Money. Is It Really The Root Of All Evil?

1 November 2010

Many people say that "Money is the root of all evil." What are your thoughts?

According to Wikipedia, the expression is commonly misquoted. A more accurate rendering from the original Greek may be: "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil."

To me, Money is just a tool. It is neither good. Nor bad. It is what we do with the money that counts. However, wouldn't it be nice if we all had this...

USD1 Million! This "mock" note was given by Robert G Allen
at the Multiple Streams of Income seminar in KL in May 2010,
to inspire us to dream.

So that we can then have some of these :)

WISHLIST #1: APPLE MACBOOK AIR - The World's Thinnest Computer

According to Apple, "Everything we've learned has come down to this."

Inspired by the iPad, the latest MacBook Air has to be the coolest computer. Ever. Weighing practically nothing, this multi-touch beauty is designed with the revolutionary Flash Storage for it to take on gargantuan tasks. Besides, the MacBook Air makes every other "laptop" out there look really ugly. Am eyeing the 11-inch!  

WISHLIST #2: APPLE iPAD - Apple's Coolest Innovation To Date

The copy for the Apple iPad reads, "It's hard to believe we could fit so many great ideas into something so thin."

And they've cracked their Marketing code. This super cool product has positioned itself away from the competition (Think Positioning, Battle of the Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout; and Blue Ocean Strategy by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne), making the iPad a unique product in a "non-definable" category all its own. It's not a laptop. It's not a notebook. It's not even a netbook. And no, it's definitely not a giant iPhone. It's simply, well, the "apps-after-apps-after-apps" iPad! Drooooool...

WISHLIST #3: APPLE iPHONE 4G -
The World's Thinnest Smartphone!

Contained in a beautiful enclosure a mere 9.3 millimeters thin, the iPhone 4 the world’s thinnest smartphone. (OK, by now it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out I am really, really, really crazy over all Apple product and yes, you can call me a Macaholic!)

#4: SNIPR WEBSITE CREATOR - Build A Website In 10 Minutes! http://bit.ly/bU56Q3

Even though this isn't an Apple product, Snipr has to be one of the most amazing (if not The Most Amazing) website creators ever. What other tool out there does the Research for you, finds relevant Contents, and helps you create your own website from scratch in 10 minutes? Snipr even helps you rank well in Google's eyes, so that you can monetize faster. (So, more Snipr websites would mean a higher chance of getting all 3 Apple items from my Wishlist, faster!)

Get Snipr here http://bit.ly/bU56Q3

#5: FINE FOOD. GREAT FRIENDS. EXOTIC PLACES. - Life's Many Pleasurable Indulgences

Lunch at a Ristorante Italiano in Venizia, Italy.
Picture taken by my first Sony Digicam (October 2008)

Wouldn't it be nice if we could go to the best fine dining restaurants in the world when we want to? And our eyes not have to dart to the right side of the menu to scan the price? Wouldn't it be nice if we could bring our family and friends along to spend such quality moments with us? Whilst experiencing all that the different cultures each country has to offer. Tom yum goong in Bangkok. Batchoy and sinigang in Iloilo. Gelato in Milano.  Mmm...delizioso!

Reminiscing about Italia...some shots taken during my trip to Italy
with family in 2008.

Outside the Colosseum, Roma.
We had to pay the "Viking" Euro10 per shot, per person!
Hundreds of visitors. Do the math.

Long queue to enter the Vatican City.
(Back shot of my aunt's friend in the forefront).
Gloomy clouds. The rain lasted 5 minutes!

Shot taken at the Ponte Di Rialto after the Murano
glassmaking demo, before our gondola ride. I love Venice!

For me, however, this is probably the best thing Money can buy.

Listening to the sound of the waves and watching
the sun set in my favorite island paradise,
without a care in the world!
(Picture courtesy of Google Images)

Money, evil? On the contrary, maybe the lack of Money might lead one to a life not fully fulfilled, desperation and thus, make one resort to "evil" ways :)

Enjoy the vid!
Billionaire ft. Bruno Mars (Live Acoustic)

What You Focus On Expands

26th October 2010
4:05AM
Today, I got a message from a friend. The message read, "I have you to thank, Ming, for the positive mindset." 

I was surprised and flattered at the same time. Even though I'm not sure what it was I did exactly.

My mind flashed back to a few weeks ago, when my then-stressed-out-friend was sharing all her challenges and frustrations in funding for her flight tickets, passport, hotel and other expenses for our upcoming intensive Internet Marketing training in Phuket. She was in a really tight spot and was feeling down.

