A GREAT 2014! And to a Greater 2015!

I had an absolute blinder of a year in 2014.

Let's see:

1. I kicked alcoholism out of my life, thanks to an ex-colleague's inspiring words. Not to mention kicking caffeine etc dependency.

2. My absolute favourite sports team in the whole world, the Westports Malaysia Dragons, kicked butt through the regular Asean Basketball League season and topped the league! Also, the Finals for the first time!

3. Wife, kids and I went on our most enjoyable holiday yet!

4. Workwise, also GREAT! My manpower supply company is now the biggest supplier in Malaysia! And the marine inspection business is also GOOD! We went overdrive into helping all Port Klang shipping lines clear their abandoned cargo and making Port Klang an even more desired port of call for the world's major shipping lines.

5. Wife's liver is doing ok. No sign of her cancer coming back after 7 years post surgery to remove parts of her liver. I think most people undervalue health as their greatest asset. I love you wifey!

Sometimes you think that wishing for greater things would be ungrateful even after having so many good stuff happen to you.
I think that if you dream about it, plan it through and really work for it, there's little reason why you wouldn't deserve better things in life.

I wish you all, family and friends, a HAPPY NEW 2015!

PS. 2014 was not so great for our country and some people. Hint: They are tests of resilience.

Be big, hearted and all!

Rise above little things. 

Be a big thinker. 

You are what you think. 

So just think big, believe big, act big, dream big, work big, give big, forgive big, laugh big, imagine big, love big, live big. 

Carry that list and you'll start feeling big. 

Be a believer and you'll be an achiever

The Art of Being Wrong - By Neil Strauss

I love the way this guy teaches. Neil Strauss is one hella person to learn from.


I love being wrong.

There is nothing better than being wrong.

In fact, it is often far preferable to be wrong than right.

This may sound like a strange thing to say, especially coming from
me, but stick with me here and you too will make this your credo.

Because when you're wrong, you learn more.

And the more wrong you're willing to be, the more right you'll
eventually become.

But, unfortunately, many people struggle with admitting it when
they're wrong. Others quite simply will never do it.

In other cases, sometimes with very successful people (and this is
often their undoing), situations change or new information becomes
available, yet they will almost stubbornly ignore it or reject it.

One other common reason people have issues admitting they're
wrong is because they take criticism and feedback too personally.
If a person tells them, "you did that badly," what the recipient hears
instead is, "I am bad." And that leads to an emotional spiral.

And so rather than listen, many people react.

Instead of learning, many people defend.

This is so prevalent that it's one of the key principles in Robert
Cialdini's classic book Influence. It's called Commitment and
Consistency. Once people make up their minds, they tend not to
change them--even in the face of facts to the contrary

This leads to what we call a Fixed Mindset, as opposed to a
Growth Mindset. In fact, when we try people out for jobs here,
one of the secret tests we conduct is to give them constructive
criticism on something they've done and see how they respond. If
they instantly start making excuses or justifying a mistake, they
don't ever get the job--because we know they won't grow in the
position.

Here's a specific example of being wrong that you may remember:

In The Game, I was excited during my first workshop when I received
a phone number in front of Mystery. But afterward, he said I was
wrong. I was shocked!

But I didn't just dismiss him as an arrogant jerk who was
impossible to please and out to get me. I was open to hearing why I
was wrong. And he explained that I waited around like a puppy dog
for the phone number while the woman was flirting with another guy,
and it showed low value. That was when he taught me cat-string
theory: one of the great lessons that began my journey to
improvement.

(And sure enough, Mystery was right: When I left her a message,
that woman, whose name I still remember--Elonova--never responded.
But that failure and the feedback that came with it paved the way
for countless successes.)

Tragically, a lot of people in the Game "community" think that
being an "alpha male" means never admitting your wrong. This is not
a trait of an alpha male--it is a trait of an insecure male, and
women can see right through it. In fact, one of the qualities of a
man of substance (the term alpha male has been largely coopted by
weirdos) is: not conceding a point when you're right, but admitting
you're wrong when you're wrong. That is what secure people do.

One might think this idea does not apply to people who've achieved
a level of mastery. That is not true: the better you are at
something, the more paying attention to good feedback will allow
you to make an adjustment that will have a powerful effect on what
you're doing.

It could shave 1/10th of a second off an Olympic swimmer's time and
get them the gold medal. Or it may allow someone who's built a
billion-dollar company to modify their strategy in order to keep up
with changing times that otherwise would have bankrupted their
company.

However, in order to admit when you're wrong, you need to know
when you're wrong. And this requires a secondary skill you must
cultivate. It's called good judgment.

Because sometimes, let's face it, you ARE right and everyone around
you really is wrong. As one philosopher put it, "Talent is like a
marksman who hits a target which others cannot reach; genius is
like a marksman who hits a target which others cannot see."

So how do you know when to listen and when to persevere, when the
critic is right and when it's really just about them, when to
change and when to stay the course?


So to summarize today's lesson: Those who are never wrong are
rarely right.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

My Christmas And New Year Wish For You:

I Promise This To Myself Today

I am living my life by design, not by default.

I am NOW rising to my vision and am doing
whatever it takes to achieve my life's goals and dreams.

I am smart and I have everything I need to grow and
develop into the person I know I am inside and
deserve to be on the outside.

I am NOW releasing anything that is holding me back.

I am NOW forgiving myself and anyone else
that has held me back.

I am NOW choosing freedom over fear
and I am ready to rise.

This is my year to shine, my year to achieve and
my year to break free and BECOME ALL THAT I CAN BE.

May your life be abundantly blessed and filled with love, joy and peace. May all of mankind be blessed today too and throughout the New Year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stronger

Nobody is stronger, nobody is weaker than someone who came back. 

There is nothing you can do to such a person because whatever you could do is less than what has already been done to him. 

We have already paid the price

Speaking up for the majority - I am number 26

Just signed an online petition, in support of the Group of 25.

Take a moment to read why we must speak up. And then sign the petition too.

https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-of-malaysia-i-am-26?utm_campaign=responsive_friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&recruiter=42283461

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II,

owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.

My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that everyone just wants to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of race or religion.

The fact is that the fanatics are the ones who march. 

It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. 

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. 

It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. 

It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

peace-loving moderates have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving moderates will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like that example from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

Remember to sign!

https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-of-malaysia-i-am-26?utm_campaign=responsive_friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&recruiter=42283461

To risk

"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live, and love."
-- Leo Buscaglia

Daring to risk is an essential step to self empowerment. 

This is the key to breaking out of stuck thinking and behaviour. 

It is about breaking through the comfort zones and barriers. 

It is about experiencing new levels of mind and feelings. 

It is about experiencing more life.

"A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
-- George Bernard Shaw

Only those who risk going too far can know how far they can go