| Dear Reader, Jealousy, envy, unsatisfied are some of the emotions that I feel occasionally. I just don't have 'enough'! Until I came across this article that I'd like to share with you. Wealth That Can't Be Tallied by Alexander Green | |
Dear Reader, Today I'm visiting Rancho Santana, a charming resort community on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, near the town of San Juan del Sur. Set on more than two miles of coastline with rolling hills and dramatic cliffs, the reserve attracts expats, investors, surfers, and nature lovers from all over the world. They like the idea of owning a piece of - or at least visiting - one of the most spectacular stretches of coastal land in the world. Gaze out from atop one of the many bluffs on this 2700-acre reserve and you'll see what the coast of California looked like a hundred years ago, pristine and undeveloped. On the drive here from the historic colonial city of Granada, however, you'll see something else.Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America. Approximately half the population lives on the equivalent of less than one dollar a day. The scene is familiar to anyone who has traveled the back roads of Latin America: There are miles of ramshackle homes with dirt floors, no electricity and no running water. Women use rocks to pound the laundry clean in streams that run alongside their homes. Half-dressed children without shoes run through scattered livestock. Men fish with lines attached to pieces of wood, since they have neither rods nor reels. To Western eyes unaccustomed to traveling here, it looks desperately bleak. Yet there is something else here you can't escape noticing. Most of the people seem genuinely happy. Kids play with no less abandon than kids anywhere else. Men and women greet you with a nod, a toothy grin and a pleasant "Buenos Dias." Their eyes smile. They laugh a lot. Larry, an attorney from La Jolla who married a local, told me yesterday about the first time he invited his wife's family over for dinner. There was a terrific rainstorm and since the river was high and her family had no transportation, he was afraid they wouldn't make it. He needn't have worried, he said. He could hear them approaching two blocks away, laughing and singing, covered with mud. Most Americans have difficulty imagining the daily struggle of these people. Yet they aren't miserable. Far from it."It's true, the poor are genuinely happy here," says my friend Horacio Marquez, an Argentine who has lived and traveled throughout Latin America. "To us, it looks like they have nothing. But they draw tremendous strength from their families, their Catholic faith and their community." It's a sad irony that so many in The Land of Material Comfort suffer from discontent, anxiety and neurosis while the folks here earning a subsistence living off the land and the sea seem relaxed and cheerful. Some will argue that you can't miss what you never had, what you wouldn't even dare to dream. But something more is going on here. The stoic philosopher Epictetus said, "Learn to wish that everything should come to pass exactly as it does." His student Marcus Aurelius agreed. "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are." This is not just a practical mindset. For Nicaraguans, it is a way of life. When you can't make the world conform to your desires, your best option is to moderate those desires - and seek contentment within. Happiness, it turns out, is an inside out job. Satisfaction from fulfilling material wants, on the other hand, is always short-lived. This idea was widespread in the ancient world: Buddha in India and the Stoic philosophers in ancient Greece and Rome counseled people to break their emotional attachment to status and material wealth and cultivate an attitude of acceptance instead. To some, this sounds defeatist. But what's the point in railing against circumstances that can't be altered? More often than not, changing your mind is a more effective strategy than changing the world. I don't mean to romanticize the living conditions of these Nicaraguans, incidentally. This is tough living. Literacy rates are low. The infant mortality rate is high. Many Nicaraguans lack access to basic education and essential health care. Still, you can't help but admire the dignity and spirit here. As the British essaying Erich Heller observed, "Be careful how you interpret the world, it is like that." Thank you for reading =) | |
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Am I contented?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Some are still hiring.
Dear Readers,
In a recent article, http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Learn/Job%2BHunting/Story/A1Story20090105-112421.html, the writer shares that some industries are still hiring, that's good news for us. He quoted areas like IT, healthcare and social services still lack manpower.
Sweet!
In a recent article, http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Learn/Job%2BHunting/Story/A1Story20090105-112421.html, the writer shares that some industries are still hiring, that's good news for us. He quoted areas like IT, healthcare and social services still lack manpower.
Sweet!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A Resolution Worth Keeping
I would like to share with everyone about something that I read today, about how important it is that we keep looking at h0w we spend our time.
A Resolution worth Keeping
by Alexander Green
A sign in front of a church down the street says, "Resolutions go in one year and out the other."
How true. The other day I was cleaning out my desk and found a list of New Year's resolutions for 2006. Turns out I still haven't lost those pounds, taken that trip, read those books, or updated my estate plan, among other things.
This is generally when we fall back on that ironclad, all-purpose excuse: But we've been so busy.
Maybe that's the problem. We spend too much time on things that are urgent but unimportant and not enough on things that are less urgent but more important.
Phone calls, e-mails, junk mail and Monday Night Football are urgent. They require our immediate attention, if only to pass on them. Deciding whether to change jobs, end a broken relationship or what to do with the rest of your life can always wait. Tomorrow is as good as today.
