The missing ingredient for success – plan of action

In the previous two blogs (Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?, Self discipline – 2nd most important aspect of success), I have outlined that the most important aspect for success is to continuously set goals and the 2nd most important one is to have self discipline.

Some people might say “But, but you did say anything about the how.”
As the saying goes when the why becomes clear, the how is not important as it will come automatically.

In other words, if your goal is clear and definite and you have the self discipline not to sway from your goal, then the plan of action will come to you sooner or later.

According to Maxwell Maltz (author of Psycho-Cybernetics), we all have a “Success Mechanism” built into us. However, this mechanism must have a clear-cut goal, objective, or “problem” to work upon. Your plan of action will come forth if you think about your clear-cut goal often. You should not wait to act until your plan of action is perfect. Do not be afraid of making mistakes or discouraged by temporary setbacks. Instead you improve upon your plan of action through trial and error.

We begin with a goal in mind, an end to be achieved. Do you have a clear picture of where you want to be in 5, 10, 20 and 50 years from now? If not, work on it now and this is only the first step towards a fulfilled life.

The delicate balance between feeling safe and vulnerable

native Sanya boy getting coconuts

We all want to feel safe and secure. Yet you can feel imprisoned in your own security. Wanting too much security can limit freedom of movement. Remaining vulnerable is an essential ingredient so we can experience all possibilities of life.

And sometimes feelings of safety could be just feelings, illusionary rather real. One example illustrates the danger of illusionary safety is how Richard broke his ankle.

Richard has been doing some renovation related work on a wobbly ladder for years. One day this summer, he bought a sturdy ladder with wide foot steps. First time he was up, it felt so secure, he forgot that he was on a ladder and stepped sideways. Sure enough, he felt down 6 feet and broke his ankle. With the wobbly ladder, he always knew that he was on a ladder and felt vulnerable. Therefore, he stayed alert and was safe.

Are you safe? Is your security real or illusionary?

Keep your mind open

According to Beau Lotto, all creatures, from honeybees to humans, came to see the world not as it is, but as what proved useful. If you believe in what he demonstrates, keeping your mind open should enable you to see way more.

I am a firm believer of this concept when it comes to opportunities. For those whose mind is open, they see opportunities everywhere. For those others whose mind is closed, they see obstacles instead.

To keep one’s mind open, you have to be willing to put yourself in a vulnerable situation, which is very scary sometimes. Therefore, I am using the Daily Reminder, which is like a personal mantra, to help centering myself and to believe that the universe is benevolent and abundant. Once you have aligned yourself with the positive energy of the universe, you can then see and seize opportunities that come along the way.

Today, we bought a few shares of U.S. stocks that pay about 7% dividend in average. It is true the value of stocks could go down in short term. I do not believe that the value will go down in 8 year, which is about a full economic cycle. We are going to keep these stocks for 8 years or more, therefore, I see today’s purchase as a great opportunity seized to park your cash in high yield investment (7% versus 1% in savings account).

Another point I wish to add here for future reference. According to gurufocus.com, as of today, the Total Market Index is at $ 11067.6 billion, which is about 78.2% of the last reported GDP. The market is therefore considered fairly valued. In our case with real estate, we only bought fairly valued properties and still did very well.

Self Discipline – the 2nd most important aspect of success

In my last blog “Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?”, we have established that it is equally hard to maintain success as to attain it. There is no standing still. Success is a continuous journey, as Einstein said it: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
We have also pointed out that the most important aspect of success is to continuously set and re-set goals. However, setting these goals was not enough. We have to work on them.

Therefore we bring about the 2nd most important aspect of success, self discipline or the ability to delay gratification. Unfortunately, it seems that only one third of pre-school children have been taught this skill as illustrated by the video of Joachim de Posada from TED talks “Don't eat the marshmallow yet”.

How do we achieve self discipline?

There are many different ways to help us to achieve self discipline. One way of achieving self discipline is to intelligently cultivate our mind so that only intended actions will spring forth.

Then, we have to remind ourselves our goals constantly. On our way to our destination, there are many distractions we encounter. We must constantly remind ourselves where we are going in order not to get lost. The first emperor of China had himself reminded every day that his destiny was to unite China. So he was able to do unpleasant tasks that were needed to achieve his destiny.

Right now, my focus is health. So I have my Daily Reminder, which is to deal with stress. Then I have a list of daily routines that I tick off after I accomplish each one.

Hope you enjoy reading this article.

Is it harder to attain success than to maintain it?

When it comes to success, most people believe that it is harder to attain it than to maintain it. I believe that it is equally hard to maintain it as to attain it. You can find examples in people who succeed young and hear how often they become dependent on drugs to keep up with their success. Michael Jackson exemplifies how hard it is to maintain one’s success. Another example you can find is from people who lose weight successfully just to gain back a few months down the road. It is not that easy to maintain success.

As Richard St. John said it, “Success is not a one way street. Success is a continuous journey.”

Most people whether consciously or unconsciously know this. Therefore, the fear of success kicks in. If you do not succeed, there would not be any pressure to maintain the success. The fear of failure is pretty much the same thing. If you do not succeed, you cannot fail. It is like; if you do not take the test, you cannot fail. You can go through adult life without taking any tests.

