Being happy

Almost every morning, I have been saying “it is a good day today” and all things either goes fine or I won’t be affected should problems arise. Lately, I have been smiling and sometimes singing in the factory while walking around. I thought nobody would notice but many did. They became curious why I am happy.<>

My answer is that I really have tasks to finish, problems to solve and lots of goals to accomplish. Instead of being in panic or be stressed, I tried to fight it and turn them into what they are seeing as sign of happiness. Simply, it is a choice I made. I don’t want to frown, so I smile. I don’t want to be angry or depressed because of the situation so I just sing and let it all out.

The good thing with it is that they (signs of happiness) are contagious that when they (factory personnel) would also smile when I make those acts or gestures. Especially with my subordinates who see me as jolly person, they also work happily and work better without the pressure.

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Stock Market

Having read Robert Kiyosaki’s books, I gained interest in his game, Cash Flow 101, which he encourages people to play to learn how to be rich - a goal that I have as I want to help other people. A friend of mine have one and I enthusiastically played it when she invited us. I have gained a lot from it and can win after some time, which is why I entered the real stock market. I tried Port Moresby Stock exchange (POMSoX) in PNG and later Philippine Stock exchange (PSE).<>

Though without much knowledge in it, I started trading on November of 2008 and earned some thru my small initial investment in PSE. I thought it is as simple as picking stocks then wait for luck to come and earn from it. After few months, I then thought that I am a good picker ‘coz all of my stock positions earned. All I did was selling when price of stocks goes up then look for another. I doubled my initial investment after a year and happily wanted to put more in it. I thought it is that easy that I became too lazy to study the details.

After some months, my lucky picking did not work anymore and I lost almost all the earnings I previously had in just 2 months. Checking where I went wrong, I studied more and found out that I was just lucky in a sense that all stocks’ price were at the bottom when I started investing.

When the stock market stabilized, there is where my great journey began. I read lots of articles and watched tutorials. I tried to learn everything I can that is involved in stock market and trading. I have a lot more to learn and as expert say, 10 years or less experienced traders are still amateurs. At least I am now recovering from the loss that I had.

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Debts

Getting an expat job, I have been fortunate to have erased my debts. I am happy that I am in a better position and have been paying school fees for my kids and college plans which aren’t from loans which are how I paid them while working on my previous company. Way back, I really hated debts and would use all my physical power to work overtime to pay them early. As I get paid, the next thing in my mind is to pay my loans the soonest.<>

While we are on a trip, I asked Joecy to practice some things I learned (from reading and from the experienced ones) for her business, one of them is asking for [long] term of payment for her dental business which means that we have to borrow from the supplier. This is a very hard thing to do for her as it is to me, but I told her that it is a key to earning a bit more. I told her that she can use the money she has for slow moving items and have the fast moving items be paid after 30 days and just issue a check. I told her that she can earn more if she has more stocks and she can only get it by getting some leverage.

Now that I have gained a lot from Robert Kiyosaki’s writings, I now look for ways to get debts, Joecy reminded me of how I hated debts. I explained to her about the two types of debts which are good and bad debts. Robert explains it simply as good debts makes you rich and bad debts make you poor. In doubt that she listened, I even asked her to repeat what I said which she recited it smiling.

This is just a small deal to make but is very hard for someone like her and me that are inexperienced to this stuff. After much motivation, she promised to ask the supplier on this or any options possible for us to get help.

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Book #6: Winning

I bought a book 2 years ago and had no time reading it. It was until my January 2010 holidays that I decided to read it as I have to wait for the International flight going to Philippines from Port Moresby, here in Papua New Guinea. I have heard of the name Jach Welch but never knew what he is made of.<>

I never knew how good a manager Jack Welch is until I read this book. The title is "Winning" and it is about the main reason why he is very famous - Management. It would have helped me a lot as it is now should I have read it years ago. As Warren Buffet commented, "No other management book will ever be needed." This may be an exaggeration but I believe that the knowledge herein plus experience while following them can take you far. He also answered a lot of questions that other managers ask him during his seminars that needs time to be answered.

