The Journey Within

Before I even contemplate whether this is possible, this is a very famous theory in Tai Ji, especially in push hands. The proverbial “4 ounces move 1000 pounds” (四两拨千斤) is so pervasive in the Tai Ji world, and yet, I’ve only started to understand the power of this in the “real” world – the world of finance and economics.

I’ve never thought of debt as a good thing. Owing someone anything is bad, or so the teaching goes. So, throughout my life, I’ve been avoiding the possibility of debt. Yet, we go into debt all the time, the credit cards, the car loan, the mortgage, the favour to someone. If 4 ounces can move 1000 pounds, why not use the little money we have to leverage the big money out there?

That is what Robert Kiyosaki is saying in Retire Young, Retire Rich. I have to say, I’m still feeling uneasy on this topic. I’ve never thought that I could be going into debt, and yet if the Tai Ji theory has been useful for different situations in my life, why can’t I accept this theory of leveraging in my personal finance as well? The companies do it. Companies issue I.O.U.s so that they can leverage on other people’s money to grow their business. The government does the same thing. They too issue I.O.U.s so that they can put those money into other uses, like building roads and bridges.

The question is then “why not” instead of “why”.

I don’t like debt. I’m now being challenged as to why I don’t like debt. The more I think of it, there’s no strong reason why I don’t like debt. It’s a choice of not wanting to be in debt. If I were to save and save from my income, I may be able to retire at some point, but I won’t be able to retire early. Debt allows me to make early retirement possible. It’s not a certainty, but it’s more possible if managed correctly.

So if using a bit of debt can allow me to retire early, why resist it? The power of leveraging is more pervasive than I thought. Have you used the power of leveraging lately?

p/s: found an interesting article on moving 1000 pounds with 4 ounces. Do read.

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I think we’ve been taking for granted the amount of quality free software out there that’s powering our lives now. Google will be the best known name, and then there’s Picasa, iTunes, flickr, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, YouTube, Open Office etc, not to mention Wordpress, which is powering this blog here. In my mind, these free softwares are amazing, for their quality and the empowering tools they provide me.

Paying for software has hence become something strange, something we shouldn’t do, because all the best things in life are free. I guess I’m asking now if these free softwares are really free…

I know all these free programs will try to earn the money somehow. Google is famous for its Google ads. iTunes for its music. What about all the other free softwares out there? How are they making their money?

Instead of really analysing this question, I’ve recently intentionally purchased 2 softwares, something I haven’t done for a while – most of the softwares are either free, comes with the PC or come from “friends”. I’ve recently purchased Toodledo on iPhone, and The Journal.

I use a todo list often and after trawling over numerous other iphone apps, I’ve finally settled on Toodledo. I find it has the best balance of simplicity and complexity. In fact, i’ve actually switched off most of the complexity on the iPhone app, and try to keep it to the minimum, so that I can see exactly what needs to be done without other distractions. Just for your information, I’ve compared Things, WhatTasks, Remember The Milk, EasyTask Manager, OmniFocus and other not so famous ones like ZenBe List, Nlist, Done, CheckOff, Tree Task and WhatTasks.

The Journal has been tugging at me for a few years now. I didn’t go for it because of its price. Hey, after all, a journal is just a text document. You can type it anywhere. But I come to realise the importance of having a software to get out of the way of writing the journal itself. So, it has to be as bare as possible, and yet allows quick entries and powerful searches.

An internet blogging solution works, but I have doubts about security and connectivity sometimes can be a distraction as well. I now journal offline so that I won’t suddenly check out a link, check my email, view a clip and after a while, i’m not very far down the road of journaling.

So is paying for software worth it? For those things that are really important to you, definitely, provided you can’t find a cheaper alternative of course.

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Budgeting is touted to be a good financial discipline. It is recommended in most financial books, to be used religiously in both your personal finance and business finance. It basically is a tool so that you won’t spend more than what you think you can spend. Does budgeting work for you? Do you find that you stick to your budget often? If you or your company’s spending is different from the budget, do you tend to spend over or under budget? Continue reading »

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It’s been a while since the subject on Room to Read came up. Now there’s a quick way you can get involved. Simply vote for the project “6000 Girls’ Scholarship in the Developing World“, and if it gets to at least top 25, American Express will sponsor quite a sum into the project! Click here for more details on the project. You can read more about Room to Read at roomtoread.org. The following is the exact email from them on this subject.

—–

Hey there Room to Read volunteers and members of the Buzz List!

