Wealth Tips for Everyone

“No choice”, is two words which people around me use.

There will always be some people around me who always say that they have no choice but to accept what their lives had throw at them. some lament to me that they have no education to backup their dreams, some choose to blame their education background for  their state.

For example, in the aging society I am in now, I see a lot of old people working in fast food joint if i have the chance to visit the joint at strange timing where people are normally either working or studying, trapped in concrete prisons elected by their forefathers. It seemed strange to me, as most of us would had been used to being served by teenagers who are trying to earn a few dollars in their free time.

Some of these elders mentioned that they are trying to keep their mind alive. Others, are simply trying to make a living as they now discovered that their retirement funds are no longer enough by today’s standards.

The choices they have now, are very limited to that, if they are 10 years younger.

Then again, as compared to many others who are younger, did they exercise their choices when they have the chance? or did they just waste their time away, hoping that their luck will take them somewhere safe, safe from all the issues that many job owners are facing now? Since I wa not born in their era, I find that many of them followed whatever their peers or parents told them to do, rather than to look at what the rich and famous are doing.

Why do I say that? Well, my parents did just that.

They chose to follow the norm. They chose to follow the crowd. They chose even to believe what their peers are saying.

And they are still doing it even now.

And that brings us to point number one.

1) The rich choose to be successful.

You see, whenever my parents are confronted by me on the issue of their bad habits, they will chose the simplest way to evade from the confrontation. In my previous article on “How to win the lottery”, I had already mentioned that I have confronted my mother about the wisdom of buying the lottery. She simply says that she has not time to record down her finanes when I dared her to record down her winnings, which she claimed to support her habit.

Then again, everyday, she is playing my PS2 in the living room, doing nothing.

Hmmmm, ok. Enough of my mother. You can read about her adventures in my article here. Next up, my friend who had his business sealed by a new intellectual law being laid down by the government, went about trying to raise awareness to everyone around him, saying how it is unfair for the intellectual companies to press charges to people who downloaded stuffs that was being aired on the television in other counties.

And what did he do after a while? He spent his time playing MMOs around the clock, throwing his problems behind his head. When he stopped playing, he continues to lament about the issue again.

And again.

And again.

Without doing anything.

Well, that is his choice. What can I do about it? Or should I say, I did gave him my 2 cents’ worth. And my 2 cents’ worth, are after all, 2 cents’ worth. They do not cost anything for you to get them. But if he did not even heed my 2 cents’ worth, what makes you think that he will heed my $1,000 worth of advices?

Instead of trying to find other ways to either to revive his business, he chose to become the King in his MMOPG. He chose to become famous once again in the game arena, which brought him much fame as he did at another game we were playing 3 years back.

So, will you want to become what the people around me had became? Do you want to be just another whiner, who sits around all day, trying to make yourself famous with the success you have a few years ago?

Or would you rather have started something? Would you have tried to identify the weakness that you have and try to do something about it? Would you even want to make more than you were making, when given a chance?

Or would you rather stay at home every day, watching television?

I do not know which choice you choose now will benefit you the most in the future. But I am certain that if you would even choose to do something about the state that you are in now, you would have been in a better state than you are, even if some day, you will be back at square one.

Well, if that happens, you would have known how to make your next million with nothing in your pocket since you ha already being there, done that, and bought the T-shirt.

And making that choice will be easier now, since you would have known what to expect, and what steps to take to get you to the top again.

2) The rich choose freedom over security

Looking at the question again, what would you have chosen? Would you have chosen security over freedom if you have the chance?

No. I do not think so.

I think many people would have chosen freedom over security.

To many, the idea of having to work in a cabinet is hideous, and unimaginable.

But they still do it anyway.

And I really wonder why.

Why would they want to choose security over freedom? Why would they want to lock themselves up in a cabinet and make someone else wealthy?

In fact, why do so many people still get a day job and sit in a cabinet, when they know that it will be those who owns the businesses and the buildings they work in that gets the bulk of the profits?

Err, if your answer is, “Everyone knows that”, then, why are you continuing to feed the Millionaires and Billionaires who owns the building you are working in? Are you not even angry with them making use of you to make money for them?

Or, is it just easier to work under someone and let the days goes by?

3) the rich choose to work smarter

Well, some people definitely do not agree with the last few sentences in point 2. And that is why there are always some people who will risk everything they have just to have a chance to be wealthy. Some of them are even spat at wherever they go as their ideology are different from the main stream. Some of these people, including Bill Gates, are spat at simply just because they are rich. But there is one thing in common among them, is that they work smarter than those around them.

And this ensured that they beat their peers hands down.

And why is that so? Why do working smarter will allow a person be ahead of their peers? Isn’t it common knowledge that those who are hardworking will be successful one day?

Well, being hardworking will surely be enough to get you ahead of peers who only know how to get ahead by working hard. To do a simple comparison, if you are an apple picker in an apple orchard, then, the more hours you spend picking apples will meant that you will be able to pick more apples into your basket, assuming that your peers will gather the same amount apple you do per unit time.

Then again, let us consider another job, let us say, programming a new operating system. In case you do not know, Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux are some examples of OSes.

Let us imagine that you decided to be rich. And you know how to make an OS. And so, you decided that you will want to make an OS that is more powerful, and more beautiful than Windows Vista.

So, what will you do after deciding all that?

Some people will go ahead and program the OS themselves. They know that if they are able to make something better than Windows Vista, then they will be able to get rich very easily.

And so, they will then start their programming immediately, and they might work through the night without sleep, in the hope of being able to finish their OS quicker than anyone. They will then sacrifice their leisure time just to see their dream take shape.

But after a while, when a nice television program comes by, or when another Premiere League comes by, he will decide that taking a break or two will be justified and stop his work for a day or two.

Then, after a few months, they will look at their progress and say, hey, this is just not worth it. Is there any way I can speed things up?

After a year or two, when they finally see their dream takes shape, Windows Vista 2 came out.

And all they can do now is to throw their own buggy OS away and try to make another one.

Sad isn’t it? But there are many people who likes to do just that. They like to trade their one goal in life and their future with just the temporary feeling that they are doing something great by themselves.

While I really agree that one should follow their dream since it will be their dream which will propel them to success eventually, there is no reason to use the most ineffective method to achieve it if your life depends on it.

Another group of people will then gather a few friends or relatives and start their own company. They will then enjoy fun and laughter together for a while. When the test comes, companies which are created by a group of friends will be more likely to break apart than family businesses, which explain why we see more family businesses lasting through the years as compared family businesses.

Either way, as their business gets bigger, or the pressure to expand their business gets greater, they may find it hard to get help from people they know, since they are already used to working with people whom they can trust.

So, that is also the reason that some family stays as big as the size of the family is.

What about rich people? What do they do? Well, let us take a look at the famous Windows, which dominates the OS market now.

First, there was Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Microsoft rose from a sub-contractor of IBM into a power house OS creator. They created the MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP and then Windows Vista. Apart from making OSes, they created the XBOX, which is now synonymous to exciting games. They also invaded the PDA market with their Windows CE, and later, Windows Mobile, and also invaded the MP3 market with the Microsoft Zune. And Microsoft never stopped looking around for things to create, or things to buy.

Then again, did Bill Gates and Paul Allen did everything alone?

No.

Did Bill Gates and Paul Allen did everything with a group of friends and family?

Maybe they did. After all, some colleagues are bound to become your close friends if they are worthy enough. As for family members within the company, I do not know. I do not want to make any guesses since I do not have any interest to hire a detective to track each and every employee of Microsoft.

Did Bill gates and Paul Allen stayed small?

No. They did not. In fact, they are constantly on the lookout for new opportunity to make their company bigger.

So, what actually did Bill Gates and Paul Allen did when they want to make a lot of money?

Well, they did things the easy way out.

Although Bill Gates did physically touch the codes of his products well into the first 5 years of the creation of Microsoft, They do know the importance of employing people to work for them.

Yes. You heard it. They employ people to work for them.

They paid large amount of money for top talents so that the best can work for them. They buy over companies which they think will benefit them to diversify and to eliminate competitions. They market their products aggressively to ensure that everyone will know which software to buy when they needed it. Even if you do not need a new software, they will introduce the new one and cease the support for the old one anyway.

And all these made a lot of people angry.

But, you cannot deny that what they are doing earned them a lot of money. And it really will not harm you too much if you can take some tips on the way they marketed their products.

4) The rich choose to focus (while the poor choose to try to do everything themselves).

Arh… The digital age brings a blessing to the people of this world. People can now chat with millions of people in the world, while surfing their favorite website, and listen to their favorite music with a click of the button. They can also check their email while watching Lords of the Ring in HD, while enjoying a cup of espresso.

Even at work, they are able to do their work, check their email, chat with their peers, SMS their friends, and look at the stock market all at the same time.

On the go, people can now contact their peers, check their favorite blogs, get the latest on the news, as well as watch the latest trailer on their mobile phone.

Then, with technology, it is easier for people to be their own boss, their own manager, their own accountant, their own web administrator, as well as their own marketer.

This led to many people to think that they can be a banker, an accountant, a real estate broker, a stock broker, a hotel tycoon, and the top income earner of a few network marketing network all at the same time.

Well, there are a few people in this world who are successful with a few different business at the same time, but it makes little sense to try out other things if you are not even an expert in your own field.

