Ask and You Shall Received... plus Surprise !

This week I got another wonderful newsletter from Jon Gordon on his topic "Unlimited Possibilities". After reading his newsletter, it reminds me the phrase that "Ask and You shall received !"

There was a game I participated in one seminar in town that try to convey a concept of "Ask and You shall received". The game is something like this, everyone in the game must prepared 5 gold coins. Then, each of us keep asking each others "Can i have a dollar please?", and we will keep answering "No." until the7th person that asked us the questions, and answer "Yes", then we'll give him a gold coins . That goes on and on.... for the 10 minutes.

Without our notice, there are 3 persons planted in the game that will ignore to answer us until we asked "Can i have a dollar please?" for more than 3 times, then they will happily give us a gold coins.

At the end of the game, some people get more coins, some get less, some break even. And, everyone of us is exhausted asking the question as fast as possible to get more coins. Then we share among ourselves what we've learn in this game of asking.

Anyway, please enjoy reading the article below by Jon and take a moment to think and feel how we can apply the following the enhanced our lives......

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Unlimited Posibilities

Have you ever wanted something but were too afraid to ask for it? You kept quiet only to see the moment slip away... leaving you wondering what could have or would have been if you would have just spoken up. This week I was reminded that when we are bold enough to ask for what we want, amazing and magical things can and do happen.

As I stepped on the Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix with 5 copies of my book, The-10 Minute Energy Solution, in hand I was filled with the inspiration to ask a flight attendant to give away a copy to one of the passengers who was physically, mentally, and/or emotionally exhausted. I had this idea on previous flights but never took the chance to ask. Now, as I was about to take my seat, a flight attendant walked by and I handed her my book and told her my idea. She laughed with excitement, went to converse with the other flight attendants and after reviewing the book came back to tell me they would do it. About half way though the flight they announced over the loud speaker that I was on board and that since everyone needs more energy including the flight attendants themselves, they were going to have everyone write their name on a napkin and pick a winner.

The plane was buzzing with energy and I decided to give another book away to a passenger and my three remaining copies to the flight attendants. As I was reflecting about how all this was magically unfolding... the magic continued.

The flight attendant came back to tell me that a number of people asked if there were more books because they wanted to buy it right there. And one woman had the flight attendant deliver me a note that said this:

“Jon, I have been looking through your book that you gave the flight attendant and I must say thank you. I’m going to a convention and I had decided I really didn’t want to go. But finding out about your book must be the reason because if I don’t get anything else from this trip it has been $$$ well spent. I will get your book at the book store. Thanks again. Rita.”

And then the magic really happened. One by one the flight attendants came back to talk to me about their issues and challenges and we had the most amazing conversations. I found out one of them had chronic fatigue. Another was emotionally drained because she was always giving her energy away to her family and work instead of nurturing herself and so she was going to use the book and my suggestions to give 10 minutes to herself each day.

The third flight attendant told me of her emotional pain and drain due to losing two children at birth, the strength it took to keep her marriage together and the spiritual journey she has been living ever since. We talked about her natural gift as a writer and how her purpose clearly is to inspire others by sharing her story. She had been suppressing and ignoring her desire to write hoping it would go away but I explained that it’s ultimately what she needs to do to heal and live her purpose. I humbly say that she told me that she felt our meeting and my book were the answers she had been praying for.

What I didn’t get a chance to tell her was that I was the one who was energized most by these amazing series of events. I forgot that my body was a little tired from running around Phoenix and other cities on my book tour. Now, at once, I was renewed and recharged by the magic. I realized none of this would have happened if I didn’t ASK.

When we ask for what we want and are open to the possible, we connect to an unlimited amount of possibilities and meaningful interactions. You never know what can happen when you speak up or decide to take a chance and you never will know unless you do it. So the next time you are filled with inspiration to say and do something to help others or spread a positive message, do it, open the energy pipeline and let the magic happen. Be bold and ask for what you want. Asking ignites the possible and believing in the magic makes it so.

Sending positive energy your way,
-Jon

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Which kind of Investor are YOU?

It's Chinese New year. Most of us will be discussing where should we invest our money to gain maximum return with minimum risk. Since I have chosen financial world as my personal career, and I have to set up some plan down to road to enrich more people investment portfolio and perhaps some percentage gain from their portfolio gain.

It was not surprise people around me are impressed with the 20% annual return on KLSE stock investment performance. I'm not saying that by throwing a dart and you will get 20% annual return, it will require research and study to pick them out. For some, investing KLSE stock is simply too risky.

