Business Risk Vs. Gambling

I have some confusion sometimes when I'm doing options trading. Some of my friends will just telling me that I'm gambling when I buy a call options to earn money when the stock price goes up. Most of the time, I'll argue that I have done my research before I make the trading decision for the particular stock to go up. Then, he told me that those who are betting money on soccer match also study the players and their winning history before they make a bet, and they are gambling. This really confusing and project a very thin line differentiate Business Risk and Gambling.

Yesterday, I felt so lucky when I read an article that help me to differentiate Business Risk vs. Gambling on Stock Market. And, the main difference between business risk vs. gambling is the Money Management and Risk Management.

For Gambling, one is just look to be lucky and excitement to get the return. Normally the naturally strategy is to bet more when they win which is a losing strategy since when you win u win small, when u loss u loss big. And, emotions affect the decision of a gambler the most.

For Business Risk, like doing business, we always compare our risk and reward ratio. For every opportunity present, we would definitely calculate the potential profit vs. the cost of the item. Besides, for business Risk, we always study the market, and record down every of our decision making for future reference and correction. Therefore, Business man always depends on the data and record to make a business decision.

Why the Rich Get Richer

I'm doing some research on finance.yahoo.com reading some article regarding the crude oil future. Then I found out that there are some FREE article for personal finance from Robert Kiyosaki, Suze Orman, etc. Perhaps, these website will help on our personal finance knowledge. Web link

Robert Kiyosaki has been a good teacher to me for financial advise. I have picked up lots of ideas and concept on finance from his books. There is one radio show on finance in where I live have this saying "If you don't care about Money, your Money won't care about you" (translate from "你不理财，财不理你") It's getting more important for us to learn personal finance in this global village environment. Below is the story on the topic "Putting Debt to Work for you."

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I attended my first real estate investment class in 1974. The two-day program cost me $385, which was a fortune at the time since my salary was less than $1,000 a month.

After months of searching for my first investment property, I found a tiny, one-bedroom, one-bath condo in Lahaina, Maui, the world famous beach resort. The condo was priced at $18,000. Not having any money, I used my credit card to finance the 10 percent down payment of $1,800.

In other words, I used 100 percent debt to buy the property.

Even though I was leveraged 100 percent, which I do not recommend even though I did it, I was netting approximately $20 a month positive cash flow after all expenses and debt were paid. At the age of 27, I owned a condo in Waikiki, in which I lived, and a condo in Lahaina, which I rented. My real estate investing career was launched -- and I was in debt up to my eyeballs.

The 'Credit Card Tycoon'

Being single at the time, several friends and I would get together regularly at a popular downtown Honolulu watering hole on Friday afternoon to have a few drinks and, if we were lucky, meet some of the pretty women who worked in downtown Honolulu. The Friday after closing on my Maui condo, I told my friends about my investment.

"Are you crazy?" asked one friend, a young attorney fresh out of law school.

"You're nuts," said another friend. "You purchased a condo with a credit card? Do you know how risky and foolish that is?"

"Yeah, but it's a great deal," I replied defensively.

My friends just continued to laugh at me, calling me the "Credit Card Tycoon." The more I defended myself, the more they ribbed me and the more they laughed. I finally gave up and went to talk to a group of pretty women.

About a year later, we were all together again at that same watering hole where we met almost every Friday.

"Well, how is the Credit Card Tycoon doing today?" asked a friend who was a young attorney. "Buy any more property with your credit cards?"

"No." I replied with a grin. "I sold one for $48,000. I made about a $30,000 profit in a year."

Although it was good to have the ribbing stop and to win my point, the most important lesson was that I had learned how to use debt to get richer. For more...

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What I learnt from this article is that, it's doesn't matter how much debt we have, if the debt (good debt) we owe can help you to gain an asset that generate more money than the interest that is charged to us, we are getting a good debt. In other words, the more debt we have the more money we'll generate.

For example, when we borrow money from bank to buy house for ourselves, most of us will be very eagerly to return the money to the bank so that we don't pay so much interest. To apply the "Putting debt to work for you" strategy, before we decide whether to return the money to the bank in advance, should be determine by whether we can find any investment that will provide us a return more than the interest. Let's say we are charged by the bank 6.5% annual rate interest. If we are able to find an investment that is 10% return, then we can go ahead and invest the money, and owe the bank as long as we can, since we are getting the extra 3.5% return.

If we are just letting the money to sit inside the bank for 4% Fixed deposit return, then it will be good for us to pay back the bank in advance since bank is charging us 6.5% and only paying us 4%. They are earning the extra 2.5%. Of course in this situation, we need to pay the bank back to money as soon as possible.

In short, it really depends on what % return we are getting compared to what is bank is charging to decide whether to clear the debt as soon as possible.

Still remember your Dream?

I'm browsing through my US Stock Options Forum seeking for inspiration and wisdom on trading idea. As usual, my browse my favorite Millionaire Dzul posting, and I found his reply post to a newly created thread called "E-Meditation".

