Blame MYSELF or BAD LUCK?

I have more than 8 years driving experience. I never got involved in an accident that needs to come out of the vehicle to negotiate with the driver. I get a new experience today and I am going to remember what I learned from it.

It is a hot afternoon and I am driving back home from work. The traffic is bumper to bumper and I am just one street away from my home. I will reach my destination in another 1 minute. A few policemen were blocking the road to my home and I am looking at them to find out the reason. The car in front moved forward, so I changed my gear and move forward too. Little did I noticed that the car in front suddenly stopped and I can't stopped in time because I was looking to my right. It was too late and I heard a loud "BANG". My car had kissed the bumper of the front car.

My heart nearly stopped and I was terrified. The front car stopped at the road side and I followed. As I come down of the car, I keep scolding myself for not paying full attention while driving. I looked at my front bumper and there's no scratches. I felt relieved.

As I walked over to the car which I bumped earlier, the male driver looks familiar. He is a friend of my friend's friend. He also realized the same thing. I looked at the rear bumper and did not noticed any scratches, broken lights, ...etc. I felt relieved instantly. I was thinking maybe because the distant is too close that's why the impact is very minor. But the male driver said there's something on top of the bumper and it was not there earlier. He said need to send it for painting which cost from RM10-RM100++. He added that the car rear looks okay now but maybe something already broken inside which will only appear later after he passed bumper. He asked if I have any recommended foremen to check on it. He asked for my phone number and gave it without thinking twice because I thought he is a friend of my friend's friend.

I argued that there's no scratches, "kemek" or broken lights, ...etc. The area which he said needs to paint is not noticeable. Usually people will just treat the case as closed and drive away. But this driver insisted that it needs painting & checking to ensure no internal damage to the car. (Inside I think this guy is very calculative). Failing to persuade him, I called my father and he arrived at the scene 5 minutes later.

My father also argued that there's nothing wrong with the car rear. The area that he said needs painting will be unnoticeable after do some polishing. Since he didn't moved from his request, my father offer him a small amount of money but he resist claiming that he don't want the money but just want to make sure the car is okay. Failing to convince him, my father asked the driver to follow him to nearby foreman for checking.

After looking at the area, the foreman just put on something on it. Aha! It looks like nothing happened before and he only charged us RM10. When I reached home, I agreed it is my carelessness but I blamed it on bad luck. It never struck my head that I was the one who caused the accident not luck. I should not blamed/ justify it as bad luck.

What I learned from this incident:
1) Must pay 100% attention when driving.
2) Must not simply get out of the car when involved in accident. Must make sure the other person does not look like got other intention (ex. robbing money, steal car, ....etc)
3) Do not provide IC, phone number, .....etc to the other person even if he's a friend of my friend's friend. Informed them to report to police or go to the nearest foreman for assistance.
4) Do not blame bad luck when something bad happened. Must take responsibility of what I've done (not paying full attention).
5) How to handle if happens again.
a) If the car is badly damaged, apologized softly.
b) If the car is in good condition, just informed the car is okay and leave immediately. Do not negotiate anymore. If driver refuse to let you go, just talked louder than the other party (I witnessed an accident where the wrong party talked loudly and repeatedly refused to accept its her fault and she wins the argument. No compensation is paid).

Previous Decisions Shapes The Future

Everyone has the power to CHOOSE.

I AM what I am NOW because of my previous decisions.

As a student, I have been given the choice to study Science OR Art stream. I have no idea which one to choose because I don't know what is my real ambition and I don't really understand what's the importance of it. But, I chose Science stream because I heard that I can change to Art Stream if I don't like it later. This is because Science student can change to become Art student but not the other way. Later, I decided to maintain the decision because my friend is in the same class.

Then, I finished my SPM but I still don't know what I want. What course should I study and which college? I just collected brochures which I thought is very hot subject. I was thinking about which course could earn more money and no need to work very hard. I was confused and lost. Finally, I decided to choose to study Form 6. Because I still don't know what I want and my parents can't afford the expensive course fees. I am happy these 2 years because I have more friends & I just need to study and worry nothing else.

After finished Form 6, I need to choose again. I have picked up 5 courses at which university? At this stage, I still don't know what I want to study and where. At last, I chose Computer Science/ Information Technology in a local university not because I like the subject but because I know I have bigger change to be chosen. Yes, I was indeed offered my first chosen subject.