Christopher Gardner did only one thing which made him able to break out of the rat race, and that is trading stocks.

Robert Kiyosaki excels in real estate, which holds the bulk of his assets.

Bill Gates did not try to make another fast food chain, although he had the money to start one.

William C. Durant only makes cars, trucks, pickups, and more cars.

And they are millionaires.

So, what makes people think that they can earn millions by doing many jobs at the same time, if they could not even earn a few bucks from one business they owned?

5) The rich choose to observe

An interesting observation I made is that, there are constantly a group of people at the top of the money pyramid and they seemed to be always be able to do the correct thing at the correct time.

When the market is poor, these people buys stocks people do not want to buy.

When the market is good, these people sells the stocks everyone one wants to buy.

When the market crashes, these people counts their profits, while others count their debts.

When the market is in need of an item, they are the first to provide it.

When the market is saturated, they are able to distinguish themselves from others.

When the market do not need that item anymore, they are the first to get out of the market and move on to other products.

When the other business owners are going bankrupt with an excess of that item, they are the ones who have the capital to start another business with another item that the market needs.

Whenever the market changes, they are the first to be able to sense that change. Whenever the balance of power changes hand, they are also the first to see where that power shifts to. Whenever there are people who are hungry for something, they will be the first to identify that item which feeds the masses.

Unfortunately, there will always be another group of people at the end of the spectrum.

They will always follow sound “advices” given by “experts” who claims to be able to sense the flow of the market. They will gladly believe their own “sixth” sense, then someone who knows the subject matter better than them. They will always be willing to throw their money down into something which they think will bring them millions with a few dollars down and no hard work attached, rather than to follow a sound plan to achieve their financial goals.

They, unfortunately, will always be the ones who shout around, telling everyone how they are scammed.

That is, if they are still around to pay their debts.

Continue on another post…

Continuing from party 1…

 

6) The rich choose to create (rather than to save all the time)

Okay. It is important to have a cache of money for emergency. It is always important to have a sound financial plan, something which people are getting more and more interested in. In fact, it is possible to just save a million dollars when you retire if you are able put a certain amount of money into the bank each month.

Then again, it will take a very long time to do that.

If you starts to save around $1,000 a month, you might reach your goal of saving up $1m in about 35 year, assuming that interest is at 5%.

Then again, who in this world have the ability to wait that long? Most people would either be trying to dig themselves out of the grave, or are already floating around without mass.

It is again, that particular group of people who not only save up, but are able to invest in their dollars at the same time. They are the ones who are able to save more, simply because they have more money to save, and invest at the same time. In absolute numbers, they simply win the pauper in the amount of dollars they save, as well as the amount of dollars they spend in their investments.

And that is also why, when the rich will only get richer, simply because they can.

With those amount of “extra” money, money which they do not need to survive, they can create different income sources which can feed them forever.

Or, they can choose to spend a certain amount of it, and still be able to create a source of income to support themselves, simply because they can.

And to emphasis the point, the rich can afford to create more wealth, simply because they can.

And you can too.

So, the choice is yours. You can choose to become rich, by creating streams of income with your money, or you can simply choose just to save. If you choose to save, please start early. It makes no sense to start saving at the age of 74 when your earning capability is lower. If you trade your time for money, the amount of time you have will then just decrease as you grow older.

Either way, if you think you can lead a comfortable life, please choose your plan now.

7) The rich choose to focus on success (the poor focus on failures)

Have a chat with a rich person if you can. Take note of what is their focus on as they exchange words with you. You will often find that they often focus on their success than their failures. They are not afraid of falling again, and again, and again. It does not seem logical, but they are able to pick themselves up every time they fall down.

You will then find that they are always actively finding ways to get more money, rather than to lament about their lost which they suffered years ago.

Have a chat with poor folks when you feel like it. Take not of what is their focus as they exchange words with you as well. Take note of their choice of words when you come to the subject of money. See if they are what the gurus usually says they are, namely, defensive when the topic of money is raise, or declare to everyone that they do not need to be rich.

I have met them. I have exchanged enough words with them. They live around me. So, it may be time for you to identify who they are and “learn” from them. There will always be things to be learnt from others, but you are the one who can choose to use them as a positive or negative learning material, depending on the situation. As the saying goes, “A fool learns from experience, a wise man learns from others’ mistake”.

You make that choice. You handle the consequences. It is your life.

The rich choose to learn the correct stuffs. (the poor creates their own lies)

How many of the skills you have picked up 10 years ago are still applicable? Well, as an engineer, my basic Mathematics skills and Sciences took me well into my college years.

But that is all. Once out of college, my basic math and science becomes an item that is next to common sense to me. In fact, without some basic knowledge, I do not think that anyone could do anything in life.

Okay, there are a lot of people who did not attended school, or some of them had made it big after dropping out of college. But how many of them can last long without basic knowledge, like basic Math and Science?

Am I looking down on people who do not have a PhD in Math or Science? No.

Am I looking down on people who dropped out of school? No.

Am I discrimination against the rich people and poor people? No.

So, what exactly is my point then?

Well, consider this. You pay is $100. You wanted to buy a bag at $1,000. Can you do it?

Yes. Some of you might say. And I do agree.

You can always get the other $900 and buy that item.

And what if your monthly pay check is $100?

Well, you can save your money for 10 months, and have $1,000, And so, you can buy that bag which costs $1,000.

Then, what are you going to do with living expenses?

Herm, I will think of that later.

Is that how some people do their Math?

Yes. I do see them around me. In fact, my buddy in my college years have a younger sister who did that every month. She always spends beyond her budget. And when she has nothing to spend for that month, she stretched out her hand and asked for more.

And that money had to come from somewhere.

So, if you asked me, are there anyone who do not observe the law of basic math, my answer will be, “they are around me all the time”.

I, myself, is guilty of this from time to time.

So, Do everyone have a choice to spend more than they could?

Yes. They could. Before credit card comes around, one can borrow money from people around them to increase their spending power.

Once credit card comes around, one finds it easy to over spend. Since basic Math do not need to apply.

Wait, if basic Math do not apply, why should anyone care about using credit card to do their purchase?

Well, simply because of the ugly fact that, if you cannot handle simple, basic Math, what makes you think you can handle things that is more complex than basic Math?

Let us take an example. Before credit card comes around, the equation of income versus expenditure is:

Total income – Total expenditure = Total spending power left over

Looks simple, isn’t it?

Well, with credit card, it becomes:

Total income – Total expenditure – Total credit card debt this month = Total spending power left over

Simple enough? I think it is.

But, some people prefers to use this formula instead:

Total income – Total expenditure = Total left over + credit card

So, they concluded that they have more and more to spend each month, because they have a credit card.

If they do not have enough to spend, they will then use another credit card to increase their credit limit.

Then, another.

Then, another.

Then, another.

So, who is going to pay for all these credit card bills?

Some will say, “I will sign up another credit card to foot the bills”. Another will say, “I’ll mortgage my house to pay for my credit card bills. Everyone does that”. Yet, another will say, “I will take up a loan to pay off my debts. In that case, I will have more money to buy the things I want”.

And finally, they will all say, “I will declare bankrupt so that I will not need to pay for anything!”

And they will lose everything they once had.

So, one word of advice, please stick to the basic Math of:

Total income – Total expenditure = Total spending power leftover

If you cannot handle more complex Mathematics. I, myself, are sometimes confused over the different types of formula we can use and so naturally, my leftover is negative.

Yes. You heard me. My leftover is negative.

Simply put, my spending is more than my earnings for that particular month.

And I can do that sometimes because I try hard to have leftovers from the months before that. So, naturally, with simple Math, I can have some months that I spend more than I earn, simply because I have accumulated enough leftovers from previous months.

So, using simple Math, my formula becomes:

Total spending power = Total income + total leftover from last month – total expenditure this month

But, I would rather stick to the simple formula:

Total income – Total expenditure = Total spending power leftover

since it is both easy to understand and foolproof.

So, it is your choice. You can come up with fancy formulas for yourself, but ultimately, once you debt catches up with you, you will have to pay them of face the music. Make a choice now before you start creating strange formulas which look nice but do not make sense even for those who never stepped into a school before.

9) The poor says “no choice” the rich create their choices

Have you ever heard people saying that they are doing a job, or have done something because they have no choice? Have you seen people getting angry over something other people had said, unable to rebuke the offender, they might use the excuse “I have no choice” as to end the conversation?

Well, I have. I had seen people using the words, “no choice” as an excuse, again and again. I have seen how some of these people conducted their lives, and I have no choice but to agree with them that, they have no choice after all.

Yes. You heard me right. I am actually agreeing with them.

I am actually agreeing with these people.  Most of them are neither thieves nor bandits. Most of them have a decent job and a decent income and some form of investment. Most of them have some insurance scheme protecting them and their family, since they know that insurance is now a necessity rather than a luxury.

However, they might have failed to make a few vital choices in their lives, which cause themselves to have “no choice” over their decision in life.

First, some of them failed to catch the flow when they could. Fear of failure and the love of low risk life led many to give up their dreams in a hope of a “steady” life, in which the company or government will take care of them.

After 30, present day, they found out that their “steady” life is not that steady anymore.

First, their “steady” life did not even shook. It just disappeared.

