It has been more than 2 months since i wrote in this reading blog. It's frustrating as I have been jumping from book to book without finishing any of them. The reason is that I keep finding good books and once I started, I tend to lose interest in the current book that I was reading.
Coming back to this book, this is the second book i have read by Michael Matterson. The first was Automatic Wealth. I was surprised to find out I did not write a review/summary of that book. This book sells the idea of being able to generate 7 figure income within 7 years.
The book started with goal setting principles, investments methods and then went on to describe how8 persons did acheive 7 figures within 7 years. I was not really interested in the life stories of the 8 people. I feel that it emphasize too much on copywriting. Though copywriting may be a very lucrative job in the USA, I don't think it is so here in Singapore. And as you can see from my current blog/s, my writing skills are not exactly suitable for this type of work :).
OK. I will be just going through some of the methods/theories which I think is beneficial to me, at least. First was Dale Carnegie's 14 week course. The steps are to 1) Identify 10 top goals, 2) Narrow them to 5, 3) Narrow to 3, 4) Pick one as primary goal. Most people don't succeed because they don't have clearly defined goals. Some people fail to make progress because they have too many goals. The 4 categories when setting goals are Health, Wealth, Social Life and Personal Life. Do the most important task first and each lesser thing in order of its priority.
The recommended savings is 20% if you are earning $30-50k and 25% if earning $50-150k. If your Return of Investment(ROI) is 10-20%, your portfolio should be mostly in stocks. For a 20-35% ROI, you will have to include real estates and if your ROI is 35-50%, small business has to be included as well.
A common way to valuate a business is to take an average of 3 years' earnings and multiply by 4.
There are quite a few methodologies and ways of making big bucks. The businesses to get in are copywriting, real estate and publishing. Knowing your networth is important.
Overall, I feel that though this book is relatively an easy read, it drags too much on other people's examples. The first couple of chapters are fine but it became a bit dull when it went into people's stories, especially when I cannot relate much to copywriting.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Bull Hunter By Dan Denning
I knew the author as I subscribe to the newsletter "Early To Rise" in the Agora group. I believe he is one of the editors, for one of the investment newsletter, if I'm not wrong. They were recommending this book 1-2 years ago. Anyway, I was surprised to see it in the library, so I borrowed it.
The book is about how one can benefit from sniffing out good stocks. It should not be limited to a particular country, a sector or industry. A bull hunter is one who knows where the world's market is shifting. This book only looks at the macro view of the world's market and how the big countries, such as America, China, India, United Kingdom has or will rise and/or fall.
The author has a strong stand in buying ETFs. He believes ETFs will outperform any portfolio which contains purely individual company stocks. He gives comparisons between ETFs and individual stocks. I do agree with him on most cases that ETFs are a very good investment for the long haul. If you look at any matured markets in the world for the last 20 years, you will see that the respective stock market index rise at least 5-10% pa. I believe the rate for the STI is about 8% and its about 11% for the US market.
He also described what he saw and heard when he went to China and India. Both these 2 countries will flourish in coming years. As this book was written in end 2004 and now is mid 2007, what he has predicted is true.
A few stock/companies were mentioned and recommended. As the recommendation was at least 2 years ago, you can do your research if you are interested and believe in Dan.
Overall, I would say that this book does give a big helicopter view of the money market of the world, in terms of how UK became strong and waned, how USA overtook UK, how USA is having major money problems, and how the emerging countries are borned.
Only 200+ pages.
The book is about how one can benefit from sniffing out good stocks. It should not be limited to a particular country, a sector or industry. A bull hunter is one who knows where the world's market is shifting. This book only looks at the macro view of the world's market and how the big countries, such as America, China, India, United Kingdom has or will rise and/or fall.
The author has a strong stand in buying ETFs. He believes ETFs will outperform any portfolio which contains purely individual company stocks. He gives comparisons between ETFs and individual stocks. I do agree with him on most cases that ETFs are a very good investment for the long haul. If you look at any matured markets in the world for the last 20 years, you will see that the respective stock market index rise at least 5-10% pa. I believe the rate for the STI is about 8% and its about 11% for the US market.
He also described what he saw and heard when he went to China and India. Both these 2 countries will flourish in coming years. As this book was written in end 2004 and now is mid 2007, what he has predicted is true.
A few stock/companies were mentioned and recommended. As the recommendation was at least 2 years ago, you can do your research if you are interested and believe in Dan.
Overall, I would say that this book does give a big helicopter view of the money market of the world, in terms of how UK became strong and waned, how USA overtook UK, how USA is having major money problems, and how the emerging countries are borned.
Only 200+ pages.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Automatic Millionaire
The author is David Bach. He gives straight forward strategies without going round the bush in how to become a millionaire. A easy read with about 230 pages and 8 chapters.
The book starts with a meeting many year back between David and a middle aged couple who wanted to retire. David, a financial advisor then, was suspicious as the couple were in their early 50s and has an annual income of $53,946. But when the couple revealed their assets, David was awed as the couple had a net worth approaching $2 million. The couple then shared their story on how they were able to accumulate the money. The most important secret is that you do not need will power or discipline.
