Six key ways self-defeating behavior can cause failure

Hi everyone,

Most people have a misconception that our rivals are our greatest enemies. In actual fact, we are our own greatest enemy. It is more often that our self-sabotaging behavior prevents us from achieving success. I cannot find any better phrases than that described by Jan Christian Smuts, a prime minister of South Africa, “A man is not defeated by his opponents but by himself.” Therefore, it is more important to learn how to overcome ourselves than overcome our rivals.

In this article, I am going to take you through these 6 key self -sabotaging behaviors that most of time cause failure.

1. EXPECTING FAILURE

If you are expecting failure then sooner or later you will get what you expect. This is because your subconscious mind will transmit to your subconscious mind and commands your conscious mind that you are going to fail. Expecting failure and preparing for failure are two different things. The latter is inclined to accept any outcome after all his hard work and preparation which he believes he has done his best whereas the former does not have any confidence and truly believe that he will not succeed whether he tries or not.

2. PROCRASTINATION

It is one of the major causes of failure. Life means risk. These people do not give themselves any chance, but keep waiting for opportunities even though they will miss these opportunities most of times. They always wait for the right time and that “right” time never comes. As such, if you want to reach your potential, you have to take chances. We must be aware that there are more ways to be successful that do not involve any physical or violent exploitation than the past.

3. LETTING FAILURE DEFEAT THEM

Failure is the root of success. Everybody experiences losses. However, the successful person will not allow himself to be stopped by these failures. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for failure. What is more important is not failure, but bouncing back from it when it occurs. This is the difference with people who have positive attitude, they will get up and keep on trying.

4. NO SPECIFIC PURPOSE

In life, you can not hope to succeed in anything if you do not have a specific purpose. If you are caught in this scenario, you will then jump from one activity to another with no success. Therefore, it is no surprise that statistics shows more than 90% of people think and act in this manner, and that is the major reason that caused them to fail.

5. LACK OF KNOW HOW

Most of the successful people are either “self educated” or “self made” jndividuals, who know precisely how to make use of applied knowledge coupled with his plan of action to achieve success. Here, we must know how to differentiate between tactics knowledge and applied knowledge. It is equally important to know that knowing is one thing and doing is totally different altogether

6. LACK OF FOCUS

This is a typical mistake by putting their energy and efforts on multiple causes rather than concentrating on one particular cause. Thereafter, they realize that they are not able to accomplish or not succeed any of them. Therefore, they quit.

Be honest and deal with it appropriately. The success will be yours. Try it out and share with us your personal experience. Thank you in advance for your kind participation.

James Oh

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

How to acquire speedy reading skills

Hi! everyone,

Nice to see you again.

In today’s information society, we need to read and digest information daily as information can change by the minute. However, most of us do not have the luxury of time to read whatever information that come to our hands. Therefore, as we are pressed for time, speed reading is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Equally essential is that readers must be able to grasp and fully understand the message that come out from the reading materials.

To expedite the process of retaining information, we may need to use some of the tips listed below:-

1. Stay focus on what you need

You don’t need to read every word from the piece of information you have. Stay focus on what you need, skipping process may be useful here. Take an bird’s eye view at the table of contents. Look at the specific topics that can provide you with the specific information you need. Alternatively, you can make a quick assessment on how you can relate it with the specific topic you have in mind. If the information is not relevant and currently not required, then drop it.

2. Retain peace of mind

Stay cool and try not to be in a stressful state, it would not help you, but will make it more difficult to concentrate in reading that material. As such, the information will not sink into your mind and heart.

Retaining peace is a skill and you need to master the skill to empower your concentration power, just like the dried sponge merge into water.

3. Repetition is the key of mastering

To master any skill of trade, you need to keep on repeating the process. Same as in speed reading. Setting a goal and consistently raising your bar to the best you can cope with will keep you out of disappointment. Don’t set unrealistic targets. No doubt, this takes time and practice, but it is worth your effort. Raise the bar as you progress and after you have gained confidence.

4. Sustaining your progress

Reaching the top is very much easier than staying on top. The same analogy can be drawn between making decision and managing decision. Once the decision is made, monitoring and managing that decision is more crucial to lead us to success. That’s why you see lots of good and sound decisions fail to bear fruit.