I asked her to change her thoughts. Instead of saying "I have no money", ask questions like "HOW can I find the money?" - something I learned from Robert G Allen at his LIVE training in KL recently. After all, Harv Eker also emphasized at his Millionaire Mind Intensive Seminar in 2007 (I attended MMI twice in one year) that, what you focus on, expands.

Fox News interviews T Harv Eker


To cut a long story short, this friend somehow found the money, just to lose it all today, due to a health emergency. And Phuket is just 25 days away!

Here's what my friend said, "While I was crying and thinking about how to find money, someone I have not heard from in a long time called and asked me how I am, and if there's anything he can do to help."

"Before he called, I was focusing on your words...What you FOCUS on expands...and I FOCUSed on good luck coming my way..."

I didn't realize that a spontaneous line that I remember from one of the great Success Coaches, can impact someone the way it did, and make a positive difference.

My friend reaffirmed this. "Ya lah, a lot you said you don't realize right? Indirectly teaching about life, opening up our minds..."

"And your infiniteskies :)"

This blog? That is another pleasant surprise!

I guess the biggest power a human being possesses, is the Power of Choice. Instead of wasting precious time (and energy) complaining, arguing, bitching and focusing on all the things that are going wrong in our lives, we can all adopt an Attitude of Gratitude, count our blessings, and CHOOSE to share positive thoughts and messages with our friends, family, and the world.

Power Of Choice - short and inspirational video

 

Some powerful thoughts from the world's most successful and inspirational mentors...

The Law of Cause and Effect is the iron law of human destiny.  Thoughts are causes, and conditions are effects. -- Brian Tracy

Think and grow rich. - Napoleon Hill

Thoughts lead to Feelings. Feelings lead to Action. Action leads to Results. - T Harv Eker

Whatever you resist persists. - Sri Sri Ravishankar

Ask and it is given. - Jesus

Thank you, C, for inspiring this post. Happy to help :)

You Can Find Diamonds In The Rough

22nd October 2010
"You can find diamonds in the rough. They're out there. Just don't give up looking and keep digging." That was the main message I got from  Jeff Mills last night when I watched his short video interview, taken by Shaun Stenning during the break at the Global Internet Summit in Germany. 

Jeff Mills, Internet Marketing's renowned "outsourcing king" was referring to tapping into the right resources to find the ideal VA (virtual assistant)to work for you, and to make you plenty of money, so you have less to do. According to Jeff, the ideal VA is out there and does exist, all you need to do is to keep looking. 
Reed Floren speaking at Jeff Mills' Outsourcing Workshop - you mean all Jeff does is Outsource (and doesn't have to show up at his own workshop)?


Outsourcing...the key to a 4-hour work week!



But I guess Jeff's words of wisdom are not limited to Outsourcing alone. It also extends to our journey in Internet Marketing, as well as other aspects of life. In any new misadventure venture, the road will be filled with bumps, glitches and potholes before we reach that pot of Gold. We must Focus on our Goals, make as many mistakes as possible, learn from them fast and keep going!

This advice couldn't have come at a better time for me. Recently, I have been accepted into Shaun Stenning and Vince Tan's  Mastermind Group, and excited as I am to be part of this elite group and learning from possibly two of the world's best Internet Marketers, I must admit the journey thus far has been interesting but can sometimes be a little overwhelming.

Search Engine Optimization. Backlinking. Niche Research. Buying Domains. Selling Domains. Building Websites. Creating Traffic. Driving Traffic. Converting Traffic Into Money. Ranking. Indexing. Sandboxing. Listbuilding. Opt In Pages. Squeeze Pages. Marketing. Outsourcing... the list is endless! Where does one start to do what? And how does one go about doing it? Understanding the basics of Internet Marketing is one thing, implementing it (successfully) is another story altogether.

All the hours slogging in front of the computer - learning, fumbling, struggling, tripping, falling. The lack of sleep. The many social invitations turned down. The blood, sweat, tears. They will be well worth it, one day. 

Like Shaun and Vince say, failure is NOT an option. As long as I keep going and never give up, I believe Success will be mine. It is just a matter of time.

After all, isn't that exactly the stuff Champions are made of?

