Know Thyself !

Socrates
(469-399 B.C.E.)

Socrates once said this "Know Thyself"


The saying "Know thyself" may refer by extension to the ideal of understanding human behavior, morals, and thought, because ultimately to understand oneself is to understand other humans as well. However, the ancient Greek philosophers thought that no man can ever comprehend the human spirit and thought thoroughly, so it would have been almost inconceivable to know oneself fully. Therefore, the saying may refer to a less ambitious ideal, such as knowing one's own habits, morals, temperament, ability to control anger, and other aspects of human behavior that we struggle with on a daily basis. Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself)


Do we really know who we are and this questions evades us even till to date. Until we can discover who we truly are how are we going to achieve our dreams and our goals? I work with a team of individuals in the areas of personal development and coaching them to build an internet based business. We have regular weekly sessions after our main e-commerce meetings and we call these sessions night owls, where we get together to have coffee and break bread together. 30/12/09 was one of these sessions that was held @ 11pm and my focus for this session was to approach the year 2010 with a thankful and grateful heart. This email was sent by one of my team members, Elvin Zhang where he captured the thoughts and points of this night. I felt that this is worth sharing with the rest of the world.


"Happy New Year’s Eve CAM Team!!
I’ve been staying up pondering and looking through William’s awesome Night Owl today. Despite it lasting a short while, I think it will have a lasting impact for all those who attended the Night Owl. It struck me to just share with the team, especially the people who cannot make it for night owl due to various commitments as I believe the below information will be critical to shaping 2010 for all of us in CAM team. So... Do take some time off to go through them if you missed the session! :)


Objective: To discover yourself as a person in 2010 (not only in the business but in life as a whole)


Ask yourself this 8 questions and ponder over them, arrive at an answer and write them down:

1. Who am I?
2. What are my values?
3. What is my current life as of to-date?
4. What is my future life going to be like, any decisions I am making?
5. What are my strengths and shortcomings?
6. What are the opportunities and threats out there?
7. What are 3 specific goals I have for myself for 2010?
8. What are the 3 things that I must do for 2010 or I shall perish..

Analyze what you have achieved so far? Be specific... During the year 2009, what have you done to your life? What are some of the decisions that you have made which made you who you are. Focus on the positive things.


Finally..


If we look back at the year and moan and whine and bitch relentlessly, facing the coming year will be a tedious and long journey for every single one of us. The very fact that we live right now, breathing the air around us and being able to read this very sentence is a sign of blessing so do count our blessings and give thanks. Effortless action only comes about being thankful of what we have. So here’s the final activity:


What are you thankful for in 2009? List down at least 10 (we all definitely have more than 10.. the list is inexhaustible of course, as many as you like)


The new year will be a year full of opportunities and it’s going to be a blast for every single one of us in CAM team! The problem is: It will only be so if our mind can conceive it and believe it! God’s greatest gift to us is the ability to believe in thyself. Make use of it and scaling greater heights in the echelons of success is a done deal for year 2010! Good faith guys/girls and FINISH IT OFF~ Festive Regards, Elvin Zhang"

Rolling Thunder

Our thoughts are thunder ! Constantly rolling in our brain ! Deepak Chopra indicates that we go through 60'000 thoughts per day and 90% are negative thoughts repeated over and over again. We are responsible for our THOUGHTS ! Thoughts are Causes, Outcomes are Effects !


“People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them. It may not be easy, but it can be done. First of all, if we don’t want to think certain things we don’t say them. We don’t have to eat everything we see, and we don’t have to say everything we think. So we begin by watching our words and speaking with good purpose only. There are times when we must have clear and pure minds with no unwanted thoughts and we have to train and prepare steadily for those times until we are ready. We don’t have to say or think what we don’t wish to. We have a choice in those things, and we have to realize that and practice using that choice. There is no use condemning yourself for the thoughts and ideas that come into your mind; so there’s no use arguing with yourself or fighting your thoughts. Just realize that you can think what you choose. You don’t have to pay attention to those unwanted thoughts. If they keep coming into your head, just let them alone and say, ‘I don’t choose to have such thoughts’, and they will soon go away. If you keep a steady determination and stick with that purpose you will know how to use that choice and control your consciousness so unwanted thoughts don’t come to you anymore. Then you can experience purification completely and in the right way and no impurities can exist in your mind or body at anytime.”

Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd

Please DO NOT WASTE food

Not liking the food you have daily????