After 3 years of hard studying, I finally graduated. I have to choose a job/ career. I landed my first job in a multinational IT company but I'm doing back-end support job called administrator. Why I am not in IT field? I give excuses like the constant need to upgrade myself if I'm in the IT sector by learning those programming language. I justify that I prefer a 9 to 5 job than a job that needs to do overtime/ overnight. Or am I afraid that I'm not good enough. I survived in university because it focus on theoretical not practical. By memorizing the textbook and help from friends, I am able to score the tests. I even almost get 1st class honour.

I nearly become jobless 6 months after my first job because the contract ends. I was then offered another job in the same company because of my department head's referral. A few months later, I start to search for new job. Is it because of the insecurity I felt due to bad experience in my first job? Or because I don't like the job that I was doing? Or because I finally able to get offer for a permanent job after the tiring process of interviews after interviews.

I am now working as a buyer. Why do I chose to accept this new job even though the salary is lower than my previous position. I rationalized that the position of a buyer has more prospect than an ordinary administrative executive. I need to learn some skills in order for me to land on other job in the future. I know that I must take the challenge and CHANGE.

In summary, I realised that I am what I am today because of what I decided in my earlier years.

Experience at Restoran Tong Juan Seafood

Four of us traveled all the way from Kuantan to Kemaman to look for food. We drive around Kemaman and found that there are not much restaurant/ coffee shop around. Finally, we decided to have our lunch at Restoran Tong Juan Seafood because we saw quite a number of people in the restaurant (an indication that the food is not bad).

We did not encounter any parking problem because there is a spacious car park areas just across the street. When we stepped inside the restaurant we felt relieved because we saw a lot of newspaper cuttings hanging on the wall introducing the food in the restaurant. After choosing a nice location to be seated, we ordered our food. Of course, we ordered stuffed crabs as it is their signature dish. We also ordered steam fish, a plate of vegetables and omelette's.


Overall, all of us agreed that the food were alright except that the steam fish is a bit tasteless. However, we were shocked when the bills came because it cost almost RM100.

RM30 for 4 pieces of stuffed crabs.
RM36 for steam fish (Only cost about RM20 when I eat in KL)
RM6.80 for 6 plate of rice (About RM1.20/plate Because of the recent price hike of rice??)

Kuantan Trip

On 11/05/2008, I woke up at 9am with a smile because I will be going for a 2D/1N vacation in Kuantan. After finished my breakfast and read the newspapers, I started to pack my bag. I bring along some cloths, towel, toiletries, and a bottle of water. Before I left my house, I make sure that I bring my wallet, handphone, and the camera.

After lunch, Brian and me pick up with his sister and brother-in-law. Then, we started our journey to Kuantan for a holiday. We will be staying at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa in Kuantan. Brian drove from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan via the Karak Highway which connects directly to the new East Coast Expressway. It took about 4 hours drive because we lost our way finding the hotel. It was almost 7pm when we reached there.

We found a nice car park near the hotel entrance. Once I stepped my foot on the lobby, my first impression was "WOW, nice hotel". The light setting, the furniture, the ambiance, the atmospher is GREAT. There is a band of musician playing traditional music when I was waiting for Brian's brother-in-law to settle the check-in procedure.

Then, we proceed to the hotel room for some rest before our dinner. I am very satisfied and happy with the room condition and facilities in the room. It's nice and clean. After taking a hot and long shower, we headed out to find food to fill our stomach. We found a restaurant/ coffee shop with lots of people about 15minutes drive from the hotel. The taste of the food is okay and I found that the price of the food is more or less the same compared with KL.

After dinner, we decided to drive around the area to experience the night life in Kuantan. However, most of the shops are closed because the time is already 9.30pm. Feeling boring, we decided to return to the hotel and call it a day.

The Millionaire Mind Intensive™ by T.Harv Eker

Date: 23rd - 25th May 2008 (Friday ~ Sunday)

Venue: Mines International Exhibition Convention Centre (MIECC)

Date: 7th - 9th November 2008 (Friday ~ Sunday)
Venue: Singapore Expo, Hall 2

A Weekend That Will Change Your Financial Life Forever!

WINNING THE MONEY GAME

Most of us were never taught how to win the money game and if we were, most likely we were taught by people who weren't very good at it. The first critical element in winning the money game is knowing exactly how to do what rich people do to get and keep wealth.

