Get Rich Radio – How to read a book

Was introduced to this online radio show, Get Rich Radio via a mentor. Its an interesting online radio concept that shares about various tips on mindset and personal development .

There are many interesting features of this program. One of it is that we can earn ‘scholarship dollars’ for every second the radio is left on. So while we learn, we earn ‘scholarship dollars’ that we can use to get access into MORE information products. And its all FREE!

There are live sessions at certain times of the day. I tend to listen to the streams because of my timezone.

Golden nugget

I just listened to the following stream recorded on 3.6.14 (segment 8), on how to read a book.

The speaker was sharing about how he reads a book, which was very useful to me.

Here’s the steps he takes while reading a book

1. Highlight when he sees an interesting point.

2. Before he moves to the next page, he writes down the reason for highlighting the point on a post it and sticks it to the page.

3. He gets a transcriber to compile all his notes once he is done with the book.

Love #3!

Instead of getting a transcriber, we can do that ourselves and refresh our memories at the same time. Love this. Previously, I tend to read a  book, highlight loads of interesting points but NEVER went back to read it. WHAT’S THE POINT THEN?

I am looking forward to learning and picking up more Golden Nuggets from this online radio show. Join me here if you are keen to learn more too. Its free anyway!:D

[Review] Singapore’s lost son

Singapore’s Lost Son: How I Made It from Drop-Out to Millionaire Princeton PhD

A book with a mere 200 pages carrying many life lessons, Singapore’s lost son by Kaiwen Leong is a great read. The author has seamlessly structured the book in a manner that allows him to use each of his personal heartfelt stories to bring forth an important life lesson. This made reading pleasantly easy and at the same time, highlights the importance of values and attitudes the author shares.

Through the book, the author has shared personal stories from his experience, and many values he had picked up along the way. However, there were two main values overshadowing throughout the book.

One, to believe in oneself and persist even when the odds are against you. This was to me, the main lesson in the early part of the book where we read about the author’s struggle in Singapore’s education system. His strong belief in himself struck me. If someone whom the society has deemed to be a failure can ignore what the world is saying and continue to trust himself and know his goal, why cant I?

Two, to give back to society. This was the greatest value that I thought the author was touching upon towards the end of the book. After he had achieved his initial goal, and was doing financially well, he came back to his home country. This was a strong lesson for me as I felt that there was no reason for him to return should he not choose to. After all the ‘abuse’ he had received from the society while he was growing up, no one would judge him or force him to return, but he did. And to top it up, serve as an educator even though it was the education system that brought him down in the first place. Kudos to him.

All in all, this book was a great read, and it warrants subsequent rereads because the stories shared and lessons taught may reveal different meaning to a different me, at a different time of life.

direction

“When you find something that so fully engages you that you would do it for free all day everyday, then you are on course” – Nick Vujicic, Life without Limits

Greed?

Chapter 9 from Dan Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational talks about the irrational behavior of wanting to keep as many opportunities open. I have and still am still carrying out this peculiar behavior. I have always linked my unwillingness to give up on opportunities, on greed. I am greedy because I still do not know what I truly what to do. I am greedy because I am worried that one of the doors that I close might actually be my ‘destined path’.

However, something that the author pointed out stuck me. He reminded readers to look at this issue from another perspective. He suggested that we should consider all the time we are wasting and memories missed, just from our unwillingness to decide on a door.

It stuck me that this boils down to the fear of loss. However, we only seem to feel this fear of loss towards the things that we have or we might have. Sadly, we ultimately still end up losing. We now need to be able to look at the whole picture and weigh the consequence of losing possible opportunities and the consequence of losing irreversible TIME.

Smart Trust Actions

Source:Smart Trust: Creating Prosperity, Energy, and Joy in a Low-Trust World

The authors have put together 5 action steps to help readers understand and implement Smart Trust.

They are:

1. Choose to Believe in Trust.

2. Start with self.

3. Declare your Intent.

4. Do what you say.

5. Lead Out in Extending Trust.

I will go through the 5 steps in the next few days!

Read Smart Trust if you find my summaries interesting!