..........................How about some pizza?

No??? Ok....... Pasta?
No?? .. How about Taco?

Not in taco mood today? ... ok.. Trying this Mexican Food?

No again? No probs.. we have more choice..
Hmmmmmmm.. chinise??????? :-)

Burgersssssss????????

Ok.. lets try Indian.. J South Indian Food?
Naaaaa??? North Indian?

Junk food mood?

The choice we have is endless....... Tiffin ?

Non-Veg?

Large Quantity?

Or just some bites of chicken?
You can have any of these... or try out little from all...

But.. They have No choice..

They just need some food to survive...

Think of them next time you throw the cafeteria food saying, its not tasty!!

Think of them next time you say ... Roti here is too hard to eat..

Please DO NOT WASTE food

'Helping hands are better than Praying Lips' - give us your helping hand.

Self Mastery

The above statement rings true for most of us. We spend most of our lives earning a living rather than designing our lives. Before we start to design our lives we should know who we are and what we want. Socrates the Greek philosopher quoted "Know Thyself". And to know oneself is to attain Self Mastery. The below mentioned quote from Stewart Emery will shed some light. Please read and master yourself.


Mastery in one’s career and consciousness growth simply requires that we constantly produce results beyond and out of the ordinary. Mastery is a product of consistently going beyond our limits. For most people, it starts with technical excellence in a chosen field and a commitment to that excellence. If you are willing to commit yourself to excellence, to surround yourself with things that represent this and miracles, your life will change. (When we speak of miracles, we speak of events or experiences in the real world, which are beyond the ordinary.)



It’s remarkable how much mediocrity we live with, surrounding ourselves with daily reminders that the average is the acceptable. Our world suffers from terminal normality. Take a moment to assess all of the things around you that promote your being “average”. These are the things that keep you powerless to go beyond a “limit” you arbitrarily set for yourself. The first step to mastery is the removal of everything in your environment that represents mediocrity, removing those things that are limiting. One way is to surround yourself with friends who ask more of you than you do. Didn’t some of your best teachers, coaches, parents, etc.?



Another step on the path to mastery is the removal of resentment toward masters. Develop compassion for yourself so that you can be in the presence of masters and grow from the experience. Rather than comparing yourself and resenting people who have mastery, remain open and receptive; let the experience be like the planting of a seed within you that, with nourishment, will grow into your individual mastery.



You see, we are all ordinary. But a master, rather that condemning himself for his “ordinariness”, will embrace it and use it as a foundation for building the extraordinary. Rather than using it as an excuse for inactivity, he will use it as a vehicle for correcting, which is essential in the process of attaining mastery. You must be able to correct without invalidating or condemning yourself, to accept results and improve upon them. Correct, don’t protect. Correction is essential to power and mastery.

Stewart Emery

The Millionaire Mentor

Why a Mentor? Because……..

The Johari Window below explains that we need someone to cover our blind spots and if you say we do not have any my Millionaire Mentor Shivaram Kumar indicates you have a blind country behind you. We all have blind spots and we need someone to cover these so we could minimize our mistakes and failures. I personally have mentors in the arrears of brain development (Lee Say Kheng), Karate (Michael Sim), Powerful Presentations (Blair Singer & Yeo Chak Khng) and Financial Freedom (Kankan Bhattacharyya & Shivaram Kumar)

In the year 1998 I lost a substantial amount of money in business and figured out why? You have a choice to learn from mentors that is called “WISDOM” or try it out on your own and that is called “EXPERIENCE”. Wisdom, three things that I have learnt. Firstly, emotions and money do not go hand in hand. When we make decisions about money we should always rely on facts and not the opinion of others and remove all emotions out of the decision making process. Secondly, I went into a Good Deal with Bad People instead I should have gone into a Bad Deal with Good People. There are numerous, seemingly good deals around and as we know these good deals can go bad as we are dealing with bad people where they are only interested in making money for themselves. If we deal with good people, a bad deal can be turned around because they have your interest in their hearts and they want to make this deal work for all. Thirdly, mentorship, because I had so many blind spots, I had no one covering them and the outcome was my lost of monies. Today I have an awesome mentor, financially retired at the age of 32, 1st march 1996 and till to date he is still retired young and rich and he mentors me and my team to achieve the same status where he is now. Makes Sense!


The Millionaire Mentor is a little book with a BIG message, offering sage advice you can use to move ahead in your work and life.