As a US stock trader, the right frame of mind is very important cause it's like going into a battle, we need to study our enemies that we fighting against, and what "weapons" are available for us to increase our winning odds. Below is the story shared by Chua Geok Siong that definitely will sharpen our state of mind and win the battle..!!!

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Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be;
your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
– As A Man Thinketh

In the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield tells the story of Monty, who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer of little means. During his senior year he was assigned a writing project to describe what he wanted to be when he grew up. His seven-page essay minutely detailed the 200-acre ranch he wanted to own. It included a diagram of the ranch and a detailed floor plan of his 4,000 square foot home.

Despite the passion and effort Monty put into his paper, he received it back with a large “F” written on it and a note to see the teacher after class. The teacher told Monty that the reason he had given him that grade was because his paper was unrealistic. He went on to cite all of the reasons why, and told Monty that if he would rewrite the paper with a more realistic goal, he would reconsider the grade. After considering it for a week, the young man turned in the same paper with no changes, along with the remark, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

The conclusion of the true story has the teacher bringing 30 students for a summer campout at the 200-acre ranch of the now grown (and successful) Monty who lives in his 4,000 square foot dream home.

If it worked for the son of an itinerant horse trainer it will work for you. The principle is simple: (1) create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited, (2) define the dream in minute detail, (3) live in the dream so that it becomes real to you on the inside, (4) and then hold on to it so tightly that no one can take it away from you.

James Allen goes on to offer this great wisdom, “Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals...For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

But Monty, perhaps, offered the greatest wisdom, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
And that’s worth thinking about.

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No Fear......Get Stronger... Grow Tougher

It's monday. Yes ! Another great week for me to learn and grow stronger. Below I'd like to share with you a Newsletter from Jon Gordon. If you like it , you can subscribe to his FREE weekly Newsletter. It's currently offer FREE recorded interview with famous Speaker or Author like Jack Canfield, John Gray, and David Simon. Clicking Here to listen

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Your Big Life Plan

It’s big but you can’t see it. So great that if you could see it you wouldn’t believe it. It’s your destiny and it’s calling you. If you don’t believe me just remember Albert Einstein. He could not speak until he was four years old. He did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was retarded. We know they were wrong. Or how about Beethoven. His music teacher said, "As a composer he is hopeless." Wrong again. And let’s not forget Muhammad Ali. His teacher once told him, “you ain’t never going to be nothing.” He showed her and the world that he was the greatest after all. We all know Helen Keller’s story and we certainly all know our own story.

Every day we face challenges, fears, obstacles, and negativity that hits us with left jabs and right hooks. We get so caught up in the details of bills, job pressures, raising kids, fixing the house, car payments, trying to make a living and a hundred other to-dos, that we can’t even see over the piles of paper on our desk never mind—our future success. But when times are tough and your bills are bigger than the balance in your checking account, or when you are feeling overwhelmed after starting a new business or job, or when you are drowning in house work and changing diapers every few hours or when you didn’t get that promotion or lost your job or when you get sick and all feels hopeless... these are the times when you need to realize the most—that you are part of a bigger plan. There is greatness in you. There is a Big Life Plan for you. Your destiny sits inside your soul like DNA sits inside your genes. You may not be able to see it but it’s there—waiting to unfold if you let it. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the crashing waves. Instead jump those waves and keep your head up looking out into the horizon. And if you experience a wave so big that there is no way you can jump it, then ride it. Learn from the surfer who challenges wave after wave, growing stronger, developing more balance, and becoming more skilled every day. A smooth ocean never made a skilled surfer and a struggle-free existence never made a meaningful, great life.

The next time you are facing a difficult situation remember that there is more than what is in front of you. There is a challenge, a lesson, and a plan. Emerson said "The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear." Don’t let fear get in the way of the life that is meant for you. Einstein, Beethoven , Muhammad Ali, and Helen Keller show us that anything is possible. They overcame their obstacles and doubters and discovered their greatness. Trust that there is a plan for you and let the possibilities unfold. In the process you will discover the great things you are born to do. You don’t have to push. Just trust and your destiny will meet you when the time is right.

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Time – Our valuable Asset

I come across a short essay by Arnold Bennet on the subject of time from a book by Jim Rohn that I would like to share it here: -

Time is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it.

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You wake up in the morning, and lo! Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life. It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions… no one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.

In the realm of time, there is no aristocracy of wealth and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will and the supply will never be withheld from you.

Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you.

I have said the affair is a miracle, is it not? You have this twenty-four hours of daily time to live. Out of it you want to spin health, pleasure, money, contentment, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.

Its right use, its most effective use is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness – elusive prize that you are all clutching for, my friend – depends on that.

If one cannot arrange that an income of twenty-four hours shall exactly cover all proper items of expenditure, one does muddle one’s whole life indefinitely.

