My 500th Entry Today!

Some friends asked me whether I am out of my mind, blogging 6-8 entries on average a day, daily, for the past two-&-a-half months.

My answer: "I probably am." And I think they probably are too if they have been reading ALL of them.

But you know what? I have achieved something in learning that I have always wanted but never find the outlet or platform: Relearning old things. For the record, I am a sucker for collecting things; books, poems, quotes, jokes, pictures, notes from seminars I attended many years ago ....

I have them all kept, stacked, & filed away. In reality, how much have I learned, remembered, & applied? That's the million-dollar question. I once have a mentor who taught me 3 very important perspectives:

I am here to - Learn, Relearn, & Unlearn -

1. Learn NEW things;
2. Relearn OLD things; &
3. Unlearn BAD things.

So here am I, still powering forward with my average output, because the faster I have them here, the faster I live my life, twice.

"Food for the soul first, then food for the tummy."
- Dr. Jerri Nielsen

Be A Priority Manager

"Don't be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to the ultimate goal becomes a mini-goal in itself."

- Denis Waitley

Anything to Change?

"What would you do, how would you change your life, if you learned today that you only had six months to live?"

- Brian Tracy

Harmonizing Our Thoughts

"A person is the causer (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances, & that, whilst aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts & desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end."
- As A Man Thinketh

One of the examples James Allen uses to support this philosophy is a rich man who is the victim of a painful & persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He's willing to give large sums of money to get rid of the disease & he fully expects that will be the cure. Unfortunately, he never addresses the gluttonous desire that is the cause of his condition. He can never achieve good health because his desires are not in harmony with the good health he seeks, regardless of the money he spends.

Wow, did I relate to the rich man. Not because of his money, but because of his attitude. There's been so many times in my life that I said I wanted to get rid of negative circumstances, all the while I'm engaging in the actions (brought on by my thoughts) that could never possibly harmonize with the results I said I wanted.

Once I remember a big commitment & resolution on my part to spend more time with my family. I optimistically laid out a calendar of activities we would do together & got very excited about the "new me." The way I had it figured, I'd probably be "father of the year."

Well, I'm glad they didn't publish the results of the "competition" that year, I'm sure I would have finished dead last. You see, despite my "aiming at the good end," I hadn't changed the thought patterns that had plagued me for years. Any type of crisis in my business was a justifiable reason for me to work late or to go in on the weekends. While my mouth said that my family was more important, my actions (& thoughts) said otherwise.

James Allen wants us to understand that we cannot change our circumstances without first changing our thoughts to harmonize with the circumstances we want. To think otherwise is just as foolish as the gluttonous rich man.

One of my great enlightenments came from Wayne Dyer's You'll See It When You Believe It. He wrote, "Work each day on your thoughts rather than concentrating on your behavior. It is your thinking that creates the feelings you have & ultimately your actions as well."

Vic Johnson
(excerpted from Day by Day with James Allen)

Wow! Good stuff. Worth thinking about, isn't it?

Major in the Majors

"Learn how to separate the majors and the minors. A lot of people don't do well simply because they major in minor things."

- Jim Rohn

Emotional Intelligence

"Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry - with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, & in the right way - that is not easy.

- Aristotle,
The Nicolechean Ethics

A Special Report for School

Son: "Dad, I have to write a special report for school, but I don't know what Politics is."

Father: "Well, let's take our home as an example. I am the bread-winner, so let's call me Capitalism. Your mom is the administrator of money, so we'll call her Government. We take care of your needs, so let's call you the People. We'll call the maid the Working Class, & your younger brother we can call the Future. Do you understand, son?"

Son: "I'm not really sure, Dad. I'll have to think about it."

That night, awakened by his younger brother's crying, the boy went to see what was wrong. Discovering that the baby had seriously soiled his diaper, the boy went to his parent's room & found his mother sound asleep. He went to the maid's room, where, peeking through the keyhole, he saw his father in bed with the maid. The boy's knocking went totally unheeded by his father & the maid. So the boy returned to his room & went back to sleep.

The next morning he reported to his father.

Son: "Dad, now I think I understand what Politics is."

Father: "Good son! Can you explain it to me in your own words?"

Son: "Well Dad, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, Government is sound asleep, the People are being completely ignored & the Future is full of shit."

Mergers & Acquisitions Woes

Recently, there has been a spate of mergers & acquisitions, as well as rumours of M&As. For example, what do you call the new company should Disneyland Corp decides to buy over CISCO Systems? DISCO!

Rumours in the market have it that Lum Chang & Haw Par plan to merge - the proposed new name for the company is ... I believe you have guessed it - Lum Par! However, it is suspected that SES will object to this for it would be deemed not proper for female or lady brokers & remisiers to transact "Lum Par" shares on behalf of their male clients.

Examples:

Client 1: "How much is Lum Par now?"

Client 2: "I want to sell my Lum Par at 60 cents".

Male Broker: "How much do you want to buy Lum Par?"

Female Broker: "Lum Par, 60 cents, sold!"

Newspaper 1: "Good management lifted Lum Par"

Newspaper 2: "Corporate raider consider hostile takeover of all Lum Par in the market"

Fund Manager: "We underweight Lum Par for recent poor performance"

Foreign Investor: "Lum Par caught our attention recently; We see potential in it."

Headlines 1: "Lum Par drops again today!"

Headlines 2: "Mr Dan's (CEO) ability to bring Lum Par to new heights questionable."

SGX warnings: "Lum Par suspended"

Newspaper: "Plunging Lum Par needs Viagra!"

News Reporter: "Today, Lum Par is been squeezed out as market leader."

Employees: "We are Lum Par employees."

Interviewer: "Mr. Tan, you have written in your resume that your last company was ... er... Lum Par. Did they treat you so badly that you have to put in an abusive term for them?"

A share buyer was heard doing a transaction with his remisier over the handphone inside the MRT:

Buyer: "Hey Bill, buy for me Lum Par... Nng Liap (2 lots).

Remisier: "I can't hear you properly. Please repeat your buy order louder."

Buyer (very loud): "Lum Par lah... Nng Liap...OK?"

All the commuters: Stunned, especially the ladies.....


(You may now laugh out loud.........)