Guide to a better life

This is amazing, the author died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, but wrote a book ‘The last lecture” before then, one of the bestsellers in 2007. What a legacy to leave behind…

In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "Guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow.

May you be blessed by his insight.


Points on how to improve your life

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community (Friends & Family):
15. Call your family often.
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with,
people you play with, people you work with and people you live with.

Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you.

What kids really want?

My mom was away from home for 5 days to attend a funeral ceremony. It was a last minute decision, and my wife have to take annual leave to take care of our kids for these 5 days.

The kids enjoyed the 5 days time spent with their mom. 

At the fifth day, both my kids were asking if their mother could be at home instead of being a career woman because they enjoyed the time spent with their mom, from breakfast, shower, lunch, afternoon nap, tea time, evening exercise and all the other activities.

If possible, they also want me to be at home with them as well.

Eventhough they are at 6 and 4-year-old, I tried my very best in explaining the reasons of why both their daddy and mommy need to work at this moment.

I believe what kids really want is to have their loves one with them especially the parents.

Hopefully I will be able to sustain the family expenses with single income of mine in shortest time. This will enable my spouse to be a full time house wife.

The message from the kids have stimulate my desire to achieve the goal of financial freedom. It is not because of materialism, but to enrich the childhood of my kids, and spent more time with my aged parents.

AFF Suzuki Cup Champions - Malaysia, declared 31st December 2010 a public holiday

Bravo to the young Malaysia football team in winning the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has declared 31st December 2010 a public holiday to celebrate Malaysia's winning of the AFF Suzuki Cup.

Many workers were delighted with the unexpected public holiday. I see smiley faces at the office on 30th December 2010 morning. Generally, the adhoc public holiday is most welcomed by the working class. They do not realize that such short term gain (no need to work for one day) will eventually creates negative impact to the national economy in long term.

Unfortunately, the decision will actually create massive damage to Malaysia, which is struggling to attract foreign investment as well as uplifting the competitiveness of the nation.

The public holiday is declared with short notice (approximately 24 hours). This has caused many operational plans of the corporates and SMEs gone haywire. For private sectors, the problems could be solved by paying the overtime rate. But, if the assignments or tasks that involved government agencies,  it is just too bad.

Malaysia, also known as 'Bolehland' has yet to change its attitude which is mandatory to be competence in the globalized world nowadays. 

Malaysia will still be a good place to live, but not a good place for career and investment.

The currency exchange rate between Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) and Singapore Dollar (SGD) is as below on 31st December 2010:

1 Singapore Dollar = 2.39047 Malaysian Ringgit 

Let's see what will be the rate in 31st December 2011. Figures (exchange rate) is telling truth.

Happy New Year and Good luck Malaysia!