With each generation of people living longer and longer, they found out that the advice of their generation obsolete when they get old. The advice that most of our parents followed are, “Study hard, get good grades, get a stable job, get married and have a few children”. And more often than not, they will try to enforce what they were taught to us.

At least, that was what my parents did.

They made me study hard. With little they have, they employed the best tutors for me, so that I will have the best grades in school. Later, I entered a college and got a degree in computer engineering. And now, I have a “stable” job which earns me quite an okay sum per month. That sum will not make me rich, but that sum will not make me stave.

Yes, you heard it. That sum will not make me rich. These technical skills which I have picked up will get obsolete once new technologies come out. There are plenty of youngster steaming out of colleges all over the world, waiting to take over my job. Each day, I sit down at the computer terminal, wondering who will be the next computer wizard who will take over my place in the company, considering around 2,000 people are graduating each year with the same degree I have each year, in my area alone.

Then again, my parents are happy. I had okay grades, I graduated from college, I had a job now.

And my parents are happy.

But I am not.

I am not happy simply because that I can be replaced immediately by another person who has the same skill as I do. Programming is easy to pick up, believe me.

Then, my “stable” job will be lost to me the moment I cannot do any programming.

That is to say, if I lost most of my fingers, to simply unable to commute to work for an extended period of time, I will be unable to work.

And if I am unable to work, I am unable to make any money.

So, in a sense, I have “no choice” now but to work.

But whether I will be able to have a “choice” will be decided what happens to this little blog in the corner of the World Wide Web.

What about the millionaires of today? Well, many of them decided that they had enough. They had enough of getting salaried “stable” jobs which offers no securities. They had enough of waiting for the pay check which will be stunk whenever there is a recession. They are really, really tired of having an empty bank account, one which I have myself.

They made that choice.

They made that important choice.

They made that single, important choice to change their lives, not because anyone forced them to, but because they wanted something else out of their lives. Because they wanted to fulfill their dreams, without giving up on their own well being.

And some of these millionaires are penniless when they made that choice.

But then again the fact that they did made that choice, and exercised their choices, that made them what they are, this time, this day.

After reading all these, assuming you are still reading, you may ask yourself this question:

Why do you want to listen to my 2 cents’ worth?

Well, I may not be a professor who has a PhD on the topic, or that I am a physiatrist have treated a million patients, and all of them are praising about how well a job I have done. Heck, I did not even have 20 years of experience behind myself to proof the things I had written in this blog, something which many gurus in the internet had.

Well, I do have 25 years of experiences observing how poor people behave. I have 25 years of experiences looking at how poor people conducted their lives day to day, making decisions which they thought are the best decisions one can make in this world. Instead of looking around for a bit, instead of getting the advices of people who had succeed, instead of even finding time to read a few books, or read a few internet pages, they chose to listen to urban legends and hearsays which guaranteed huge returns, without doing anything significant.

A lot of them believed in lotteries, because lotteries allowed them to win a few million dollars with only a few dollars down. They believed that they will always be the next one in line to win the lottery, when in my previous post, I had already shown everyone that winning the Jackpot prize is next to impossible, for a common person walking on the road.

Or should I say, for most of the people walking on the road, winning the lottery is next to impossible.

Yes, there is someone who is out there who gets to carry home a fat check every time the numbers for the lottery. But, how many people are there who takes home a fat check at the end of every draw?

Well, the amount of people who hits the jackpot can be counted by my fingers. And most of the time, I only need to use one of my hand to do the counting.

Well, so, the choice is ultimately yours. You can decide to act now, or later. It is your choice. Only you can make that choice. If you have “no choice”, then, the very act of whether you want to execute that choice is YOUR choice alone. No one can force you.

So please, make a choice.

It was during a sleepless night that I started to physically write this article on a notebook using a pen from my stationary tub. It was so unintentional, yet this article is about something which everyone gets to have, and yet, everyone does not have enough of it.

Yes. That commodity is Time.

Time is something which everyone has, but at the same time, everyone do not have enough to use. How often do you hear people complaining about having not enough time to do their job, or not having enough time to play? Well, I hear them all the time. They came from people of different shape and sizes from the very rich that I know of personally, to the very poor whom I met on the streets.

How many of us have the luxury of sitting down at a coffee table, watching everyone rushing by, without a care in the world? Well, I did that once with a group of my friends. We sat in a Starbuck’s outlet for half a day, doing nothing other than to look at girls passing by the windows, and talking about whatever that came to our mind. Then again, it ended when dinner time came around and all of us had to return to our nests.

So, what did we get out of the visit? Not much, except for some caffeine in our blood stream. The images of the girls that went passed us were forgotten within 10 seconds and I did not think that our life span had increased any longer by looking at the demure ladies walking pass the joint.

So, why do some people like to sit around and do nothing the whole day, knowing that they are wasting the most precious commodity they have?

I don’t know. Maybe they just want to relax. Maybe they just want to enjoy life for a moment. Or maybe, they are just trying to forget that they have to spend a whole day’s pay on the plate of Grilled Chicken with Chips that they are enjoying so much.

Wait a minute, what had I just wrote? A single meal at the cost of a day’s pay? Who would spend a day’s hard work on a single meal? Who would be so stupid to do that?

I don’t know. But I see them around me all the time. Instead of spending within their means, many people that I known of are actually enjoying the strange pattern of spending an hour in a posh restaurant, while spending another hundred hours working for that hour spent in that restaurant.

Hey, isn’t that a bit strange then? Why are people sacrificing so much for just a meal? Why can’t they just have their meal at a normal neighborhood eatery? Isn’t is painful to pay for something which you can only enjoy for a brief moment, only to find yourself trying to pay for it at the end of the month with another month’s hard work?

Err, yes. To me, to pay for a meal worth my day’s work is already very heart breaking for me. But then again, if I am to have a meal like a millionaire, I will have to exchange a month’s pay for it, simply because I have no choice.

And most of the working middle class have no choice either. Either they enjoy their meal in a neighborhood eatery, or they slave away in a posh hotel. There is no other way for a working middle class to enjoy the luxury of a millionaire other than to work really hard for it. And some times, these working middle class had to spend a whole life’s savings just to fulfill their one dream in life, which in the end, may be over in a couple of minutes.

There you see, it is very easy to just live within your means. It is really easy for a middle working class to have a meal in their neighborhood eatery, and enjoy the thrill of killing houseflies with their utensils.  However, it is really hard, and painful, for a working middle class to pay for a meal which is equivalent to their whole month’s pay.

The same can be said for a millionaire.

They will find it really hard to eat in a neighborhood’s eatery, since it is really painful to have no one to serve you during a meal. However, they will find it really easy to grab a meal in a posh restaurant since there will be less people queuing up to get in.

But hold on for a minute. There is a difference between the two. If you haven’t see it, let me just rephrase the comparison which I had made between a middle class and a millionaire.

First, a middle class will find it easy for their pocket to eat in a normal neighborhood eatery. They can choose to frequent the eatery. The millionaire, on the other hand, has the ability to CHOOSE not to eat at the cheap eatery, simply because he prefers not to eat at that eatery.

Second, a middle class can choose not to break their wallet by choosing the cheapest item on the menu. The millionaire, on the other hand, can choose not to break their back by choosing another restaurant with a nicer chair.

Hmmm. Those two items are not really fair comparisons, aren’t they?

Well, if you compare the choices that the wealthy have, as compared to a poor, there isn’t much to compare, isn’t it?

First of all, you will find that the rich have more options when it comes to paying a certain item, let’s say, a car. While many people would be happy with something that has four wheels and an engine, in order to get a car with more sparkle, they will often have to resort to paying for the car using some form of hire purchase scheme. What about the rich? Well, they can choose to pay by using hire purchase options too. But they can also choose to use credit or cash, in a single payment, since it doesn’t make sense to pay the interests incurred when you use the hire purchase option.

Next, the rich can choose to buy from different version of an item, but the poor are usually limited to one or two version of an item. Take from example, a computer ridge.

For the poor, it may be as simple as “something which I can surf the internet with”. Bare minimum, built in graphics card, built in sound, a 2nd hand CRT monitor, OEM keyboard, mouse and speaker.

For the millionaire, a LCD is a must. It is always preferable to get a IMac which produces files which normal PCs cannot read from. The speakers cannot be too ugly, and keyboard and mouse had to look cool.

Then again, the millionaire can also order a PC with built-in graphic and sound, one that “allows one to surf the web” easily, from a few mouse click, directly from Dell.

So, you see, the Rich do have more choices. They have more choices since they are able to choose what kind of commodity to use to trade for what they want to purchase. They are even able to choose what kind of credit card they want to use, simply because they can.

The poor, unfortunately, can only trade for commodities they want, using the single, most precious commodity they have, that is time.

For a posh meal in a restaurant, they have to serve their masters for some time before they can gather enough money to pay for their bills. They do not have many other choices in footing their bills than to use their time.

Wait, doesn’t everyone foot their bills with money? Why am I talking about time? Am I mumbling rubbish in this article as well?

Well, let us look at how money appears in the bank accounts of most people of this world.

First, they work for 8 to 14 hours a day. Then, they make sure that their hours are written down properly in a book at the finance department. At pay day, they queue up to receive their pay check, or rush to the bank to check whether the amount credited is correct or not. Next, they will then check their mail boxes for bills and….