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. That is why, I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

As a parting thought, I would like to share two inspirational Michael Jordan videos with my fellow Internet Marketing buddies and all my friends. 
Michael Jordan "Failure" (Nike commercial)


Michael Jordan "Tell Me" (Nike commercial)

Waking Up To The Sounds of Woofs and Meows

12th October 2010, 11:30PM
Sure felt like I was at the zoo this morning. In deep slumber, the first sounds my ears picked up were those of Oreo's meowing. Followed by the incessant barks of an unfamiliar dog that seemed far away. That "dog", it appeared, turned out to be the ringtone from my recently back-from-the-dead iPhone!

Yep, my friend Faith and her daughter had shown up at my door at 9.30 this morning. They were 30 minutes early (our appointment was at 10)! This, to the "normal" world, was perfectly acceptable. But for a nightbird like me (who had spent the entire night till 6.30 this morning helping out on an article for a friend's project), well, 9.30 in the MORNING seemed like an unearthly hour.

Oreo had been trying to wake me up with his gentle meows (he sounds a lot gentler now, after the operation), to alert me that there were guests outside, waiting to come in. The "dog", on the other hand, was again, Faith calling me from outside my house (not calling my friend Faith a dog, it was Faith CALLING me from outside on my phone, with the barking ringtone)! If I had not slept downstairs, I would have been dead to the world. That tired was I.

The negative effects of sleep deprivation

I have no idea how I made it through an afternoon at work, and managed to stay productive and cheerful in spite of all that sleep deprivation. Somehow, in between the many cups of coffee (I lost count!), I made it through the day. 


Sleeping well, a restorative process

7 Drug-Free Tips To Sleeping Well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0AvdbcVZw&feature=related

Here's another one...

Tips for a good night's sleep

Well, tonight I have decided that I will take a complete break from everything. No staring endlessly at the computer screen. No internet marketing assignments. No writing of articles (except for this blog). No midnight maggi mee. No skype. No checking of emails and Facebook statuses...

Natural sleep aid tips - home remedies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KppvFAGTW-s&NR=1


Tonight, I will give my body what it has been lacking the past few months and retreat to slumberland.

Time to make up for all those lost hours and recharge my batteries. Good night, world!

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.

7th October 2010. 12:40PM

"Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life."

That is a mantra most Success Coaches have in common and hold close to their hearts. Since 1938 when Napoleon Hill first shared this thought in his book "Think And Grow Rich":

"Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it will achieve." 

Many contemporary Success Coaches, till today, still share the same belief. Passionately.

At the recent Next Wave Event conducted by Gen-Y millionaires Shaun Stenning and Vince Tan, the message came across once again, loud and clear. In fact, setting our mindsets right was so important that before these two 20-somethings shared any of their wealth building internet marketing strategies with us, they spent half a morning stressing on the importance of having the Winning Mindset. 

Shaun and Vince kept reminding us to...

Change The Way You Think...
Change Your Results!

Mose people (95% of the world in fact) choose to listen to their Little Voice (also known as "critical voice"). They would rather give Excuses, Blame or live in Denial. 


Click on http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/tagr.htm
to download your FREE copy of Think And Grow Rich eBook.  

Can’t blame them (pun intended) – that’s a lot easier to do than to be Accountable for your every action. Which brings me back to something I’ve learned not too long ago at an Art of Living class... 

Responsibility is always taken, never given. 
When responsibility is given, it becomes a task. And yes, with great power comes great responsibility :)

No wonder only 5% of the world are truly successful in whatever they choose to do. It all boils down to having the Winning Mindset and Positive Attitude. 

For a person who has a Burning Desire for Success and has the Winning Mindset, there is simply no reason to fail. In fact, the only way one can fail is if he or she quits. Or never gets started! 

With 2 of the world's best
internet marketers as our mentors,
how can anyone fail?

So if failure is NOT an option, let's all change the way we think and raise our game from now on. To all my friends and Internet Marketing buddies out there, here's to Success and see you all at the top!

Next Wave Event - New Wealth Strategies. Simply Mind Blowing!

During the weekend, two Gen-Y Internet Marketing geniuses passionately gave their ALL in a no holds barred, 3-day Internet Marketing event called The Next Wave - New Age Instant Wealth Strategies. Shaun Stenning and Vince Tan unselfishly shared their skills, experience, expertise, tools, secrets and wealth building strategies with a room filled with people from all generations. Baby Boomers. Generation-X. Gen-Y. Even people from the Ice Age (kidding) were there ;-) The young. And the young-at-hearts. They were all there, hanging on to Shaun and Vince's every word like gold. Simply because, they are priceless.
 

