The Road to Greatness

“Do you want to achieve greatness in life?” if I were to ask a hundred people these questions, I will receive 100 different answers because there are many definitions of “greatness”. Some thinks it’s about becoming rich; some relate to being famous, while others define it as leaving a legacy, fighting for their country, marrying your loved ones, etc.

Above all, everyone wants to achieve greatness, whether they are aware of it or not. However, the road to “being important to something or someone… to one person, a million or a billion people” (definition of greatness in the dictionary) is long and treacherous. Many faltered along the way, became fearful and gave in to mediocrity. But I’m here to tell you today that you must get up on your feet again! You mustn’t succumb to failure and relinquish your dream of achieving greatness.

The Long Road Ahead…

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” – William Shakespeare

As the above quote suggests, greatness comes with responsibility. Only people who dare to take up responsibilities can achieve greatness in life. Greatness must also be achieved by going through a process of refining our characters and abilities. During this process, you will fail many times. But, in every failure, therein lies keys to success. You must learn from your mistakes, move on with life, and continue searching for your destiny. When you discover it, work towards your destiny and at the end of the day, you will make a difference in somebody’s life.

Thomas Edison spent countless hours experimenting with thousands of materials and failing thousands of times before he discovered tungsten to be the ONE for his bulb to work. Tech magnates such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg probably took years to perfect their skills, and failed miserably at some point before they achieve greatness.

Heroes of the Bible such as Moses, Daniel, Joseph and Jesus, had to endure physical pain, ridicule, character-building, and the agony of waiting before they achieve great things in their lives.

***** One thing all of the above people share is the determination to fight and never give in to mediocrity. Likewise, let’s stand on our feet once again and claim the glory awaiting you.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” – the Bible

Hard Work Always Pay Off

I am reading a book about Warren Buffet, called “The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life”. It’s a biography about his life. After reaching the 21st chapter, I could not help but tell you that Warren didn’t make it to be a billionaire in a day or two. It took him years and years of hard work, and that’s why I believe that it takes effort to become successful in your business.

Warren was like any of us. He went to school, got a degree and worked for someone else before venturing out on his own. He attended a number of universities – Upenn, Univ. of Nebraska and finally Columbia University where he learned under the great master of value investing, Benjamin Graham. After earning his degree, he couldn’t get a job with Graham’s company right away, so he worked at his dad’s company. He worked tirelessly and taught investing in college. One day, his wish finally came true – he got a shot at working for Graham-Newman (investment company).

Warren did his homework to become good in investing. He studied Moody’s manuals, SEC documents, news, pink sheets (list of small stocks), Banks and Finance, and Public Utility. Until this day, he kept his zeal in reading about companies, learning about the management and keeping himself informed about the companies he had a share in. Unlike most people who made investing decisions based on reports made by others, Warren also made it a point to go the extra mile.

He visited the management of the companies he was interested in and asked them questions to learn more about them. The book described him as a “detective”. Likewise, we ought to learn from him. We should go the extra mile, work harder and do something outside the box that will benefit our bosses and the entities we work for.

All in all, if you want to reap success, you must be willing to work harder than the rest. Be dilligent in doing your work and it will pay off one day.

Focus…. and Be Laser-focused

Focus. This is one of the key topics Anthony Robbins covered in his famous book, “Awakening the Giants Within”. He said that being laser-focused will help you achieve your dreams in life and also a key to awakening the giant in you (means fulfilling your full potential and destiny that your Creator has for you!). On the contrary, focusing on too many things may work against you in the short and long run… because you lose “focus” when you divert your energy to too many things at one time.

I couldn’t agree more! In recent months, I have been a victim of “doing too many things”. I tried to get my hands on way too many things – from learning to create databases to making websites, blogs and video editing – such that I got distraught and gave up mastering any of them! Yes, I was a loser in this aspect but I learned my lesson very soon and changed for the better. I took a little time off and reflected on what I am really passionate about, and the good news is – I decided to focus on one or two things at max.

I made a commitment to learn about blogging and focus on helping out in the family business. The result was unbelievable! I realized that I could gain more depth into the things I’m working on, innovate more and live a less stressful life in the process. Trust me – doing too many things at one time will stress you out. And it will reach a breaking point where you decide to give up on all of them!

Today, if you fall in the same trap I got into, get out of it right away! Start to focus on one or two (or 3 at max)! You will be more productive, and you will most likely complete your goals faster.