Wait… let’s not go there. We are supposed to talk about how money gets into the pockets of a normal person, not how it flows out of it.

Ok. So, what about a rich person? How do money flows into their pockets?

Errr, ok, since there is a lot of ways a money can go into a rich person’s pocket, let us just take the life of a rich person who owns a rental apartment, Robert Kiyosaki’s favourite.

First, they… err, do other things… maybe, they do their day job. Then, they make sure that people who own them money, pays them on time, including their employees and those who rented their flats. At pay day, they also check their bank account or the check they receive to see whether everything is in order. Then, they cash in their checks or just see the figures appear in their bank balances. Next, they check their mailboxes for bills…. And we shall stop here again.

So, there is no difference between a rich man’s means of getting money, and a poor man’s way of getting money? Right?

Ok. Scroll up a bit. Read those lines again. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

That particular kind of rich person that I had mentioned may have a day job, but, he still receives income from the apartment they rent out. Therefore, any income received from their rental apartment is extra income, which that particular rich person does not need for survival.

On the other hand, whatever money that a poor person, or a middle working class makes during their day job, may become whatever they need for survival, assuming that they do not have other forms of income.

So, the words, “Time is money”, is true.

However, the amount of money that particular time can generate varies from person to person, depending on how much work, what kind of work, and the amount of money generating ways they have on hand.

Then again, money can buy time, to a certain extend. Although it cannot help a person to buy back the time that was lost, they can allow a person to buy more time in the future.

Take for example, a rich person who owns a car, as compared to a person who relied on the public transport system to get around.

Getting from point A to point B, for a person who relies on the public transport system, is usually a pain.

For a train station, he or she had to buy the ticket at the ticketing machine before getting to the automatic gates if he or she does not have a seasonal pass. After getting through the gate, he or she may have to compact themselves into tiny packages, since the train will be very packed during peak hours (Think of the trains in Tokyo during peak hours). Trying to reach for the mp3 player in the pocket might be impossible, as the person next to you may be just, well, right next to your skin. When the train reached the destination, he or she will have to squeeze their way out of the train, the same way they had squeezed into the train earlier. He or she will then walk to the final destination, assuming that the place he or she heading to is within walking distance from the subway.

Similarly, getting from point A to point B, for a person who owns a luxury car, is also a pain.

First, he or she has to make sure that the car has enough fuel to last the trip. If not, he or she will have to stop at the nearest gas station to top up before the trip. He or she may have to stop at other gas stations along the way to the destination, if the destination is really far. Along the way, the driver has to make sure that he does not scratch his or her shiny car, since it will be a hassle to get it repainted. If there is a traffic jam, the driver will then have to crawl along with the slow moving traffic, listening to the songs he or she had downloaded into the iPhone sitting on top of the dashboard. When the destination appears on the GPS screen, he or she will have to find a parking lot as close as possible to the destination, since the parking lot at the destination itself may be full, due to the fact that everyone drives a car.

So, who really spent more time for transport, well, it actually depends on how efficient the transportation system in your neighbor is. If the place you work and the place you live in are right next to a subway, I will say that you will probably save a lot more time than a person who drives. Then again, how many companies are built within 50 meters from the subway? Well, assuming that buildings are actually in blocks of 20m x 20m, I would say that about 24 buildings can be built within the vicinity of the subway.

Wow. That is a lot of buildings, isn’t it? But in my country, the buildings that are actually within 50 meters from the subway is usually 5 or 6, as buildings are not always square, and each company’s ability to buy a piece of land is usually different. Oh, and an area of 20m x 20m is actually very small for Multinational Corporation. Even their employee’s office area is not that miniature.

Then again, it just so happens that it will be faster for me to travel by public transport to work during peak hours, since the roads that I will be travelling on has bus lanes (lanes on the road made especially for buses). Then again, during off peak hours, it will always be a pain to travel by bus. Buses in my area is especially slow and less frequent, as compared to the frequency during peak hours.

Another comparison on how convenient a car can be is, getting from my friend’s house which is 60km from the map takes 1 hour at least by train, while by car, it only takes 10 minutes.

So, if I had a car, and want to get to my friend’s house, I would have saved 50 minutes. That amount of time will be enough for me to do a workout, or leveled up my characters in World of Warcraft.

Then again, 50 minutes alone is enough to clinch a deal, or come out with the next killer idea which can make a 12 years old the next billionaire.

And that is the difference between a rich person and a poor person.

A person who has enough options will be able to choose between the commodity they have to exchange for an item, let’s say, for a house. They will then be able to generate more money with the time they saved. If done correctly, this cycle will never be broken, and that is why everyone is complaining that “the rich always gets richer”, since the rich have the access of money generating machines that the poor do not have.

Then again, it is not impossible to break out of the life cycle of the poor. The moment an effort is made to break the poor person’s cycle, the lives of that particular person who wish to break out of the rat will never be the same again. In order to break out of the life cycle of the poor, one must be able to use their time wisely so that they can produce more “options” for “trading”, instead of being limited to using “time” to trade with other commodities.

Then again, you may ask, if time is such an expensive commodity that we have, why can’t we just keep exchanging time for other commodities, rather than wasting time on other things which may not guarantee us a steady stream of income?

Well, let us just say that, not everyone may have enough time.

Take for example, an old man who can no longer work, since he has a pair of weak legs. Or a person who had recently been told by the doctor that he has only 3 months to live, due to a huge tumor in his or her brain.

Arh… Then you will say to me, “these things will never happen to me, since I am so healthy”.

Correct. You are very healthy now. But what about tomorrow? Have you been going for a health checkup recently? Have you been exercising enough? Have you been eating well? Have you been eating junk instead?

Arh, you will then say to me, “I feel healthy. There is no need for me to get a checkup.”

Well, my healthy looking aunty was diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago.

Arh, you will then say to me again, “It may have happened to your aunt, but not to me. I am very lucky”.

So, do you know what is flowing in your blood? I do not know what is flowing in mine either, since I am not a specialist. So, I rather let a specialist tell me whether the things that are flowing in my bloodstreams are poisonous or not.

Another friend of mine, who had an accident out of nowhere, can no longer live like a person. Everyday, he lives in fear, wondering when he will take a fall again, breaking his spine once again.

Being brought back from death 5 years ago, much of his spine are covered in metallic plates, holding whatever bones that was left together. Hardly a day went by without him wondering when he will die. Occasionally, I will receive his message, saying that he is afraid of dying. And as always, I, a person who had never tasted death before, can never give him many advices, since I do not really know what is going through his minds. Instead of forcing down wisdom which I think that will be useful to him, I rather avoid sending him the wrong message, since I am about the handful of friends he trusted.

I had not tasted death, nor do I plan to taste is so early in life. In fact, if given a chance, I would rather not taste it at all. I personally believed that you as long as you are alive, you can make a difference in this world, like what I am trying to do now, writing my thoughts and others into an article, hoping that there will be some who will be able to see this blog someday, and take away something from this blog.

To this friend of mine, I cannot offer him much advice from someone who knows about death. All I can offer to him are knowledge which I had exchanged with my time, and hope that they will be useful to him when he need them.

Then again, he had lost a lot of time with that fall of his.

Under normal circumstances, he would have lived to a rip age of 70. He would have graduated by age 25, just as I did, with a Honors Degree in Chemical Science. He would then get a girlfriend and get married before the age of 30 years old. He will then have a few children and continue to raise them over the next 20 years or so.  His son will then enter the work force as he had, and gotten married when the time comes, just as he had 30 years ago. My friend would have grown old, just as I will be, and we would meet occasionally to talk about our lives, or the daily news.

But, on that fateful day 5 years ago, my friend took that fall.

And therefore, his time stopped for a while.

After he recovered, his time was shortened. Instead of taking 3 years to complete his degree, he now have to spend 6 full years to finish them. Instead of taking Chemical Science as he had wished for, he can only take an Arts and Social Science degree, even though it is not a lesser degree. Unable to stay outside in the open for long, he is unable to take more than 4 modules per semester. His per-day schedule cannot be more than 4 straight hours, as he will need some outpatient medical attention after 4 or 5 hours. With that, there are certain modules he cannot take, as he would have to be in the school for long hours.

As for the getting married part, it is quite impossible for now.

He became a hermit, unable to talk to anyone, since he can no longer hang out with anyone anymore. He locked himself in his room, playing Massive Multi Player Online Game every day. Unable to be in the open for too long, he cannot join his teammates for projects, and had to do them remotely from home, through the MSN.

And so, his time had been shortened for a lot, maybe he will be able to life till a ripe age of 70. Maybe he won’t.

So, you might be thinking, hey, my friend is unlucky. It does not concern you at all. You will never be that unlucky to fall down.

Okay. So, my friend who took a fall at a young age of 19 years old has nothing to do with you. But the fact is, no one expected it.

So, if you have the ability tell me now that who will have an accident tomorrow, I will gladly be your slave for half of my life, since I will know when I will die.

Since no one can actually foresee the future, rather than depending on one’s’ luck, I would suggest everyone reading this article to be as prepared as possible for whatever situation that might happen to you.

