From now, his brand should be someone who is fighting an uphill battle to gain trust, to come clean and to live an honest life. This brand may not come with wealth and fame, but it will still reaches the hearts of many for doing what is right. If Lance Amstrong can play his cards right, his brand can be bigger and more relevant than just cancer survivor and former touch de France champion.

If he is sincere about turning a new leaf and willing to reach out to the masses face to face about how he was driven by greed; I am willing to stand inline to support him.

It is about being Resilient

Watch this video, enough said.

Tell Yourself This... I Derserve Better and I am Good Enough

I grew up in an education environment where I brought to beleive that I am never good enough. Since young, I learned that someone will always be better than me and I have to try my best to raise to the occasion. Even when I started working, the annual face-to-face discussion it is always about gaps to overcome, slipped opportunities because of certain qualities that I lack.

By no means I am perfect, and there will always be challenges and issues to overcome before I can achieve what I want. I was brought up to be humble and should not underestimate the competitor. Unknowingly, I have also developed a self-defeat mentality. Whenever I see opportunities, the first thing that I would pick out is how I am not good enough for it. I saw a position that I wanted, I also see chasm that is between my ability and the required skills. I wanted to bid for a contract, I saw other giant corporates who are also bidding for the same contract. I have already say no on behalf of the prospective opportunity.

We are human beings, there will be gaps. It is how we choose to overcome it. Instead of gaps, why don't we see opportunities that connect us to the opportunity. Please tell yourself and remind yourself.

"I deserve better and I am good enough!"

Go out there, take some chances and explore. There will be times we will suffer failure. It is ok, it is part of learning. More importantly, you can stand up and fight another day. Never say no on behalf of the other person.

Small Mistakes Big Impact

I know someone who works in a shipyard. He is one of the most detailed project manager that I have ever met. In every meeting, he would say, there should be no leakages. He would pour through every single aspects of the project. This project manager delivers successful project but everyone was groaning behind his back due to his thoroughness.  I never fully grasp his idea and beliefs in project management.

Nonetheless, I have learn his lesson through the hard way. Recently, I managed a tax project for a China business. I have gathered the necessary resources, gotten all the approvals signed well ahead of time, and everyone knows the vision of success.

Of all the preparation, there was a tiny component that one of my resources did not look into. Due to that careless, the project came to a halt and I have to seek approval for additional 50% funding to get it working again. The analysis shows that it was really not my fault but as the project manager everything stops at my level. I should be fully accountable to the failure of this project.

It is an important lesson for me. I cannot make any further assumptions and could have handled better by going through the project's critical path. A small leak would no doubt sink a big ship. Yes! There should be no leakages.

Food That We Wasted

I grew up in a modest family. My family are not exactly rich, both of my parents worked hard to put food on the table. One important lesson that I always remembered was never to waste food.

I held on to this beleive since I was a kid, and I have made sure my children knows it too. According to CNN, 1.3 billions tons of food has been wasted every year. This piece of news just made my blood boil. In 2010, there are 925 million hungry people. Imagine, how many people that wasted food can be fed?

Christmas is a few days away. I encourage whoever is reading this blog to make a point to eat what can be finished and waste no food. Think about the people who are less fortunate. It is a season of reflection and gratitude.

Have a wonderful celebration.

A Thought: American Airline's CEO THomas W Horton

Recently I came across a Time magazine article titled as The Worst Job in America. It is a three pages article on how Tom Horton the current CEO of American Airlines trying to save the company.

If you think you got a difficult job, Horton has it worst. This airline has lost 10 billion dollars in the last 10 years and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of 2011.

American hasn't hire a flight attendant in 12 years. It has too many of them because too few of them worked a full schedule. yet all claimed full benefit..

Many CEOs would have resigned and leaved for greener pastures. Not Horton who joined the company in 1985. He wants to tough it out and bring the airline soaring back into the skies again.