You Need Passion to Be A Master of Your Trade

I believe that learning is an arduous process to mastery, therefore whatever you decide to learn, make sure you become a master of it. If you don’t, you should question your passion in the subject because the process is long and difficult. But at the end of the tunnel, success awaits you… Not convinced?

Look at these people: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are passionate about technology and computer-related stuffs. Warren Buffet is passionate about investing. Mother Teresa was passionate about helping people. Qin Shihuang was passionate about gaining power and uniting China. Gandhi was passionate about non-violence thus the idea of “ahimsa”. Sam Walton was passionate about supermarkets. Disney was passionate about drawing cartoons.

Most successful people LOVE what they are doing, and this love or passion becomes the hidden supernatural power that gives them strength and hope in tough times when they go through rough patches in life.

Now that you are aware of this important KEY to SUCCESS, spread it to the people around them. Tell your friends, family members who have lost hope in life or work to be laser-focused in doing the things they are PASSIONATE about!

Wise Sayings From The Sages of Our Time

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
Dalai Lama

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.
Tony Robbins

Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.
Tony Robbins

When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance.
Joel Osteen

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
Mark Twain

My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.
Andy Warhol

The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.
Brian Tracy

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
Ansel Adams

My main focus is on my game.
Tiger Woods

The major championships have always been a special focus in my career, and as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be.
Tiger Woods

We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what’s wrong in your life, or you can focus on what’s right.
Marianne Williamson

Focus on your problem zones, your strength, your energy, your flexibility and all the rest. Maybe your chest is flabby or your hips or waist need toning. Also, you should change your program every thirty days. That’s the key.
Jack LaLanne

My focus is to forget the pain of life. Forget the pain, mock the pain, reduce it. And laugh.
Jim Carrey

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.
Alan Watts

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
Alexander Graham Bell

I had to focus and create a character in Bagger Vance, not just do my ‘Will Smith’ thing and get paid.
Will Smith

Once upon a time we did not focus on a president’s private life.
Tom Ford

School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn’t want to learn.
Leonardo DiCaprio

Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.
Denis Waitley

Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.
Denis Waitley

Humility is The Final Achievement

When you look at the title, you’d probably wonder what the phrase means. It’s a tough one, people.

I scratched my head too when I saw it the very first time at Disney’s Burbank office (yes, I used to work for Disney). Subsequently, being a thoughtful, analytical person, I pondered on these words real hard to understand why Frank G. Wells really REALLY liked these words when he was alive. Oh, FYI, he got them from a fortune cookie and kept the crumpled piece of paper for 30 years before his son discovered it! Just in case you’re wondering what a fortune cookie is…

It’s a cookie that Chinese restaurants in the US give to customers after a meal. It contains “fortune” words that make people happy 🙂

My Conclusion

After thinking about the phrase, “Humility is The Final Achievement”, I came to one conclusion – Frank G. Wells wanted and was striving to become humble, because he’d already achieved so much in life that nothing else might matter besides BEING HUMBLE. He probably believed that having a good character a key to real success and humility is the one most difficult character trait to achieve, therefore the words “final achievement.” I don’t know if this man had achieved what he thought to be the “final achievement” before he died in a helicopter accident, but some would think he’d done it.

Michael Eisner, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company back in the days of Frank Wells, gave a testimony about Frank’s humility:

Most people know about Eisner becoming CEO during that time. Few know that Wells joined the company on the same day. Both were sought out by the board of directors as the likely candidates to run the company. The question was, who of the two would be in charge? Would it be Wells, who was a financial guru? Or would it Eisner, who came from the creative side of the business? Here in Eisner’s words was how that came to be:

“I will never forget when Roy Disney and Stanley Gold put us together to discuss coming to Disney. Being a little cocky, I suggested I become CEO. Without hesitation Frank said OK. I was stunned. ‘Did you say yes?’ I asked. He said, ‘yup’ and that was that. From that moment on I knew he was special.”

There is a quote: “Success comes to any person who is willing to give the credit to others.” Nothing could be truer about Wells. And perhaps that’s why we all know so much about Michael Eisner and so little about Frank Wells. Like Walt before him, Eisner was the one in front of the cameras. Eisner was the one on the cover of major magazines and papers. It was Eisner whose name is aligned with the dramatic changes that came to the Walt Disney Company during the eighties and the early 1990s. But it was their joint efforts, one being creative, and one being fiscal that led to so many amazing and dramatic milestones during that time. Those achievements included:

• The golden renaissance of Disney animation to include hits like The Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
• Blockbuster films like Pretty Woman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Sister Act, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Good Morning, Vietnam.
• Television hits such as The Golden Girls and Home Improvement, along with making The Disney Channel one of the largest pay television networks.
• The tremendous resort growth of Walt Disney World and its competition against Universal with The Disney-MGM Studios and a slate of hotels, water parks, and resort offerings.
• The creation of Disneyland Paris with a Magic Kingdom, hotels, a campground  and The Disney Village.
• The redevelopment of Disneyland as a resort destination and not simply a park, with the purchase of the Disneyland Hotel, and property throughout Anaheim.
• Development of The Disney Store and its consumer products division to include video releases.

