Contract Ending

I have worked for almost 3 years in K.K.Kingston Ltd, Papua New Guinea and through those years, many good things took place. These are years where I put into practice all the things that I have learned from previous jobs, trainings and of course from books that I have read.()

With those years, I have improved in communicating. I have been braver facing big complaints and giving people answers that can solve their problem. It is already automatic that when I hear a problem, answer(s) come in an instant and the level of answer I give them is much better than how I give advice before working in PNG.

I have moved out of my comfort zones in many areas of work and life. There are things that I never knew I can do until I tried them and made possible. I was very cautious before that all moves have to be calculated and before I knew it, opportunity is lost. Now, I walk into the paths where people say it is too risky and learn what is in there.

I have stretched my patience and now can easily accept things the way they are. I have practiced more of putting myself on other’s shoes instead of judging them for what they are doing or saying.

I can make decisions a lot faster now. Knowing systems, patterns and its people here in PNG make planning easier.

After those years, I believe I am mentally and emotionally stronger now. I have met people that are experienced and wise. The feeling is very different when we just listen to what others have done right; and when we do it, thus also reaping the benefits in it. I also have been thru bigger problems where I gained experiences.

Still I know that there are a lot of things I still don’t know yet and have more years of learnings to come. I consider what happened to those years to be big leap for me in terms of leadership and maturity.

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Next Job

Luke is one of the first subordinates I had here in PNG. He was our maintenance co-ordinator and worked on our computerized maintenance management system/software. After working with me for a year, a job opening came, still here in the same company but suits him more because it is his course from college – IT. I had small chats with him all along and just lately he told me that he is leaving and this time to a different company which offers a lot better than the current one can give.()

I had a chance to ask him about it and he felt guilty saying that he is leaving. I saw myself in him in this situation and told him that in Philippines, the first thing I do when I start working in a company is to look for the next one. This is a good strategy for me as it helped me study everything that I can whenever I can. Looking for the next one, I have accepted additional jobs that are beyond my boundaries and learned different aspects of the business. With it, I did not get comfortable no matter how good the company and its benefits are. I also did not get bored while in the factory as I have used all the free time I had checking out things that I don’t know yet.

As a Plant Engineer here in PNG, this is where I have used and is using all the knowledge gained from the Philippine companies I have been to. Here, I am also bounded by contract that I have to at least finish. It is more of the management stuffs that I am gaining more while working.

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Stock Market Lessons

When it comes to stock market many talks about Technical and financial analysis. I am still a newbie (just started Nov. 2008) in this field, but having heard, watched and read a lot of articles regarding them, and there are things that experts would not forget to share. They say at least one of these basics thru their interviews and for me, these are the best things that stock market has taught me:()

Be patient. It is better to hold on to your money than just invest on any stocks. I am trying to learn everything I can so that I won't end up just getting a deal closed. Buy high and sell low, that is all we can get out of Philippines stock market as we don’t have much options. Market goes up and down so if I did not chose a stock that goes up, I'll just wait for the next opportunity.

Don’t be greedy. When market goes up, tendency is we wait until it goes up and up… suddenly it goes down big time and we would become depressed. The thing is that we should have a target that is attainable and be happy selling it when it is already reached and don’t be affected should it go higher. Looking at stock market history, prices go up and down so I would not wait and sell them when I have what I wanted.

Admit mistakes. Either you sold something and then have a new high or if you picked a stock that you though is at bottom then goes lower, best thing is to admit you made a mistake and then cut the losses. The main thing is that we should learn from every mistake we make. I believe that we should not focus on just one deal we make but we should look at your whole portfolio. When one you’re your “picks” increased price and did not buy them when low, forget it, move on and look for other deals.

All these thing aren’t just for Stock market but of course every part of our lives. If we can master these things I believe wewill not just end up being a good investor but also a better person.

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Book #7: Men, Women and Relationships

One of the books that I blogged about is about John Gray’s “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”. On one of my stints to Philippines for holidays, I have found another book of him and hoped that it is as good and helpful as the first one that I have read. While in PNG, I have read more than half of the book until I became busy that I had to set it aside.<>

Thanks to the Tsunami alert due to Chile's devastating earthquake, I have to spend the rest of the day at home. I looked for my notebook where I list down my goals, doing so I saw this book with the bookmark on it.

I checked where I left and found that the next chapter is “Symptoms of Stress”. The previous parts are also related to stress but this chapter has the examples to situations that I have been experiencing and found the reasons to the issues I have been dealing with for several years now. I believe that this chapter alone is a good help for partners and also for those who mingles with the opposite sex. I said that because this is where arguments and problem starts and are things that in my experience are hard to communicate.

Almost all parts of the books got my interest and it is like the continuation of the first book which emphasizes difference between male and female.

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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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