We shall never have anymore time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.

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How to get Motivated and Take Action?

Recently, I found myself feeling lazy. Even though I know I should do something about it, but keep putting it off. Trying to search for solutions to my laziness, I found an article on “Emotion Drives Action” written by Adam Khoo.

After reading the article, what I learn is that I must create some goals or purpose with excitement, passion, and happiness to motivate myself to move towards my goals by keep creating and playing the Mental Video and Sound that show RECOGNITION of achievement, GLORY, PRIDE for FAMILY, exhilaration on BENEVOLENCE when I had achieve the goals.

Besides, I must always ask the right questions to direct myself to a more resourceful state when I face some obstacles along the ways. Instead of asking, “Why does this happen to me?” I must asked, “How can I turn this around?”

Perhaps this is one of the key to successful life… what do u think?

Overstressed or Overworked?

Today, I don’t have anything special to share. However, flipping through my file collections on Life Charging, I found one story quite interesting to share. Perhaps, most of us had read it before but we just don’t remember it sometimes.

It’s about a story on a teacher asking the class about the weight of a glass of water. One student was asked to volunteer to hold the glass, and feel the weight. When the glass was first lifted in the air, the glass of water seems very light. Continued holding it, the glass was getting heavier after a minute. After five minutes, the student started to feel tired and unable to hold the water anymore.

Therefore, it is not how heavy the glass of water is. It is how long we have held it without putting down. So take quick break, take some deep breathe, and stretched our body before we continue to work.

Never bring the works home. We need good rest. It will be a good start tomorrow when we get backed to work FRESH. The stressful job yesterday will become easier when we can let go after work. It is easier to “say” than “do”, however, please learn and it will good for us. ;)

Gratitude – The Source of Harmonious Power

God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and he is going right on with his work. There is not the least doubt that he will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared, but in the meantime, they are all very necessary. Remember that they are all helping to arrange the lines of transmission along which your riches will come to you, and be grateful. This will bring you into harmonious relations with the good in everything, and the good in everything will move toward you. -- Wallace D. Wattles

Today, I review the book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. Then I have chosen the chapter on the Gratitude - The Source of Harmonious Power. From time to time, this chapter has helped me to realign myself to appreciate the things around me instead of blaming and complaining. Sometimes, good things and opportunities really open up when we stop blaming and complaining and start appreciatiating.

When I ponder on Gratitude and the Harmonious Power, the image of the award winners who were showing their gratitude towards all of the people who has contribute to their success. Even we are not direct involve in their success, however we do feel the "Harmonious Power" by listening to them showing their gratitude. Perhaps it is the power that connect everyone of us.

Perhaps it just like the feeling of accepting a simple sincere "Thank you" notes from a person after we have do our best to help him; or to say "Thank you" from the bottom of our hearts after help are offered to us. I feel that this harmonious power connects our spirit in some special way.

Perhaps we need to start practice gratitude more often and stop blaming so often, just to nourish our souls and live more happily.... *** Thank you for reading my blog ***

Life is either Daring Adventure or Nothing...

I was browsing through my Stock Options Trading Forum. Come across the following statement posted by our Millionaire Dzul reply concern about trading full time generate income from US Stock Options.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. " -- Helen Keller

I have very strong felling on the above wise saying, as I totally agree to the above concept after reading Robert Kiyosaki Rich dad series book. Especially the section that he mentioned that his father decided to start a business after sack by the Goverment after teaching more than 20 years and holding very high position. Then, Robert asked whether we wanted to face the situation 20 years later or now?

I have chosen the path to face it now, and seeking for my path. (Morpheus showed Neo the red pills or blue pills? blue pills, we send you back to the matrix and you live like others; red pills, we unplugged u from the matrix and show you the truth you always been seeking-> from the Matrix)

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. What do u think? I have choosen the red pills and you?

The more you give, the more you'll get

Last saturday, I went to Fitness First as a guess with a friend. This is my first time going to fitness club like Fitness First. Then I saw a line stated "Energy, the more you give, the more you'll get." This is really true when we are trying to build our energy level, we have to give out a lots of energy in the process for us to gain more energy. This is really interesting fact to me cause there is no doubt about that. I think everyone will agree to it.

Then, I can't help to wonder, besides energy, is this same law of nature apply somewhere else? I think it does. Perhaps, love? The more love we give, the more love we'll get when our "love muscle" build up? What about happiness? What about $$$? Can the same rules apply? what do you think?

Besides, I also learn from a trainer that, in order for our muscle to build up, we have to repeat the same action with increase weight until our muscle start to shake. The shaking process will send the signal to our brain that we need stronger muscle to cope with the weight.

Will this same rules apply to our other aspect of lifes too? Hhmm... I started to wonder, stress management? time management? finance manangement?... Any comments?

Story of Buckets

Recent years, I have encountered 3 versions of the story regarding our Buckets. I have combined 2 of the stories which seem more related to our life and I would like to share here.