Yet few things are more dispiriting than realizing you're bogged down doing things that don't really matter. As Stephen Covey says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
In his book "First Things First," he talks about the age-old battle between the clock and the compass. The clock represents your commitments, appointments, schedules, activities - how you manage your time. The compass represents your vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction - what you feel is important, how you lead your life.
Where you're headed is so much more important than how fast you're moving. Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.
Every day we continually make decisions about how we spend our time, from "this afternoon" to "this year." The consequences of those choices determine the quality of our lives.
Yet too often there is a gap between what we're doing and what we know is most important. We want to spend more quality time with the kids. Yet we're off to the mall... or to poker night. We know we would look and feel better - and live longer - if we got out and exercised. Yet we plant ourselves like rhubarb in front of ESPN instead.
The result is increased stress - or a gnawing feeling of discontent. Yet there is a solution.
At financial conferences, I often tell attendees that investment success does not come from following the right predictions. It comes from following the right principles.
Warren Buffett, the world's most famous investor, follows the time-tested value principles of his mentor Benjamin Graham. John Templeton, the man Money magazine called "arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century," formulated his own "22 Principles for Successful Investing."
Principles are not ephemeral. They don't come in or out of fashion. (Or shouldn't.) They are timeless and universal. They are markers that provide direction in both good times and bad.
And just as surely as the best investment principles can safeguard our portfolios, the great human principles ought to inspire our behavior.
As Stephen Covey writes in "Everyday Greatness," "Principles such as vision, innovation, humility, quality, empathy, magnanimity, perseverance and balance can mobilize us toward greater personal effectiveness and increased life satisfaction. If you doubt this, consider living life based on their opposites, such as lack of vision, laziness, sloppiness, closed mindedness, revenge, lack of determination or imbalance. Hardly the ingredients for success."
The challenge is to examine your life and see if your actions are in harmony with your values, with universal principles. How are you treating people? What are you contributing on a daily basis? Are you doing good... or are you just doing well?
How you answer those questions will determine your real success in 2009... and how you're remembered many years after you're gone.
A Resolution worth Keeping
by Alexander Green
A sign in front of a church down the street says, "Resolutions go in one year and out the other."
How true. The other day I was cleaning out my desk and found a list of New Year's resolutions for 2006. Turns out I still haven't lost those pounds, taken that trip, read those books, or updated my estate plan, among other things.
This is generally when we fall back on that ironclad, all-purpose excuse: But we've been so busy.
Maybe that's the problem. We spend too much time on things that are urgent but unimportant and not enough on things that are less urgent but more important.
Phone calls, e-mails, junk mail and Monday Night Football are urgent. They require our immediate attention, if only to pass on them. Deciding whether to change jobs, end a broken relationship or what to do with the rest of your life can always wait. Tomorrow is as good as today.
Yet few things are more dispiriting than realizing you're bogged down doing things that don't really matter. As Stephen Covey says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
In his book "First Things First," he talks about the age-old battle between the clock and the compass. The clock represents your commitments, appointments, schedules, activities - how you manage your time. The compass represents your vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction - what you feel is important, how you lead your life.
Where you're headed is so much more important than how fast you're moving. Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.
Every day we continually make decisions about how we spend our time, from "this afternoon" to "this year." The consequences of those choices determine the quality of our lives.
Yet too often there is a gap between what we're doing and what we know is most important. We want to spend more quality time with the kids. Yet we're off to the mall... or to poker night. We know we would look and feel better - and live longer - if we got out and exercised. Yet we plant ourselves like rhubarb in front of ESPN instead.
The result is increased stress - or a gnawing feeling of discontent. Yet there is a solution.
At financial conferences, I often tell attendees that investment success does not come from following the right predictions. It comes from following the right principles.
Warren Buffett, the world's most famous investor, follows the time-tested value principles of his mentor Benjamin Graham. John Templeton, the man Money magazine called "arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century," formulated his own "22 Principles for Successful Investing."
Principles are not ephemeral. They don't come in or out of fashion. (Or shouldn't.) They are timeless and universal. They are markers that provide direction in both good times and bad.
And just as surely as the best investment principles can safeguard our portfolios, the great human principles ought to inspire our behavior.
As Stephen Covey writes in "Everyday Greatness," "Principles such as vision, innovation, humility, quality, empathy, magnanimity, perseverance and balance can mobilize us toward greater personal effectiveness and increased life satisfaction. If you doubt this, consider living life based on their opposites, such as lack of vision, laziness, sloppiness, closed mindedness, revenge, lack of determination or imbalance. Hardly the ingredients for success."
The challenge is to examine your life and see if your actions are in harmony with your values, with universal principles. How are you treating people? What are you contributing on a daily basis? Are you doing good... or are you just doing well?
How you answer those questions will determine your real success in 2009... and how you're remembered many years after you're gone.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Belief. Believe in Yourself.
"Men often become what they
believe themselves to be.
If I believe I cannot do something,
it makes me incapable of doing it.
But when I believe I can,
then I acquire the ability to do it,
even if I didn't have it in the beginning." Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
What the positive thoughts I feed into my mind?