It’s a powerful parable with inspiring insights about believing in yourself, your objectives, and your dreams – and taking action to achieve them! Poignant and illuminating, it unlocks the secrets of winning in a simple way, yet profound, story about an entrepreneur and his protégé.

The story begins when young Oscar meets Roy, a wealthy business, outside the Palace of Frozen Delights. Seeing Roy’s Mercedes, Oscar says, “Wow! You must be rich. How did you get that way?”

Roy takes Oscar under his wings, and they start meeting monthly at the Palace. Oscar matures from a wide-eyed kid to a wealthy adult – fueled by Roy’s invaluable words of wisdom.

The story is uplifting yet pragmatic, philosophical but fun. It’s an enjoyable, easy-to-read narrative, highlighted by a unique series of motivational success cards. Strong, yet warmhearted, Roy teaches Oscar habits you, too, can use to achieve not only material success, but also the ultimate fulfillment of finding and living your purpose.

An inspiring book and a must read.

The Parable Of The Pipeline

If you are struggling financially, this book will open doors to possibilities you would have never dreamed off! When I read this book I personally realized why I was struggling day to day, week to week, month to month & year to year. Today I have an internet based private franchising business and it is providing me a pipe line other than my paycheck. My wife was retrenched earlier this year 2009, due to the bad economic recession and because I made a decision to build this business seven years ago, December 2002. My family has survived this recession and we had a pipeline that replaced the loss of income. One pipeline is worth a thousand paychecks!

We’re living in the most affluent economy in decades. Yet millions of people are still living from paycheck to paycheck, working longer and longer hours just to stay even.

Why? Because they bought into the wrong plan! They’ve fallen for the Time-for-Money Trap. You know, a day’s work for a day’s pay. A month’s work for a month’s pay. Making ends meet. Sounds familiar?

Whether you’re a $10,000-a-year dishwasher or a $100,000-a-year doctor, you’re still trading one unit of time for one unit of money. You’re still living paycheck to paycheck. As for “job security” – if you can’t do the work because of layoffs… illness… injury… or retirement – the paychecks stop!

Where’s the security in that?

How do you escape the Time-for-Money Trap? By building Pipelines of ongoing, residual income. With residual income, you do the work once and get paid over and over again. That’s why one pipeline is worth a thousand paychecks. Pipelines keep pumping day after day, year after year, whether you’re there to do the work or not.

Now, that’s security-true financial security!

The Parable Of The Pipeline will teach you how to build pipelines so that you can make the leap from earning a living today… to enjoying a lifestyle tomorrow!

I highly recommend that you get hold of this book and read it. And start to create a pipeline now!



If you need help in creating a pipeline, email me at william_anthony@singnet.com.sg

The Ant And The Elephant

How can an Ant control an Elephant ?


In The Ant And The Elephant, renowned business strategist and Olympian, Vince Poscente, weaves a clever parable around profound concepts that can have an immediate impact on your life and the life of your organization.



With his trademark wit and wisdom, Poscente shows us how to focus on and redirect the subconscious mind in order to accomplish the goals we consciously strive to achieve. This empowering story illustrates that understanding the dynamic relationship between conscious and subconscious thought is the first step toward becoming a leader who can transform individual performance. But harnessing the power of the subconscious is an experience commonly fraught with frustration. Even the most competent amongst us battles the subconscious fears, habits and attitudes that obstruct authentic leadership. In fact, adjusting our own patterns of behavior as a means to motivate others is not unlike an ant trying to convince an elephant to change its ways.



Meet Adir the ant and Elgo the elephant. Like two teammates who must work together to realize a common goal, Adir (our overly conscious hero) and Elgo (Adir’s stubborn and instinctual subconscious partner) must work as a single creature in order to reach the Oasis, their vision of a paradise in the African savannah.



Once you understand the power of the conscious and the subconscious mind, and that they are interdependent on each other, you will better manage your mind to achieve your goals and dreams. This book demystifies and simplifies understanding the brain.



Their simple story is a powerful metaphor designed to bring out your best performance as a leader, so that you can do the same for those around you. Destined to become an instant business classic, The Ant And The Elephant is a must for all who wishes to reach their full potential as individuals.

What is your deepest & darkest fear?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others will not feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just some of us: it is all of us.
As we let our own light shine, we give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others from their fear. May we all give ourselves permission to shine today so that the truth is reflected in all of us."


