What you should not discount

Shopping is one of the favorite past time among the locals. After all, Singapore is known as a shopping haven. While we are relatively large spenders, one might often encounter situations when you or your friend drop statements like "this is too expensive, I cannot afford this."

This statement is usually not true. The item in question may be pricey, but when one makes such a statement, more often than not, he or she has the required amount of money sitting in the bank. The actual issue is whether or not, one is willing to fork out the money to purchase the item.

Why is this bad then?

The phrase "cannot afford" is naturally self-demeaning. It erodes your confidence without you even realizing it. In making that statement, you are discounting your own merits and strengths before anyone even make any judgement on you!

We love discounts, but never discount yourself!

To put it in numbers, for example, if you rate yourself 10/10, and someone else gives you a 7/10, your overall "compounded" score will be 70/100 (derived from 10/10 x 7/10). However, if you decide to give yourself a discount before that, say, 8/10, and your friend rates you 7/10 again, you will barely achieve a pass with 56/100!* 

So next time you see something out of your budget, do yourself a favor, say "I can afford it, but I choose not to."

*For those who have trouble understanding why the overall score is compounded, try looking it at this way: If you discount yourself, the amount confidence will be lowered and you will be presenting your "discounted" self to others. From the the other party's point of view, he will then judge you based on your "discounted" self. That is why the score is compounded instead of a simple addition.

3 Things I Learnt Before My Plane Crashed

When disaster strikes, things change in an instant, just before it all ends.

Ric Elias shares his thoughts on 3 things that he learnt, just before his plane crashed in the Hudson River in 2009.

a) You should never postpone anything in your life.
b) Don't let your ego in. Don't do things that don't matter, with people that matter. Don't force yourself to be right, choose to be happy.
c) Don't be afraid of death, embrace it, and treasure your loved ones.

Readers, don't reflect and regret when you are about to die, live differently, and change your life and relationships, before you really can't undo.

Are you living YOUR life?

Had Steve lived the life of someone else, had he allowed the noise of others to drown out his inner voice, had he not have the courage to follow his heart, would he be who he is today? Would he still be able to touch millions and millions of people on Earth?

Actually..., I have no idea. Nobody knows.

But, one thing for sure. Deep down in your heart, you will definitely be happier.

When you do what you want to do, when you get what you want to get - the world seems to become a better place. Agree? That is how I feel, personally, when my decision to follow my heart proved to be a better choice. Of course, not at the expense of other's happiness, but adding on to the happiness and positivity of the people around me.

Positivity begets positivity. When you feel happy doing the things you like, others can naturally feel it, and soon, they will begin to support you doing the things you like instead of objecting to what you do. The opposite is true. When people feel that you are unhappy, sometimes they try to "help" by pointing you in all sorts of direction.

Nobody owes you a living. You must FIGHT to live your life your way, FIGHT to keep your dreams, and FIGHT to be happy.

Bookend Routines

It's already 2am in the morning.

You had planned to take your dog out for a walk, go for a short run, meet up with friends, pick up some breakfast for tomorrow, spend some time reading that article that you have backdated for a month.

Yet, none of these had been done.

You swear to yourself: Damn, I better make good this routine tomorrow!

Doesn't this sound so familiar to you? Day in and day out you have plans to achieve so many things, yet you end up being backposted everyday.

The solution? A Bookend Routine.

What this does, is a set of to-do tasks everyday before the start of your work, and before the end of the day.

Brett and Kate Mckay explains how to prepare yourself for a vigorous routine before and after work, just to make sure you get things done effectively, routinely and systematically.

[Link] Bookend your day - The power of Morning and Evening Routines

Journey to the Midwest

Annually, an increasing proportion of Singaporeans decide to spend part of their lives overseas. Some decide to go overseas due to the better opportunities and salary available, others leave because they enjoy experiencing new cultures, yet others seek new horizons because they desire freedom from the heretic lifestyle of Singapore. Whenever I'm asked why I chose to pursue my studies overseas, the story 'Journey to the West' comes to mind. The story retells the experiences of the monk Xuanzang who undertook a perilous journey for the sake of obtaining new knowledge. Certainly, I believe that spending time overseas has taught me many useful lessons in life and has equipped me with valuable skills which I could not have obtained locally.

My first trip to the States was definitely both a great adventure and trial. Coming from a typical middle class family in Singapore, I never had the opportunity to vacation in the USA, and did not have the privilege of being accompanied by family in my first voyage into the unknown. I found that it was extremely helpful to have sought the advice of friends who had spent time overseas and learn more about their experiences, it was also very important to network and make new friends when I arrived in university.