How can I change a limiting belief to a positive one?
believe themselves to be.
If I believe I cannot do something,
it makes me incapable of doing it.
But when I believe I can,
then I acquire the ability to do it,
even if I didn't have it in the beginning." Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
What the positive thoughts I feed into my mind?
How can I change a limiting belief to a positive one?
More concerns about the job market?
In a recent article, Making lemonade out of lemons, http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Ask/Story/A1Story20081227-110679.html, the writer mentioned that the effects of the economic downturn will really be set this year, 2009. And the unemployment rate could more than double from 2.2 per cent last year to 4.5 per cent this year. But she also spoke of how to turn the recession into a good recession. I would like to recommend this link to my friends.
Now think about it, who in your family has the greatest risk of this crisis. It is definitely not going to be anyone of us who are still studying. It's the members in the family who are working 9am-7pm everyday to support the family. Now imagine what the impact will be if one of them were to be a victim of the unemployment crisis.
It is time to face reality and start taking action so that we can play a part in protecting our families from suffering from such a crisis. Well if you have an idea on how you can play a part, I would like to congratulate you and encourage that you Share your ideas with the friends around you. If you do not have an idea right now, it's fine, more importantly, do you Believe in yourself that you can play a part? Thanks for reading.
Now think about it, who in your family has the greatest risk of this crisis. It is definitely not going to be anyone of us who are still studying. It's the members in the family who are working 9am-7pm everyday to support the family. Now imagine what the impact will be if one of them were to be a victim of the unemployment crisis.
It is time to face reality and start taking action so that we can play a part in protecting our families from suffering from such a crisis. Well if you have an idea on how you can play a part, I would like to congratulate you and encourage that you Share your ideas with the friends around you. If you do not have an idea right now, it's fine, more importantly, do you Believe in yourself that you can play a part? Thanks for reading.
Vision. How do I see myself being successful?
"The only thing worse than being blind
is having sight but no vision.
Vision is non-negotiable for
anyone who wants to succeed.
It is the blueprint on the inside
of a leader, before she ever sees
the plan on the outside" Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Where do I see myself in the future? What is the next action
I can take to move toward this?
is having sight but no vision.
Vision is non-negotiable for
anyone who wants to succeed.
It is the blueprint on the inside
of a leader, before she ever sees
the plan on the outside" Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Where do I see myself in the future? What is the next action
I can take to move toward this?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Goals. Searching? Found? Decide? Ready! Set!
One day Alice came to a fork in the road
and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree."Which road do I take?" She asked.
"Where do you want to go?" was his response.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the Cheshire cat,
"it doesn't matter."
I have 2 goals for 2009. Firstly, to graduate. Secondly, to earn a yearly income of $50,000. But until this year, I realised that I have never set any personal goals. Well I've made some achievements along the way, but those achievements were made because of someone else's goal and they needed the extra muscle and brain power to manage the process. I don't count those achievements as having a goal.
When was the last goal that you have set for yourself? It's okay if you didn't achieve it, it's more important that you know what you want to work towards to. If you don't achieve 100% of the goal, at least 70-80% of it isn't too bad either.
So why not set a goal now? Seat down with the person you can get comfy with, a parent, a partner, a spouse, someone you can communicate with, without pride and ego. Share your goals and let them reciprocate. You'll be surprised. I was surprised when my dad didn't know that my mom wanted a landed property all this time until I shared my goals with them. It was funny.
Well how to start? Quantify the goal, put a number on it, or an item. income of $3000/mth or 1x1st class honours degree certificate, 1x2nd upper honours degree certificate, etc.
I hope that you understand that a goal is something that you can picture in your head, or download the picture from the internet. It's called Vision. Where do you see yourself in the future? Thank you for reading. =)
and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree."Which road do I take?" She asked.
"Where do you want to go?" was his response.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the Cheshire cat,
"it doesn't matter."
I have 2 goals for 2009. Firstly, to graduate. Secondly, to earn a yearly income of $50,000. But until this year, I realised that I have never set any personal goals. Well I've made some achievements along the way, but those achievements were made because of someone else's goal and they needed the extra muscle and brain power to manage the process. I don't count those achievements as having a goal.
When was the last goal that you have set for yourself? It's okay if you didn't achieve it, it's more important that you know what you want to work towards to. If you don't achieve 100% of the goal, at least 70-80% of it isn't too bad either.
So why not set a goal now? Seat down with the person you can get comfy with, a parent, a partner, a spouse, someone you can communicate with, without pride and ego. Share your goals and let them reciprocate. You'll be surprised. I was surprised when my dad didn't know that my mom wanted a landed property all this time until I shared my goals with them. It was funny.
Well how to start? Quantify the goal, put a number on it, or an item. income of $3000/mth or 1x1st class honours degree certificate, 1x2nd upper honours degree certificate, etc.
I hope that you understand that a goal is something that you can picture in your head, or download the picture from the internet. It's called Vision. Where do you see yourself in the future? Thank you for reading. =)
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