Chapter 2 is about the Latte Factor. It is about how you can cut down your daily unnecessary expenses and save the small amount. To see the effect, the author used a cup of latte and a muffin which cost $5. If you save $5 in a 10%pa return account, you will have $1,885 after the 1st year, $30,727 after the 10th year, $339,073 after the 30th year and $948,611 after the 40th year. This shows how a miserable $5 can become nearly $1 million.
Paying yourself first is perhaps the most important chapter in this book. This method is pretty simple. Have you done any budgeting before on how much you "would try to save"? Most of us would look at all our loans, bills, meals and transport expenses and after all that, we would then determine how much is left. There usually isn't much left and to make things worse, we have some impulse buys and this small amount usually became zero in no time. In paying yourself first, you should put aside your savings(transfer the amount out of your "salary" account first. It is recommended to save at least 10% of your salary. And to take the discipline out of your own hands, arrange with the bank to transfer this amount automatically every month. Another way of looking at the $5 is the number of hours you work for yourself. If you earn $3000 per month, it means you earn $100/day and $10/hr(assuming you work 30 days and 10 hours for simple calculation sake). By saving this $5, it means you are working for yourself for 1/2hours each day.
This book is catered for the US citizens where there are the 401k and 403b retirement plans. I guess that it is still applicable as in Singapore, we have the CPF. One for the ways is to transfer the maximum amount possible into the CPF account every year to enjoy the interest return. And all these transfers can be made automatic. As the CPF account only give 2.5% interest, you should invest this money in the unit trusts.
Next is to build your emergency fund. This ranges from 1 month to 36 months, depending on your needs. The method of paying your housing debt is a very simple one. Right now, most of us are paying your installments on a monthly basis. The method is just to pay half your installments on a fortnightly basis. Though this might seemed the same, let me explain by an example. If you are paying $1000/mth for 30 years, you are paying $12000 in a year and in total $360,000. If you pay $500(half of $1000) every 2 weeks, you will be paying $13000 in a year. Why? Because there are 52 weeks in a year and since you are paying every 2 weeks, you will be paying 26 times and 26 times $500 is $13000. So by paying every 2 weeks, you will be paying $1000 more. And do you know that by doing so, you would have paid your loan in 23 years instead of the original 30 years?
The author then talks about how to reduce your debts, mostly on credit card debts. Lastly, it about giving to charities.
Overall, this book has very good methods on how to grow your wealth and it does not really need you to research on investments(business, trading etc), except what unit trust to put your CPF money in. I strongly recommends this book. One of the very few books which I find useful in accumulating wealth.
The book starts with a meeting many year back between David and a middle aged couple who wanted to retire. David, a financial advisor then, was suspicious as the couple were in their early 50s and has an annual income of $53,946. But when the couple revealed their assets, David was awed as the couple had a net worth approaching $2 million. The couple then shared their story on how they were able to accumulate the money. The most important secret is that you do not need will power or discipline.
Chapter 2 is about the Latte Factor. It is about how you can cut down your daily unnecessary expenses and save the small amount. To see the effect, the author used a cup of latte and a muffin which cost $5. If you save $5 in a 10%pa return account, you will have $1,885 after the 1st year, $30,727 after the 10th year, $339,073 after the 30th year and $948,611 after the 40th year. This shows how a miserable $5 can become nearly $1 million.
Paying yourself first is perhaps the most important chapter in this book. This method is pretty simple. Have you done any budgeting before on how much you "would try to save"? Most of us would look at all our loans, bills, meals and transport expenses and after all that, we would then determine how much is left. There usually isn't much left and to make things worse, we have some impulse buys and this small amount usually became zero in no time. In paying yourself first, you should put aside your savings(transfer the amount out of your "salary" account first. It is recommended to save at least 10% of your salary. And to take the discipline out of your own hands, arrange with the bank to transfer this amount automatically every month. Another way of looking at the $5 is the number of hours you work for yourself. If you earn $3000 per month, it means you earn $100/day and $10/hr(assuming you work 30 days and 10 hours for simple calculation sake). By saving this $5, it means you are working for yourself for 1/2hours each day.
This book is catered for the US citizens where there are the 401k and 403b retirement plans. I guess that it is still applicable as in Singapore, we have the CPF. One for the ways is to transfer the maximum amount possible into the CPF account every year to enjoy the interest return. And all these transfers can be made automatic. As the CPF account only give 2.5% interest, you should invest this money in the unit trusts.
Next is to build your emergency fund. This ranges from 1 month to 36 months, depending on your needs. The method of paying your housing debt is a very simple one. Right now, most of us are paying your installments on a monthly basis. The method is just to pay half your installments on a fortnightly basis. Though this might seemed the same, let me explain by an example. If you are paying $1000/mth for 30 years, you are paying $12000 in a year and in total $360,000. If you pay $500(half of $1000) every 2 weeks, you will be paying $13000 in a year. Why? Because there are 52 weeks in a year and since you are paying every 2 weeks, you will be paying 26 times and 26 times $500 is $13000. So by paying every 2 weeks, you will be paying $1000 more. And do you know that by doing so, you would have paid your loan in 23 years instead of the original 30 years?