5. Have faith in it

In life, you will get what you expect. As such, it is important for you to understand that you can’t obtain something you do not believe in. So, you must have the right perspective and keep on moving towards your goals. No doubt, you will face with some challenges along the way, which will mould and shape you accordingly, before you can move to the next level of success. The higher the level of success you have, the stronger the strength you need to sustain it. This is the law of nature which has been proven in mankind’s history.

I hope you find the above tips useful and beneficial. I am sure you may have other useful tips which I may not know about. In this regard, I appeal to you to forward it either through comments, or email to me at jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you,

Thank you for your precious time and wish you success,

James Oh

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

The Three Roberts and the Meaning of Wealth (Or How You Can Attain True Wealth) Part One

By Louis Lim

Robert Kiyosaki defines ‘Wealth’ as a ‘Positive Net Cash Inflow’.

In financial terms, when money coming to you on a regular basis is more than what is going out from you, you are wealthy. There is a further condition i.e. the incoming cash flow must be a ‘passive one’. Thus, a ‘wealthy’ person or one who is financially free is one who has a passive income(s) that is in excess of what is needed to live the life one desires.

Passive income is receiving money from assets whether you are doing anything or not. Robert Kiyosaki take on this is ‘Wealthy people do not work for money but money works for them’. Clearly then, the way to wealth is to create passive incomes to work for you!

How then does one create a passive income? To Robert Kiyosaki, it’s about creating financial assets. An asset is something you own that brings ‘positive’ cash flow. If you own a house and have to pay a mortgage and the cash flow is negative then the house is a liability, not an asset. However, if you collect a rental from the house which is more than your mortgage then it is an asset. Other assets would include securities(sic!) or business(es) or royalty from a book etc..

The next question must be ‘how does one create an asset?’ Can one create assets like shares, houses and business etc. without money, special talents and skill, connections? The answer is yes and many have done it! It is even more possible today because of the internet. Robert Kiyosaki will tell you it’s about one’s perspective! If you believe you can be wealthy, you will be!

To Kiyosaki the best way to create wealth is to start a business of your own. A successful business will allow you to build assets. Currently there are businesses you can start part-time whilst you are working. Nowadays the easiest to start is an Online business.

Besides the internet, what other businesses should you go into that can lead you to wealth. The kinds that can do without much money, employees and provide multiple streams of passive incomes; and which suits almost anyone! Here is where the second Robert i.e. Robert Allen is going to guide you. He claims to have created many millionaires. Indeed his ideas on how any ordinary guy can create great wealth is something anyone who desires to have lots of money need to know.

The space given this article is too short. Please look out for ‘The Three Roberts and The Meaning Of Wealth’ (Part 2) to read about the other two Roberts and how ideas  together can make you truly wealthy.

Wishing you all the best!

About the Author:

Louis Lim is a highly qualified certified management consultant who promotes entrepreneurship as a set of basic human skills for financial security! With these skills,, anyone can always feel secure of making a living with or without a job. Louis has identified Internet Marketing as the latest opportunity for those seeking financial independence. He has decades of experience consulting for many firms and mentors many business people. He is sharing his skills in business on the internet.

Louis Lim is also an Expert Author on Entrepreneurship in the top Ezine Business and Motivation magazines in the internet and Google.  One of his websites is http://TheSuperFastAffiliate.com” where you can find a program to learn how to start an internet a marketing business.

How to beat stress effectively

Hi! Everyone,

No doubt no one can be totally exempted from stress and anxiety, but what is more important is to know precisely, how to make use of it to bring benefits to us, and not harm. The key to handle it properly become a necessity and not a luxury as today’s information age is changing so rapidly. People not only need to think fast, but have to act fast as well. Stress can creep in and claim lives easily regardless how fit you are physically or how young are.

In this article, I am going to share with you some of the tips, from my personal experience, which I find useful and I hope they will be useful to you. To simplify, I have listed them down in point form, as below :-

1. Sleep and rest sufficiently

Adequate sleep and rest not only assure that our bodies are well rested, but also allow our bodies to replenish energy. It operates just like the battery which perform remarkably well after being recharged. However, if you over stress yourself over a certain period of time, you will discover that you need almost double the normal time to restore yourself back to its initial position. At the end of the day, you tend to lose more than what you have initially gained.

2. Be contented

Being content not only prevents you from indulging into unnecessary negative emotions that will harm you, but also helps you to stay in control at all times. Your inner peace will calm you and guide you wisely because you are able to see things at the wider and right perspective. As such, you will not rush into doing unnecessary things that will drain off your energy.

