Love or Money?

Which would make you happier - an abundance of love with limited amounts of money, or vice versa? This is a question that comes up in many conversations.

When I was a child, I wanted the newest toys on the market - Game Boy, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Nerf Guns, etc. My parents rarely satisfied my desires for toys; however, I did get toys that were pass down from my mom's friend's children. I was extremely happy whenever I received a box of used toys and I would spend many hours each day playing. So what happened next? Remember what happened to your childhood toys? Did you lose interest in them within one year and now they are sitting in the closet collecting dust? The point I am trying to make is that money can only buy you temporary satisfaction - clothing, toys, electronics, and cars.

Princeton University professors Angus Deaton and Daniel Kahneman reported that happiness is a function of income, but only up to a certain point - $75 000 per year. This makes sense because Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that we must first satisfy our basic needs before we pursue our needs for growth; therefore, our need for food and shelter must be met before we pursue our need for love and companionship.
http://wws.princeton.edu/news/Income_Happiness/Happiness_Money_Summary.pdf

If you are diagnosed with cancer today and had a month to live, what would you value? I know I would quit school and spend the remaining time that I have left with friends and family. You cannot take money with you to the grave. Richard Teo was a doctor diagnosed with lung cancer. When Dr. Teo received the tragic news, he started to reflect on his life. Here is Dr. Teo's sharing his thoughts on money and happiness:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gO5m6luIKE

Love > Money

Wisdom (our mind) vs Money - The Richest Man in Babylon

"The Richest Man in Babylon", George Samuel Clason, is one of my all time favourite books because it was published in 1926, yet it is still relevant today. Clason asked would you prefer a large sum of money or a clay tablet carved with the words of wisdom? Like most people, my instincts chose money. Of course that would be the dumb choice. Okay I apologize for calling you "dumb", at least you are in the same boat as 99% of human population.

Of course money is good, but if you do not have wisdom your money will fly away just as fast as it was given to you. If you had no financial wisdom and inherited a large sum of money, what would you do? Does buying a Ferrari, a mansion, and a yacht sound like a good idea? On top of all this extravagance, you will start to make friends who are interested in your wealth and your ability to invest. Without wisdom, you will make bad investment decisions. Will you invest your money in a bricklayer who said he will buy rare jewelry overseas for cheap so you can sell it for a profit? If you answered "yes" to that question, please move your computer mouse to the top right hand side and press the left button. A bricklayer does not specialize in buying rare jewelry, so you will be flushing your money down the toilet!
There are many stories where the rich and famous have gone broke after earning millions  - this is one of them: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/26/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-eddy-curry/ 

If you had wisdom, you will be able to accumulate wealth. You will use your wisdom to invest in a jeweler who buys diamonds. Wisdom also allows you to be creative and to conjure up different solutions. Instead of saying I cant afford it, you can force your mind to think by saying "how can I afford it?" The former is a statement while the latter is a question - the statement prevents your brain from thinking while the question allows you to come up with a solution. The mind can be easily manipulated, so be careful what you think or say.

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - your're right." - Henry Ford

Climbing is life

What would happen if you met a dentist with bad teeth? Ironic huh?

Well this might be funny to you then! I have been working at a rock climbing gym for 4 years, but it is ironic because I am terrified of heights! What got me into rock climbing was the novelty of this sport. This isn't your typical sport.

As I was working today, I was thinking of how climbing related to motivation and success. We have around 20 rope climbs in our facility, each with a different level of difficulty. The first wall is on an incline and has animal shaped hand holds and foot holds. This is what I call the "confidence building wall" (start-up) - everyone should be able to do it. The fourth wall is what I call the "dream crusher" (end goal) - this is what I put people on if they become overconfident. A lot of customers come into our facility and think climbing would be a piece of cake, but it is not. Trust me! Try it out for yourself if you haven't already.

Climbing is life.

Remember your first day of kindergarten? You were excited weren't you? Okay... maybe that was a bad example. Lets try this again. Remember all the goals you set on New Years? What happened? Most of us have probably abandoned it, but how did you feel when you first pursued those goals? Super eager and pumped up right? Then what happened? Did you only last for a week before you threw in the towel and said "This sucks"!? Haha I know how you feel!

So what really happened to those customers who tried climbing for the first time in their life? Most of them deserve the letter grade F. We live in a world which is results-oriented. We want results immediately, and if we don't see results, we give up! 20-30% of our first time customers would jump straight to the toughest wall in the gym, which has an overhang, so it requires you to climb upside down. When I start tying the rope onto their harness, I can see excitement in their faces; however, after a two to three minutes you start hearing the words _________, __________, and __________ (insert words) coming out of their mouth. The "dream crusher" has done it again. After the defeat on the "dream crusher", most customers' muscles become sore  and some even give up and leave the facility.

To be successful we need to set S.M.A.R.T goals:
Specific
Measure
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound

There are no shortcuts in life. Have a goal, but make sure it is something that will boost your confidence. Small wins will add up to become big victories!