Oh, so, you might be thinking that you have a job now. You will be getting your pay raise next month. Your dream wedding will happen next year, with three thousand guests attending your wedding at a well-known cathedral. With the pay raise next month, you will be getting a brand new SUV, amidst the oil crisis that is happening during the time of writing, as you can afford it.

So, nothing bad will happen to you, right?

You life is all well, carefully planned, isn’t it? Nothing will go wrong for you in the next 10 years, isn’t it?

What if you are the next person to take that fall?

What if you are the next person whose office takes a plan hit?

What if you are the next person who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

What if you just got unlucky tomorrow?

It will only take one fall to be in my friend’s state.

Sad to say, many of us, who thinks that time will always be on our side. We will always fail to use our time wisely until it is too late.

How many times have you heard from those who do not have time left lamenting about the things which they should have done, but did not do?

Take for example, another friend of mine.

At the age of 21, he had USD$350,000 stashed in an overseas bank, earning interest. By the time he is 25, it would had become half a million.

The time which I used for playing online computer games, he was there with me. The time I spent playing offline games, he was negotiating deals. The time I spend going out with friends, he was selling his merchandise and earning 100% profits for his transactions. While I was walking around searching for figurines to buy, he was searching for figurines to sell. While I was watching the movies showed during Christmas, he was making $120,000 in profits, something which is about 4 years of my pay.

What does all these means? Well, this means that, in terms of financial well being , my friend, who is 4 years younger than I am, is more than 10 years ahead of me. He had saved enough for himself such that if he was to get married immediately, he would have enough to hold a wedding and buy a house, all at the same, all with hard cash.

What about me? Well, let us just say that I got enough for the photo shoot.

That also means that if something was to happen to me, I would probably wish that I was dead instead of being bed ridden all my life. Without enough money in the bank as an emergency measure, it would be a problem if I would lose my job now, and if I needed medical attention, I would probably wish that I would be in the coffin, after all, a last service will only cost about $10k for an average person.

Then again, giving up is not an option. It is very easy to give up and let life knock you around. It is very easy to just jump off a building and leave everything else to those that are left behind. It is very easy to not to make an effort to win in games, since it requires no hard work, no sweat, and no blood. It is really, really easy to tell myself that no one will read this blog, and that I should use my time more wisely on other pleasures, like play another round of MMO or to walk around the town without doing anything useful.

It is just simply too easy to quit working hard.

Then again, unless you ancestors had been working hard, or are very lucky, the only way to earn a living is either through hard work, or with a lot of brains. Many people are enjoying their lives because someone had exchange their time for the wealth they are enjoying now. To many, the lives of the rich are just too easy. But what many of us do not see is that fact that the lives of rich and wealthy are easy because they have a lot of options to spend, and also a lot of options to make more money.

And some of these options, like buying a bunch of stocks, a huge rental apartment, or having enough capital to start another business, are mostly out of the reach of most people living in this world.

Then again, these options do come with a heavy price tag. And sometimes, the price is so great that within a lifetime, one cannot hope to have these options.

Therefore, do not waste your time anymore. The time that we are in now will not wait for anyone. Once it is over, it will be over. Once you lost the time you hold, you will lose it forever. You can buy some time for yourself in the future, but you cannot buy back the time that was lost, forever.

The time that you hold now may have gave you little to spend, but if it was used with care, that amount of time you had used in the past may allow you to have more options than you ever thought possible. Without any cash, one can still use their brains and time to create wealth. But if you have already lost time and brain power, money will be you next best bet in generating a sustainable income to feed you, and those that will inherit your genes.

So, for goodness sake, do not waste your time anymore. For you and I do not know what will happen tomorrow. No one expected that a plane will fly into the office they worked in, and many others did not think seeing a plane flying into a building is possible. With each passing moment, future millionaires are being born, and many business plans are being thought of. These future millionaires will never wait for anyone, since they already know that the time they have is limited.

So, please, waste your time no more, and act now. Since it will probably be a miracle for you to find this blog within this mess World Wide Web, it should not hurt you to take something back with you today as you have already spent some time reading this blog.

Remember, you may not be successful even if you try your hardest. But you will certainly not achieve anything if you stay idle and not move at all.

The blogging market is already very saturated and I think that anyone who is reading this will agree with me on this point. In fact, I will be very surprised if you can find this blog among the seas of blogs. There are millions of bloggers who are using the web to document their lives, as well as thousands of blogging-gurus wannabes who are trying to emulate what the real blogging-gurus had achieved, namely, fame and glory, and sometimes a steady form of income.

Then again, these wannabes are upsetting the blogging world with their posts which contains little or no value, as compared to those who really blog for their passion.

Then again, who am I to judge these bloggers? I myself know that to you, the readers, I may be just another guru wannabes, who is trying to attract the attention of the world and make some income out of it. Well, I don’t know. I have started this Blog as an experience to see whether it is possible to blog full time and earn an income out of it. The problem with this blog is, I have started this blog before I actually do any decent research on how to make a living as a blogger. Inspired by those blogging-gurus out there, I started this blog without knowing what it takes to make a blog a magnet to attract readers, the very essence of what makes a blog ticks. And now, slowly, the reality hits me across the face. Using a blog to make a living may be just a dream if the blogger did only the easy step to make a blog. Namely, these easy steps are usually limited to: 1) getting a blog, 2) writing some articles, 3) publish the article and go to bed.

Basically, these are the steps which I took when I just started this blog. And by only using these steps, one can be sure that your content will not attract anyone except for occasional visitors, unless that particular blog is about something unique and original.

Then again, there is hardly any topic in this world that is not touched by a blogger anymore.

Really. Just look around you. What are the blogs that are popular? I am sure that the blogs that are popular are blogs which have original contents, even though the subject matter may not be unique.

Take for example, the blog by Mathew Daimler who blogs about aircraft seats. His post is original. His subject matter is even more original. What started out as a way to share with others what are some of the airlines with better seats became a business venture which eventually became something which pays all the bills of the writer. His blog is popular due to the fact that HE DID try out the seats himself. That is something which he cannot bluff. Although there are a lot of things a blogger can hide from the world, if the blogger does not know the subject matter that he or she is blogging about, the readers will be able to pick out evidences along the way.

Take another example, Dark Mirage, who blogs about anime stuffs. He blogs about anything pertaining to anime which he experienced, seen, touched or watched. Many anime lovers frequent his blog and I am one of them as well. He does not use his blog as a source of income, but concentrates on his passion, that is telling the world what he feels about the subjects he is blogging about, be it an anime figurine he just received, or an anime convention he had visited, or even about an anime which he had just seen. Moreover, he takes pictures of these items, these events which he writes about. People not only know him by his name, but also know him by his face. His passion about anime is what kept readers to bookmark his blog and subscribe to his RSS feeds, since they know that whatever they read on his blog is something which the writer, Dark, have experienced?

Well, to that matter, I do not think that another can write an article well on the matter that he did not experienced before.

Even though that one of the way to keep your blog full of new contents is to review contents written by other bloggers, it will not be as popular as the original content itself unless the reviewing author adds values to the article they are reviewing. There are already many sites and blogs in the web which serves as a gateway to quality contents in the web, and Google, as a search engine, have become the top portal to go to whenever someone wants to look for something interesting on the web. It is the first word that people will think of whenever they want to look for something on the web. Its name is synonymous to the encyclopedia of yesterdays, which unfortunately, almost disappeared when Wikipedia went online. Then again, specialized sites are still needed, as a search engine is still a search engine. On this aspect, Google did a good job in maintaining its search page as simple as possible, such that it became a page with only a handful of items to relieve the brain of web surfers from the danger of having to deal with too many information on earlier search pages.

So, if you are not trying to become Google, please do not do things like pasting a single link on your blog and hope that your readers will be able to understand what are you trying to do, or placing a single picture of a produce and hope that your reader will be able to understand your ideas through reading your brainwave which may be emitted from the other side of the globe. People of this millennium do not have the luxury of time since new things are popping up every day, or even every hour.

Simply said, if you cannot do a proper review, do not do a review.

Instead, create original articles. There are enough things in this world for you to write about and no one can stop you from publishing your works in this World Wide Web, unless it is about things like teaching a 3 years old kid how to make a nuclear bomb. A poem site may be a popular site to people who wished to be inspired, while others may be just interested to know what kind of live you lead if you are living in the desert. There are many people in this world who just simply want a third opinion on the subject matter he or she is interested in, and your opinion may create a wave of unrest in the internet world.

Take for example, the comments made by the China girl, Zhang Ya, about the victims of Si Chuan earthquake send millions trying to track her down, wanting to give the girl a piece of their mind. On the same issue, baby “Ai”, or “Love” in English, whose mother, Zhang Xiaoyan, was rescued after the Si Chuan earthquake also send another wave of unrest across the internet. This time, however, no one is after the blood of Ai. Everyone is instead, trying to express the gratitude to the baby, just for the fact that she had survived the earthquake.

Then again, not everyone can create killer articles to publish on their blogs. There are many writers in this world, but sadly, there will always be only a handful of these writers who can influence their readers in a positive light. Just as there are many who can drive a car, not many people can drive a car to compete with Lewis Hamilton, who drives one of the fastest racing cars in the world.

Then again, you will not know until you have tried.