3. Follow your body rhythm

Setting deadline is good in the sense that it drives you to stay focus on a particular task. However, unrealistic dateline may not only cause you to be moody, but also affects your morale and confidence, if left unchecked.

By contrast, I find that my productivity tend to go much higher if I were to follow my body rhythm. When I am at my peak, I can finish similar task three to four times faster than my normal required time. So, schedule your creative works at your low peak time so as to maximize your outputs.

4. Cultivate a good habit

To avoid unnecessary stress, we need to discipline and live within our means. Needless to say, spending beyond our means/budget can be very stressful especially when you are also hit by other unexpected incidents.

5. Exercise

Appropriate and adequate exercise is a sure way to keep you healthy and relieve you from stress. You are encouraged to do light exercise for about 10 minutes daily when you wake up. If you really cannot, then finding time to walk everyday is also another good substitute, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, take your time roaming around when buying groceries.

6. Do List

Write down what you need to do and schedule them accordingly. I find it is very useful as it gives me better control – you are able to see the overall big picture and you know precisely how to act upon them. So, plotting your daily schedule will save you time, money and energy. Try it out and you will be surprised of its result, especially for those who have not try them out before.

7. Laugh it out

Laugh more, folks. Whoever laugh more seem to enjoy life more, and enjoying yourself is an easy way to beat stress. Stress may cause negative emotion such as wanting to kick something. Laughing it out is a sure way to beat stress. Cultivate a joyful heart, greet and smile at people more often. Find humour in life and stay well connected with others. Do not complaint when something goes wrong, but laugh it out. Take your mind off from work and have fun! Do not get upset easily over petty things. In short, a joyful heart is the best medicine.

8. Read the Bible/Pray over it.

Reading the Bible every night before going to bed may help you stay fresh the next morning. Pass all your worries, stress to Him who will lead you to overcome them effortlessly. His wisdom and grace will sustain you and relieve you from all the stress/issues that you are currently facing.

Hi! friends. Now I want to throw the ball to your court and I am sure you have learn from your experience, which you may want to share it with us. Please forward them through comments so that we can sharpen our experience. Thanks and look forward to your kind participation.

James Oh

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

How to beat procrastination

Hi! everyone,

Procrastination is a silent killer. It works like diabetis which will cause dyfunction of our other organs and ultimately bring death to us. Similarly, procrastination causes inaction but affects us as we indulge deeply in unnecessary causes. Therefore, it is best to understand its characteristics and take appropriate actions so as not to be ingrained with such a habit.

In this article, I have listed some of the tips which I find useful and effective in beating this unhealthy habit.

1.Act now

To overcome it is to do it now. This sounds glaringly obvious, but many people lose sight of this fundamental skill. It’s not because we do not know what we should do; but rather that we have totally forgotten how to response to the situation. Hence, you should know how to get yourself to do it instantly without letting doubts go through your thoughts. Repeat it several times till you get accustom to this habit.

2. Do not multitask.

Please don’t get me wrong and I am not against it. I am great at doing many things at same time and I have to admit that I love multitasking. But we have to be aware of the danger that we may never actually complete any of them. Trying to do several things without paying much attention will lead you to either unfinished or poor quality work. But if you are not caught in such a situation, I congratulate and encourage you to continue.

3. Set a dateline and schedule it accordingly

To stay focus on your goals, you need to set your goals according to your priorities. To ensure that you carry it out accordingly, it is appropriate to schedule it with a dateline. The danger of no datelines is that it may cause you to postpone things indefinitely.

4. Stay focus on your preset goals

I find that most often we keep changing our goals frequently until we have a moving target that caused us confusion which leads to inaction. To beat such a habit, always stay focus on our goal and keep on working on it till you achieve it. In reality, you will get what you expect from it so long as you keep on working on it. Persistence is the key to success.

Here, I have to admit that surrounding events can distract us from our focus point. Therefore, always stay in control and drive yourself forcefully towards your goals. I also do not deny that it is easier said than done. Practise, practise and practise is the way to beat it. There is no other way to overcome it than to put it into practice. No surprise to see success begets success.

Hi folks. Now I want to throw the ball to your court and I am sure you have learn from your experience, which you may want to share it with us. Please forward them through comments so that we can sharpen our experience. Thanks and look forward to your kind participation.