I remember how Robert Kiyosaki described RISK! He always say, investing is just like driving a car, when you have learnt how to drive, and driving for a long time, it just become your second nature. However, if you never learn how to drive and start driving around, you'll just keep hitting the walls or bumps. However, for investment, most people just never learn how to invest.

RISK + CONTROL = Reward !!!

Below I would like to share an article by Robert Kiyosaki in his column, "Why the Rich get richer"

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A great quote from Warren Buffett goes: "I'm a better investor because I'm a businessman, and I'm a better businessman because I'm a better investor." So let me tell you how to be a better investor by being better at business.
Business knowledge varies among these three kinds of people:

1. Non-Investors: They expect that someone (such as their parents, their kids, a spouse, a company, or the government) will take care of them when their working days are over.
2. Passive Investors: They turn their money over to someone or some organization, such as a mutual fund, to manage. It's the passive investor who tends to believe the financial planners' mantra of "work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest for the long term, and diversify."
3. Active Investors: These people tend to manage their own portfolios and assets, as well as hand-picking their advisors, who are not brokers or sales people. To be a successful active investor requires a higher financial IQ, more real world entrepreneurial business experience, and a very smart advisory team.

For non-investors and passive investors, investing is risky. The main reason is because these two groups of people have no control over the investments they're involved in. While active investors know there's risk, they also realize that the greater the control they have, the less the risk.

Getting a Grip on Business
What do I mean by control? Let me illustrate using the example of driving a car. To be a safe driver, there are six basic controls we all must have:

1. Steering wheel
2. Gas pedal
3. Brakes
4. Gear shift
5. Driver's education/license
6. Insurance

You wouldn't drive a car if you didn't have any one of the above controls. Yet, when it comes to investing, this is what most people do -- they invest without having any influence over the six basic controls of investing or a business:

1. Income
2. Expenses
3. Asset value
4. Liabilities
5. Financial education/management
6. Insurance

The reason Warren Buffett says he's a better investor is because he's a businessman who has control of those six levers of a business. In other words, he can tell how good an investment is by how well management manipulates these basic controls. In most of his investments, Buffett doesn't just buy an equity position, he does his best to buy control of the business.

A good business person wants control over their business. For example, if sales are down and expenses are up, a good business person knows what to do to correct the situation. In my real estate investments, as soon as interest rates began to drop around 2000, our team immediately refinanced our debt (liabilities) on our properties, which reduced expenses, increased income, and boosted the intrinsic asset value of the property.

When I invest in real estate, I have lots of insurance. If a building burns or a tenant falls, I have insurance to cover those risks. A mutual fund has no insurance. That is why $7 trillion to $9 trillion were lost when the market crashed in 2000. Today, in spite of not having any insurance against losses, millions of employees happily deposit their money in their 401(k).

Know What You're Doing

The bad news for most non-investors and passive investors is they pick investments that don't welcome investor control. In fact, most non-investors and passive investors invest in the riskiest of all investments -- savings, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds -- all dangerous picks since investors lack control.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you have control over the dollar's fluctuation in value?
2. Can you get Bill Gates to reduce Microsoft's expenses or replace its new marketing team?
3. Do you have any control over interest rates?
4. Do you know your mutual-fund manager personally?

While I do have some money in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, most of my resources are in investments I control.

Even worse, most financial advisors -- be they stock brokers, financial planners, or corporate investment advisors -- don't have any control, either. In other words, asking most financial advisors for investment advice is like a asking a taxi driver who's driving a car without a steering wheel, gas pedal, brakes, or insurance to take you to the airport.

That's why investing is risky for most non-investors and passive investors. As Warren Buffett says, "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing."

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What's your Purpose of Life?

I read an article the emphasize the important of have a purpose of life. I've been searching for my purpose of life, even though it's still have lots of missing link, but the direction has formed and the figure is getting clearer day by day. And, my life become more and more energized. Life is a journey, but we have to decide to make it a happy, exciting, interesting, meaningful one or the other way round is up to us. By the way, I can't help thinking some conversation in the movie Matrix. It say's "Every program has its purpose, otherwise it will be deleted or gone exile?" Hopefully the following article will provide you some inspiration on your journey of life.

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"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent
accomplishment." - As A Man Thinketh

In her book, Unstoppable, Cynthia Kersey writes that a prominent psychologist asked 3,000 people, "What have you to live for?" An amazing 94% answered by saying they had no definite purpose for their lives - 94% percent!! With those kind of results, is it any wonder that there are so many unhappy people in our world today?

