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3 Revelations on "restarting"

2009-07-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to go back to do something that you used to be good at or thought that you are still good at? Well, today's jogging revealed to me three lessons that have implication in business and life! Read on if interested...

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Got up earlier than usual this morning and was compelled to go jogging in my neighborhood park. For the last couple of month, the exercises of choice have been to play badminton twice a week and golf once a week. Last year was Yoga and the prior year was Hiking. Few years back was basketball.

I used to do cross country in high school so jogging was something I used to be good at. It's just something I haven't done in a very long time. Today because I am traveling to SF on business during the usual time I played badminton, I decided I need to find another way to get my body in motion and "sweat" it out. Jogging is the easiest replacement.

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First revelations: what you thought you are good at may no longer be.

Well 15 minutes into jogging, I wasbreathing heavy. The first 7 minutes were great - easy strides but the last few were getting tough. Quite disappointing since I used to run for 45 minutes or an hour and even did 10K.

See the thing with memory is that it doesn't have a timestamp. A memory of 20 years ago feels as freash as a memory of 1 year ago. But our body won't lie - that we are no longer the youth we were.

In a similar way, one may start in business and be quite good at something (say writing computer programs, doing rentals, investing in foreclosures, auditing, etc. - substitue with what you used to be good at but haven't done for many years to make this piece more personal.)

Yet the market environment, the tools you used to do your jobs, like your body are constantly changing and no longer the same. So you should be prepared not to be surprised the business result didn't pick up as quickly as you wish or succeed as you thought you could be.

Encouragment of possibility: yet if you decide you want to excel in it again, you will have a shorter ramp up period than a brand new beginner.

Encouragement of widsom: The wisdom here revealed to me is don't assume what you used to be good (esp. when you haven't maintained or kept updated/practicing) would still be as good. What you neglect will have consequences of being neglected.

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Second revelation: health is not something you can delegate to someone else.

I can tell everyone why jogging and exercising at least 3 times a week is good and if everyone does it but I don't, I am not going to have the physical benefit. I think that's obvious.

In a similar way, while I am fond of delegating in business, there's something that you cannot delegate - your core competency. If you delegate it, it may likely no longer to be your core competency.

In health if you "delegated" your children and spouce to jog and we ourselves become couch potatoes thinking of ourseves as the next Armstrong or UFC MMA fighters in mind but not actually doing any training, we are still couch potato! It is who took your advice to train that become healthy and never you.

Similarly, you can delegate your core competency (something you used to be good at but you no longer practice or hone your skill) to your employee. And at a later point, your employee leaves, you have just invested a lot that leaves with the departure. There are replacible skills/commodity skills where you can easily hire to replace. But what's unique about your business, what's your core, if not taking cared of, you will lose who you are as people come and go,

This may sound discouraging from entrepreneurs just beginning to learn to delegate and have to go back to the days of DIY (doing it yourselves.)

Encouragement of possibility: Actually, no, you can build your core competency into system, process, or more broadly speaking your company culture. But you got to do this part of work like exercising and you got to own your core comptenecy and keep honing it.

Encouragment of wisdom: know thyselves and what strategic core competency you want to cultivate. Be careful of "laziness" or "convenice" and accidentally "neglect" or "delegate" away.

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Find revelation: consequencing of rushing when you are not prepared or warm up will cause cramp and even injury.

some 30 minutes into my morning exercise, my quadriceps begun to tighten and cramp up.

Strong willed people will "force their will" on themselves even if they are not ready. For instance, people like to make new year's resolution. Someone who has not exercise for a whole year may decide to spend the first week exercising 10 hours a week and burn themselves up - ends up hurting themselves than building themselves up.

In business, even if you are going back to what you used to be good at, don't rush and assume you were as fast the gunslinger you were of the past. You will get hurt if not shot dead if you haven't practice shooting for 20 years and your gun was all rusted and your sight misaligned.