James Oh

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

Six ways to build wealth

By James Oh

To build wealth, you need to know where to begin  and how to work towards your ultimate goals. As inflationary pressure increases  yearly, you need constant and lasting efforts to review your strategies to sustain it. However, if you opt to grow your wealth speedily, you have to take pro-active strategic plans to explore all possibilities to obtain the highest yields from your investments. You also need to make use of all your resources to generate highest wealth possible. In reality, you not only need to think fast, but also to act fast, to reap the highest returns as the market is getting more and more transparent.

In this article, I have laid down some of the tips which you may find useful as a guide in creating your wealth.

1 Constantly review and evaluate your resources

To build wealth, you must constantly review and evaluate all resources you already have. Make full use of existing resources to enhance your wealth, but at the same time,  enlarge your resources  to create new wealth and expand existing wealth. The double effect growth will accelerate growth much faster than the inflation rate and it will enhance your real wealth. If the rate you generated is equal to the rate of inflation, then, the absolute increase in your wealth is not a true increase in wealth. It is just a trade off against  losses due to increase of inflation rate.

Resources here does not necessarily represent just financial means, but may refer to your talents, skills, experiences, ideas, and network. You may turn all these non financial means into monetary terms. You can not afford to underestimate all these non financial resources especially in today’s Information and knowledge world. For you to reap maximum return, you need to constantly explore all  possibilities to ensure that all these resources give you the highest yields possible. You must also be aware that the higher the yield, the higher the risk.

2 Strategic Plan

After you have an indepth knowledge of your position, you have to work out your best strategies that suit the current market conditions in order to move to the next higher wealth level. You need this plan to navigate yourself towards your ultimate objectives. Without such a plan, you will navigate a ship without direction. However, no matter how good the plan is, it will not guarantee  success. To achieve  success, you need to constantly monitor performance of each resource and make  necessary adjustments due to changes in external factors.  To be effective, such adjustments or alternations need to be taken as soon as possible.

3. Priority lead to Prosperity

You must set creating wealth your priority.  You need to presevere and be persistent in working towards the ultimate objective, no matter what happened to you. For example,  if you need to have  fixed monthly savings, then you must issue your first cheque towards that fund no matter what happened to you. You have to try all possible means to obtain such fixed amount. If not, you have to recoup double the amount the following month and you have to increase the duration  of time to be on track with your original plan.

4.  Persistence and consistence

To ensure its sustainability, you need to work towards your ultimate goals persistently and consistently. As such, you need to stay focus on your goal at all times so that you are not side track by other matters that may cause you stumble. To do so, you need a convinced and convicted heart to carry out your commitment persistently and consistently in accordance to your belief.

5. Have faith in it

Building wealth is just like the ordinary and prudent builder. To have a strong and unshakeable house, you need to build it on strong foundation. Similarly, for wealth builder you need to have a strong faith which will serve as the foundation for you to build your wealth on it. Once you have faith in it, you will stay focus on your goals and concentrate all your energies and efforts in building it. Of course, you may face some barriers, but these barriers are placed to strengthen your faith. Through all the trials and adversities, you will sharpen your skills and use this adversity to lead you to the way of success. It is operating exactly like the ship captain, who need to confront the waves and storms to become skillful. You must be able to see clearly how faith works and directs you to look at thing from the right perspective at all times. In reality, it is always much easier said than done.

6. Stay in control

To build wealth steadily, you must be able to stay in control of yourself. Otherwise, you will be easily tempted by greed or be entrapped by your rivals. Stay in control here mean you must not let your emotions  control you directly or indirectly. You need to know precisely what action to take and its implication to your ultimate objectives. In other words, you need to know what risks you are taking and how much you can afford to lose and how you can cover such losses so that it will not seriously affect your ultimate goal. If not, do not be surprised that you may  follow the foot steps of those billionaires who have committed suicide in the recent global financial crisis. Always bear in mind the wealthier you are, more people will prey on you.

Thanks for your precious time and hope that the above tips are useful to you. Wish you a success,

James Oh

Other articles by James Oh:

>> Priority leads to prosperity

>> How to get faster results

>> How to retire gracefully

>> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2)

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

Priority leads to prosperity

By James Oh

One of the keys to success is being meticulous. You need to pay close attention to  details so as to master a particular trade. This profound principle also applies to wealth creation process.