There are 2 temples built in the middle the 2 mountains. In order to get daily water supply, 2 monks from 2 different temples had to travel to a river in between of the mountains. Day by day, John and Rick met almost everyday when they were carrying their buckets to get water from the river.

After 3 years, Rick stopped seeing John when he came to the riverside. He started to wonder, “Perhaps John is sick.” One Week pass by, one month pass by, Rick still not seeing John come to the river. Out of curiosity, he decided to pay John a visit. When he reached John’s temple, he saw John was getting the water from the well in the temple.

John explained, “These 3 years, I have been digging the well, and now I finally got the water from the well and save the trip to the river.” Rick felt that it was really a good idea and plan to have his own well too.

For the first month, Rick works on the well with full energy. However, month after month without any sight of water, Rick decided to stop digging and start to save his energy to get some bigger bucket so that he can save some trips to the river. When the temple had more and more monks, he had to carry bigger and bigger buckets. – End –

Are you minding your own business?

This is an equation I read from Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad book series. It says in order for us to get the “Reward” we looking for, we need to study the “Risk” so that the “Risk” is under our control, and get pass the “Risk”.

I feel so enlightening when I read a history that most of our ancestor are Independent Business Owner, and they all take care of their own business (mostly as a farmer) and control their own finance. However, when Industrialization came, most of them started to take care someone else Business, to exchange for a so called “stable income.” And then, slowly most of them plugged into the “capitalism Matrix”, and live happily ever after without having to take risk and depends on the “Matrix System”.

And now, most huge industrial age is slowly breaking down as Information Ages come. With Globalization kick in and competition increase, retrenchment has been everywhere. Have we train to take Risk and Gain Control of our own finance? Could any of us be the one who got retrench? Perhaps it’s time to start learning to mind our own business instead.

Is Capitalism Failing?

These days I somehow feel that Capitalism is failing due to more and more environmental issues that are affecting our lives. For example, there are more plastic product that are contaminate our environment; there are more and more toxic waste not handle properly to cut cost; our food are no longer grown like it used to be and the food are manufacture instead.

What are going wrong here? I wonder. Could it be Capitalism will only be working under strong fundamental values that enhance our life (not material wise)? What I see now is our good values have been fading due to the concentration on “Profit” that is a must for Capitalism. People without strong values seems to do whatever it takes to gain profit and ignore our environment in order to be survive in the competitive global environment.

If Capitalism only works under strong fundamentals values that enhance us, how come they are not cultivate in our school? What we heard is only this “Get good grade, and get a good job’? And some more this is no longer working now. We are getting more and more knowledge, but we are losing more and more common sense.

How can we cultivate new enhancing values? Perhaps the school system needs to be change. However, before the system can be change, we need to personally seek for the wisdom from the past and upgrade ourselves and pass the good values along. Perhaps self-improvement is a good start. What do you think?

Too busy to sharpen the axe?

Today, one incident has trigger me to recall a story that i read a while ago and feel like sharing here. It's about a young man called Richard.

Everyday, Richard went to cut the woods from the forest. Across time, he's getting harder to cut woods as he used to be. Therefore, to maintain the same level of income, he try to get up earlier, and stay late to cut more woods.

One day, an old man pass by while Richard is cutting the woods. He saw Richard was wasting so much energy to cut the woods, and realize that the axe he used was no longer sharp. Therefore, to be nice, he told Richard, " Young man, you gotta sharpen up your axe." However, Richard replied, "I know, but you know what? I'm too busy and I had lots of wood to cut. Please leave me alone."

Are we too busy to sharpen our axes by wanted to get more woods to exchange for money? Is there better method and ways to cut the woods instead? Hmm... maybe it's time to ponder... perhaps a chain-saw? But it's expensive... installment provided?

High Emotion, Low Intelligence

Yesterday, when i was driving home, a car driver horned me for continuing going straight while he wanted turn right through my lane. Just wondering what is going on in his mind and got a bit angry after that.

Then I started to think calm myself down as I know angry at him is unecessary, and life just move on. Perhaps the traffic jam, and driving behavior here has made driver on the road very easy to get angry whenever something out of expectation happened. When we started to get angry, it's very easy for us to act stupidly like overcut the car, or horn continuously to show the unsatisfaction.

I remember in one seminar by Robert Kiyosaki that cover Sales, he mentioned when we are emotional, the more emotional we are the lower our intelligence will become. What a simple and make sense concept. But we seldom realize the truth or simply we just cannot control it when it's getting emotional.

In another seminar, one speaker told us that, we actually can control it, but just that whether we made a decision and tell ourselves to control it. He has used a very good example, he said while he acted "When a stranger walk towards you, and accidentally step on your foot, and you just being scold by your boss for not performing up to his standard. With no doubt, most of us will shouted at the stranger to express our unsatisfaction."