Warm up. Give yourselves enough time. Your edge is you will ramp up faster than someone starting out but it's not going to be instantaneous.

Encouragement of possibilities: you will be strong and even stronger again and will ramp up faster and have better insight.

Encouragement of wisdom: don't rush, warm up, equip, prepare, stalk patient then strike!

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Finally, despite many lessons, as you can see from above revelation why "action" combined with "reflection' is so important. I have been so busy in business that it's been more than a year since I posted here. But today's revelation from God is so inspiring to me that it overflows and I jump at the chance to write and share with you. But it won't have if there's "no actions" even if the action is imperfect.

God bless! May we contineu to encourage not just possibilities but also wisdom in both life and business.

dabble db test

2008-06-08T00:49:00.000-07:00

- quick webform creation
- sql database features
- visual design/drag/drop

Below is a form created; 30 minutes ago I know almost nothing about dabble db

Risk premium

2008-05-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

Fortune 500 on may 5, 2008

Value of safety = rate of junk bond index cross STD - rate of 10yr treasury (eg. 7.7%-5.3% = 2.4%) on June 13

2006 it was inverted meaning people paid more for risk than safety

Hardest Hit - housing price (WSJ)

2008-02-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

From Today's WSJ!

remenant of the Noah's Ark?

2008-02-24T23:53:00.001-08:00

SS Nornen
Originally uploaded by bristol_bound

SS Nornen
The wreck of the SS Nornen, a Norwegian barque that ran aground on March 3rd 1897.

SJC Realty Commercial

2008-02-18T23:51:00.001-08:00

Its URL is http://youtube.com/watch?v=J2cub1S8ocI

Above is the our first commercial that was Aired on KCNS 38 (Cable 21) during Chinese programming time of "Money War"

Below was the first version that didn't make it but which the concept was based.
Its URL is http://youtube.com/watch?v=T_TDClbtlQ8

Which one did you think was more effective? Why? Your input is appreciated!

The lego for programmers

2008-01-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

Cool toy!

http://store.buglabs.net/

WSJ's stat on Renter Market

2008-01-15T17:40:00.001-08:00

Here is an interesting statistics for those involved in income producing properties. SRC: WSJ/REIS, Inc.

Revealation from community

2008-01-12T09:32:00.001-08:00

Community reveals limitation, fears, & egotism. - jean banker

Merry Xmas and Happy 2008!

2007-12-26T13:33:00.001-08:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Way of life vs. Game

2007-11-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

In 1922 judo founder Jigoro Kano resigned from his position as head of the Japan Amateur Athletic Association because he disagreed with its policy of encouraging professionals to enter international competition in hope of inflating Japanese medal counts. [EN1] A few years later, Kano told Olympic leader Pierre de Coubertin that judo was inappropriate for inclusion in the Olympics because it was not a sport but a school of life: judo, said Kano, was not a game, but instead it was "like a church, it teaches a man a moral sense." [EN2] In 1933, Kano told the young British judoka Trevor Leggett that, while he had nothing against competition, he was against championships; to his thinking, championships degraded people by placing too much emphasis on winning. [EN3] Finally, during a luncheon speech given at the Pan-Pacific Club in Tokyo on June 14, 1935, Kano complained that "competition sometimes makes men go to extremes and results in their doing themselves serious internal injury."[EN4] So, despite the International Olympic Committee announcing on March 16, 1938 that judo, kendo, and kyudo (Japanese archery) would be demonstration sports featured at the 1940 Olympics, [EN5] it seems clear that in his time, Jigoro Kano never wanted judo in the Olympics.

Watch "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"

2007-11-08T23:12:00.001-08:00

Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before ... all » a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. «

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

1 hr 25 min 21 sec - Sep 24, 2007
Average rating: (3041 ratings)
Description: Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

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8 Levels of Gamesmanship

2007-09-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am serious business man but also a serious gamer. Below are a few games I like to play that has helped me gain more insights into certain asepects of business. (It's not the game but who you played with that matters, btw.)