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Efren "Bata" Reyes

This morning, I watched a replay of a game which starred Philippines' best billiard player ever Efren "Bata " Reyes with Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit. It is a Mixed double match which happened last December 3rd at Nuvo City, Libis, Quezon City in Philippines. Bingkay is a fan of him and plays well also. Young and aggressive, their opponents also looked very confident and they don't have reason not to be as they dominated the early stages of the fight. Bata and Bingkay won over the Korean who looked very much in control in a race-to-nine finals match.

In that match, those that catched my attention are the following:

1. One very obvious thing about Efren is that he is not getting any younger. He already misses shot he would easily sink before, but he can easily recognize the situation and what to do in each situation he is into. I remembered an interview with Efren where he said that he may miss long shots but billiard [strategies] are still with him.

2. Thanks to the high quality sound of the mic during recording, I can hear Efren give options to her but find it hard or maybe it was something she haven't tried even in practice. Maybe he used some strategies that are beyond her capability. I know she has learned a lot from Efren thoughout the tournament.

3. She makes mistakes but still Efren can just easily laugh at it. He probably knows that they can still manage to get back after some mistakes and it takes away nervousness knowing that she won't be blamed.

4. There was also a time when he just told her that she can just place the cue ball where ever she want it. This is a very motivating thing to hear - showing that he is confident to whatever move she will make and that in case anything wrong happens, he can find a way to get it right.

Having a leader with a lot of experience spells the difference. I had experienced superiors and mentors, I gain a lot from them and it made my life easier. Herein are some of the reasons I want to talk to people with experiences expecially those which I would not want to harness. I listen a lot and implement the things that I know can help me also.

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The Least?

Still from our last (third) Badminton Tournament this year, based on skill level, as a group, all other teams considered us the least. We are a group with 3 pairs. Men’s double, mixed double and women’s double. We are mostly expats so we have to make the tournament a bit short to prevent conflict with holidays.<>

Our team captain is good and has a lot of experience in this game; I just helped him in coaching and motivating our other team mates. And the other four are mostly new players but the main thing is that they listen. What I did was to focus on their strengths. We gave chance for the beginners to be a part of the fun and because they listen, they managed to win games even if their opponent is better.

The team captain, Mang Jun usually tells them what to do with their racket and I focus on their mind setting. My team mates would usually say at first that they will lose because their opponents are better than them, and that is my cue for motivating them.

The team captain scouts the next opponents and gives instructions to our team mates. I do the analysis of the points we have earned and needed to get to the finals. As I see it, because of the efforts we have given while not playing, it makes it easier to handle things on the court. The champion team just had a lot more experience and talent than our team but we made it to the finals and nobody expected us to make it as the runner up.

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MIP

In our first badminton tourney this year, our team was not that successful. On the second one, our team won the title but I was not a major part of it. On the third one, after much research and practice, I have managed to play in the Men’s double where the better players are and also participate in coaching. Though I am ranked lowest in that division, at least I managed to step up my game and filled in a slot where the better ones play.<>

I have always been keen on improvement on many aspects of my life. In our badminton club, from the last mini-tourney we have, I was named the most improved player. Many have improved but I probably showed more interest in it, looking at video tutorials and listening from the people who plays a lot better than I am.

I am just fortunate that there is such an award but I would make improvements even if there are none to be given. All I want is to move out of my comfort zone and check my capability. Many things still to improve at but at least I have made my first moves.

Another thing where I have moved out of my boundary is using my skill/talent in motivating. It is part of my job and it was not easy at first to as my team mates are also managers of other companies. Sometimes is tough to make people do what is right and would want to do it their way. It should be just for fun, but having a passion of being a coach/teacher, I just used this opportunity to use what I have learned.

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