You are in one of the category of Reflections of a Business Driven Life.  To read all posts, go to the main page, or you can choose to read or subscribe to a category:   on technology, on life, on business, favorite quotes, jokes, tidbits, EntrepreViews & reading reviews.

	Sunday, July 31, 2005

A new Bizdrivenlife Compilation I have been blogging for almost a year now, and it has been a gratifying experience, and I have made many new friends. I will continue to blog, but blogging has one slight disadvantage — it is good to comment on everyday things, but I do find it difficult to separate some of the articles that I have written that I feel is not only relevant today, but of some enduring value. The blog’s design makes it hard for us to separate this, as every new entry you put in pushes the article downwards and after a few days, to oblivion, seldom read again. I have thus taken some of my articles which I feel is of great interest, and set up another site which contains the best selected posts I've done and redesigned to read more like an e-book. This is separated into four categories which you can also directly browse into — on business, on life, on technology, and on entrepreneurship.  I will also soon a compilation of computer columns I write for the papers, plus a project management guide that I am working on soon. I hope you can browse on these articles and give me feedback. Some friends have wanted me to compile it into a download, and I will, but I feel I need to get more feedback from all of you.   9:40:28 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Overworking vs. Overworrying   (On Life ) The other day, I received a comment that I looked younger than my years.  Ok, so that was flattery, but it did made me looked into the mirror twice.  But let us assume for once that it is true, and that set off a lot of wishful thinking and thoughts....     I have had a backbreaking schedule since as long as I can remember.  For the last 20 years, I reckon I have worked 75 hour weeks on average. I don't take a lot of break and can hardly remember more than 2 or 3 days when I was totally disengaged from the business.  I eat too much for my own good, and I exercise too little.  I read too much ( that makes me a couch potato too!) and I spend too much time in front of the computer.    And I worry a lot….. This bad habit has been with me ever since I was small.  I think too much, and I analyze too much, and I go into details and small things too much.   All this means that I should have aged quickly.   But maybe it is work that saved me.  Everyday, a lot of challenges awaits, and I am excited to get up in mornings to start tackling the issues and solving the challenges.  Problems hit me, but maybe because of too many things to do, I did not have too much time to think too much of bad misfortunes, or brood too much of things that is going to happen.  Busyness… before you know it, 3 days have passed, and the big problem that was supposed to overwhelmed you have now shrink in size.   We worry when we have times in our hands.  It feels our idle time like a vacuum.  The best way to reduce worry is to make sure we don't have time for it.   Rather overwork than overworry....  ?  What do you think?     10:09:23 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Modern Day Magicians  (On Life ) I am one of probably thousands of parents who are enjoying the latest Harry Potter book, The Half Blood Prince with their children.  We took turns reading, and discussing various aspects of the book.  The story continues to spin its magic.  I particularly liked great quotes which came out of J.K. Rowling's masterful pen.  First is the quote of Albus Dumbledore - ' naturally, I make mistakes, like the next man.  IN fact, being, forgive me - rather clever than most men, my mistakes tend to be corresponding huger.'  This is an insight.  The more intelligent and deep a person is, the less mistakes he will make, but some of his mistakes can actually also be more bizarre and stupid than dumb people can ever make.  To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, which is also one of my favorite quotes expressing the same thing, ' the most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine." The other gem was discussed by the teacher during apparition class.  This is what he announced. 'Always remember the 3Ds when apparating.  These are  destination. determination. deliberation.   Step 1. Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination.   Step 2.  Focus your determination to occupy the visualized space.  Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body.   Step 3.  Move with deliberation.   This is not only a formula for learning apparition, but apparently a formula for getting things done, and accomplishing success.   The last thing I want to share was a feeling I had ever since Book 1 or Book2.  How could these kids treat learning magic with such unseriousness.  Isn't it obvious that at almost every turn, their very success and oftentimes, their very lives depend on their mastering the magic, and yet they treat it with such abandon?  How could anybody, when presented an opportunity to learn magic, fail to make full use of it?   Eventually, however, I started to think -- it is not only them that had the opportunity to learn magic and did not make full use of it.  We all have the opportunity,even everyday to learn some skills or new technology that when properly applied is the difference between success and failure, or between happiness and despair.  We have in our hands, more power and more wisdom than the most powerful wizards to communicate, to learn, and to do modern day magic.     We have it all within us, and it is all around us, everyday of the week.  Are we making full use of it?  Do we, with all the technology and computing power we have, stupidly wish for antique tricks and incantations?  Do we still fail to make it to become better and happier?   What do old wizards and witches have that we don't?         8:01:23 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Monday, July 18, 2005