In order to do well in the field you are in, you had to have passion about the subject you are dealing with. It is will always be easy to start something which everyone is interested in. For example, if everyone is interested in buying a cell phone pouch, if you just open any shop that sells cell phone pouch, someone will definitely buy from you. Similarly, if everyone is interested in the presidential election, there will be a lot of people who will read articles which talks about the candidates. The only difference is in the number of people who will read your blog, and the number of people who will place positive comments on your blog.

Ask any of the gurus out there, and most probably they will be able to tell you that they love what they are doing.

I am sure that Lewis Hamilton is not only good in driving, but loves driving as well. I am sure that “The Crocodile Hunter”, Steve Irwin, loves dealing with animals when he was alive. I am also sure that the “MythBusters” of the Discovery Channel loves to deal with rumors and urban legends, since there is not an episode that was air that they do not show their enthusiasm on the screen. I am also sure that Cosplayers loves to dress up like anime players, since many of them actually repeated their ordeal many times in their lives. In fact, many Cosplayers have their own shops, selling Cosplayers’ items.

Then again, sometimes passion may not be enough. There are many in this world who holds enough passion for their dream that they are willing to give up all other dreams just so that their dream may become a reality. Sadly, there are also many who will be forced to give up their dreams in the end, since in this world, passion without a good job done means that the job that was done, will be of inferior quality. And that is precisely the reason that there are many who can do well in a job that they do not have passion in, just so because they can do their job well.

Then again, without passion, one can never hope to excel in their job. You can be just another blogger who blogs about an issue in this world, but the articles that you write will never be better than another blogger who not only can write well, but also have passion for the job that he is doing, that is blogging.

In one line, if you want your blog to give you a sustainable income, please have passion in at least the thing that you are blogging about. It makes no sense for you to write on something which you have absolutely no interest in writing about. I think that writers will agree that there should not be any issue in writing about the things that you are interested in, but you will run into trouble in writing things which you have absolutely no interest in.

It is just like telling you friends about the movie you saw yesterday. If you are really interested in that movie that you watched yesterday, you would have told everyone else around you how good it was. Conversely, if you have no interest in that movie, you would not waste time in telling people your opinion on the movie. You might instead be talking about the bunch of girls you met after the movie, or the jigsaw puzzle you just finished before going to the cinema.

Okay, let us say that you already have a passion in the stuffs that you are writing about. So, what will be the next item in the list?

Well, after you have passion for a certain job, the next item on the list is to acquire enough skills for you to perform the job well. Just as I have said earlier, it makes no sense to destroy the ear of the masses just because that you like to play the guitar. In makes even less sense to waste your time doing something which will not bring satisfaction to even yourself. There are many things in the world which people do for self satisfaction, which will not kill another person if the job is no done properly. These things include painting, writing a story or even planting some plants in your garden. Certainly, the list can go on.

 But definitely, blogging for an income should not be in the list.

It makes no sense for you to enjoy the job that you are doing, but everyone in the world is against in what you are doing, especially if they are the ones who are bringing you the pay check.

Let’s face it. The readers are our customers. For everyone who wish to earn anything decent on the web by blogging, they have to please their customers, who are the readers of their articles. They have to write quality articles that will attract readers. Bloggers have to create value from their readers so their blog do not become just another blog on the web, but something which people can read again and again, without fear that their brain cells will die from reading the article.

Rather than using gimmicks and active advertisements, you will find that the most popular blogs in the internet will most likely not resort to spamming everyone’s email in the hope that at least some email will be able to get through the spam filters and send some readers their way. Instead, most of these popular blogs are advertised using the word of mouth method, one advertisement method which ensures that your product gets known by people of the world, without the need to spend a single cent on active advertisement.

Rather than spending a lot of money on active advertisements, one should follow what the gurus did, that is learn about the tools of the trade. Bloggers, should, to a certain extent, learn how to tweak their blogs so that their readers will not have a hard time trying to find ways to read their blogs. It makes no sense for a blogger who is blogging for an income to give themselves an excuse to earn less money, just because they do not know how to customize the layout of their blog. It makes little sense for a blogger to let their readers endure a poorly made theme which kills the retina of the readers, who can chose not to visit that blog after their first visit. For a person who wishes to use their blog as a tool to generate their primary income, it makes little sense for them to discourage their customers from visiting their blog.

Therefore, learn CSS. Learn HTML. Learn how to use the Dreamweaver if you think you will need it. In fact, read what the gurus have for you.  Many of them have written articles on how to kick start your blog. It makes no sense to deprive your readers, who are ultimately your customer, from the creative juice that you may have in your brain. Readers love to be able to read your article with the least amount of effort, so, there is no reason not to satisfy them, especially so if your monthly income depends on the readers’ viewership.

So, you already have the passion and the skills. What else do you need?

Maybe a domain.

Wait. Wait a minute, what did I just said? A domain? But Isn’t a domain the first thing a person should get if he wants to make some money out of his blog? Well, just in case some of you who are reading this did not have your own domain, go get one. It makes little sense to be limited by service providers who may not grant you the ability to customize your blog to your heart content. Domains are cheap, and so are dedicated servers. It makes no sense to earn less when you can earn a lot more just by getting a domain of your own.

Look at the gurus. How many of them have their blogs in Blogger? How many of them have the default theme as their layout? How many of them have eye sore coloring for their blogs which drives away even guru wannabes like you? Not many, I guess. Not many.

So, enjoy writing in your blog. Read the blogs of the gurus to gain insights on what you should write about. Learn the skills necessary to satisfy your readers, or you will regret even spending your time in trying to create your own blog to get a sizable income. Remember that not everyone will be able to generate a sizable income through blogging on the web, since in every field you are in, there can only be a small group of people who will dominate the field and be crowned the gurus. The rest of the people, sadly, can only hope that the income they generate is even enough to maintain their site, so that their passion is not washed down the drain. Then again, how many times have we seen zombie sites sitting around with age old contents, but no one to read them or to update them? Well, I really hope that this blog do not become one of them.

There was a time where bubble tea was craze in my country. Everyone wanted a taste of the “magical” tea which contains little “pearls”, rubbery tapioca ball which added to bubble tea, so that customers can also do a little jaw exercise while enjoying their refreshing bubble tea. Oh, if you do not know what “bubble tea” is, try to Google it. It is there, I just tried it.

And so, people started queuing up in front of bubble tea kiosk just so that they can get their daily favorite cup of bubble tea. As more and more people decides to join the queue, more and more bubble tea branches starts to open up at major shopping centers and heartland malls. At its peak, a simple branch at a heartland mall in a modest neighborhood can server several thousand cups of bubble tea a day. In fact, during its peak, bubble tea shops installed large counters at the wall of their shops, telling customers how many bubble teas they had sold since the opening of their store in the morning.

One shop even tried to add some spice into the trade. They hired young perky girls dressed in bikinis to serve customers. They even went as far as to arrange a press conference, hopping to differentiate themselves from others by using a different packaging. Sadly, bubble tea is still bubble tea. He had forgotten that food is still food. Food is meant to be consumed. Bubble tea is meant to be drunk. A naked lady is not going to make a bubble tea tastier than the same bubble tea that was prepared in the same way. Well, the good thing that came out from this idea is that, no one ever forget about this little incident, and the owner is famous for a while.

This bubble tea craze then died down all of a sudden, without warning, in a matter of weeks. The customer base which the bubble tea owners had anticipated have disappeared without a trail, leaving behind a counter at the bubble tea shop which now shows how little bubble tea the shop had sold that particular day, rather than how much that bubble tea shop had served. After sometime, the bubble tea shop owners decided to switch off the LED display, and shortly after, the trace of bubble tea disappeared almost completely for a while, until another group of business seller decides to repackage the whole bubble tea business, and sell them as a franchise, one which is no unlike the first. Then again, they are still here, but the earlier franchise disappeared from the sight of the people, but everyone remembers the craze.

Don’t these two cases sound familiar? There are plenty of franchises and businesses having the same problem as those that I had described above. At the time of writing, the famous coffee maker, Starbucks, is closing down 600 coffee shops in the US due to a very simple reason, a red bottom line. This is, not unlike the bubble tea craze which gripped my country, and ended up in a similar situation. Luckily, Starbucks is cutting back only 600 branches, bubble tea almost disappear from my country altogether.

And with the cut in number of branches, the number of employees will naturally have to be cut. All of a sudden, a bunch of waiters and waitress have to go on another round of job hunting. The amount of people being axed is definitely more than the number of shops being axed. Not forgetting about the managers who will have to be axed, we will have a bunch of people running around, trying to get another job in this already crowded country called the US. Sad to say, I am sure that those who are axed are not rich people who can last a few years without getting a job and not stage to death.

So, what went wrong? Why are some seemingly famous franchises forced to shut down their branches, while the others, are opening more branches as we speak? Why are some franchises selling better products than other franchises, yet are unable to last longer than those who produce seemingly ordinary products, yet are opening branches everyday in the world? Why is it brand names like Mc Donald’s and KFC are well known throughout the world, even though there are plenty of other people who are able to make burgers and fried chickens better than Mc Donald’s and KFC?

Arrrrhhhhhh…. it must be secret recipes that these franchises had guarded so well over the year. Many of us should know that the ingredients of the spices used to marinate the chicken parts used by KFC is carefully guarded, and only a few members of the company really know how it is made. It is just like the recipe of Coca Cola, which is said to be guarded so well, that only the highest of the managements knows about the recipe.