Saving is the main core step in wealth creation. It was highlighted well by Ben Franklin “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” We can’t deny that it forms the fundamental pillar in sustaining wealth. As such, no matter how small you begin, it will eventually turn into your financial reserve, which will then be used as a bridge to the next higher level of wealth. This reserve is required to cushion you throughout the waiting period for your harvest. Here, I am not disputing that you may get instant windfall on your investment venture, but the probability is remote.

At the same time, it is not wise for you to live in another extreme scenario whereby you keep on cutting expenses until you do not live life at all. Therefore, you need draw a line where to put a stop.

Alternatively, you may make some alteration to your spending pattern in a such way that can bring more benefits for the extra you spent. For instance, you may reward yourself with a gift/ have a celebration for your new achievement. This is important because it will drive you further to achieve a next higher target in the long run. By doing so, you will also have a more meaningful life. In reality, this sort of benefits may be difficult to quantify with accuracy especially if you want to take into account those intangible benefits that associate with the extra you have spent.  Here, you have to use your gut feeling or experience to gauge this value. No doubts, it is very subjective and arbitrary. But, we have to take it into consideration so as to give us a fair value of it.

However, it may be even more complicated especially if we wanted to book in the value of its indirect benefits such as good feeling which may indirectly enhance your productivity due to the good effect derived from the extra money that you have spent.

Your judgment will only improve through trials and testings. Individual’s wealth management skills are also not exempted from this process. Similarly, saving is a skill where you have to practise until it become part of you, i.e. ingrained as a habit. You will then be able to be in control of yourself and not spend lavishly, without affecting your main financial goals. Despite the fact that you allow some deviation against saving, you are in overall control of keeping  your financial goals intact. This is because  you have  mastered the skill that allows you to control your spending pattern so as not to affect your overall financial structure. No one can challenge you in this aspect because you are the only one who knows your financial destination. This operate exactly like the ship captain who maneuvers his ship when he faces with unexpected storms or other challenges that come along his voyage.

Some use budgeting tools to navigate their spending pattern to keep their finance on track towards their financial destination. I am not against this idea. However, I want to warn you that more than often we will not achieve our  budget no matter how well you prepared it. In reality, there are so many unknown factors which are not possible to predict with accuracy. A good examples is the fluctuation of the foreign exchange rate. Therefore, your experience and skill will come into play in these areas to assist you to make those necessarily adjustment that will not have any adverse impact on your financial destination.

It is clear by now that priorities lead to prosperity. Your financial prosperity will be your most highest priority and you will prepare to do anything to ensure that this priority will stay intact no matter what happens to you.  By focusing on that particular financial prosperity, coupled with other values such as persistence and power of concentration, I  see no reason why you cannot achieve it.

Once you have achieved your financial destination, the more challenging issue is how to sustain it. You must be aware that it is much more easier to achieve your financial destination than sustaining it. To sustain it, you need to stay in control at all times. Bear in mind that the more wealthier you are, the higher risks you are exposed because more swindlers will prey on you than others. You also need to be guarded against your own temptations which more than often make you stumble. What bring you up may bring you down as well. That is the law of nature that has been operating throughout the human history.

James Oh

 

Other articles by James Oh:

>> How to get faster results

>> How to retire gracefully

>> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2)

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

Six ways to get inspired

By James Oh

Staying inspired is a tough job for most people, if not all. Even entrepreneur may sometimes find it difficult to stay inspired because he may also be caught in the circumstances that are unfavourable. As such, knowing that life is getting tough and the tough get going.  Therefore, he has to continuously find somethings to inspire himself.

Take this blog for an example, no doubts I like to share and exchange my thoughts, experiences, skills and ideas with other. However, it is not easy to put all these in writing, worse still in a precise manner as I wish. Luckily, I know and apply the success formula to stay in this course.

Here, I  share some of the things I do so as to keep myself inspired and in high spirits.

1. HAVE FAITH IN IT

Whatever you do, you must always have faith in it. Otherwise it will lead you no where. I am lucky to say that I have gone through numerous trials till it has ingrained in me that I do not have much difficulty in having faith in whatever I pursue. No doubts, sometimes I may side track  for a while. I somehow manage to bounce back to a level higher than when I began to fall.