The Not to Do and Not to Know  List  (On Life ) I was talking to a good friend who was interested in many of the things I do.  He asked me how much I bought my shoes for.  I said I honestly don't know.  My wife bought it for me.  He asked me how much was the tuition of my children in that particular school.  I told him I also don't know.  He also asked me how much was the plane fare I paid for the last trip I took.  I said the office got that, but also I didn't really know. He was looking at me curiously, and I knew I had to come up with an explanation.  I told him I trust my wife to make these judgments, and if it is something I don't need to know, I told her she did not have to tell me.  I said I had to remember too many things in the office that I did not want to cram to my head too much information  ( see also Offloading your brain article ). Anyway, I know where to look for the information should I need to know. This attitude was probably inculcated from me from some of the books I read, particularly Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series.  I like detective and mysteries, and read a lot of them since I was small.   Sherlock Holmes, of course, is a classic detective well known for his observation powers, great memory, and clear logic.  I remember there was a passage where they were talking about the planets of the solar system, and the stars, and after making the inquiries, Sherlock Holmes announced that now he knew, he would take effort to forget what he has been told. When asked by Dr. Watson why, he said that while knowing the planets were interesting, he failed to see what good it would do in his crime detection work, and therefore did not want to put his head to remembering these 'useless' facts.  Not having to remember useless facts means his head could also remember the useful facts better, he said. The reason why these make a particular impression was that while I take particular care on choosing what to know and what not to know, I was not very good in the other thing that is important in the success of business and life -- which is what we need to focus and do. Our success is not only in what we know, but in what we do, and for the last 20 years, I have lead a labyrinth of the most busy life, more often putting in 70 hour weeks.  I have always taken pride in my ability to do things, and do indeed get myself involved in a lot of things.  I have had always much more things to do than I had time to do it, and thus, for the longest time, have been a great fan of pocket and electronic organizers in how to prioritize, and organize the list.  But whether electronic or paper, no tool was ever good enough, and it seems that the mountain of tasks just keep getting more and more. Then just other week, I read an article that hit me.  This was a Business 2.0 article on The CEO Handbook, which details some compilations Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson advice on business management. This particular advice stuck me like a bolt of lightning, and although it was something I had thought of before, it was simplicity itself in the way it was presented that jolted.  Basically the advice is that if you are already upto your neck in work, the first thing you do is to come up with a list ( fair enough, I know that one).  But it was a different kind of list.  Instead of coming up with a to-do list, you come up with a Not-to-do list!  The first thing therefore you should think about is not what you want to do, but what you can delegate others to do, or not to do at all!  That was great advice.  AFter all, as i said always before, we can never find time to do all the things we want, and therefore we need to prioritize ( this has been a recurring advice you see here).  But maybe, just maybe, it is not only prioritizing, but actually making a call that many things, while seemingly urgent, may not need to be done by you personally at all! This is quite obvious, but I hope I can get a vote from my readers that the simplicity itself of the advice really struck home!  I am sure many of the readers here are entrepreneurs like, and as entrepreneurs, we take pride in our ability to do things better than the others.  But as we grow the company, we have to let go, and let others take the job -- and the credit.  I have seen many entrepreneurs who do not have time to grow, becase they don't let go.  They want to do everything themselves ( because they think they can do it better), and thus perpetually is not able to find time to grow the company. So, the tools of business and personal success -- the not to do and not to know list.  What do you think?     2:52:18 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Sunday, July 10, 2005

What is important to me   (On Life )   I saw this in an Ecademy post, and thought it mirrors more or less what I myself yearn for in developing proper attitude towards:     Fame - I like a bit of Fame, but not of the celebrity sort - more to do with being known and talked about in good terms.   Money - yes but only because I have to earn it - 'the game is the thing - the money is just a way of keeping score'   Power - only in terms of being in control of my own destiny rather than anything to do with power over others.   Influence - Yes very important - I get as much satisfaction from influencing and developing my staff as I do from influencing my customers.   But what is really important to me is ACHEIVEMENT - I use my business to fulfill that personal need more than anything.   That's me too!       5:44:29 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Friday, July 08, 2005