The author then talks about how to reduce your debts, mostly on credit card debts. Lastly, it about giving to charities.
Overall, this book has very good methods on how to grow your wealth and it does not really need you to research on investments(business, trading etc), except what unit trust to put your CPF money in. I strongly recommends this book. One of the very few books which I find useful in accumulating wealth.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
A Singapore Perspective Value Investing
A colleague was reading this book he borrowed from the library and from the title, I was interested as I need to know how to calculate the value of companies in order to buy their shares. So when my colleague finished reading it, I borrowed it.
After reading it, I felt that the useful content is only a small part which spells out the 4 steps to evaluate a company. They are namely; Business strategy analysis, Accounting review, Ratio analysis and Forecasting and valuation.
Biz strategy analysis is to determine if the company has good management and if the management has a sound strategy to grow the company.
Accounting review and ratio analysis are what you can find out from the annual reports. So some of the more interesting ratios are:
1) Net Profit Margin (net profit / sales)
This should be better than the industry average. Would be best if it is >20%.
2) Inventory (for manufacturing companies)
As low as possible
3) Return on Equity (ROE) (net profit / shareholders funds)
Should be 8-9% at least.
4) Cash flow
Net operating cash flow > Net operating profit after tax.
The last step is about how to forecast and value the company. The author gives a couple of methods in very general scenarios. Using the PE method, he states that if the company's growth rate is 20%, the forecasted PE would be 20 times and the fair value will be 20 times the Earnings Per Share(EPS).
Most of the books are the author's opinion of several companies which he tracks, like Venture, Informatics, Qian Hu etc. The last quarter of the book is dedicated to auditing of companies, regulations and such information, which I feel should not be included in this book as the title is Value Investing.
Overall, this book is a below average read for the information it has on valuation of a company.
After reading it, I felt that the useful content is only a small part which spells out the 4 steps to evaluate a company. They are namely; Business strategy analysis, Accounting review, Ratio analysis and Forecasting and valuation.
Biz strategy analysis is to determine if the company has good management and if the management has a sound strategy to grow the company.
Accounting review and ratio analysis are what you can find out from the annual reports. So some of the more interesting ratios are:
1) Net Profit Margin (net profit / sales)
This should be better than the industry average. Would be best if it is >20%.
2) Inventory (for manufacturing companies)
As low as possible
3) Return on Equity (ROE) (net profit / shareholders funds)
Should be 8-9% at least.
4) Cash flow
Net operating cash flow > Net operating profit after tax.
The last step is about how to forecast and value the company. The author gives a couple of methods in very general scenarios. Using the PE method, he states that if the company's growth rate is 20%, the forecasted PE would be 20 times and the fair value will be 20 times the Earnings Per Share(EPS).
Most of the books are the author's opinion of several companies which he tracks, like Venture, Informatics, Qian Hu etc. The last quarter of the book is dedicated to auditing of companies, regulations and such information, which I feel should not be included in this book as the title is Value Investing.
Overall, this book is a below average read for the information it has on valuation of a company.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
How to Invest in Stocks & Shares
Just for clarification: this book is outdated as it was published in 1991 but as it is for the Singapore market, the concepts are still applicable. It was written by Robert Chia & Doreen Soh. It is a easy read with only 150 pages for beginners.
The 1st part of the book briefly defines and describes the Singapore and Malaysian market. I considered chapters 3 & 4 as most important in this book as it teaches one how to use fundamentals and technical analysis to choose an investible company. It also went through briefly on the figures found in the annual reports.
The trading mechanics, such as settlements, odd lots, margin trading, using CPF, sotck splits, bonus & rights issues, are then described. 2 pages, titled 7 ways to lose your money, are good advices.
The later parts are about different instruments, namely unit trust, options, futures etc. Dividends are taxed. Lastly, it tells the reader that it is no use to time the market and put forth the following 3 bargain signs:
a) PE of 10-15 and below
b) Dividend yields > government bonds / treasury bills
c) Share price 33% lower than net tangible asset value.
Each chapter ends with a short summary.
I felt that the authors were trying to cover too much grounds with this book. Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned trader, this books only serves as a platform to understand how a stock market works and glimpses through the fundamentals on how to choose a stock. You would need to read more and experiment(paper trade) before putting your hard-earned money into the stock market.
The 1st part of the book briefly defines and describes the Singapore and Malaysian market. I considered chapters 3 & 4 as most important in this book as it teaches one how to use fundamentals and technical analysis to choose an investible company. It also went through briefly on the figures found in the annual reports.
The trading mechanics, such as settlements, odd lots, margin trading, using CPF, sotck splits, bonus & rights issues, are then described. 2 pages, titled 7 ways to lose your money, are good advices.