[Quote] Reciprocity

“He who doesnt not trust enough, will not be trusted. No trust given, none received” – Lao Tzu

Third lesson I got from reading Smart Trust. Reciprocity.

The very familiar advise of “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you” is very apt for this lesson. I was a little surprised that this  works for trust too, as I have always been taught that trust has to be earned, rather than given. 

The authors have successfully convinced me that reciprocity works for trust through their many examples where trust was first extended to others.

This is something I definitely have to work on.

[Quote] Trust

“Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence” – Democritus

The second portion to practicing Smart Trust, is to analyse. If we were to only practice having a propensity to trust, we would be trusting blindly, and this can backfire. Analysis helps us to determine when to trust. However, the authors also point out that analysis should come after the propensity to trust. If analysis was placed first, it might led to a low propensity to trust, or lead to distrust.

“Smart trust is an art, not a science” – Smart Trust , Covey and Link.

[Review] Man vs Markets by Paddy Hirsch

Man vs. Markets: Economics Explained (Plain and Simple)

Just completed this book recently.
It was a good summary of the financial markets and how it works, in USA. The basic way the markets work would be similar, and thus I think this book is a good overview to the financial market.

The author was successful in explaining various terms and concepts by simplifying and giving excellent examples which most of us would be able to relate to. Some examples include the use of “toy lending” between kids to explain the components of a bond, and the use of the 3 little pigs’ plight to explain the concept of stocks. He even simplified derivatives such as options, futures and swap through the use of stories and examples. In his words, these are simply tools which we use in our daily life, packaged in different terms.

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Just went for a talk and book signing by Hirsch last night. He explained that futures is similar to the system we use to reserve airline tickets. Futures allow us to pay a specific price at a specific date. Options are similar to situations where we pay a deposit to lock in the price. It gives us the option to buy something (for call options) at a specified price, for a deposit. Swaps are, in his words, like insurance. Uncertainty is swapped for certainty.
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The second half of the book focused on the economy of the USA, with Hirsch narrating the events leading to the subprime crisis in 2008.

Overall, this book is quite an interesting read, and does not bore readers with too much technical terms. (Since these terms are explained by the author). It allows beginners to grasp the basic understanding of how the financial markets works, and the role played by the government and banks.

For me, a major takeaway from this book would be that; it is very important to carry out DUE DILIGENCE  before going into any investments. Especially if the investment vehicle is new and is the latest hype.

You can watch some of Paddy Hirsch’s videos, in which he explains various concepts of the financial markets at: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/whiteboard

[Review] The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli

The Starbucks Experience : 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary

The Starbucks Experience was an interesting book which introduces some of the key ideas principles that the Starbucks management use. It explains the success of Starbucks from the perspective of the 5 principles mentioned in the book.

The 5 Principles are:
1. Make it your own -> taking ownership, and having employees take ownership
2. Everything matters -> importance of details
3. Surprise and Delight -> go the extra mile to provide customers with more that what they expect
4. Embrace Resistance -> listen, differentiate between constructive and non constructive complains, and take action to improve
5. Leave your mark -> contributing to communities

Although this book was marketed as a publication written by and outsider, I felt that the author was positively bias toward Starbucks. Perhaps this was required in order to show the expected results from implementing the 5 principles mentioned.

The major takeaway I got from this book was the importance of inter-personal relationships. A workplace with healthy and motivating relations between the managers and employees would encourage healthy relations with their customers.

Libraries

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/4909553055_a6359761bd_z_5.jpg

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Today, I would like to point out one of the greatest source of information. Libraries.

In this digital age, the internet provides a vast array of information. However, libraries remain one of the key source of information and reading material for me. (Yes, I still prefer holding and reading physical books.)

Libraries provide me with great access to information, especially if you have access to libraries of education institutes. (another upside of formal education is its resources) These libraries tend to have a wide array of specific resources for various industries, and many a time the books are idling on the shelves waiting to be discovered.

Therefore, to all who have access to such libraries, I would urge you to make good use of it. There are knowledge in these books, some of which are not brought across in lectures. Lectures are great, but are too short to cover everything you will ever need to know.