At the Millionaire Mind Intensive you will learn a step-by-step process for winning the money game. Once you know how to play to win, you will never have to work again…unless of course, you choose to!

Here's just a part of what you'll learn:

• The wealth creation & maintenance strategies of the rich
• How to quadruple your speed to financial freedom
• The 5 key financial habits of the wealthy
• The underlying cause of almost all financial problems
• 12 ways to earn passive income so you can make money while you sleep

THE WORLD'S SIMPLEST SYSTEM FOR MONEY MANAGEMENT
Plus! One of the key elements of this seminar is teaching you a fail-safe, sure-fire money management method. This method not only allows you to save a fortune, it will get you to start investing wisely while allowing you to have some money that is only for play!

Over 500,000 lives have been changed by this system and the Millionaire Mind Intensive is going to show you exactly how to put it into action.

Even if you have very little money, it's imperative that you learn to manage your money to make it grow! This system shows you how; and the amounts you manage don't matter, so long as you learn the system.

INTENSE BREAKTHROUGH LEARNING
Each day of the seminar, you'll take part in groundbreaking exercises that will show you exactly how your outer world reflects your inner world.

If you want to change how you deal with your finances on the outside, you're going to need to change how you think about money. You are going to have to learn the “inner game” of wealth building. Go within, make the changes, and your outer world will manifest what you choose!

At the Millionaire Mind Intensive, we are going to teach you the secret psychology of wealth. One of the first things you will learn is—

YOU HAVE A PERSONAL MONEY AND SUCCESS BLUEPRINT

We all have a blueprint that decides how we handle money. It's deeply ingrained in our subconscious and it determines your financial destiny. It comes from our past programming—things we learned in childhood in three 3 primary ways: Verbal Conditioning - what we heard; Modeling - what we saw; and, Specific Incidents – what we experienced.

But here's the key:

YOUR FINANCIAL BLUEPRINT CAN BE CHANGED!

One of the main objectives of the Millionaire Mind Intensive is to show you:

• How your childhood conditioning is affecting your finances today
• How to identify and change your personal money and success blueprint, forever
• How to recognize your “money personality” and learn to build on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses
• How to use “spiritual laws” to create “real world” success
• How rich people think and how to adopt their ingrained blueprint for abundance
• How to recondition your mind for “automatic” success

“Your income can only grow to the extent that you do!” T. Harv Eker

CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS

So what is your financial blueprint set for? Are you set for success, mediocrity or failure; ease or struggle; consistent earnings or an “up and down” income?

Some of us are set for saving, some for spending, some do both in cycles that keep them financially treading water their whole lives. There are those who instinctively choose winning investments and those who consistently pick losers. But...how do you know which way your blueprint is set?

One way is to look at your results!

Financial settings are like the temperature in a room. If the temperature is 72 degrees, chances are the thermostat is set for 72 degrees. If you are not earning enough, keeping enough, or enjoying your money enough, then your blueprint is set for “not enough”. And unless you change it, your current financial blueprint will stay with you for the rest of your life.

That is exactly what we do at the Millionaire Mind Intensive!

ARE YOU ATTRACTING OR REPELLING SUCCESS?

Another thing you will learn at the Millionaire Mind Intensive is that the universe is dynamic . Everything is in a constant state of motion and change. At every moment, depending on how you think, speak, and act in the world, you are either attracting success or repelling it.

At the Millionaire Mind Intensive, through intense learning exercises, you will change your money, resetting it for “automatic” success.

The course objective is to make success—in all areas of your life—your natural way of being. Having done that, you will find that you will attract all that you have been struggling to achieve…and more!

By the end of this course you will have a completely different attitude towards money and success; you will have a millionaire's mind-set. Best of all, the same principles you learn to enhance your financial life will create inner peace and happiness. The Millionaire Mind Intensive will teach you to be “rich” in every sense of the word.

Six Lessons from "Rich Dad Poor Dad"

Lesson 1: Don't Work For Money.

• Avoid Rat Race - Get up, go to work, pay bills, get up, go to work, and pay bills.It is one of life’s biggest traps and lives are run forever by fear & greed. Offer them more money and they continue the cycle by also increasing their spending.
• We should use our imaginations to identify an opportunity to make money (seeing what others miss).
  

Lesson 2: Why Learn Financial Literacy

• It’s not how much money you make, its how much you keep & how many generations you keep it.
• We must know difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets.
• In financial reporting, reading numbers is looking for the plot/story of where the cash is flowing.