We need your help!  American Express recently launched their 2008 “Members Project,” which asks American Express cardholders to submit project ideas in 5 key areas that will help change the world, and then asks cardholders to vote on the winning projects.  American Express plans to give away $2.5 million to the winning projects, including $1.5 million for first place. What would that mean for Room to Read ? It would mean we would be able to give 6,000 girls access to an education.

Thanks to our former San Diego chapter leaders, we submitted a Room to Grow project for consideration. In case you’re not familiar with this program, our Room to Grow Girls’ Scholarship Program gives thousands of girls access to education through a holistic scholarship that includes:

• Monthly school fees, school uniforms, books, supplies and backpacks
• Academic tutoring as needed
• Developmental support through life skills trainings and field trips
• Parent meetings and workshops
• Transportation (such as a bicycle or bus fare) as needed
• Medical coverage
• Mentorship by women staff members of Room to Read

Now we need you to nominate it!  Anyone (even non-cardholders) can nominate a project once it’s submitted – the more nominations a project gets, the better its chances for making the “Top 25.”  After the nomination period ends on September 1st, American Express will announce the Top 25 projects.  AmEx cardholders will then vote on the Top 5 (announced on September 30th) and then vote again for the winning project.  The winners will be announced on October 14th.  We’re hoping that you will nominate our project!

The instructions to nominate are as follows:

1. If you have an AmEx card, you can log in to nominate our project here
2. If you do not have an AmEx card, you can log in as a guest here
3. Click on Room to Read’s project link or enter “Room to Read” in the search box.
Please note our project is titled “6,000 Girls’ Scholarships in the Developing World.”
4. In case you can’t find it, Room to Read’s project is listed under the “Education”
category and the “Achievement Gap” subcategory.
5. Click on “Nominate this Project!”

Once you’ve nominated our project, we’d ask that you spread the word throughout your
networks by:

• Forwarding this email on to at least 10 friends
• Posting the project on your Facebook or social networking page (if you have one) by
clicking on the appropriate icon at the bottom of our AmEx project page
• You can also click on “More Ways to Get Involved” on the project page if you’re
looking for other ideas about how to rally support

We’ll be sure to let you know if we make the Top 25 so we can encourage everyone to vote for our project.  Just think, if Room to Read were to win the top prize, 6,000 girls across the world could go to school.

Thanks in advance for your help,

The Room to Read Team

Room to Read
info@roomtoread.org
415.561.3331

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When it comes to money, the holy grail of all questions is always “how to make more money”. I believe this is only part of the equation of making money. We also have to know how to spend the money so that we will end up having more money to make more money. I believe this is what I mean when I say:

Think BIG, drive small

Continue reading »

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Who says washing machine is boring? I tried to buy one and it was anything but boring! Until I was overwhelmed by choices… That was when I find washing machines really boring…

When i bought my very first washing machine, there were only 2 criteria – it works, and it’s cheap, maybe not in that order. Now that I’ve been working for a while, and moving to my own place, the criteria list somehow magically expanded itself. Suddenly, I was bombarded with a slew of words which I didn’t know previously. The salesman frantically persuading me the importance of each of these words, e.g. nano-technology, inverter, direct drive, aqua-beat, jet stream etc.

I only knew of one washing machine, and that was the one with a hole in the middle. Now, I have to decide between front-loading, top-loading, and even a tilted version. And I have to decide between 5 kg to 8.5 kg. I have to think of how often will I be using it, how many people will be using it, how quickly will it dry in our weather, how much water will it consume, how much electricity will it use, how noisy will it be, how often does it breakdown, how reliable is the brand, how reliable is the servicing etc… the list just seems endless…

To top all of that, after deciding on each of those and weighing it against the price I’m paying, then comes aesthetics – let’s face it, washing machines are just ugly. Maybe Apple should venture into making a washing machine.

With all that rambling, I still don’t understand what made choosing washing machine so difficult?

I guess I am drawn to technology. As age catches on, my definition of technology seems to change. I go for simpler technology that can go less wrong in the long run, as oppose to cutting edge technology where more parts are moving, which means there are more things that can go wrong. To quote the by now heavily abused words of wisdom, commonly known as Murphy’s Law – what can go wrong will go wrong.