2. CONSTANTLY FEEDING OUR MINDS WITH POSITIVE STUFF

I would say that reading great articles, books, bible and magazines are the main contributors to keep me inspired and in high spirits. As a result, I am able to stay focused and not get influence by surrounding negative events.

In this connection, cautious steps must be taken to ensure that positive materials are fed into our minds. Our minds need all these positive and healthy materials to strengthen them just like our muscles need vitamins.

3. CONSTANTLY STAYING WITH POSITIVE MINDED PEOPLE

I hope everyone has a group of either family members or friends he can lean on. It is important to have a good conversation with someone who has the same belief like you as he can really lift your spirits, especially someone you admire.

Thankfully I am blessed with a number of successful people and friends who are sincere about my success and always give me courage to do what I desire.

4. USE YOUR IMAGINATION TO FAN YOUR DESIRE

Similarly, you need more than daydreams and wishful wishes to get the juice flowing. This is important to keep you moving ahead towards your goals. I can’t find any better way than this and I can’t see anyone can help me if I don’t do so.
To me this is the main ingredient of the magic formula which will assist you to overcome whatsoever obstacles you are facing. This is the internal power that lie inside you which is more important that what lies ahead of you.

5. POSITIVE WORDS, ACTION AND APPROACH

Whether you like it or not. the law of nature states that positive words will attract positive thoughts and actions. Similarly, negative words will attract negative thoughts and actions. So, I do not need to elaborate  any further and assume you will know what to do if you want to stay inspired.

6. LISTENING TO INSPIRING MUSICS OR TAPES

This may seem obvious and workable to some of you. So why not let inspiring music or tapes  get your creative juices flowing out? If you have not try it, I encourage you to take this challenge. I have tried them out and am satisfied with the results.

Please feel free to share your experience or thoughts through the comments or email to me at jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk. Thank you in advance.

Stay tuned again and look forward to hearing from you,

James Oh

Other articles by James Oh:

>> How to get faster results

>> How to retire gracefully

>> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2)

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

How to live well

By James Oh

In my previous article, I have given you the true meaning and the methods of creating wealth.

In this article, I am going to lay down some of the useful steps you can adopt to create your wealth so that you can live well.

1. SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN.

This is the most crucial step to take so as to create wealth. However, this is more often than not being overlooked. People tend to have a misconception of saving and tend to believe that it is a matter of reducing their standard of living. The truth is that it can make a huge difference in their wealth creation. Just imagine every dollar you saved will be invested so as to create more wealth. If you choose to spend the money, both the money and its future benefits will be wasted.

2. QUIT BUYING CRAP

To avoid buying craps, you should always make sure that the items you buy are necessities and not luxuries. You should do away those want lists that are not essential. They are not only to give you a better feeling, but worse still may be short live in nature. Later on, you may need to find a place to store them. Worse, you may have to waste your precious time to tidy up your stores, thus leaving you little or no time to create your wealth. Do not forget that time is money. Here, you must be well aware that most of the purchases are made based on emotion rather rationale.

3. FORGET ABOUT TRYING TO IMPRESS PEOPLE

You should not be bothered how other people view the way you spent your money. In reality, most of us buy things just to impress our peers or egos. Do not get me wrong, you may spend on those luxury items that can generate more residual income than the depreciated value of your assets.

4. MAKE SAVING A TOP PRIORITY
Life is the sum of choices. Therefore, it is crucial for you to set the priority right in accordance to your objectives. As such, to create wealth, you must set saving as your top priority. It should not be construed as cutting back. It is wise for you to spend more on higher quality products, which will cost less in the long run.

Alternatively, you may use it for creating a long term wealth.

5. WEALTH BUILDING ASSETS

To hedge your wealth against inflation, you need to invest the excess of your saving money in wealth-building assets that give you a return higher than the inflation rate. No doubts, the economy today is more inclined to the investors or entrepreneurs than savers. So, to take these advantages to its fullest, you need to align your strategies toward this inclination.

However, you need to aware of its risks as well. As such, you need to equip yourself appropriately and adequately with skills and know-how so as to ensure that you create the highest possible yields for your wealth-building assets.

6. KEEP IT SIMPLE

Never under estimate the power of simplicity. This can be the most sophisticated thing we do with our money. This is because we need to aware that complication is the friend of con artists/ crooks. You should not let your greed and desire for high returns make you confuse and blur. Be aware and do not get involve in those complicated loans or investment deals that could rob you blindly. You need to take precautions to safeguard this measure.