Shaun Stenning, my fun, supportive and caring mentor

With over 7 years' experience as an Internet Marketer, 25-year old Shaun has built and sold a stack of multi-million dollar internet businesses. Shaun's mission is now to help everyday people tap into the vast resources available online and to make money through the internet. Over the last two years, Shaun has coached thousands of budding internet marketers in Australia, Malaysia, the UK and New Zealand create wealth online. Shaun strongly believes the internet helps you create the lifestyle you want, gives you the power of choice and lastly, the money.

Me and Shaun

It is a real privilege to have Shaun Stenning as my coach. This guy's awesome. 

Baby-faced Vince is the fastest rising superstar internet marketer. Vince was introduced to Internet Marketing at the World Internet Summit in 2006. Since then, he has achieved extraordinary success within a short time. Some of his income records include earning $25K in 24 hours, $69K in 7 days and $170K in 10 days. In 2008, Vince broke his personal record and earned over $100K in 3 days with his BiggestFiresale.com project with no money down!

Vince Tan, the guy who went from 0 to 6 figures in 30 days!

I am proud to call Vince my mentor and look forward to learning exciting strategies from him.

Me and Vince

My buddy Cherine with Vince. Joey's behind :)

It's time to put what Shaun and Vince taught us into action, so as to achieve extraordinary results! Let us all inspire and encourage one another, as we take on this brand new journey and venture into the exciting world of Internet Marketing. 

To all my buddies at Next Wave, see you all at the top!

Expect The Unexpected.

6th September 2010, 11:17PM

It's been quite a long while since my last entry. Have not been around, been whisked to Penang to be with my dearest Guruji three weeks ago. And then, right after Penang, there was this sudden one week trip to Bangkok, also a spontaneous decision. Looks like I've really been living the moment recently and taken the road less travelled so to speak, just to see some of the surprises that life brings.

On top of that, the moment I got back from Bangkok...

I fell sick for one week! Fever, sore throat, aching bones. Been sleeping and sleeping some more. Maybe it's my body's way to ask me to rest after all that packed schedule. It's the first time I've been unwell in years. But I'm almost recovered now, thanks to all that rest. And religious doses of honey. And I'm thankful for 5-day weekends to speed up the recovery. In that sense, I MUST be the luckiest person in the world!

For now, I'll just fill you guys in on what happened the last 24 hours. This morning I was awakened by the persistent meowing of my cat Oreo. (I slept downstairs 'coz I had a 10am appointment. That's early by my standards. Most days, I don't wake up till after noon!)

Anyways, I ignored the silly cat and went back to slumberland. But he persisted. And kept calling out for my attention. He even went to the extent of going to the bathroom to knock the pail into the water tank! Aha! So he was thirsty and wanted me to refill his pail. 

Hungry cat dog cat Oreo!

Don't know where he learns such tricks from but it sure worked. I dragged myself up from the carpet on the floor, and went to refill his water. As well as his food bowl. I sneaked a glance at my watch - it was only 5am. Dang! Went back to sleep but not for long.

My alarm rang at 10.30am. And for the first time, I actually heard it! Could hear H getting ready to get her certs renewed. I had volunteered to accompany her to get all her stuff done, as Mr A was no longer around and I knew she would be lost on her own.

First, to Fomema at Damansara Heights. I was just here one week ago, to renew my passport :) Thank God I did NOT bump into C. Much as I wish things were different between us, that would not have been very pleasant under the present circumstances. God is kind. 

From Damansara Heights, we took a cab to Taman Mayang Jaya to get to her clinic. H was asked to come back next week for her blood test. We were so tired we had to hail a cab from SS24 to SS23 which is just round the corner, but seemingly endless when you walk - madness! (Mental note to self: MUST head back to the gym the minute I recover, to regain my long lost stamina and get back into shape!)

Finally reached home at 3:30pm. Was knocked out so took a short nap before starting my Internet Marketing CPA2 Challenge. Nothing much happened after that, except for Monday long kriya at Art Of Living Taman Tun Dr Ismail. And oh, this...

My first McD drive-in dinner!

Must be the only motorbike driving in, eh? But what the heck? It was fast and fun :) Which reminds me, I've got yummilicious Chocolate Cornetto Sundae waiting for me in the fridge. And I've got to get back to my CPA2 Challenge. 

Blog later. Have a great nite, y'all!