I would like to share four things which I would/wouldn't have brought along with me in retrospect.

1. VISA debit/credit card with good international rates
   A VISA (or Mastercard) is often the best method to pay for items in USA; I use my VISA even if I'm just buying a cup of coffee. The primary advantage of using a VISA includes the fact that you can easily track your monthly expenditure through online banking and manage your budget more effectively.


2. More cash in the form of traveller’s cheque
   Bringing about 6-12 months of cash in the form of a traveller’s cheque is probably a good idea as you would want to set up a US bank account when you reach the States. Having a US bank account and credit history (social security number) will also enable you to take loans more easily when you purchase a car/apartment.
   
   
3. Singaporean Driver's License
   Obtaining a Singaporean driving license can also be helpful as it enables you to drive for a year in the States and prior driving experience also makes it very easy to pass the US driving test.
   
   
4. Less clothes and winter clothing/boots
   Finally, I wouldn't recommend purchasing excessive winter clothing before you arrive in the States (unless you plan to arrive in winter).  The plethora of outlet malls almost ensures that there will be a huge winter sale a couple of months after you arrive and you will be able to purchase winter clothing that is specifically tailored for the weather in the state you are in. ●

Joel Sng

** The Author is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Four Words That Make Life Worthwhile by Jim Rohn

I would like to share something which my mentor shared with me by Jim Rohn:

Over the years as I’ve sought out ideas, principles and strategies to life’s challenges, I’ve come across four simple words that can make living worthwhile.

First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences—negative or positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative.


I've always said that it is too bad failures don't give seminars. Obviously, we don't want to pay them so they aren’t usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable—we would learn how someone who had it all then messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.


We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a good listener. Now I do suggest that you should be a selective listener; don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read, so learn from every source; learn from lectures; learn from songs; learn from sermons; learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.


Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, try to learn a new sport. It doesn't mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?


Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.


And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer.
Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.


Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these words to work?
—Jim Rohn

"My mentor said, ‘Let’s go do it,’ not ‘You go do it.’ How powerful when someone says, ‘Let’s!’" —Jim Rohn

The balancing act - Work and studies

Chersiong is a 4th year Economics student at the Nanyang Technological University School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is not your typical student as he started working part time two years ago. Find out about his experiences and how he juggles between work and school in the following interview.

Tony (T): Tell me who are you currently working for?

Chersiong (CS): I am doing free lance consulting services, providing technical and management advice to a property agent. We have been working together to share and experiment ideas on how to make use of the internet to open up new markets or to expand her customer base.

T: How long have you been working?

CS: For 2 years already.

T: How did it all start?

CS: It all started from a friend’s recommendation as a photoshop consultant. As I started working, the property agent requested me to do more things. As her ideas bloomed, we discussed about the ways to materialised and carry out these ideas. There were many learning opportunities and she gave me the free rein to experiment and learn about web design and email marketing in the process.

T: How much time is allocated on a per day basis for your work and on your studies?

CS: It really depends on the situation. If the work is urgent, I will dedicate time for the work first. However, I will try not to spend more than 2 hours per day on the work. The rest of the time will be for studies and other things.

T: Describe to me a typical week.

CS: During weekdays, I will work in the morning and meet my client before my lesson starts. At night, I will dedicate some time for work and for studies. Weekends will be reserved for revision as well. To keep in touch with my friends, I will study with a group of friends. I volunteer on Saturdays and have a weekly basketball session every Sunday with my secondary school friends.

T: Wow, that’s hectic. What is your most challenging assignment so far?

CS: It has to be image piercing. It took me three days to complete this assignment.

T: What is image piercing?

CS: Hmmm. Just take it as joining different images together to form a large collage. I cannot disclose the actual assignment. I will have to kill you if I do. :P

T: How do you feel this job? Does it value-add to you as a soon-to-be graduate?

CS: Personally, I have a deep interest in I.T. I have been exposed to these skills sets but kind of lost it along the way. Therefore this job helped me in revising my photoshop, webpage editing and video editing skills. Though it does not add value to my studies, but one must realise that in the future, there are bound to be instances where you will be forced to do things you are unfamiliar with. Therefore, one has to be prepared to pick up new skills from scratch and have the right attitude to approach things.

T: What are some tips or advice you would give to someone who wants to work adhoc assignment like yours? How should they go about looking for one?

CS: These jobs mainly come by word of mouth. So don’t hide your skills. If you have the skills, make use of opportunities to show them off. Through your CCAs or projects maybe? If you are good, you will get noticed and assignments like these will come. ●

Feel free to post questions/comments about Chersiong's work and how he juggles between work and studies!