Then again, is producing their prized product the only thing they do? Is protecting the recipe the only thing they do? Although I do not know whether these companies with secret recipes employ killers to assassinate whoever leak out their recipes, there is one thing that I know: KFC do not only produce fried chicken, and the Coca Cola Company do not produce Coke alone.

When you think of KFC, what do you immediately think of? Most probably, it will be their fried chicken, which is fried in two flavors, original and extra crispy, and occasionally, in some strange flavors are sometimes linked to special occasions, as well as festivals and major events happening around the country or state. Appearance of new items on the menu, on the other hand, does not necessary follow the occurrence of festivals and major events. Although several items can only be found in certain parts of the world, the “popcorn chicken” seemed to have caught the taste bud of many people around the world.

Apart from having their prized fried chicken the popcorn chicken on their menu, you will find other hot favorites like the Zinger burger, or the Fillet Tower burger. In short, KFC do not stop at making fried chicken. They knew that it will not be long before other “KFC wannabes” pop up and try to out sell their fried chicken with recipes they developed on their own. Reverse engineering may be the extreme case, but there ARE other fast food chains selling fried chicken on their menus, each one using their own recipe, which are unlike KFC’s.

What about the Coca Cola Company? This company had created a world phenomenon, where almost everyone who have access to a market of some sort will be able to tell understand you when you say the words, “Coca Cola” when you say it. However, since every region in the globe has its own way of writing the words “Coca Cola”, you may have some difficulty in reading the words on a localized bottle of Coca Cola Coke.

Some of us may remember a thing or two about the “New Coke”, which is an attempt by the Coca Cola Company to introduce a newer product to the masses. Instead to wowing the masses, the Coca Cola Company enraged the masses instead. Instead of earning a huge profit out of the “New Coke”, the Coca Cola Company had to pull the “New Coke” bottles off the shelves of shops, and fill them with the “old” coke.
However, the company did not stop there. In order to keep customers happy, they remembered to keep the “old” coke on the shelf, while introducing the public to new flavors, like the “Vanilla Coke” and the “Coke Lime”. Although the new flavors were introduced without much objection from the masses since the old coke is not axed like the saga in 1985, it did not win over the hearts and souls of cola drinkers of the world.
Then again, why am I putting a company like KFC who have so many items on the menu,side by side with a company who specializes in a few winning products, like Coca Cola?

Well, the Coca Cola Company does not only make cokes. They do make other colas, some of which looked like direct competitors to its own brand.

Take for example, if you are living in Asia, you would probably know a series of drinks called “Qoo”. It was first introduced in Japan in 1999 and is always advertised with a blue mascot. It comes in two flavor, namely grape and orange, and its mascot is often more popular than its beverage. A close look at its bottle, you will find a little “Coca-cola” word on the “manufactured by” area. Similarly, the drink, “Simply Orange”, is owned by the Minute Maid division of the Coca-Cola Company.

Wait a minute!!!??? Minute Maid is a division of the Coca-Cola Company?

Yes. Go Google around and you can find it. It is there. I am not lying. The Coca-Cola Company does make other kinds of drinks. Although you will probably not find a Coca-Cola Coke factory producing other kinds of drinks in the vicinity, the “Coca-Cola” brand name will probably be printed on many of the beverage that you see in the supermarket.

So, why does the Coca-Cola Company create competition for itself? Why not just stick with improving the “Coca-Cola Coke” which the masses loved so much that it is considered as a culture to the modern world?

Why create trouble for yourself when your own brand is already so good? Why create competition among your subsidiaries when all they are trying to do is to make more money for you, the parent company?
Well, you see, in order to be ahead of your competition, what is a better way to do it than to introduce the competition yourself, against your own brand? Having competition means that managers, marketers and researchers within the company or division have a reason to be more efficient, as well as a reason to innovate and increase the customer base for its own product, even if the product belongs to its sister division within the same company. That is to say, competition within the same company, subsidiary or even division is better than competition between competitors, since after all, the profits are still channeled to the parent company.

Then again, the losing team within the company who will be given the boot is, after all, a tool for the shareholders to earn more money, which is a sad fact, but is just another day in our life. Even though this world may not be about winners and losers, if you are unable to obtain certain results, you leave the company. It is as simple as that.

So, it is very, very important to improve yourself regardless whether you are a multimillion multi-national company trying to take over the world, or just a small little fast food chain trying feed more people in your neighborhood. Even if you are already the best, the leader of the pack, others who aspired to be as rich as yourself may just pop up from nowhere and snatch away your job.

Take for example, the case of Intel and AMD.

Whenever you think of processors, what is the name you will remember? Well, most of us would have said the name, “Intel”. Then again, there will be a group of people who would have said the name, “AMD”. Although Intel still has a huge market share in the market for desktop processor, it is constantly under attack from AMD’s chips. In fact, before the appearance of Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors, there was a time where AMD’s processors are way ahead of Intel’s Duo Core processors.
Then, along came the Core 2 Duo Processors that saved the day.
Well, much of it anyway.

For this very reason, Intel had to innovate every now and then to try to outdo its rivals.

The same can be said for AMD.

AMD’s chips used to be linked with the label, “cheap and good”. It used to the cheaper alternative for computer buyers who do not have enough cash to get the more expensive Intel branded processors. Overclockers used to compete with each other to see who can buy the cheapest machine, but still able to squeeze every single juice possible from their purchase. Then again, AMD users aleays complained about the extra heat AMD processors used to produce, as compared to their more expensive rival’s processors.

Well, not anymore.

In order to shake away the stigma of being second grade to Intel, AMD’s R&D section went into high gear the last few years, and cleared the way for their marketing colleagues. All of a sudden, people are considering AMD chips for their dream system, not because AMD chips are cheaper. In fact, newer AMD chips that appear in stores are priced around the same price as newer Intel processors. And the strange thing is, people do buy them, and it is not due to curiosity or being conned by the salesman behind the counter. These AMD customers bought these AMD processors willingly. They bought them since they no longer think AMD is second grade, as compared to Intel.

And that is something Intel was afraid of.

In an attempt to stop onslaught of people switching over to the AMD camp before their Core 2 Duo chips arrive at the market, they used aggressive pricing to duke it out with the AMD camp. Then again, since customers are no longer looking at the pricing of the processors they are buying nowadays, the drop in pricing did not impressive a lot of people.

And so, a group of Intel user went over the AMD camp, never to return.

By this time, you may have noticed. All of the companies that I have discussed with you have their own flagship product. They have 1 or 2 “killer” product which they use to hold on to a sizable customer base. With that amount of revenue, they can then innovate newer products and maintain their lead over their competitors.

What if, you do not really have a good flagship product? Or that your product, is just another version of what people have? What if, instead, you believe that even without having the best product around, you still can capture the hearts of millions around the world?

Well, learn from McDonald’s then.

How many of you can make better burgers than Mc Donald’s’? Well, most of you, isn’t it? Mc Donald’s burgers are not that fantastic. Their sides are often either very unhealthy but tasty, or very healthy but needs little processing.

In short, McDonald’s do not really produce a better product from its rivals if you compare to them side by side.
Then again, what makes McDonald’s so popular? Why is everyone queuing up at McDonald’s every day instead of eating at other places? Why do “Happy Meals” make children so happy? Why is a Mc Donald’s birthday party every child’s dream? Why is there a McDonald’s yellow “M” sign in almost every city you go to, and why are they almost about everywhere within the grounds of the cities you visit?

Most importantly, why is McDonald’s making so much money even though they do not make the best burger?

I am sure that I may not be the first one to say it. But McDonald’s do know how to sell a good system.
It is this system that ensures that even if the McDonald’s restaurant ran out of pre-prepared burgers to server you, you will get yours’, piping hot, within 5 to 15 minutes. It is this system which ensures that the fries you are eating is of the right length, and that you will find it hard to resist taking another piece of fried potato until the paper container is empty. It is this system which ensures that the same burger that you eat in one state taste the same as the burger with the same name in another state.

Then again, even with a very good system in place. Did McDonald’s ever stop innovating? Does McDonald’s only sell its Big Mac and Fillet O fish, which I am sure, are all time favorite item? Did McDonald’s every stop trying to add something new to the menu? Did McDonald’s ever stop trying to add some spices to its ever popular French fries?

Nope. I do not see it happening.

Even though Mc Donald’s already have a very good franchise system in place, it did not stop there. When the management thinks that their customers may want to consume more of the golden fries they are so proud of, they introduced the “Super Size” option, on top of their regular up-size options. When the managements realize that certain groups of their customers may be more health conscious, they introduced the lighter sides and the chicken fold-over.

With these add-ons, are Mc Donald’s satisfied?

NO!!!

In order to make their presence almost omnipotent, they make sure that their advertisements are seen by the millions each day. They make sure that Mc Donald’s is on people’s minds whenever they are hungry. Instead of stopping at making ice-cream machine, Mc Donald’s became more well known for making great tasting burgers and golden fries. Instead of stopping in America, they shipped their franchise out to other countries, and now, they are everywhere.

Did McDonald’s stop innovating after all those successes? NO!!! In fact, McDonald’s created more branches, created more items. And now, they are trying to sell their empty employee seats to hopeful job seekers, so that they can expand their employee base to serve their customers better.