With that philosophy in mind, the choice suddenly became much simpler. What did I choose? A Sanyo 7 kg top-loading washing machine with a side panel and flexibility to choose the timer for each type of wash, i.e. I can choose 3 minutes of spin, 9 minutes of wash, 13 minutes of cyclone dry etc. *Sigh* it is still difficult… Less choice is definitely better.

p/s: this is the second “less is more” article in this month (see wrong place at the wrong time). I have a feeling there could be a wind of change blowing in this direction.

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I stood up my teacher, with a last minute notice. No wonder he scolded me. It wasn’t intentional, but I was torn between family and learning Tai Ji. Sometimes Tai Ji wins, sometimes family wins. Continue reading »

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I never realised I was looking, until I found it, only to realise that I have been looking for it all along.

I have been looking for a way to give something back to the society, be it through work, business, or a charitable organisation. I’ve finally stumbled across something which speaks to me on a fundamental level.

I’m not sure if you have thought of what does charity mean. So far, to me, the word “charity” means giving away money to the poor/needy, most of the time with only a vague idea of where that money is going. I don’t like giving just because I pity the person. I would rather give so that the person will be empowered to do something about his/her situation. This thought did not fully materialise until I read about Room to Read.

I’ve recently read a book by John Wood – Leaving Microsoft to change the world. As the title suggest, he left Microsoft and set up Room to Read, an organisation providing children with the opportunity to learn. He started off with an aim to give books to children in Nepal, as their biggest school library has only 20 books, made up of leftovers by travelers, with books like “The Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia” and romance novels by Danielle Steel. From that small aim, it evolved into building schools and libraries for several countries, on top of the original aim of supplying books to these group of children.

I’m sure there will be more blogging entries to come about this, but why not visit the website for yourself. See if this speaks to you as much as it did to me.

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Buying a ticket home. It’s suppose to be easy, it’s suppose to be painless. But when you combine school holidays, Sundays and rainy days, you’ve got yourself a perfect storm. Continue reading »

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I am an employee. I have a fixed salary every month, for as long as I work with the company. I get some holidays which I can take anytime of the year. Of course, “anytime” is normally controlled by someone else, commonly known as “the boss”. I can “request” anytime, but it’s never “anytime”… Anyway, when I started my very first “paid monthly” job, I never view it as a job I was paid to do. I view it as a learning ground, a chance for me to show both myself and the world out there what I can do. So I feel sad when one day, not long after I started my first job, that “the boss” told me to just do it without questioning, because I am “paid to do so”.

Questioning is part of the learning process. Over time, you learn when to question and when not to question. But not to question AT ALL breaks the very meaning of learning. For me, understanding the purpose of what I’m doing determines the level of energy and intensity into that work. The stronger the purpose, the stronger the will power to make sure it gets done.

In a hierarchical company, the purpose is often lost through the chain of command. Sure, companies have mission statements, but how often are those statements translated to anything remotely close to the work being done on the ground? The only consistent mission statement is “to make money”. This measure on its own is not a good long term purpose for any company. Actually, what they fail to tell you is that this mission statement is incomplete. The full mission statement is not actually to make money, but to make money “in the short term” – to make money as long as the person on top is in charge of the company. Because the person on top knows that his time is short – either make a big bang out of it to prove his worth, or make big bucks out of his time before his time is up.

As a result of the “chain of command”, this mentality is translated to each section of the chain. So, as long as you’re head of some section, you will more or less succumb to the direction the “ultimate head” is telling you, whether you like it or not.

Can we turn this around? Should the fate of the company be controlled by a chain of command?

I believe this military style structure has its use in the past. Business schools have probably dissected this business model umpteen times to fill up a whole course. If so, there must be some solution to this, but why does the problem persist?

I guess the human civilization that we have come to be proud of its growth and technological prowess has failed to grow in the wisdom dimension. We can split the atoms but we can’t split the ego from ourselves. The only thing we have managed to split is our personalities. At work, there seem to be a different creature inhabiting the body. If you were to meet your co-workers outside of work, they would seem perfectly normal. But when you place them in a work environment, somehow, an invisible hand is guiding their actions. Hostile, defensive, insecure, yearn for power etc are some of the common traits of this new creature.

I didn’t mean to write so negatively about the corporate world. So here’s the challenge for myself and for you hopefully as well. We can’t change what’s out there, we can only influence. But the one thing that we can certainly change is ourselves. It’s difficult to go against the grain, but we can still choose to be true to ourselves without appearing that we are going against the flow. Keep a cool core, and as you build up your core strength, it will overspill. Just like the contagious laughter. Smile a little, and your co-workers will smile back at you, eventually!

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