Be careful that you are not enticed by those who claim that your investments are fully guaranteed or they are secured collateral or insurance? They make everything sound sophisticated, so as to fool otherwise reasonable people. Be cautious not to be trapped by these scams. Be wary of your greed.

7. SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

As warned by Ben Franklin “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”

To hasten your dream of creating more wealth, you have to sweat the small stuff. For those of you who are familiar with the compound interest calculation, you will know what I am talking about. Just check the annuity table and you be amazed how fast you can become a millionaire when you save a dollar daily at a fixed interest rate.

I hope both of the articles will not only give you a clear framework but also practical tips to create your wealth.

Wishing you every success. Stay tuned and look forward to seeing you again.

James Oh

Other articles by James Oh:

>> How to get faster results

>> How to retire gracefully

>> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2)

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

Working towards a more focused life

By James Oh, Lifestyle Correspondent

Life is short. To live more meaningfully, we need to aim high and achieve more for ourselves and society as a whole. The million dollar question raised here is  how to  achieve this aim.

The answer to the question is definitely not an easy one, but it is not impossible. I believe that most people, if not all, want to achieve that remarkable result for themselves. Below are some of the basic proven guidelines, which I found useful and believe they will benefit you too. Please do feel free to add any other pointers you may have, through the comment column so that everyone may benefit from it.

1. PINPOINT THE PRIMARY GOAL

Here, your goal must be specific, measurable and within certain time frame. Vagueness is the invariable hallmark of the unfocused mind. So, define it precisely and accurately within a specific time frame so as to achieve your goal.

2. CONTINUE TO FAN DESIRE TOWARDS THAT GOAL

You need more than daydreams and wistful wishes. There must be intense, burning desire that drives you to take positive action to work toward your pre-set goals.  To have a lasting effect, you need to develop it yourself by constantly, clearly imagining the benefits that achieving the goal will bring.

3. TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION

Knowing is one thing but doing is another.  Here, you need to work continuously and take calculated chances, be prepared to make sacrifices and endure setbacks till you achieve your goal. You can’t afford to allow the luxury of laziness or delights of frequent distraction to take over your life. In this respect, you are expected to pay what you get. The higher your goal, the higher the price you have to pay.

4. CONSTANTLY EVALUATE AND MONITOR PROGRESS

We need to be aware that taking action is not sufficient. Constant evaluation and monitoring of progress are required. To ensure that we are working toward our goals, we need to obtain feedback and monitor whether we are heading toward our pre-set goals. Otherwise, adjustment is needed so that there will be no deviation from the goals.

5. SEND RIGHT MESSAGE TO YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

Always remember that all the fears, worries and failure thoughts are constantly channeled into our subconscious mind, and then nothing constructive is going to be sent back. However, a clear, purposeful goal is steadfastly held in the subconscious mind, the subconscious will accept it and begin to supply the conscious mind with plans, ideas, insights, and the energies necessary to achieve that goal. As such, the right message to your subconscious mind is crucial to drive you working towards your goal.

6. NEVER QUIT

Failure is the root of success. So, keep picking up and returning to the fight long after most people would have given up. Be prepared to accept adversity, bounce back and never give up.

7. HAVE FAITH IN IT

We need to realise that the most powerful force in the world is the idea that has taken root in a human mind and heart. Once you have faith in it, nothing can stop you from achieving it.

8. NEVER BUILD A CASE AGAINST YOURSELF

Always be positive and stop cringing. In whatever circumstance, never allow anyone to build a case against yourself if you want to succeed. It is not easy, but the impact is great.

9. NEVER GIVE EXCUSE OR BLAME OTHERS

To become a focused person, get rid of self limiting thoughts. The people who get on in this world are the people who look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, create them. Always be accountable to yourselves and never blame others or give excuses. Major causes of failures on earth are due to no accountability and the desire to blame others.

Trust you enjoy reading this article.

James Oh

 

Other articles by James Oh:

>> How to get faster results

>> How to retire gracefully

>> Steps to overcome major obstacles of staying healthy (Part 2)

About the Author:

James Oh is an accountant by profession and he works as a Financial Controller for more than 10 years with several companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He is a full member of the Singapore Institute of Director and he also obtained a LLB (Law degree) from the University of London in 2003. He is happily married with 3 loving kids.

James blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

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