Then he asked again, "What if that stranger is a really pretty and sweet lady? Do you as angry or do u show as loudly? Of course not! So can you control your emotion?" I smiled with agreement. He continued, "The question is how long we want to be angry, and how angry we wanted to be."

I totally agree with him. One would say that's really hard to control. I agree but it takes pratices. We just need to divert our focus. Instead of keep playing the video in our mind and make us more and more angry. Perhaps we can think of something great and happy in our life, and keep playing it in our mind until the angry video is replaced. I found out, that's how our subconscious mind work as it cannot differentiate what is real and imaginative images. As long as happy images replace the angry images. We'll feel better....

What do u think? Try out and let me know if you will.... ;)

Money Got 4 "legs"...we only have 2 legs

In modern society, most of us work really hard for money. Whatever we do, money always will be one of our consideration. As I mentioned in earlier blog, welcome to the "Capitalism Matrix", you are plugged into the Monetary System. There's one chinese proverb saying, "Money is not everything; but without it we can't do anything."

Therefore, most of us chasing after the money and see how much we can earn. Our friends normally will said, this job and that job can earn better income, go work for it. And then, we'll just do it for the sake of more money, thinking it will bring better future. Finally, we'll lost ourself or our soul, no longer knowing what we are good at or interested in.

In one seminar I've attended, the chinese speaker mention that, "Don't chase after Money, you'll never get a hold of it, cause money got 4 legs. (Corners of paper money, has the same pronounciation as Legs in Chinese); and we only have 2 legs.", "we need to attract money instead, we needed to evaluate where to money will flow, and become an money magnet."

After that, I started to see things from different dimension. Instead of thinking how to get more money, I started to study, why some people get more money then the others, and what has they been doing different. Are they the creator or are they a follower.

At last, it lead me to study Human Needs, and understanding of ourselves as a human being. Why we do what we do, and how to attract people to do what we want... etc

What do you think? Do you have the same feeling like me? Please leave some comments for me, thanks...

Taking Charge of my life

Recently, I'm feeling energize again to take charge of my life. I started to make some plan and following it step by step. I remember Anthony Robbins said life is like in the river right before the Niagara Fall, if we don't made up our mind and take charge of our life, we'll just follow the river and face the sudden drop when we come to this "Niagara Fall".

Awaken The Giant Within by Anthonny Robbins is the first motivation that i read and finish it. It was introduced to me by a friend when I asked him for recommendation of motivation book.

Tony mentioned about the Auto-pilot theory in his book. It's roughly that most of us are in "auto-pilot mode" living our life. We just follow the crowd without knowing where exactly we are heading. We'll just said, everyone is doing this way, it shouldn't be wrong. Sometimes, we do feel that something is wrong about our life, and just have no idea what to do about it. In this book, Tony provides us some insight on how our psycology works, and teach us to switch to manual mode and taking charge our own life instead of "auto-pilot" mode.

Live with Passion...

Find The Light Inside You

"I am not bound to win, I am bound to be true.
I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have."
- Abraham Lincoln

I read a newsletter from Jon Gordon- Home of Energy Addicts. To get the FREE newsletter please visit www.jongordon.com This link is also in my "Great Links". Sit Tight and Enjoy !!!

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If you're having a tough day, a difficult week, a horrible month or a disastrous year, let the thought of Abraham Lincoln brighten your day. He lost 9 public elections, declared bankruptcy twice and weathered a nervous breakdown and the death of a fiancée before becoming President of the United States of America. How did he do it? He found the light within. And so can you. Consider this email a switch. Read it and turn on the light you know is inside you. Pass this on and help others find their light.

When you are feeling down or when everything seems hopeless visualize a light inside you. Imagine that this light is covered by the darkness of the world; Negative images on our television sets. Daily horror stories in the newspaper. Stacks of bills. Energy Vampires, illnesses, relationship issues, unemployment, negative thoughts, self doubt and every day challenges. While you may have the urge to fight the darkness, and many of us do, instead seek to find the light. A Chinese proverb says "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". To light your candle, identify the one thing in your life that is "good". Find the one thing that makes you happy. One thing that you are thankful for. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Perhaps it's your child's smile- your dog's love-your favorite memory- your garden. Or it could be the one thing that you like about yourself. Maybe your one thing is a special friend, your faith, or the difference you have made in someone's life. Just find one positive thing. Focus on this one thing instead of all the negativity that competes for your energy. Visualize this one thing as a light that grows the more you focus on it. Visualize this light growing with each positive thought. Imagine it getting stronger and more powerful as it burns through the layers of darkness and negativity. Imagine these layers peeling away; one after another until eventually you become this light. Now realize that you are not your weakness, illness, fear or doubt. You are your strengths. You are that one thing that is "good" in your life. You radiate confidence, brilliance, and happiness. You are that light that shined dimly inside you, that has always shined inside you and that shines inside you ever so brightly right now.