The later parts are about different instruments, namely unit trust, options, futures etc. Dividends are taxed. Lastly, it tells the reader that it is no use to time the market and put forth the following 3 bargain signs:
a) PE of 10-15 and below
b) Dividend yields > government bonds / treasury bills
c) Share price 33% lower than net tangible asset value.
Each chapter ends with a short summary.
I felt that the authors were trying to cover too much grounds with this book. Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned trader, this books only serves as a platform to understand how a stock market works and glimpses through the fundamentals on how to choose a stock. You would need to read more and experiment(paper trade) before putting your hard-earned money into the stock market.
Richest Man in Babylon
As this is one of the most informative and inspiring book I have read, I have written quite a concise "summary".
I have just invested in this book and my 1st read was fantastic. I have read many books and I must say this one has been very enlightening in terms of growing money.
This book is considered a classic as it is written in 1920s. The cover is yellowish in colour, size about 20x10cm and only 144 pages. This makes this book a very easy-to-carry around type of book as it is smaller and lighter than most other books. Being only 144 pages, you can also finish reading it in a very short time. There are 11 chapters, so each chapter has only an average of 10-15 pages. Each chapter could be read within 5-15 mins, depending on your reading speed. For me as an average reader, I started reading this book on 23 Sep. I only read one chapter at a time and i finish reading the book a week later. In total, I think I took about 3 hours. The only problem(to some) about this book is the type of English language used. As the author uses ancient Babylon's parables to make his point, the language is also the ancient English type....with words such as "thy", "shalt", "thee" and many more. If you have studied Literature books, like Shakespeare, you should not have any problem.
Lastly about the author. His name is George S. Clason and he is an American. In 1920s, he wrote a series of pamphlets on financial success using parables set in ancient Babylon to make his point. These pamphlets were distributed in large quantities by banks and insurance companies. This being his most famous book then went on to sell more than 2 million books.
In a nutshell, this book teaches 7 simple rules to become wealthy. It does not matter if you are broke or already wealthy. Following these 7 rules will make you more money. To all who are going to read this. These are my own interpretations of the stories told in this book.
Chapter 1 - The Man who Desired Gold
This chapter is basically an opening chapter which is about a conversation between 2 poor men. They talked about their lack of wealth and were whining about the "why are we poor", "why others can be rich" and so on. At last, they thought of going to the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, who was their childhood friend.
Chapter 2 - The Richest Man in Babylon
Here, these 2 men with other men came to seek's Arkad's advice. Arkad then talks about his life...from just a scribe to his present wealth....on how he took the opportunities and how he learned to manage his growing wealth. The one phrase which stands out in this chapter is
"A Part Of All You Earn Is Yours To Keep". What this phrase says is to take a portion of what you earn(here in this book is 10%) and save it.
Chapter 3 - Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
This is probably the most important chapter in the whole book. As the huge constructions for the temple ended, unemployment rate was increasing. The king was concerned and requested Arkad to teach his people how to accumulate wealth such tah his people do not starve. Arkad agreed and went on to talk about the 7 rules.
1st cure - Start Thy Purse to Fattening
This is what he taught in the previous chapter. Save 10% of what you earn everytime and see your wealth grow. "For each ten coins i put in, to spend but nine"
2nd Cure -Control Thy Expenditures
Check your expenses and determine what you can reduce or even eliminate to cut cost. There are alway things you can do without. Determine for yourself what are necessary and what are good-to-haves. "Budget thy expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths of thy earnings."
3rd Cure - Make Thy Gold Multiply
Though it does not specifically says what to do, he tells all to put the saved money into trustworthly investments. "To put each coin to labouring that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and help bring to thee income, a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse."
4th Cure - Guard Thy Treasures From Loss
1st principle is to secure for the principal. If unsure, consult the right person for your investments. "Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be reclaimed if desired, and where thou will not fail to collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of gold. Let their wisdom protect thy treasure from unsafe investments."
5th Cure - Make Of Thy Dwelling A Profitable Investment
Arkad encourages everyone to own a home as it gives security and shlter for the family. "Own thy own home."
6th Cure - Secure a Future Income
He talks about several ways to build a retirement nest. Buying land, properties, becoming a money lender(like a bank) and even just applying the 1st cure. "Provided in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family."
7th Cure - Increase Thy Ability To Earn
You have to improve your skills or increase the number of skills you have in order to earn more money."To cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to act as to respect thyself.
Chapter 4 - Meet the Goddess of Good Luck
The desire to be lucky is universal. In this chapter, Arkad was asked if there is a way to attract good luck. He starts by disproving people from trying to earn his keep by gambling. Then the group talks about the times where good opportunities slip them by due to their ignorance or prostination. 2 sentences stands out in this chapter. "Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity" & "Men of action are favoured by the goddess of good luck"
Chapter 5 - The Five Laws Of Gold
The chapter starts by an old man asking a group of people if they would prefer a bag of gold or a tablet of carved with words of wisdom. Naturally, the group chose the gold. Then this old man tells a story about a rich man giving his son a bag of gold and a tablet which 5 laws of gold are written. The story then tells about how the son went out and lost all the money and then later became rich due to these 5 laws. The 5 laws are similar to the 7 rules written in chapter 3. As the 5 laws are quite long and all in ancient words, I shall not write them.