1. cashflow 101 (financial statement/everything)
2. I am the boss (negotiation, partnership)
3. acquire (first mover advantage, stock, M&A)
4. trump game (lifting everyone up, negotiation)
5. puerto rico (resource allocation, differentiation)
6. settler (resource allocation)
7. monopoly (positioning, focus)
8. big deal (resource allocation, negotiation, differentiation)
9. risk (focus, allying, positioning)

From my experiences of business and gamesmanship, I discoverd the 8 levels of gamesmanship which are ... [Read More]

Follow and align interests with the Right Investor!

2007-07-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

In 1957, a young couple named Bill and Carol Angle invested half their life savings in Berkshire Hathaway. According to Forbes Magazine, today it's worth over $300 million.
What can you do to identify, track, follow, co-invest, and align interest with someone on this path early on and not quit during the ups and downs of the markets?

People want to do business with their friends

2007-05-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

A few memorable quotes from a few books:

1. "all things being equal, people want to business with their friends" + "all things being unequal, people still want to business with their friends"
- J. Gitomer.

Why is it that? Now you know, what can you do about your business? Do you call your friend only when you need something from them (taker?)? What have you done for your ten most important friends lately (giver)?

Thought provoked by J. Gitomer's "Little Black Book of Connects"

2. "you cannot have good deals working with bad people"
- Warren Buffet

Why is it that? Now you know, what can you do about your business? Does your greed propel you forward to deals that's less than credit worthy? Have you independently checked their reputation, social networks, and what they have done in the past?

Thought provoked by Mary Buffet's "The Tao of Warren Buffet".

3. "What's the good news? The good news is that by summoning the courage to come clean completely and being sincere & honest about the our less-than-perfect past and accept the the values and new beliefs in your heart which saved us, you are given a fresh start!"

Thought provoked by "The gospel ("good news") New Testment in the Bible

Amazing - Reality more incredible than my possibility

2007-04-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Wow & beyond comprehension were my reactions.
We were assisting my daughter to do her first science fair project. And my wife showed me the following picture which she stumbled upon.

For me, this was just amazing! How can there exist stars that are so large? So large it would take years just to fly from north pole to south pole. Beyond my comprehension. This humbled me. It reminded me of how much "I don't know" and how incredible and how awesome the creation of the universe is about! Just as we begin to be possibility thinkers and here comes something that wasn't even in my possibility but it's in fact REALITY!

This is fun! Parallel to a recent a-ha I have, to share with you, in the form of questions are:

Could "what we don't know"("possibilities","God's will","creativity", etc.) be more powerful resources than "what we know" ("knowledge")?
If so, can we treat "what we don't know" as resources to help us and work with us?
How can breakthrough be created systematically by treating and leveraging "what's unknown to us" as resources?
Do you have an experience where you fathomed the unknown to your success to share with us?

I got a limiting belief broken yesterday. And got a huge A-ha today! Fun! - Edwin

Gift of God

2007-04-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

Do you know what is the gift God offered us?
...

While you think about that, let's share a little about the concept of seasons vs. the old way for searching for a formula for success. Oftem in the past, I can become stuck with conflicts of one value system over another, or within the same system, or face with a unreasonable paradox, the concept of season allows me to have it all. Instead of trying to search for one formula/solution/silver bullets that will end all our problems, it is useful to know "there's a time for everything.

and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, ... , a time to tear down and a time to build, ... , a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, ..., a time to be silent and a time to speak, ..."

There is a time for everything.
...

Now back to the gift from God. What was it you say? Please share.

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live."
"That everyone [you and I can] eat and drink and find fulfillment and satisfaction in all our hard work. That is the gift of God."

P.S. If "there is a time for everything" or "Gift of God" inspired you and you want to know where these came from, contact me and allow me to share more :)

Pain is temporary Legacies are lasting

2007-03-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

On Donald Trump's show Apprentice tonight, Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about the principles underlying how he overcame obstacles to get to become the Governor from a mere immigrant to the US. He started with his dream of becoming movie star.