Remember to fuel this light. Like a plant it needs to be fed. Feed it lots of positive energy every day and watch as this light shines through your eyes, flows through your mouth, and pours from your heart. Feel the energy of this light and let it brighten your day and shine on those you live with, interact with and work with. Share this light with the people who need it most and let it serve as a flash light so they can find their light within.

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Live with Gratitude

Sometimes, I am wondering if I am taking what I have in my life for granted too much and have not learn to appreciate life and things. And, how would things change for me, if I have made a decision to live my life with more Gratitude.

For example, my mum cooks dinner for us everyday. Somehow, it just seems like a routine work and sometimes I’ll just take it for granted and think that cooking is her responsibility and job. Sometimes, I’ll even question her when the food is not up to normal standard. Consciously, I know I should not do that, and then I would still do it once a while. It just seems like second nature, or it would be more appropriate to say that’s my bad habit.

I remember all Christian have to pray before their meal to show appreciation to GOD. Then I sincerely appreciate the food that was served to me, will I feel the food nicer, will I eat happier with better appetite? I think I will, and my mum will be happy too when she saw me eating so happily.

Let me take this opportunity to say Thank You for reading my blog. ;)

Do you have any experience to share when you live with Gratitude? What kind of result you get? Comments and Sharing are welcomed.

Dear Friend I'm OK...thanks ;)

Today, to my surprise i receive a personal email regarding the blog i have wrote at http://mylifecharger.blogspot.com/ He asked me whether I am ok since he saw me writing so much blog about the "mind" thing and self-help. Then, I started to wonder, have i write too much? or only those ppl with problem or difficulties write so much?

Anyway, I wanted to show my thousand appreciations to my friend See Seen for his concern. And, the reason i wrote so much is (is that really a lot? I already try to keep it short) I always feel the joy to share what i learnt through my journey. However, I've been keep delaying it. Then i decided to just write without worry whether it's good or bad writings, after inspired by some books and the famous slogan "Just Do it !"

And, I don't think i can stop for quite a while since i have so much to share about the thought of life that i think is valuable. So, you those of my friends who enjoy it, please seat tight ! ;p

Of course, I also have a plan to add a forum to my blog so everyone who are interested can discuss about the topic. Share some experiences, some comments, some ideas, hopefully to make a small difference around us, and perhaps make the atmosphere around us a bit better.

Not like the CNN "Constant Negative News" to spread only Bad News around us and show the world is so terrible..... hahaha... Am i writing too much again.... I need to stop now.

Please don't forget to visit my blog at http://mylifecharger.blogspot.com/ , and I need comments and feedback !!!

Oh btw, my blog is on 2nd weeks celebrations !!! Hurray !!!

One Door Close, another Door Open?

One day, I was listening to the radio while I was driving home from work. One of the guest speaker said, “One Door Close, Another Door Will be Open.” I have listened to this proverb a couple of times however this time it struck me the most. The Guest speaker got cancer last year, and now he had recovered from it. This incident gives him an opportunity to look at life differently and now he is a vegetarian, and encouraging us to be vegetarian.

Most of the time, when a door close in front of me, I’ll just accept it and feel down for quite a while and fail to look for the other that is open. I have been going through my learning journey on US Stock Option for more than a year. Whenever, my trading decision goes wrong, I always feel bad and fail to look for the other “Door”.

For those of you who have do day trading before, Options trading is really a psychology intensive game when doing day trading. However, the result is really tremendous if I have overcome my psychological barrier. Like what my mentor has taught us, always adjust our mindset on the question “How can I get out in style and still made money?” whenever we made the wrong trading decision.

What about you, my friend? Have you learn to look for another door once something go against you? Your comments and sharing are welcomed.

You Are So Damn Cool…

A while ago, I went to a seminar sharing an interesting joke, and I feel it’s good for me to share the story here. Like most stories start, it starts…

.. One day, there was a guy named Henry. For all his life, he had heard that travelling in VIP class flight was so cool, and he decided to save enough money and tried it out. After several years of hard work, Henry finally earned enough money, and bought a VIP class air ticket.

The day finally came, and Henry was so excited sitting on a big comfortable seat. Then a well-dressed parrot named Pete, came by and seated next to him. They nodded to each other with a smile.

Before the flight take off, a pretty stewardess named Jane came to Henry and asked, “Good morning sir, would you like to have some drinks?” politely, Henry asked, “Can I have a cup of coffee please?” “Sure,” Jane walked away to get him a cup of coffee.

Suddenly, Pete shouted at the Jane, “You fat and ugly lady! Do you have champagne for me?” Jane was shocked and very angry since no one ever called her fat and ugly lady. Then she quickly gets a bottle champagne for Pete.

When Jane came back with champagne, Jane was so sorry that she had forgotten the coffee for Henry. After passing the champagne to Pete, Jane quickly apologized to Henry, “Sorry sir, I forgot your coffee, I’ll get for you right away.”