How do we then, overcome the fear?

One way to do it is to not focus on the success. We focus instead on what we want to do. If you love to do something, it is enjoyable even if you do it poorly. After doing it over a long period of time, you probably get very good at it, and success comes eventually. However, it is not easy to find out what one loves to do most. So far, I do not think that I have found out my singular passion yet.

Do not despair. If you are like me, focus instead on what you do not want to do. I know absolutely for sure that I do not want to go to work (work in this sense is defined as 9 to 5 on salary or wage). In order not to work, I had to work (and convince my companion to do the same) intensively for 7 years. We both remembered clearly the conversation in the early 90s’. I said to Richard that we should work for 7 to 10 years and save $100,000 and buy a small cottage in the country and an old truck. We would then make our living selling some kind of crafts. So far we have achieved more than what we have set out to do. Richard quit his work in 2002 and I quit mine in 2003. We are living in a semi-country setting and Richard drives a relatively new truck. I am selling beaded jewelry through C-Cassia. January to March every year, we leave Montreal to stay in tropical Sanya in China. Last year, we took a week detour in San Francisco and will do the same this year.

It is possible to do what you do not want to do as long as there is a time span, in my case it is 7 years. Most children know that. How many of them like to do what their parents tell them to do? They do them because they know (think) once they leave home they can do whatever they want.

We are now living our dream life because the goal we set in the past. Our new goal right now is to form habits that will allow us to live healthy and gracefully, which I shall talk about it another time.

Therefore, my conclusion is that the most important aspect of attaining and maintaining success is to continuously set and re-set goals.

My money story

Every one has a money story. Looking at mine, I find that there are a set of principles I adhere. It evolves over time. Here they are:

1. Your happiness about the amount of money you make should be based on the absolute level you set on yourself.

Every time you make money, it usually involves another party (other parties). Ask yourself whether you are happy with the amount and be done with it. Do not compare with others. For example, let’s say that you invested $100,000 in a business venture and you are making 15% return a year and you are happy with it since it is the best you could find at the moment. Then, you find out that the other 5 partners are making 25% return a year. A lot of people would be angry about the situation and feel totally ripped off. It is not a good idea. Instead you should ask yourself whether you could get better return at the same risk level. If not, leave your investment in the same venture and congratulate the others for the amazing return. If you could find a better return at the same risk level, then you should look for ways to get out of this venture.

Another example is about your salary. Just because someone else doing the same thing as you in a job is making more than you do does not justify your grudge against your co-worker or the company. This happened to me while I was working in Germany in a warehouse. So I asked this girl who was making 1 Deutsch Mark per hour more than me whether I could disclose her when I went to ask for a raise. In that case, she did not mind and I got a raise. Another girl who made less than me used my case, but did not get a raise. Nevertheless, she was still quite happy with how much she got paid. My suggestion in this situation is to go ask for a raise (do not disclose names if nobody has given you permission to do so) anyway, but evaluate your happiness based on your own situation at the moment only. If this happens to you often, then you should really ask yourself whether something in you that attracts people who take advantage of you.

2. You don’t have to recoup losses the same way you lose them.

Tim Ferriss wrote this on his blog (click here). I also copied and pasted here:

“I own a home in San Jose but moved almost 12 months ago. It’s been empty since, and I’m paying a large mortgage each month. The best part? I don’t care. But this wasn’t always the case. For many months, I felt demoralized as others pressured me to rent it, emphasizing how I was just flushing money away otherwise. Then I realized: you don’t have to make $ back the same way you lose it. If you lose $1,000 at the blackjack table, should you try and recoup it there? Of course not. I don’t want to deal with renters, even with a property management company. The solution: leave the house alone, use it on occasion, and just create incoming revenue elsewhere that would cover the cost of the mortgage through consulting, publishing, etc.”

3. Do not involve close friends and family members in your business ventures.

Friends and family members have different expectations from you and vice versa, involving them in business ventures could creative conflict of interests.

Sorry, I cannot elaborate more on this subject.

4. Do not lend money to friends or relatives

You are not a bank. It is not your responsibility to lend out money. This is something I have to learn hard way. However, if you can afford it, consider giving money to friends or relatives in distress.

5. Only spend the “fresh money”

I designate my money into two pools, old money and fresh money. Money that is mine for 3 months and older is considered “old money”, which is allocated for investment only. Fresh money is used for daily expenses and discretionary spending.

This is a principle evolved over time and is applicable now as I am more secure financially and have minimum need to save.

6. Give away money

Set aside 5 to 15% of your net income annually to give away to charities. Yes, you do get income tax credit and satisfaction in giving. Most importantly, it is part of exercises in maintaining your wealth. Wealth, like success, is not that easy to obtain, nor is it easy to maintain. Giving is an essential part of wealth and success. In addition, it is much better to give some money away to causes you believe in than to be taken away from you.

7. Abundance is easy.

Abundance is easy and available to everyone in a developed country. You simply spend less than you make. In the end of year, if I have a surplus, I have abundance.

People who make $40,000 a year and spend only $32,000 have more abundance than people who make $80,000 a year and spend $90,000.


C-Cassia