I don't really know whether Horton would actually succeed in breathing life into the company. Nonetheless, I admire his resilience towards in making the company successful again. No doubt he would be going to bed thinking about his organization's problem; waking up each morning muster enough courage to get back to work. He will not be doing all these unless he knows he is going to be successful.

Nobody wants to bet on a losing horse. Yet, I was truly inspired by his actions. He chooses to take the difficult path. Many times, I would complain both about my job and my business. Nothing that I faced is as complex and uncertain as American's problem. Horton action has breath a new life into my perspective towards surroundings.  Things are just not as dire as I have thought so.

I know only Thomas W. Horton through a magazine article. It is actually enough for me wanting to work or spent time with this individual. He may not have succeeded in turning around the company yet, but I hope many of those who are struggling can learn something from him. I for sure I know I did.

A Thought on The Apprentice Asia

Just found out that there is a casting call for The Apprentice Asia. This is a reality show where candidates would get together in an office environment to achieve weekly tasks. Each week someone would be fired from the show. The last person standing will get to win an opportunity to work for the show's CEO organization for one year. For the Asia version, the CEO is none other than Tony Fernandes the owner of AirAsia, Tune Hotels and Caterham F1 team.

I started watching the American version where Donald Trump was the show's CEO.  I was a huge fan and would never miss a single episode. I followed the show for at least four seasons. Many times, I would try to find inspirations from the show and tried to put myself into the situation to see how I would respond.

As I gain more life's experience. I realized that this is really just a show and I should not take it too seriously. In fact, some of the behavior demonstrated on the show seems questionable and short sighted.

Each of the task last for about a week, the results will be judged and someone will have to leave the show. As such, to win each tasks contestants are just there to think short term and get quick results. A good business leader should have a vision and a long term goals. Sadly these qualities are not assessed.

Contestant would get fired each week. We tend to see a lot more on-screen argument and bickering as everyone are fighting for their position in the show. As the show progress, we tend to see a lot more poison hurled between contestants. In a real office environment, no matter how bad is the personality clash, each person have to perform and work together to achieve common goals for long period of time. I doubt such on-screen behavior is acceptable in any office. At least, I would not hire such individuals to work in my team.

This show promotes zero tolerance for failure. Individuals are not given the second chance to bounce back. Many of us needs mistakes to grow. The Newsweek magazine dedicate a section celebrity or businessman's favorite mistakes. I just hope candidates and viewers would see beyond the show that mistakes is indeed acceptable. Playing it too safe is no fun in both life and business. Please take some risks and make some mistakes! This is part of life!

Will I still watch the show? I think I will but I will not make an effort to chase after it. I am just curious about the show's production quality, candidates quality as well as seeing Tony Fernandes in action. Of course, I would also like to proof myself wrong about the show. For now, instead busy watching other people building their success, I should be spending time building my own.

Call or Meet Face to Face

With the popularity of social media, we are a lot more connected than ten years ago. Many business and professionals have relied on social media and the internet to connect with friends and clients. I confess that I am a Facebook addict where I have to check my accounts at least once a day.

Relying on Facebook and Linkedin, I thought I am well connected and I have made sure I stayed in touch with my fellow friends and potential clients. Oh, was I wrong. I have neglected the ever importance of phone calls and face to face meetings.

I have a friend of 12 years and we would exchange e-mails and update each other through Facebook. Over the weekend, we have finally caught up for a quick dinner. Despite the e-mails and Facebook updates, I noticed that I really do not know much about this person. During the dinner, he shared his aspirations and ideas. It was only dawn to us that we may be able to strike something up and work on some opportunities. Without the dinner, nothing would have happened.

Many of us have fallen to the false sense of security that we are well connected and networked through social media. In a way, these tools has allowed us to stay in touch. To make our network works, we would still need to spent effort on it.

Here is what I am going to do, and maybe you too can draw some ideas from it.

1. Go through your friend list, look for the ones whom you have not talked to for more than three months. 
2. Compile those names into a list. 
3. Dedicate five minutes a day, by calling someone on that list. You just need to call one person a day.