Limiting Belief: Yet people said "you CAN'T do that", "look at your accent, you would never make it", "your name, how can some Schnitzel be an actor's name". The criticisms from outside and for some of us, the criticisms from within (which I called "limiting beliefs within and without) had held most of people prisoner including some of us who are reading this right now. But those who ended successfully invariably perserve ("persist until you succeed") and overcome them. Nobel Physicist Richard Feynman even wrote a book called "what do you care what other people think" to encourage us not be "ensnared" by other's limiting belief. Breaking limiting beliefs would be a repeating theme here because that's also what my life is about.

Burning Desire: Arnold also talked about being "hungry" as being a critical factor - just like Napolean talking about the "burning desire" in "Think and Grow Rich". Else where my audiences will find I often talk about the importance of finding who we are, our purpose in life, and our calling. This is important for many reasons but in Arnold's context particularly so because inevitably there problems will surface that needs to be resolved especially when you came from nothing to something, from being limited to being free, from being a nobody to somebody, and being unknown to be a success. He had to endured the rejection, the ridiculed, and perhaps, countless incidents of living poorly and working odd jobs, facing failures, etc.

Pain: Often then pains became unavoidable process of the journey to success. However, many people feared pains so much, they avoided choosing to became the possibilities they could instead they hide inside their comfort zone - never amounting to who they were designed for in life. Still other people did think big and did take a chance, but at the first sign or first occurrence of pain, they gave up too easily and too soon. Being hungry, what Arnold was implying was that this was one way that would have no choice but to go ahead between a pain and worst pain. That surely can work. In fact, in "Art of War", the ancient philosopher and strategist Sun Tzu mentioned the strategy of burning the boat letting the soldiers know there's no return and to motivate the army to be hungry and fight through the pain of fear of death because going forward would be the only way to survive. Are you hungry?

Sidebar: Choice vs. Programming. Tony Robbin said elsewhere humans were driven by "Pain and Pleasure" - specifically, we attempt to Avoid Pain and Seek Pleasure. There's certainly truth to that yet we were also given free will and have choices. Otherwise, we are no different than Pavlov's dog.

Thus, to me what was more inspiring was the title of this post. He gave an example of experiencing sharp pain while filming "Conan the Barbarian" but instead of asking to postpone or giving up and accepting a mediocre shot, he decided to endure the pain and get another take so they had the shot they want. Here is the gist of his philosophy: "pain is temporary; however, the film is permanent". By enduring one moment of pain, he created a lasting impact. A-ha!

So how is this relevant to us? Is there one phone call or conversation with someone we should be making that would cause us a pain but could create a long lasting impact in you or some one's life? Is there an apology we should make but it would be painful to your pride? Is there a voice that needs to be heard and spoken, that the pain of embarrassment has prevented that being spoken out about. Let's make it happen with positive attitude and armor of this view to protect us from the arrows we will be shot. Would you take this thought as an armor so we can walk in victory when faced with fear of pain?

"Pain is temporary. Legacies are lasting."

Breakthrough Personal Development Training

2007-02-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Are you stuck in areas of your life and feeling like powerless to change? Or are you searching for something and deserve a breaktrhough... There are indeed powerful breakthrough training available. But ultimately it is how you choose to be, take action, and use that determines the results and the life you will have. (In other words, if you do nothing with the breakthrough you got, you end up having NOTHING!)

I just took Landmark Forum. So, the success or failures so far I got have nothing to do with it. But I found it funny, that many things such as BE-DO-HAVE I talked about (that I thought I always know), they were teaching. Guess great people think alike ;)

Anyways, here is my view of how all these different personal development training have worked for me. Just my view (it is not true or universal views; i.e. different people get different things out.)

I thank God for all the opportunities he provided me to get where I am and will take me where he wants me to go.