Australian Millionaires Feel Poor   (on life) I have been feeling a little bit sheepish for declaring that I may be starting to fear success, as with many of the people seemed to do.  Maybe I just had a bad day, or maybe needed a break. Then I read this, and I start to feel philosophical again. According to this report, only five percent of Australia's millionaires  ( 12,000 people studied)  regard themselves as prosperous and many believe they are struggling close to the poverty line. In fact, seven percent of the very wealthy - with assets of three million Australian dollars or more ( well over 2 million US dolalrs) - described themselves as "poor" or "just getting along". 'Far from the belief that higher incomes and more assets will create a prosperous nation, it seems that the relentless emphasis on higher incomes will in fact generate more dissatisfaction,' according to Clive Hamilton, co author of the study. 'Overall life satisfaction is little affected by differences in wealth,' he said. 'It seems that the richer that we become, the less satisfied we are with our incomes. It's as if our levels of desire always stay ahead of our actual levels of income.' For sure, society now is vastly different.  I remember 30 years ago, there was so much less assets and wealth in our city, yet a lot of people did not feel poor.  The rich had bigger land and bigger houses and have tv.  Now, with conspicuous consumption, and all the nice gadgets, things, and brand names to splurge, the end result is that people do indeed feel deprived.  It is easy to compare your clothes, your accessories, your car, your component system, your projector tv,  and all others.  Not only with those of your own city, but everybody worldwide.  We see what American sare enjoying, and before long we yearn for the same. Of course, the other lesson I feel is that indeed, maybe the richest people are the richest because they feel deprived. Nothing fuels ambition more than your feeling that you still have something to show to everybody, which in today's society has become a very strong peer urge.  I guess that is the reason why the most of the successful entrepreneurs are born poor -- and many of the second and third generation people do not do as well to grow their wealth. I think the strength of the ambition and the aggressiveness to succeed is a central factor of a person who will make it to the top.  Which makes me again ponder on my previous post.  Once I lose the hunger to make it, will that mean that I will be less successful? Most probably, but not necessarily less happy as less focus on material success can make me focus more on other things that are important in life. 6:23:29 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Thursday, July 07, 2005

Some people fear Success  (On Life )   For the last 20 years, I have yearned for success, mostly business success.  Now I have some, I am also thinking about what price success?  I have increased some amount of my assets and my income, but of course, it took a toll too.  More and more, I find myself wishing that a little less responsibility and work ( even with less income) would actually be welcomed - something I had not wish when i was younger.   For the longest while, I was willing to pay a high price to move up.  But now, maybe because of age, or simply because priorities change, I am starting to think that maybe I am content to be where I am instead of moving further up.  Maybe age does mellow people.   I never thought I would fear success, and everything I have done and said in the past have been ' that success is good, and it is worthwhile to sacrifice for, and that we have to work hard to earn our rights to the stars.'   But maybe I am now at a time when I do fear success, and I am starting to understand how and why some people really were uncomfortable when you try too hard to push them up the corporate ladder.  And I am finding out that indeed, many people have had the wisdom that sometimes material success is not what is touted to be, and it is right to fear not only its accomplishment, but also its consequent effects.   'If I am really successful then my friends will probably not want as much to do with me' ' There's something not quite right / nice about desiring vast wealth.'   ' If I was meant to have.... then it would have happened to me long ago'   These are wishes that I used to think are not mature wishes, but more and more it is striking a chord.    Many people desire success, but mostly those that don't know its consequences and its consequent responsibilities.  Many covet success or dream of success in a way like winning the lottery, or suddenly have a huge fortune bestowed by a previously unknown relative, but I think deep down they know it is not possible.  But they are afraid of the success that will take away their friends, or their leisure, or something that they have grown comfortable with.   And more and more, I am thinking that they just might have a point.   Well, this is a blog about being successful, but maybe it just might be a good time to be a devil's advocate for once, to once a while pause and reflect.    Or maybe we just equate too much the idea that success is material wealth.  Other than material success, what are the other things we should accomplish or are important in our life?    What do you think?         6:59:21 PM     comment []   trackback []

	Friday, July 01, 2005

A Great Lesson in Life (On Life ) Vivek Paul, who as CEO built Wipro into one of the outsourcing's heavy hitters, and ramped up its business from $150 million in 1999 to $1.4 billion in 2004 has left the company. He traced his great performance to an encounter with an elephant more than a dozen years ago, which helped him crystallized his philosophy in life. Paul was curious why an elephant tied to a small stake in the ground did not yank it up and be on its way. The animal's handler explained that baby elephants tied to similar stakes learn they can't break free. As elephants grow older and stronger, they don't test the stake again--thereby remaining trapped by what should be an obsolete restraint. "I said, 'By gosh! That's probably relevant to people as well,'" Paul said. Source:  Vivek Paul's Elephant Trick   6:04:16 PM     comment []   trackback []