What can you discuss? Anything! Be bold and direct, just tell the person that you called to catch up and see how are things going for them.  Remember, the call is not to make a sales pitch or asking for favors but genuinely wanting to connect with the person.

If you can keep it up for two weeks, you would have gained fourteen more friends! Besides just calling, other forms of communication may work too. Just use your imagination.

Return the Call!

Many times, I have heard people telling me their business is bad, not achieving the desire sales target, not getting invited for events etc. The complains of misery and missed opportunities seems go on and on.

Sometimes, these people can only fault themselves for all their miseries. Two weeks ago, I wrote an e-mail to make an inquiry for a product. Waited for two days. No reply. I call the shop, the shop person promised me that their sales person will call me back in two days time. That call was six days ago and no one has called me. Now, I have decided not to buy the item that I wanted anymore.

Whether is in business, in a office or a social circle, if you bother to return a miss call or make a call back, I am sure there are a lot of opportunities that can you explore. Furthermore, you are also sending a message to the other party that you are a reliable and responsible person.

Whenever I receive e-mails, I would open it and decide what I can do with it. If I can respond within five minutes, I would reply immediately. If it takes longer time to respond, I either put it away for later or reply back and promise the person when they can expect a full reply from me.

If I receive a miss calls on my mobile phone, I will either call back immediately if possible. Otherwise, I would schedule a later time to call. The mobile apps that I used is called Astrid, it reminds me when I need to return a call.

Returning a call or replying an e-mail will not take you too much time, but opportunity could be on the other side of the line or e-mail.

Lance Armstrong: A Lesson

On 22nd October, Lance Armstrong has been stripped for his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life. I personally find his story inspiring especially his fight against cancer. With his doping scandal, will it change my opinion towards him? Probably not. As I will always see him as a cancer fighter. 

I personally condone his action in doping. However, is he solely to be blamed for his action? I do not think so. We now live in an environment of hero worship. We all look up to someone who is an underdog and beat all odds to achieve fame and glory. We always look for someone can win and inspire us. In the current world of sports, achievements means a lot of money and rewards. As such, the temptation to cheat is as great as ever. Some may not necessary cheat but interpret the rules to their favor.

The same applies to the world of business. The reward of a successful product or increase sales is always an initiative to take short cuts or illegal activities. In business, these stakes are a lot higher. A good example is the melamine tainted baby food in China.

Whether as a sportsperson, a businessperson or an employee, possessing the quality of integrity is most important. Lance Armstrong may have gotten away for many years before he got caught for doping, now he faces a lifetime of shame. Many of us may feel that life is un-fair especially on people who got away cheating or doing things that is outright illegal. The temptation to get even is always strong. I feel that too.

To me, the way that I keep myself in check is by asking myself the following question.

"Whatever that I am going to do now, will I have the courage to explain it to my kids?"

If I answer "yes", I know that what I am doing is right. If I answer "no", chances are it is something that is not correct.

There could be other ways, but I want my kids to grow up right. I may not be able to predict the future but I know that living with integrity is timeless quality. My kids will always be my moral compass.

E-mail Management

Everyday I would receive close to 50 to 80 e-mails a day. Maintaining these e-mails has been a nightmare. At any one time, my Inbox can have more than a hundred e-mails.

There are times where I would open one e-mail stare it for a few minutes and close it. Moments later, I would open it again and do the same thing. No doubt is only a few minutes but all these wasted time would actually add up.

Since I got started with David Allen's GTD, my e-mails has started to become slightly more manageable. For me the best suggestion was the two minutes rule. The rule is, open the e-mail and read through it. If you can complete what is required from the e-mail done in two minutes, get it done and archive the e-mail. If it takes more than two minutes, file it and review it later.

From my own usage instead of two minutes,  I would extend the time to five minutes. The rest would follow the same principle.

If e-mail action items requires many five minutes, I would start a mini project and break down the work down to small chunks. Firstly, the work does not seem so daunting but also manageable.

What is your secret in managing e-mails?