1. Through Great Life Foundation, I got my Heart Back so I am ALIVE
2. Through Landmark Forum, I got my MIND Clear and gave me VOICE in this LIFE
3. From the Grace of God, HE saved my SOUL and prepare me for EVERYTHING and ETERNAL LIFE and be HUMBLE and OPEN.

In each of these process, like a butterfly emerging through a coccon, I had to struggled and even be taken completely apart and then put everything back. Well worth the process.

For Landmark (since it's fresh now), specifially the values I got (different for different people) is this:

it taught me how to listen and speak in ways I wasn't aware of and gives me the tool to work with LIFE NOW in an effective and powerful way.

So despite some people saying they are the same: Great Life and Landmark are completely DISTINCT for me. Read More about Landmark. Read More about Great Life Foundation.

There's value being an "E"

2007-02-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Just a comment about Jobs and the E quadrant ("Employee"). I know there's a whole movement from RDPD (Rich Dad Poor Dad) to encourage one to move from "E "to "B" or "I". ("Business Owner" or "Investor"). I don't disagree esp. if you are in your 40's or 50's and still is an E without a Pension Plan; btw.)

However, there's value being an "E". Read More.

When lost in business, focus on value creating!

2007-02-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

Often time I observed people busy, overwhelmed, or at lost at work whether as employee or as owner. Or that people complained they have lousy company, terrible boss, or that they have lousy employees or co-works...

Have you ever felt uncertain about where you are, where you business is going? Or overwhelmed with works from all different directions? Watching cashflow. Doing PR. Going out to network. Catching up with the latest business book. Coaching a junior staff member. Talking to customer. Researching an issue. On and on. All seems to be urgent at the moment.

Then you might want to ask yourself whether as an employee or as an owner about this:

"What value am I creating" or " what value am I adding by me being here?" or " how else can I add value or create value?" And :to whom am I creating value for?:

Sidebar: What's "valuable"? That's a whole different topic but for now suffice to say to let the consumer of your value creation be the judge. In other words, let those who is willing to pay for your value creation determine how valuable or not. If no one is willing to pay, it's NOT VALUABLE - as we all learned from Web 1.0 the free internet stuff.

Example #1: if you are a fund manager, you consumer would be your investor who receives your value creation and pays your management fee and carry. What value are you creating for your investor? Higher return? More safety? Less risk? Better Control?

Example #2: if you are the sales rep. for your company, your consumer is both your company who pays your base + commission and your buyer who indirectly contributes to your commission. What value are you creating of the tasks you are doing right now? The book you are reading. The network you are going to. Did you create value for your company so the profit margin and revenue growth would be more sustainable? Did you create value for your buyer so they feel they get a good deal and a good product that they want to refer other clients to you? They feel they want to be a repeat buyer?

Too often, we are too focused on entitlement mentality. Instead of focusing on value creation, we complained we are not gettting what we ought to get from others or this excuse or that. If we focus instead on value creation, not only the business become more sustainable and you will get what you want.

So if you want to be recognized as “valuable” teamplayer or “valuable” employee or an owenr of a a “valuable company”, would it not make sense to first focus on create "value"?

Why are we in such a hurry?

2007-01-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

Stop for a moment. Have you thought about why we are in such a hurry? Why do we have anxiety? Why are we always in a fire fighting mode? Why do things come in an urgent mode?

Why are we in such a hurry? What's your experience? What can we do to take back our life? Be in charge and be pro-active?

Finishing well is a sign of maturity

2006-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Most people knows more than they actually do. So often times, the best encouragement is "just do it" and "just get started". At least you have a chance to succeed - otherwise it's just another "thought" wasted.

Recently I have a few unique opportunties to observe a few startups including my own. Inevitably sailing across the ocean, we will encounter rough seas and unexpected weathers. I have seen too many incidents of too many people giving up. Or started something with good intention but never finish it. What they missed out is the best lessons and rewards lie in persistence. Ability to preseve through extreme hardship not only builds character but is a sign pointing to a major break through coming.