Again, on the way to get the coffee, Pete shouted again, “You fat and ugly lady! The champagne tastes really bad, bring me another one!” Feeling much angrier, Jane got another bottle of champagne for Pete, and again forgot about the coffee for Pete.

This time, after learning from Pete, Henry started to shout at Jane, “You fat and ugly lady! Where is my coffee?” Within seconds 2 big strong guys came and grabbed both Henry and Pete up, and throw them out of the window.

By then, the flight was taking off, and Pete looked at Henry and tell him, “You are really SO DAMN COOL!” And then, Henry saw Pete taking out his wings while he’s falling towards the ground. -End

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Sometimes I do wonder why we are doing what we do. Why are we going to school? Knowledge…? Why are we learning knowledge? To get a good job in the future? Why are we looking for good job? To earn money to fund our needs? What exactly are our needs? Then I read one article by Anthony Robbins that almost answered all my doubts. It’s all about human needs…

“No matter who you are in the world, or what you do, there’s a common force that’s driving and shaping all our emotions and actions. It determines the quality of our lives, and ultimately, our destinies.

The universal force is our needs, human needs. Regardless of who we are - our backgrounds, our professions, our religion, race or creed – we are all driven, day after day, to fulfill primal needs that have been encoded (The Matrix Program?) into our nervous system over centuries. Although each of us is unique and special soul, we’re all wired (plug in the Matrix?) in very much the same way.

There are six human needs - fundamental drive within each one of us – that compel us forward is a quest to experience a life of meaning. There is no conscious effort necessary; our will to satisfy these primal needs is automatic.

1. Certainty: We all want stability about our basic necessities like food, shelter, and other material resources. When we cannot control our physical environment, we may seek certainty through state of mind like religious faith.

2. Variety: After we have fulfilled our basic needs, we will seek variety of life experiences through number of means like sport, traveling, music, movie, delicious food, and other entertainment.

3. Significance: We all need to feel special and important in some way to somebody. We all seek significance through obtaining recognition from others or from our own.

4. Connection: We all need to feel connected with someone or something like a person, an ideal, a value, a habit, or a sense of identity that we feel like being ourselves. (The feel of where or what we belongs?)

5. Growth: Everything in the universe is either growing or dying – there is no third alternative. We will not spiritually satisfied unless our capacities are expanding.

6. Contribution: Just as we cannot survive without others contributing in some way to our welfare, we cannot be spiritually fulfilled unless we are contributing to others as well.

Note: Any activity, action or emotion that fulfills at least 3 needs at a very high level will becomes in effect, an addiction.

Another Inspired Story on Mind Power

I read an article on “The Pilot Who Played Gold in His Jail Cell”—an amazing story about the power of mind visualization. There was an American pilot who had been shot down and imprisoned for many years in North Korea during the Korean war of the 1950s.

This man was a keen golfer and, during the long hours of imprisonment, the only thing that kept him sane was visualizing himself playing golf… and winning of course. He had all the time to ‘play’ 18 holes over and over again. Well, when he was finally released and returned home to America, one of the first things he did was to enter a golf tournament.

Guess what? He won easily, to the absolute amazement of everyone except himself. They thought his win had to be a fluke? Surely he was a rusty player… but no, he told everyone that he knew he would win because he had been mentally playing, practicing the winning shots, all those long years behind bars.—End

Along these years, I have learnt that whatever I see or I listen will be the information feed into my subconscious mind, no matter the information is good or bad. Sometimes it just frustrated to me that, even I’ve try my best to choose the good information to feed my mind, however, some bad information that involve “Blaming”, “Excuses”, “Justifying” still surround me especially from my family members and close friends. As a result, sometimes I’ll just let go, and eventually become a blamer, excuser, and justifier… (Am I giving excuses now?)Ha-ha… Help!!!

The Mind Power – Mental Vs. Physical Training

There was an experiment done on how mental training compares with actual physical training. A group of men were divided randomly into three basketball teams. They were asked to shoot from the free throw line and their scores were recorded. For the next three weeks, each team went through a different training routine.

The first team physically trained for 4 hours. The second team did not physically shoot any hoops but imagined themselves shooting perfectly for 2 hours a day. The third team was the control group so they were asked not to train at all.

After 3 weeks, they were retested and their scores recorded. The first team that trained physically scored an average improvement of 30%. The second team that trained mentally also scored an average improvement of 30%. The third team showed no signs of improvement at all. The experiment showed that mental training is amazingly as effective as actual physical practice. If you were to combine both, your performance would truly be astounding.

This story really inspires me on the importance of mental image as I have learnt that our subconscious mind cannot differentiate real image or vividly imagined experience. If I am able to create a mental video of the goal or result I wanted, and keep playing the mental video in my mind, I can stimulate my nerve, and provide me that kind of exciting energy to take action to achieve my goal.