+Nelson Mandela+
1994 Inaugural Speech

The Scientific Adam !

A thought provoking video ! Last year when I watched it on National Geographic, my earlier thoughts about all of us coming from a single source came true for me. Watch this video and arrive at you own conclusions !

Dr Spencer Wells a genographer, studies human diversity -- the process by which humanity, which springs from a single common source, has become so astonishingly diverse and widespread.

Faith can handle anything in this world !

An email I received from my team leader, Logen which I feel is worth sharing. Our bucket is not big enough. We should expand our bucket !

Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.

The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. 'Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?' he asked.

The inexperienced fisherman replied, 'I only have a small frying pan..'


Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throwback the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small.



We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan, yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?

Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way.


Nothing is too big for God.



REMEMBER:


Stop telling God you've got big problems.
Tell your problems you've got a BIG GOD!

Ten Rules of Building a Winning Team

1. Learn to be excited and passionate about your purpose
2. Have a clear dream and Vision
3. Be honest and sincere about everything
4. Loyalty to principles by being an example
5. Produce to perfection by always giving your 100%
6. Learn to be plan but be flexible about it.
7. Learn to be a motivator by believing in others
8. Learn to involve others participation and cooperation with commitment.
9. Develop a strong sense of discipline to the extra mile
10. Create influence by example and leadership

Source: BWW Gala Team

Life is Beautiful :-)

Abundance vs Poverty

Why does abundance evades us?

In a world of plentiful & abundance why do we struggle ?

The answer lies in our thought process.

• We first ( Do - Have - Be ) rather, We should ( Be - Have - Do) !

We always Do activities first, thereby Having the residual outcome of the activity and Being what is the residual outcome but rather what we should be doing is Being first, visualising what are we going to be and believing that we already Have and seeing in our mind the activity we are going to perform and finally the Doing, the action of the activity.

• Abundance is having an extraordinary life but we pursue an extraordinary life with an ordinary mind.

• An ordinary mind has a scarcity pattern of thinking and has poverty styled habits.

• An extraordinary mind has an abundance pattern of thinking and has success styled habits.

Clarity of mind leads to Power & Abundance.

Lack of clarity leads to Weakness & Scarcity.

An Extraordinary Life

All of us want an Extraordinary Life but we cannot achieve it because we have an ordinary mind. We need to train and develop to have an Extraordinary Mind to have an Extraordinary Life!

HOW ?

Old Thinking + Old Habits + Short Term Viewpoint = Predictable Consequences
Old Thinking + Old Habits + Long Term Viewpoint = Potential Consequences
New Thinking + New Habits + Long Term Viewpoint = New Consequences

In conclusion we need to acquire New Thinking + New Habits + Long Term Viewpoint = to acquire an Extraordinary Mind to have an Extraordinary Life!

Two Choices

A recent email from my team member Lewis Tay, got me thinking about choices! When some one says I don't have a choice! What they are saying is, no choice is a choice!



Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.' Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact...
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'. Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending or sharing messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. If you're thinking about forwarding or sharing this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you or shared this, believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete (Deny the chance for others to see the beauty in others)
2. Forward (Share this beautiful choices)

May your day, be a Shay Day.

FAITH !

A recent email from a team member got me thinking how little faith we sometimes have ! Please read this faithful story !

This is a story about a dog who was born on Christmas Eve in 2002.
He was born with 3 legs, 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed to be amputated.
He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.
He was rejected and scorned.
His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he was thinking of putting him to sleep..
At this time, his present owner Jude Stringfellow came into the dog's life and wanted to take care of him.
She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. She thought, all we need is a little faith.
Therefore she named him 'Faith'.

In the beginning, she put Faith on a surf board to let him feel the movements of the water. Later she used
peanut butter on a spoon as a lure to reward him for standing up and jumping around. Even the other dogs
at home helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, after only 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned
to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. After further training in the snow, he can now walk like a human
being.
Faith loves to walk around now.
No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared in various newspapers and TV shows. There is even one book entitled
'With a little faith' being published about him.
He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellow has given up her teaching job and plans to take him
around the world to preach, 'that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul.'







































































In life there are always undesirable things. Perhaps a person who feels things are not going as well
as they could will feel better if they change their point of view
and see things from another perspective.
Perhaps this message will bring fresh ways of thinking to everyone.
Perhaps everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that follows.
Life is the continual demonstration of the power of thinking positive and having faith.

Believe in yourself ! Never lose faith !