(an excerpt from http://www.mouseplanet.com/8780/Celebrating_Frank_Wells)

So What?

At this point, you might wonder: ‘what’s the big deal about this guy? He’s no Bill Gates, no Oprah Winfrey.’ Although Frank was not the richest, smartest person on Earth, I believe he represents most of us human being. Like most of us, Frank probably sought out his true purpose for living, worked tirelessly towards his goals and dreams. He’d achieve a lot of his goals and dreams by the time he was at Disney (or before that). Frank was once the President of Warner Bros and President and Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company (now a $36-billion-dollar company).

He had climbed 6 of the highest mountains in the world: Kilimanjaro in Africa, Denali (Mount McKinley) in North America,Aconcagua in South America, Elbrus in Europe,  Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, and Vinson in Antarctica. (he missed Mount Everest). He was also a Phi Beta Kappa, a Rhodes Scholar, ROTC, a runner, WASP, water polo player, a husband, a father of two sons, and an attorney.

In short, Frank had everything, but he felt that humility is the most important and difficult achievement of all. He probably realized that being someone of his stature, it’d be really tough to remain humble, that’s why he kept that paper in his wallet to always remind him of humility.

Many of us don’t pay particular attention to developing our characters, especially on being humble. But I want to remind you that the quality of our characters will determine who we’ll become in the future. If you are humble, people will respect you and you will be blessed with many things in life. If you are faithful and loyal, people will trust you. On the contrary, I doubt that proud and dishonest people achieve far in life. All in all, I hope that this short story about Frank will inspire you to always strive for humility in all aspects in life.

Have a great Sunday!

Key to Success – Deconstructing Things that Scare You

A few weeks ago, I listened to a TED Conference podcast from iTunes, and the speaker was Tim Ferris, author of New York Times Bestseller book, “The 4-hour Workweek”. I did not know he was the author of that book until I took interest in his speech and googled him. In the 15-minutes podcast, he talked about getting over his fear of swimming, how he became a tango expert, and how he mastered Japanese effectively. His speech inspired me so much that I began reading his blog (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/category/language/) and even thought of learning the Japanese language (but I soon lost the interest because I’m missing the “why” i wanna learn the language or adherence – in Tim’s terms… )

He covered a number of points in the speech, but I found the very first one intriguing – “De-constructing the things that scare you”. Tim had been afraid of swimming since 7. He was born premature with collapsed lung, and he never liked the waters. One day a bully tried to drown him in a summer camp. Since then, he never overcame his fears until the age of 31 when he could finally swim a lap or two and eventually in the open ocean.

How Did He Do It?

1. First principles. “the best results in life are often held back by false constructs and untested assumptions”. Don’t jump to conclusion until you test your assumptions…

2. He was inspired by a coffee-addict friend who told him that he could go without espresso for a year. So this friend of his then challenged him to overcome his fear for swimming

3. Sought for help. He looked for trainers, tried to kickboards, did lessons with Olympians, and finally he had a swimming consultant, Terry to train him.

4. Learn the techniques right. Tim learned the bio-mechanics of swimming (streamlining your body, breathing right, paddling right..) well.

WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS STORY: face your fears but learning how to do it well… by getting help and being inspired…

DO read his blog and watch the podcast or his video “How to Feel Like the Incredible Hulk” in the video section

Amazon.com: A Real Tech Success Story

Allow me to introduce, Mr Jeff Bezos, founder of the famous Amazon.com! He started the company in 1994 and took it to EXTREMELY GREAT heights. For a company that was built in a garage, this guy did a really impressive job to bump up its valuation to $54 billion in just 16 years! Amazon scored $20 billion of revenue in 2008.

SO, what’s his secret? Watch the video below and you’ll know..

what to take away from this:

1. Big businesses start small

2. Think long-term

3. Learn from your mistakes, not forget about them

4. Customer is KING. Listen to them

5. Invent solutions. You can if you believe.

 

BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN!!!!