Finish it and move on. Open a book and finish to the last page. Start a club for one year then finish it with one year. You can change the pace if things gets bored or don't go well, accelerate it to finish. You will learn much and gain much!

If "startup" provides an opportunity toward success, finishing well would be the secret sauce of reaping the rewards of success. Remember to finish what you started!

Issues with certain Brokers

2006-11-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

Got a call from a friend having issues with certain broker-led syndicates. The broker made a killing but leaving those who brought in dry and sorry.

Why do brokers often get a bad rap? Often they put themselves first and not put their client first. You call and they told you to look at the property on your own. They put up signs but never filled the flyer box for the client they represent. They don't hold open house or go out market or show properties. No wonder the property just sit on the market for 3 months, for 6 months, and on and on. Are they doing justice to the owner that gave them the listing?

Same thing can be said with fund raisers or investment bankers. They bring you in to an investment and once they make their lucrative sum of money, they are out first leaving you dry. Misalignment of interest is everywhere.

It's funny though in all real-estate, mortgage, and stock broker/dealer licensing that it is specified that they DO HAVE A FIDUCIARY to act in the best interest of their client.

Now, I know a good broker in Missouri that did everything possible including fixing things up to get a property bought. I know a good broker in Alabama that's working hard through title problems trying to help us sell. There's plenty of good broker.

So I don’t think it’s the broker job per se, there are good broker and bad brokers just as there are good owner and bad owner. I believe it’s in attitude. Do you have a bad "broker" attitude or good "owner" attidude?

Here are some of the tests you can do to find out if you are using an investment broker:

1. find out if they themselves put any money in (are they at risk)
2. fidn out if they have an advantage over you (do they honestly disclose it first)
3 find ou if things go bad, are they first one out (are we on the same boat? do you try to make an effort to get their client out first and them next?)
4. find out in the event of conflict of interest, how they would work: would they put their self interest first or their fiduciary interest first

Now, in line of "be-do-have", let’s contrast the self-interested “broker” attitude with the good “owner” attitude below:

"While we cannot promise your results, but can guarantee that your financial fortunes will move in lockstep with ours for whatever period of time you elect to be our partner. We have no interest in gaining an “edge” over you. We want to make money only when our partners do and in exactly the same proportion. Moreover, when we do something dumb, I want you to be able to derive some solace from the fact that our financial suffering is proportional to yours"

How do you like that? Do you see the difference? We all will have our ups and down (some worse than others), but isn’t it wonderful to have someone with that kind of philosophy being your broker, manager, and manager?

That’s what we are looking for and what we strive to emulate. Again attitude & competence both are necessary. I know at one time I may have good attitude but not competence and competence but not good attitude and they don't work. Need both.

Now bonus questions: who first said the above "owner/partner" paragraph?

Positive Attitude Revisited

2006-11-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Now, positive attitude doesn't mean that you smile and be mellow all the time.

There are plenty of different ways to have positive attitude - find one that you can naturally grow into.

There are the quiet ones: who never says much (and therefore don't complaint either) but quietly deliver the results. There are the supportive type that just by being there lends you the strength when you are in your most difficult hours. There are the social ones: who can not cease chattering and dispense admiration and their passion to you. There are the stiff lip ones, on the outside they may seemed distant and firm. But they are someone who are very competent and can be trusted and they take responsibility seriously and care. Then there's the boy of wonder, who is always curious, full of a-ha, appreciating all sorts of new learning and applications.

There's even the constructive critic. The difference being a complainer complains and ends while the constructive critic provides criticisms of the weakness and provides thought provoking questions that guide us deeper in our quest and/or provide several innovative or value-added suggestions.

Bottomline: one with positive attitude gives or inspires, the other constantly takes or saps energy.

Are you ending your criticism with positive suggestions and thought provoking questions? Read More...