The Ultimate Success Formula

This is the 2^nd time I encounter “The Ultimate Success Formula”. The 1^st time I saw this diagram in a seminar. This time I saw it in a book called “Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny” by Adam Khoo. This formula seems very simple yet so complicated to me. Perhaps I still lack of very strong and clear goal that will stimulate my nerve everyday I wake up in the morning. There is a little different on the Formula compare to what I see the 1^st time. It used to be “Result” instead of “Feedback”. However, they represent the similar thing. It is that, if we didn’t get the result we intended, we cannot see it as failure; we must learn from the experience and try again with a new and more effective strategy to be successful. And, if the result is related to human reaction, we may ask for feedback so that our new strategy can cover the short coming of the old one. Then we’ll be keep improving until we success and meet our goal.

Anthony Robins once said, “Every one of us walk is because we keep trying whenever we fall when we were babies, Magic Formula—keep trying until you success.” And, I think first we must believe that we can be successful, and have faith in the journey towards our goal. Otherwise, our subconscious mind will just fail to perform, since consciously we don’t think we can achieve our goal.

5 ways to become Love Magnet

I come across an interesting article @ www.jongordon.com

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Goes an old song and it’s true, loving relationships foster physical, emotional and spiritual health. So how do you attract more love into your life? Author of Energy Addict, Jon Gordon tell you how.

1. Let Go of Your Need For Love. Our attachment to love creates a resistance to it. (One warning sign: you think you need a relationship to be happy) Tell yourself daily, “I let go of my ego that defines myself by how others think of me. I let go of my attachment to love but I allow it to flow”

2. Speak Lovingly to Yourself. Many of us berate ourselves. If that’s you, tell yourself how kind, brilliant, special, talented and beautiful or handsome you are. When you love yourself without arrogance others will be attracted to you and more love will flow into your life.

3. Treat Yourself with Love. Realize you are important—don’t let anyone tell you or cause you to feel otherwise. Then take action by treating yourself with love. Take time for yourself every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes. Take a bath or a long shower. Go hit some golf balls. Read books that inspire you. Give yourself a hug.

4. Become Love in Action. When we become a source of love and share it with everyone, we become one with all the love that exist and it flows to us with ten times the power. To be a true love magnet, share love without attachments and expectations.

5. Remember Who You Are. When it comes to love we can’t not talk about spiritual energy; love and God are one. When you become a love source you become an expression of the greater and the greatest source of love. Remember that you are an expression of this source and you have always been part of this source. In remembering this you realize that the love you have always wanted is already within you, waiting to be tapped and expressed.

When u become a Love Magnet you’ll attract all the love you could ever want—and more.

No Stupid person, Only Stupid State

It is the mind that maketh good or ill,
That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor”
- Edmund Spenser

Today, my uncle and aunt come and pay us a visit together with my cousin. During the conversation, my auntie keep complaining to my mum that my cousin who is studying in primary keep failing the subject Math in school.

Then, I recall a lesson that is taught by Dr. Wong in a seminar about psychological state. He always mentions there is no stupid person, only stupid state. A person is stupid because he is in a stupid state. If one can give him encouragement and help him to build up the confidence, he’ll be out of the stupid state and no longer being stupid.

When I was a kid, it is a norm that parent keep telling their kids they are stupid whenever they do something wrong in Malaysia Chinese Culture. After I understand that how the subconscious works, I started to understand why some of my cousins can never get out of the stupid state. When their parent keep telling them they are stupid, through repetition, they will accept the statement, and since the subconscious cannot differentiate truth and lies, it will accept it and stay in the stupid state. It’s kind of like self-fulfilling prophecy.

Luckily, my parent does not do the same to me. However, there is time when I feel really lousy. Perhaps, I got to use the repetition strategy and shout out “I’m feeling GREAT!” for a few times. Since my subconscious cannot differentiate what is real, it will accept the message and bring my psychological level to “Great” State.

Seek and It will be found?

I remember one afternoon when I was sitting in a conference hall attending a seminar. The instructor is trying to show us a simple yet powerful concept. He asked us to focus on any object that is Green in color when we turn our head to look behind us. Then he counts, “1… 2… 3…” then I quickly turn my head to my back and start looking for the Green objects. The curtain is green, the cushion of the chairs are green …etc

After about 30 seconds, the instructor says, “Stop!” then I turn my head back to the front. Here’s the interesting part, the instructor then asks, “What do you see that was Red just now?”

“Huh...? Red? I thought suppose to be Green? I have totally no idea what is Red.” that’s what I’m asking in my mind.

The Instructor then continue, “we are normally only focus on what are train to focus since we are kids, so the questions are what have you been train to focus on? What do you think you need to focus to get where you wanted to be?”

So, what am I seeking? What am I focusing? Am I focusing to be financial freedom, to be wealthy, to be successful, and to make a difference? But, how? Perhaps I must first start to mind my own business instead of others, and stop getting paychecks, but write my own paychecks, and start my “Seeking Journey.”