Income Statement (Profit and Loss Statement): measures income and expenses.

Balance Sheet: to balance assets against liabilities.

Asset: something that put money in pocket

Liability: something that takes money out of my pocket.

Financial aptitude: what you do with the money once you make it, how to keep people from taking it from you, how long you keep it, and how hard that money works for you.

Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many numbers of days forward…or if stopped working today, how long could survive?


Lesson 3: Mind Your Own Business

• Start minding your own business. Keep your daytime job, but start buying real assets, not liabilities or personal effects that have no real value once you get them home.
• Start building a solid asset column before leave home, get married, buy a house, have kids and get stuck in a risky financial position, clinging to a job and buying everything on credit.
• The better understanding of accounting and cash management, the better at analyzing investments and eventually starting and building own company.
• Real assets fall into several different categories.

1. Business that do not require my presence.
2. Stocks
3. Bonds
4. Mutual funds.
5. Income-generating real estate.
6. Notes (IOUs)
7. Royalties from intellectual property such as music, scripts, patents.
8. And anything else that has value produces income or appreciates and has a ready market.

Lesson 4: Taxes and Power of Corporation
Financial IQ is made up of knowledge from four broad areas of expertise:

Accounting/Financial literacy: the ability to read and understand financial statements. To identify the strength and weaknesses of any business.

Investing: science of money making money. Involves strategies and formulas.

Understanding Market: science of supply and demand.

Law: An individual with the knowledge of tax advantages and protection provided by a corporation can get rich so much faster than someone who is an employee or a small-business sole proprietor.

Tax advantages:
Employees earn and get taxed and they try to live on what is left. A corporation earns, spends everything it can and is taxes on anything that is left.

Protection from lawsuits:
The rich control everything but own nothing. The poor and middle class try to own everything and lose it to the government or to fellow citizens.
If own any legitimate assets, consider finding out more about the benefits and protection offered by a corporation as soon as possible.

Lesson 5: The Rich Invent Money
Two kinds of investors:

1. People who buy packaged investment: mutual fund, REIT, stock or bond
2. People who create investment: know how to put pieces of opportunities together, or know people who do so.

Three skills to be second type of investor (to become financially intelligent)

1. See with your mind what others miss with their eyes.
2. Know how to raise capital
3. Know how to organize smart people.

Lesson 6: Work to learn, Don't Work For Money

• Education is more valuable than money in the long run.
• Studying trade, people, business styles, and cultures of other country.
• Leadership need to be learned next.
• Seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look at what skills to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in rat race.
• Take a second job that will teach second skills. (Ex. Network marketing)
• The more specialized, the more trapped and dependent on the specialty.
• Know a little about a lot.
• Work with people smarter than we were and bring smart people together to work as a team.

7 Ways of Tax Deduction (Legally)

Deduction 1: INDIVIDUAL
Relief of RM8,000 for an individual in respect is granted automatically.

Deduction 2: EDUCATION FEES (SELF)
An amount limited to a maximum of RM5,000 is deductible in respect of fees expended on any course of study up to tertiary level in any institution in Malaysia recognised by the Malaysian Government, for the purpose of acquiring law, accounting, Islamic financing, technical, vocational, industrial, scientific or technological skills or qualifications.

Deduction 3: COMPLETE MEDICAL EXAMINATION
Complete medical examination refers to thorough examination expended is deductible up to a maximum of RM500.

Deduction 4: PURCHASE OF BOOKS/MAGAZINES
An amount limited to a maximum of RM1,000 is deductible in respect of the purchase of books, magazines, journals or other similar publications (in form of hardcopy or electronic but exclude newspapers or banned reading materials) for enhancing the knowledge.

Deduction 5: PURCHASE OF PERSONAL COMPUTER FOR INDIVIDUAL
An amount limited to a maximum of RM3,000 is deductible in respect of the purchase of personal computer. No deduction will be granted if the computer is used for business purpose. This deduction is allowed once in 3 years.

Deduction 6: LIFE INSURANCE AND PROVIDENT FUND
i) Insurance premiums paid for policies taken on the life
ii) Contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)
Total relief for the payment of life insurance premiums and contributions to the EPF or other approved schemes is limited to RM6,000.

Deduction 7: EDUCATION AND MEDICAL INSURANCE
A relief not exceeding RM3,000 is available on insurance premiums in respect of education or
medical benefits.