Chapter 6 - The Gold Lender Of Babylon
A poor spear maker was rewarded with 50 pieces of gold and he was very happy. He told his sister and his sister wanted him to lend her husband the gold to start a business. This spear maker was in a dilemma as he fear his gold may be gone. Thus, he went to find a money lender to ask for advice. The advice in short is to lend to people whom you know will pay back the money and also with interest. "Better a little caution than a great regret."
Chapter 7 - The Walls of Babylon
Many foreign countries have tried to attack Babylon to reap its wealth, but did not manage to conquer Babylon. This is because of its people and also the walls of Babylon, which they build to withstand these attacks. "We cannot afford to be without adequate protection."
Chapter 8 - The Camel Trader of Babylon
This chapter tells a tale about how a man, who became a slave, bought his freedom and then partnered another ex-slave to become a rich man. It is about optimism and passion about your work. "Where the determination is, the way can be found."
Chapter 9 - The Clay Tablets Of Babylon
This chapter starts with a letter written by an archaeologist to a professor who excavated the ruins of Babylon in 1934. In the letter, this archaeologist wrote about the 5 clay tablets. It went on to state what was exactly written on those tablets. They are about the story of how the camel trader(from last chapter) just returning from slavery works his way to pay his debts. Then the chapter ends with another letter. This letter is also from the same sender to the same receiver...this time in 1936....a mere 2 years have passed and in the letter, this archaeologist told the professor that he has used the methods from the clay tablets and have paid his debts.
Chapter 10 - The Luckiest Man In Babylon
This story starts with a rich man with his friend's son. This friend's son is arrogant and thinks he is above the rest as he is rich. This rich man then tells him how he partnered his friend and became rich. This is actually the last chapter in this book.
Chapter 11 - An Historical Sketch of Babylon
This chapter only tells of how Babylon was like, its location and so on.
The last few pages in this book also recommends some other books. Personally, I feel that only Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is another of such classics. By the way, the front cover has this...."The success secrets of the ancients - The most inspiring book on wealth ever written".
I have just invested in this book and my 1st read was fantastic. I have read many books and I must say this one has been very enlightening in terms of growing money.
This book is considered a classic as it is written in 1920s. The cover is yellowish in colour, size about 20x10cm and only 144 pages. This makes this book a very easy-to-carry around type of book as it is smaller and lighter than most other books. Being only 144 pages, you can also finish reading it in a very short time. There are 11 chapters, so each chapter has only an average of 10-15 pages. Each chapter could be read within 5-15 mins, depending on your reading speed. For me as an average reader, I started reading this book on 23 Sep. I only read one chapter at a time and i finish reading the book a week later. In total, I think I took about 3 hours. The only problem(to some) about this book is the type of English language used. As the author uses ancient Babylon's parables to make his point, the language is also the ancient English type....with words such as "thy", "shalt", "thee" and many more. If you have studied Literature books, like Shakespeare, you should not have any problem.
Lastly about the author. His name is George S. Clason and he is an American. In 1920s, he wrote a series of pamphlets on financial success using parables set in ancient Babylon to make his point. These pamphlets were distributed in large quantities by banks and insurance companies. This being his most famous book then went on to sell more than 2 million books.
In a nutshell, this book teaches 7 simple rules to become wealthy. It does not matter if you are broke or already wealthy. Following these 7 rules will make you more money. To all who are going to read this. These are my own interpretations of the stories told in this book.
Chapter 1 - The Man who Desired Gold
This chapter is basically an opening chapter which is about a conversation between 2 poor men. They talked about their lack of wealth and were whining about the "why are we poor", "why others can be rich" and so on. At last, they thought of going to the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, who was their childhood friend.
Chapter 2 - The Richest Man in Babylon
Here, these 2 men with other men came to seek's Arkad's advice. Arkad then talks about his life...from just a scribe to his present wealth....on how he took the opportunities and how he learned to manage his growing wealth. The one phrase which stands out in this chapter is
"A Part Of All You Earn Is Yours To Keep". What this phrase says is to take a portion of what you earn(here in this book is 10%) and save it.
Chapter 3 - Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
This is probably the most important chapter in the whole book. As the huge constructions for the temple ended, unemployment rate was increasing. The king was concerned and requested Arkad to teach his people how to accumulate wealth such tah his people do not starve. Arkad agreed and went on to talk about the 7 rules.
1st cure - Start Thy Purse to Fattening
This is what he taught in the previous chapter. Save 10% of what you earn everytime and see your wealth grow. "For each ten coins i put in, to spend but nine"
2nd Cure -Control Thy Expenditures
Check your expenses and determine what you can reduce or even eliminate to cut cost. There are alway things you can do without. Determine for yourself what are necessary and what are good-to-haves. "Budget thy expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths of thy earnings."