James Allen also tells us on this subject that, "They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to worries, fears, troubles, and self-pity." When I was part of the 94% without a purpose, my life was constantly dark with all types of worries, fears and troubles. I was a ship without a rudder floating aimlessly in a raging sea. Nothing in my life seemed to go right.

I believe we were created with a purpose in our heart, and part of our journey here is to discern that purpose and to act on that purpose.

Purpose puts power and excitement in our lives. It keeps us from looking at the little picture of "me" and causes us to look at the big picture of "we."

Ralph Marston, who writes The Daily Motivator, says "Your wishes, desires, hopes, dreams, opinions, likes and dislikes, at their very deepest level, revolve around a purpose. You can sense it. It is there. Pay attention to the times you really feel good about yourself. Ask yourself why this is so. Keep asking until you touch a purpose so fundamental it cannot be explained in any other way."

Napoleon Hill, writing in the classic Think and Grow Rich, said that having a purpose was so important to success that people would have a different (and better) story to tell about their lives "if only they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!"

And that's worth thinking about.

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No Fear

It's been a while since my last post. Today I found an very good article on "Play to Win". Along my journey of life, i learn 2 of the key lessonare 1. Participation 2. No Fear. Fear will destrop everything even before you started to do anything. To conquer the fear, perhaps the best way is to focus on the positive sides, focus on your joyful moment pretending you have already achieved your goal. These will definitely help to kick those little worries away from achieving your goal. Below is the article share by Jon Gordon on his latest newsletter.

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Play to Win

There was a time in most of our lives when we had no fear-that feeling when we jumped from the jungle gym and slammed our little bodies to the ground. Perhaps it was when we went on our first roller coaster, or when we were in high school or college and felt that there was nothing we couldn't do. No goal was unattainable. We were an unstoppable wave of energy that would think of something and then make it happen. Then, as time goes by, the world tells us more frequently that we can't do anything we want. In fact, the world gets more specific and says you can't do this and you can't do that. The doubters laugh at our goals and try to persuade us from going after our dreams. They say, "You're crazy. It's too hard. It's too much of a long shot. Why don't you do this instead? You should play it safe." They act as if dreams were meant for others but not people like us. They surround us with negative energy and try to instill their own fears and insecurities in us. We not only begin to know the word "fear," we start to understand what it's like to be fearful. With so many people telling us we can't do something and so few telling us we can, it's hard not to let fear into our lives. Unfortunately this is how many of us go through life. The fear starts as a thought and the thought then becomes an emotion that affects our body and entire state of being. We have mortgages, rent, responsibilities, car payments, college payments, medical bills, and jobs. Many of us have even more responsibilities with families and children to support. The doubters point all of this out and inject their doubt and negativity in us. "You can't start your own business. What if it fails? How are you going to feed your children? You can't start a new career. You know how hard it is to make money acting. Why would you want to do that? You shouldn't go after a promotion. They'll never give it to you. You're too old to change careers and learn computers. Why would you want to do a silly thing like that?"

Whether you are 20 or 50, many of us become so scared of losing what we have that we don't go after what we truly want. We allow the energy of fear into our lives which cuts off the flow of positive energy and paralyzes our desires. We play it safe and hold on so tight to the status quo that we never experience what could be. We believe the doubters and don't take chances that will move us one step towards our dreams. I call this "playing to lose". We see this in sports all the time when a team has the lead. They start to think about how not to lose instead of how to win. They hold on so tight to their lead that they start playing safe and scared. You can see it in their energy and body language. As a result the other team takes chances, plays with no fear and eventually gains the momentum and wins.

To live a life filled with positive energy we must learn to repel the negative energy of fear. Whether it comes from within or from another person we must eliminate fear from our life and replace it with a "play to win" mindset. While fear holds you back, a play to win attitude will allow you to create anything you want. Playing to win requires a commitment to yourself that even if you fail, you will never give up and never let your goals and dreams die. Those who play to win know that success is not given to us. It is pursued with all the energy and sweat we can muster. Obstacles and struggles are part of life and only serve to make us appreciate our success. If everything came easy we wouldn't know what it felt like to truly succeed. Obstacles are meant to be overcome. Fear is meant to be conquered. Success is meant to be achieved. They are all part of the game of life and the people who succeed play to win and never give up until the game is over.

I’m sending positive energy your way!
- Jon

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