What are your goals? Perhaps you may need rewrite your goals so they meet the criteria.

Daniel

Fear - difference between winning and losing

Definition of fear: (F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal.

Success is all about how you deal with fear. How many opportunities have you missed just because you had never taken action?

News flash: Action cures FEAR

I was fearful of approaching beautiful girls on the streets, so guess what did to cure my fears? I approached them. Lets take a step back to dissect the fear of approaching girls. If you are single and you see a beautiful girl, you have a desire to get her number right? But why are you reluctant to act, and instead you stare at her from afar? It is because of fear - the fear of rejection and doing what "normal" people don't do.

At first, it was extremely difficult for me to approach because whenever I saw a beautiful girl, I became hesitant and started making excuses for myself to not approach. Some of the excuses were plain stupid - I don't want to approach from behind, or she was busy reading. When you are in an uncomfortable situation, you must not allow your mind to control your actions. Your mind come up with a million ways to dissuade you, so when you postpone your decision to act, the truckload of excuses start piling up; therefore, the costs WILL outweigh the benefits. This is what it means to lose by default.

Luckily, I had a friend, lets call him Pua, who has had experience with approaching girls. When we first started, Pua built up my confidence by allowing me to taste success in small portions. He first instructed me to ask a random person for the time, so I did. After enough practice of asking for the time, I progressed to small talk, and it ultimately led to approaching girls. Action cures FEAR!

When you are facing your fears, ask yourself these questions:

1) What are your options?
2) What is the worse thing that could happen to me if I followed through?
3) If the situation does not work out can I recover?

Example:
1) Should I approach the girl sitting on the bench? Yes or No
2) The worse thing that could happen is that she is going to reject me.
3) I will be able to recover from this situation because there are so many girls on this planet.

It is said that the fear of public speaking is a fear greater than death for most people. According to psychiatrists, the fear of public speaking is caused by the fear of ostracism, the fear of standing out, the fear of criticism, the fear of ridicule, the fear of being an outcast. The fear of being different prevents most people from seeking new ways to solve their problems. - Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Summer of 2013 Part 2 - Dreams

What was the feeling that you had when you left the comforts of your home to become independent? Were you excited, nervous, or did you feel what I felt which was a mix of both?

May 8th 2013 was the day when I left on the Greyhound from Vancouver down to Nashville. I have "moved away" from my parents before, but that was for vacation to Japan with my friends. This time I will be leaving my parents to try and survive on my own.

Before my departure, I was feeling super confident. I even sarcastically told my mom that if she does not see me at the end of August, that means I have made a lot of money and moved away to an exotic island where I will be sending her weekly postcards (do these things still exist?) from my beach side house! 

I have big dreams, but my family will always bring me back to reality - their reality. I know it is hard to listen to yourself sometimes because everyone has different opinions; therefore, I try to tell myself that advice can be freely given, but to only listen to the ones that are worth listening to.   
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

My family was not supportive of my decision to do sales.

Mom: (read this in a chinese accent) Daniel door to door sales dangerous. You will go door to door knocking on the homes of strangers. Don't take milk and cookie from strangers. You no Santa Claus. People no like you.

I love my mom even if she makes fun of me, but sometimes she is too pessimistic, or I am too optimistic? Better to be optimistic than pessimistic right?

Coelho, the author of "The Alchemist", says that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it", but you must also have discipline to reach your goals. The bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacle. Failure is inevitable, but your persistence to succeed will eventually be rewarded. Remember that nothing worth having comes easy!

Please do the following:
1)Reach your arms as high as you possibly can, and hold that position. Don't move.
(Do step 1 before you read step 2)

2)Now try to reach even higher
(Do step 2 before you read step 3)


3)Try again to reach even higher than last time

Just when you thought you have reached your limit, you pushed yourself even further!
Push to achieve your dreams!

Summer of 2013 - Part 1

What did you do during the summer? Wait let me guess your response..... summer school, worked at a summer job or is it nothing much? Haha

Typical.

I did the craziest thing this summer - door to door sales with Southwestern Advantage. Let me guess what you are thinking.... I would shut the damn door on your face if you EVER come knocking on my door. Yup, that is the perception that most people have on salesmen - pushy, annoying, and telling me to buy something that I do not want/need!

The reason why I decided to do sales was because I wanted to become independent and to grow up! I am 22 years old and I have been spoon fed all my life. I have 3 older sisters and I am the only guy, so my mom spoils me rotten.

I did not do sales because I wanted to make a ton of money. I was in sales because I wanted to improve as a person and to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Southwestern Advantage is an INTENSE internship program where you learn to run your own "business". You can work as much or as little as you want, but when everyone around you is working at least 80 hours a week, you would feel uneasy if you only worked 60 or even 70 hours a week. I learned that when I surrounded myself with people who worked harder than me, it motivated me. Have you heard the saying that millionaires hang out with millionaires? If you had 9 broke friends that you hang out with, the tenth one will most likely be you. Do you agree?

To be continued...