3rd Cure - Make Thy Gold Multiply
Though it does not specifically says what to do, he tells all to put the saved money into trustworthly investments. "To put each coin to labouring that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and help bring to thee income, a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse."
4th Cure - Guard Thy Treasures From Loss
1st principle is to secure for the principal. If unsure, consult the right person for your investments. "Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be reclaimed if desired, and where thou will not fail to collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of gold. Let their wisdom protect thy treasure from unsafe investments."
5th Cure - Make Of Thy Dwelling A Profitable Investment
Arkad encourages everyone to own a home as it gives security and shlter for the family. "Own thy own home."
6th Cure - Secure a Future Income
He talks about several ways to build a retirement nest. Buying land, properties, becoming a money lender(like a bank) and even just applying the 1st cure. "Provided in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family."
7th Cure - Increase Thy Ability To Earn
You have to improve your skills or increase the number of skills you have in order to earn more money."To cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to act as to respect thyself.
Chapter 4 - Meet the Goddess of Good Luck
The desire to be lucky is universal. In this chapter, Arkad was asked if there is a way to attract good luck. He starts by disproving people from trying to earn his keep by gambling. Then the group talks about the times where good opportunities slip them by due to their ignorance or prostination. 2 sentences stands out in this chapter. "Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity" & "Men of action are favoured by the goddess of good luck"
Chapter 5 - The Five Laws Of Gold
The chapter starts by an old man asking a group of people if they would prefer a bag of gold or a tablet of carved with words of wisdom. Naturally, the group chose the gold. Then this old man tells a story about a rich man giving his son a bag of gold and a tablet which 5 laws of gold are written. The story then tells about how the son went out and lost all the money and then later became rich due to these 5 laws. The 5 laws are similar to the 7 rules written in chapter 3. As the 5 laws are quite long and all in ancient words, I shall not write them.
Chapter 6 - The Gold Lender Of Babylon
A poor spear maker was rewarded with 50 pieces of gold and he was very happy. He told his sister and his sister wanted him to lend her husband the gold to start a business. This spear maker was in a dilemma as he fear his gold may be gone. Thus, he went to find a money lender to ask for advice. The advice in short is to lend to people whom you know will pay back the money and also with interest. "Better a little caution than a great regret."
Chapter 7 - The Walls of Babylon
Many foreign countries have tried to attack Babylon to reap its wealth, but did not manage to conquer Babylon. This is because of its people and also the walls of Babylon, which they build to withstand these attacks. "We cannot afford to be without adequate protection."
Chapter 8 - The Camel Trader of Babylon
This chapter tells a tale about how a man, who became a slave, bought his freedom and then partnered another ex-slave to become a rich man. It is about optimism and passion about your work. "Where the determination is, the way can be found."
Chapter 9 - The Clay Tablets Of Babylon
This chapter starts with a letter written by an archaeologist to a professor who excavated the ruins of Babylon in 1934. In the letter, this archaeologist wrote about the 5 clay tablets. It went on to state what was exactly written on those tablets. They are about the story of how the camel trader(from last chapter) just returning from slavery works his way to pay his debts. Then the chapter ends with another letter. This letter is also from the same sender to the same receiver...this time in 1936....a mere 2 years have passed and in the letter, this archaeologist told the professor that he has used the methods from the clay tablets and have paid his debts.
Chapter 10 - The Luckiest Man In Babylon
This story starts with a rich man with his friend's son. This friend's son is arrogant and thinks he is above the rest as he is rich. This rich man then tells him how he partnered his friend and became rich. This is actually the last chapter in this book.
Chapter 11 - An Historical Sketch of Babylon
This chapter only tells of how Babylon was like, its location and so on.
The last few pages in this book also recommends some other books. Personally, I feel that only Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is another of such classics. By the way, the front cover has this...."The success secrets of the ancients - The most inspiring book on wealth ever written".
Selling in a Week
One of my goals I wrote for this year is to read a book every month and also to write a review/summary. Writing the summary so that I can remember what i have read and hopefully apply some of the methods/techniques from the book.
I chose this book because of a few reasons: 1) I already have this book for a while and have not read it. 2) It is a fairly easy read with only 91 pages. 3) I have always wanted to read about doing sales as I think my way of selling sucks. This is by Christine Harvey.
Part 1 - Preparation
1st is to have a goal
Then breakdown into daily work targets
Measure your results
Quote "Knowledge without action serves no one."
Part 2 - Gaining Product and Service Expertise
We are the only link between manufactured products/services and the client. They depend on us to tell them everything they need to know
We need a 40 fold store of knowledge, ie know 40 times the basic knowledge to sell the pdt/svc
Invest in yourself to learn about the pdt/svc thru' course/seminars etc
Stress the benefits using the technology rather than telling the client the specs.
Interview current clients to learn knowledge about your pdt/svc
Part 3 - Discover the Buying Motives
Learn to examine the motives behind decisions and look for what drives people.
Quote "Person who asks the questions is in control of the meeting."