This is a very POWERFUL video that will MOTIVATE YOU! If you have a dream or a vision, watch this and you will discover how to realize it and make it HAPPEN! Don’t wait any longer – watch this now and your life will be changed! This 20-mins video may be the best investment you’ll ever make in your life!

Learning Points

• if God says “YES” to your dream, all the “NO” you get from the people/situation around you doesn’t matter!
• 6 stages of achieving a dream: I THOUGHT IT, I CAUGHT IT, I BOUGHT IT, I SOUGHT IT, I GOT IT, I TAUGHT IT

*** Note that there r 3 parts to this video. You can also find em’ in the “Great Videos” section.

Have a great and blessed day!

Shoyu Pia Cake: Turning $100 into A Business

These days, $100 means nothing to a lot of people in the US. Two trips to the steakhouse and it’s gone.. (I know coz I live in Los Angeles).  But to Malariantika, that is a HUGE sum of money, so she wanted to make full use of it. She used the $100 to start a small business of making “Shoyu pia cakes”. Now her business reaps $700 to $1100 and produces 1000 of those cakes per month. That’s about 700% return on investment!

Daring to Try Something New

I learn that her secret to success is the courage to try new things. While doing research on local food, she discovered that many people don’t use cassava despite its abundance in Indonesia. So she invented MOCAF (modified cassave flour) which then became the main ingredient of her shoyu pia cake (shoyu means cassave in japanese).

What’s so special about MOCAF? It makes the outer layer of the cake more sturdy (doesn’t break easily). It’s a much better flour compared to the regular flour commonly used by pia makers..

In case you are wondering what a pia is…… (it’s a kinda cake delicacy in Indonesia. u can put different fillings in it – green beans, durian, cheese, chocolate etc..so good.. makes me drool whenever i think of it)

She chose to make “pia cakes” because it’s  popular (has a huge demand), cheap and easy to make. If you are planning on a visit to Indonesia, try her corn, meatball and beef “shoyu pia cakes”.

Point to take away today: You can start a business with as little as $100 in Indonesia today. Be innovative – invent new stuffs and don’t fear of trying them out.

** Source:

http://ptp2007.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/malariantika-yulianggi-nominator-asias-best-young-entrepreneur-2009/

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0911_asias_best_young_entrepreneurs/19.htm

 

Indonesia’s Young Entrepreneurs Get International Attention

9 young Indonesian entrepreneurs were nominated as finalists in the Asia’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition. 3 of them are below 20 years of age, and I was surprised that their business ideas were as simple as making cakes (pia) to as difficult as starting an animation school.

businessweek.com

Here is the list (age in brackets followed by company name and description):

1. Nabila (19, Spotlight, produces painted canvas shoes, T-shirts and bags) 

2. Wahyu (29, HelloMotion School, animation school)

3. Goris (26, Resultan Nusantara & Asgar Muda Foundation, helps turn business ideas into workable plans)

4. Oscar (32, Oscar Lawalata Culture, designs clothes and sells em’)

5. Aziz (19, Nomaden Experimental Artworks, photography)

6. Malariantika (19, Shoyu Pia Cake, makes cakes called Pias)

7. Roihatul (30, Helmiat Bonceng Bocah, makes child-safe carrier for motorcycles)

8. Antonius (30, Pavettia Atsiri Indonesia, produce nutmeg, patchouli, and citronella oils on industrial scale)

READ MORE about the stories and VOTE for them here: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0911_asias_best_young_entrepreneurs/1.htm

*** LESSON LEARNED: never too young nor too late to start! Do what you love and earn money in the process…

From $8,000 to $350,000

Lindsey Valentini is the founder of Tea District, a company that sells tea online. She started the company 2 years after graduating from University. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she could not settle with working for someone else in corporate America.

One day, she thought of making a tea company and subsequently decided to spend all her savings on 60,000 cans of tea packaged by an Indonesian company. At that point, she had no idea how to sell her products. She thought she could just make a website and people would buy her products off the Internet.

Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way she expected – in 2006, Tea District sales totaled just $8,000. However, she did not despair over the number. She was determined to make a breakthrough. In mid-2006, she attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas and developed 40 products upon her return. Since then, she traveled non-stop 450 days going to shows, some of which lasted for 8 days.

During the shows, she would stand for 9 hours sampling tea to visitors who came by her booth. In 2007, she sampled 40,000 cups of tea and in 2008, she doubled the number. After working so hard for a long time, sales climbed to $102,000 in 2007 and projected $350,000 in 2009.

Lesson learned: if working for someone else don’t work for you, and you are determined to be your own boss, try starting a business…