Ask precise questions "What would you be expecting form a supplier?", "What benefits would you be hoping for?" "What one thing could we offer to convince you to change suppliers and work with us?"
Every corporate purchase has a benefit to the corporation and a benefit to the individual.
Find the motives (price too high/low, importance of extras, distance, delivery time, features, benefits, services etc)
Interview ppl to find facts, needs and motives and also interview ppl who influences the buying decision.
Part 4 - Overcoming Objections
3 part process
i)The prelude(phychological / human) - Breaks down resistance, clarify concerns and make client feel understood.
ii)The explanation (Logical) - Benefits in exchange for money
iii) Clarification (phychological / human) - See if client accepts explanations.
Have a list of likely objections and responses
Part 5 - Successful Presentations and Closings
Ask customer's corporate buying motive
Ask customer's personal buying motive (How to get the buyer to fight personally within the organisation to buy from you)
Know the product expertise (Link the needs and benefits with your product expertise)
Know the competition strength and weakness (Better position to defend our benefits)
Tell the links between their needs and your benefits (Help the customer see what we have to offer and how it meets their needs)
Tell how you overcome objections (Counter and eliminate objections quickly)
Review needs and benefits to client (Put everything into perspective for the client)
Ask for their decision (Most buyers expect to be asked to buy)
Part 6 - Action Provoking System
Follow up with prospect while the interest is still there
Have a system to monitor and prompt you to follow up (daily planner, list of prospects etc)
Part 7 - Self-Motivation and Support System
Up to ourselves on our success(not your boss)
Get personal support (Share your progress with supporter, report to someone everyday etc)
Staying positive (Pick only positive thoughts that go thru' mind, learn from mistakes and release any negative thoughts or guilt from the mistakes)
Eliminate doldrums (Acknowledge yourself for small steps made, write down success steps and review them every evening or when you are down, make a list of skills and qualities you can acknowledge in yourself)
Daring to be different (What's holding you back?)
Overcoming roadblocks (Keep the goal in sight and focus determinedly on ways around the roadblocks)
Moving quickly to your goal (Clearly define your goal, break into action segments and tackle segment every day, take more challenging paths to grow)
That's basically what this book is all about. It is simple and not difficult to grasp on the methods/techniques to do sales.
Bridging The Boomer-Xer Gap
This book starts with the background which says that the workplace is dominated by 2 groups: the baby boomers who are borned in 1945-1962 and the Gen Xers, who are borned in 1963-1982. Slowly, the differences between the 2 groups are mentioned to separate and define these 2 groups of workers. Boomers believe in "live to work" while Xers' motto is "work to live". Boomers believe that if you take care of your employer, he would take care of you. Xers on the other hand see loyalty as a 2-way street, as they observed the jobs of their parents downsized, right-sized, process engineered, rationalised and eliminated. Xers have strong feelings of loyalty to family and friends and see work as a necessary evil. If work can be fun, it can be tolerated. Thus, Xers love technology, speed and continuous change. They want multitask and play video games to relax.
In a recent study, only 25% of employees consider themselves truly committed and plan to stay 2 or more years. 1/3 don't plan to stay that long and a full 39% plan to stay, but only because they are trapped with no other options.
In an experiment with groups of Boomers and Xers to determine if Boomers or Xers are more individualistic, the conclusion was that the Xers are significantly more individualistic AND significantly more team-oriented than the Boomers.
The next big sections are about building successful teams consisting of both Boomers and Xers. Foremost, each team member is encouraged to become more appreciative of how each team members differ from each other. Then, it described a 4 fundamental phases of team building: forming, storming, norming and performing. In forming, it getting the members to know what is their objectives in this team. The team truly becomes a team in storming, where interpersonal conflicts will be at its highest. The norming stage is where true synergy begins. Team members respect each other and discussion focus on issues and not personalities. Team members also seek solutions rather than just talking about what is wrong. Each person is willing to contribute his or her best to achieve team objectives in the performing stage.
The book then continued with supporting teams with coaches and rotating the team members. The Theory of Constraints and the prerequisite tree is then explained to problem solving. IN the prerequisite tree, the 6 steps are:
1) Define the team's goal.
2) List obstacles to implement the goal.
3) Determine intermediate objectives to overcome obstacles.
4) Map the intermediate objectives implementation sequence.
5) Assign intermediate objectives to team members.
6) Execute implementation plan.
Lastly, it ends with how to retain the Xers and how to avoid conflicts. A common difference in thinking is Boomers think Xers don't value hard work and Xers think Boomers are stuck doing things the way they were done 30 years ago. One of the best way is not to compare the 2 generations. Also, focus on rewards and not punishments.
I personally can relate to this book as the differences stated in this book is exactly what I see in my workplace. I feel that the Xers can understand the Boomers but the Boomers does not and does not want to understand the Xers. This is obstructing the growth of the Xers, if any at all.
How to Sleep Less, and Have More Energy Than You Ever Had Before
Everyone of us have only 24 hrs a day and most of us spends a third of that in bed. Most of us also wished we could shortened our sleep and do more things. This book hopes to help readers achieve the following: 1) Reduce your sleeping time, 2) Increase the quality of your sleep, 3) Gain more energy than you ever had before, 4) Eliminate all feelings of drowsiness / inability to concentrate during the day & 5) Reduce your daily stress levels. According to studies, one does not necessary need 8 hours of sleep everyday to function at his/her best during the day as long as he/she has good quality sleep.
The 1st chapter talks mainly on the 5 stages of sleep.
1st stage - This happens when you are day dreaming, dozing off or zoning off. This is when our body relaxes and the heart beats gets slower. It is something like the "doorway" to your sleep.
2nd stage - There is a sudden burst of brain activity and we are very awake. Some scientist felt that this is the stage where the brain attempts to "turn itself off".
3&4th stages - As we enter these deep sleep stages, our heart beat, blood pressure are the lowest of the day. Our blood dilate and most of the blood from our organs travels to our muscles to nourish and repair them.
5th stage - also called the Rapid Eye Movement(REM) stage. Our brain waves increased rapidly at this stage. This is usually when we dream.
We have sleep cycles every time we sleep. A normal sleep cycle is something like
1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 REM 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 REM......
Each cycle is about 60-100min. Stages 3-5 are the most important as lack of these stages will result in lack of concentration, drowsiness and other day time difficulties.
All of us have a body temperature that goes up and down through the day. As your body temperature goes down, you will feel sleepy. This forms your body clock.
Melatonin is a hormone that is responsible for putting you to sleep and restoring physical energy while we sleep. It is released when we are exposed to darkness. It is thus to get as much sunlight as possible.
There is a hugh chapter written for these 2 issues but in a nutshell, if you can control your body temperature and the amount of Melatonin released, you can sleep less but still have more energy than before. The author suggested to get as much sunlight once you wake up, go for some exercise to bring your body temperature up, do not sleep more during weekends to "catch up" with loss sleep during the weekdays, having regular rise and sleep time, reduce caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, drink lots of water, not have meals prior to sleep, having good sleeping posture(on back or on side) and reduce stress.
A whole chapter is dedicated to how to fall to sleep for those who have difficulties. Relaxation methods are briefed. Mainly to slow down your thoughts. One of them is to get of bed and do something till you feel some drowsiness. Taking a warm bath can help but it must be taken about 60 minutes prior to sleep. A cool and dark room will also help. Sleeping pills are only a short term solution but will not cure the problem.
At the end, there is a evaluation to help the reader to know their sleep cycles and how to improve their lifestyle so as to achieve more energy during their wake time. I feel that this short ebook(70pages) is an easy read and though I have not tried the methods taught, i think most of them should work.
The 1st chapter talks mainly on the 5 stages of sleep.
1st stage - This happens when you are day dreaming, dozing off or zoning off. This is when our body relaxes and the heart beats gets slower. It is something like the "doorway" to your sleep.
2nd stage - There is a sudden burst of brain activity and we are very awake. Some scientist felt that this is the stage where the brain attempts to "turn itself off".
3&4th stages - As we enter these deep sleep stages, our heart beat, blood pressure are the lowest of the day. Our blood dilate and most of the blood from our organs travels to our muscles to nourish and repair them.
5th stage - also called the Rapid Eye Movement(REM) stage. Our brain waves increased rapidly at this stage. This is usually when we dream.
We have sleep cycles every time we sleep. A normal sleep cycle is something like
1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 REM 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 REM......
Each cycle is about 60-100min. Stages 3-5 are the most important as lack of these stages will result in lack of concentration, drowsiness and other day time difficulties.
All of us have a body temperature that goes up and down through the day. As your body temperature goes down, you will feel sleepy. This forms your body clock.
Melatonin is a hormone that is responsible for putting you to sleep and restoring physical energy while we sleep. It is released when we are exposed to darkness. It is thus to get as much sunlight as possible.
There is a hugh chapter written for these 2 issues but in a nutshell, if you can control your body temperature and the amount of Melatonin released, you can sleep less but still have more energy than before. The author suggested to get as much sunlight once you wake up, go for some exercise to bring your body temperature up, do not sleep more during weekends to "catch up" with loss sleep during the weekdays, having regular rise and sleep time, reduce caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, drink lots of water, not have meals prior to sleep, having good sleeping posture(on back or on side) and reduce stress.
A whole chapter is dedicated to how to fall to sleep for those who have difficulties. Relaxation methods are briefed. Mainly to slow down your thoughts. One of them is to get of bed and do something till you feel some drowsiness. Taking a warm bath can help but it must be taken about 60 minutes prior to sleep. A cool and dark room will also help. Sleeping pills are only a short term solution but will not cure the problem.
At the end, there is a evaluation to help the reader to know their sleep cycles and how to improve their lifestyle so as to achieve more energy during their wake time. I feel that this short ebook(70pages) is an easy read and though I have not tried the methods taught, i think most of them should work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)