Therefore, never be complacence, especially so when you are earning big money, and is enjoying the fruit of your idea or business. Take the lesson of multi-national brand names like IBM to heart and learn from them, since they demonstrates that even strong, multi-national companies can fall if the managements are not careful enough.

Title: Copycat Marketing 101

Author: Burke hedges

In a nut shell:

A book essential for anyone who wants to know how wealth creation tools works

In a paragraph:

Small book, 116 pages, condensed material, right to the point. What more can you ask for? This is a book which explains the mechanisms that makes millions rich. From the average saver, smart savers, investors, and finally business owners, this book explains what makes them tick. It explains how the money flows into pockets of the rich, and also how it also limits their growth eventually.

 

Full review:

This book is small, and compact. I actually finished in within an hour. Amazing it may seemed, this book is another “pocket sized” book which you can actually bring anywhere, and also read anywhere. It do not contain a ton of information due to its size, but it is a book good for someone who wants to know how to make money, but who do not really have the time to read extensively. This book is also cheap, as it only cost USD$5.95 at the time of writing on Amazon.com. The back of the book actually shows the reader a good idea of what the book is about, since in 116 pages, the author does not really have too much room to expand on his idea.

The book had been around for a while at the time of writing this review, but much of what the book is on had not changed much. Issues about being the top 5% and the other 95%, meaning of wealth, income creation versus wealth creation as well as being a slave to money are discussed in this compact book, and the relevant solutions are presented as well. Without a doubt, this book, ultimately is written to promote Network Marketing.

Yes, you hear me right. After discussing many solutions to the problem of being poor, the discussion finally leads to the ultimate solution of our time: Network Marketing, or so as the book says. Although that the title of the book may have already suggested the focus of the book will ultimately point to Network Marketing, those who are not familiar to Network Marketing may think otherwise. To be fair, the book actually presented other solutions, like compounding interests, owning a business, and also franchising, the ultimate solution the author suggested is Network marketing.  Much like other books, this book only presents their ultimate focus in the light, while never discussing whether there is anything wrong with Network Marketing.

Well, since Network Marketing is still around after such a long time, it will never hurt to pick up this book to learn something from the author. Who knows, maybe you can be the next top Network Marketer, someone who will read this book review from the suite of the A380.

The day before, the circuit breaker in our house tripped and a quarter of my home appliances went into “no power” mode. This includes my computer ridge, the television ridge, as well as my mother’s aquarium ridge. This condition has already happened a few times in the past few months and most of the time, it happens when I switch on the master switch of my computer ridge. For a several weeks, every time I have to switch on the master switch to my computer ridge, I have to be mentally prepared for the circuit breaker to break.

And it did break half of the time. And every time it breaks, I will have to take a chair and climb up to the circuit breaker box and reset the circuit breaker. This process takes only one minute. It takes only simple effort to reset the circuit breaker. In a few simple, no brainer step, the power of the quarter of my house’s electric appliances will be back. What really bothers me is the symphony my mother will play after the circuit has break.

She will sing about how overloaded the electric socket was, and how it the high drainage computer ridge will overload the electric socket outlet his aquarium ridge and my computer ridge every time I switch the power to my computer ridge on. After a few incidents, she starts to introduce changes to the power supply network leading providing electric supply to my computer ridge according to her liking.

When I say to her liking, I mean to her liking.

Initially, all of us thought that the multi socket plug I was using, the one which allows 3 plugs to plug to a socket at one time, but comes with switches for each switch, is the problem. Every time I switch on my ridge using the switch on the multi plug, the circuit breaker trips. And so, I threw that multi socket away and got a new one. The situation improves for a while. I no longer need to fear tripping the circuit breaker for some time.

Until the whole thing happens all over again, that is.

This time, for no apparent reason, the power trips again. And my computer ridge gets the blame all over again.

This time, my mother decides to buy a very long extension and allow my computer ridge to be connected to another socket right across the room. This, in her explanation, will not cause the power socket to be overloaded.

For some reason, my father decided that the super long extension wire running across the room was an eye sore, and he bought a 6 way multi socket extension wire and replace the super long extension wire with it. The good thing is, he have cleared an eye sore. The bad thing is, he had connected that 6 way extension to the wall socket which the aquarium ridge is on.

The day before, when I got home from work, the circuit breaker breaks again, right in front of me, when I switched on the master switch to my computer ridge. At that time, my mother was actually on the phone with her sister, my fourth aunt. She was one the cordless phone which went dead the moment the circuit breaker breaks. Without skipping a beat, she walked towards the corded phone and picked it up. She then proceed to explain to her sister how the overloaded socket has once again, tripped the circuit breaker.

Yesterday night, when I reached home, I have a very firm mother at home, waiting to tell me how he had an argument with my electricity technician about where the problem was with the electricity grid in our house. Apparently, the circuit break had tripped again, without anyone’s knowledge. And when my mother woke up in the morning, after I have went to work, she found 8 of her precious discus dead due to the lack of air.

And so, she began to argue with my father, who happened to be at home at that time, that how that the act of shifting my computer ridge back to the original socket, had caused an overload and killed her precious discus in the process. My father, another finger pointer, shot back and was convinced that the problem lies with the aquarium ridge that my mother had ridged up on her own. Naturally, my mother was not happy with my father’s accusation. She made my father ridged up the 6 way extension to the super long extension, such that my computer ridge is now connected to the wall socket across the room again.

And now, what seems to be the problem then? Well, reason 1, I was not at home when the power trips. Reason 2, normally, no one will touch my computer ridge when I was away. Reason 3, the circuit breaker tripped when no one was touching anything.

And my computer ridge, which was off during the whole period, gets the blame.

Of course, now that you have read so much of what had happened in my house, you may be wondering, why am I posting this article on this blog? Isn’t this blog supposed to be a “Wealth Tips” blog? Why am I posting an article that looks like another finger pointing article on this blog?

Well, the reason is simple. I am trying to write an article which will present an idea as objectivity as possible so that the issues that was discussed here will be based on facts as much as possible, instead of being pure opinion.

And here are the facts. My computer ridge consisted of a Core 2 Duo E4300 running on 1GB of ram and contains 3 hard disks. It is a two months old system at the time of writing, and the total consumption of the desktop ridge is about 171 Watts. With a game running and with my laptop on at the same time, the total power consumption rises to about 243 Watts.

In comparison, my mother’s aquarium ridge looks minute, at least physically. However, she do have 3 midsized tank and 5 small sized tanks which houses a variety of fresh water fishes. At the time of writing, she has around 45 fishes in all shapes and sizes.

Is there anything wrong with both settings, well, not much in my opinion.

For my computer ridge, I do not think that my ridge is the most consuming ridge around. But if it causes the circuit breaker to break every now and then, why don’t I hear the same thing happening to others who have more powerful ridge than I do? A few of my friends do have more powerful ridge than I own. Why aren’t they complaining to me at all?

Next, is the aquarium.

The 45 fishes are spread out, unevenly among these few tanks. One of them have one of the midsized tank for its own, and the others have to make do with the other 2 midsized tanks and the 5 small tanks. Another fish have the monopoly of a hexagonal shaped tank for its own, and that leaves the other tanks for the other fished. Three of the minute guppies get 1 small tank, and 4 of another group of fresh water boxfish get another small tank, while 3 small gold fishes gets another small tank. Two tiny guppy fry takes the smallest of the small tanks.

And one of the midsized tanks is taken up by a group of gold fish, while a group of red parrot fish and the discuses shared the last midsized tank, with the tank being partitioned into two.

Okay, the introduction is done more or less finished. So, what is the problem with the aquarium?

The three group of fishes, the Red Parrot, the Discuses, and the gold fishes are overcrowded. This is especially so for the Red parrot and the Discuses. In these two tanks, all I can see are fishes. These tanks relied heavily on artificial air circulation and water cleaning pump, so much so that if either of them fails, many fishes will be sent to meet their maker.

This is, in fact, not the first time my mother’s Discuses have died in a group. Whenever some is wrong with the aquarium, the Discuses takes the greatest hit. This is partly due to the fact that Discuses are very sensitive to their environment, and any suddenly movement or shocks given to the tank will send the Discuses to meet their maker.

Therefore, it is not the first time her fish had been in peril. In the past few years time, many of her supposedly “prized” fishes had died, and most of the time, it is due to a faulty filtration pump or a failed air circulation pump.

And what does this amounts to?

Well, have you ever see a fish in the wild dies, all because there is a failed water pump or a failed air pump? Have you ever see a tank of fish die in the aquarium dies because of a failed water pump of a failed air supply? I don’t think so, at least I do have yet to see these incidents happening.

And what is the reason for it?

In an aquarium, where fishes are packed into a smaller area, the health statues of the fishes are monitored closely. A failed water pump or a failed water heater will send alarms ringing and workers will run to the problem and attend to it shortly.

In the wild, fishes are never overcrowded. If they are, the law of natural will ensure that the population of the fishes will decrease to a number supportable by the natural habitat that the fishes are living in.

The problem is, the aquarium in my house is overcrowded and largely unsupervised.

For some reason, my mother spends half of her time sleeping, and a quarter of the rest buying food for the family. She only cooks once in a while, and spend the rest of her time playing computer games and earning SGD$25 every two weeks by assembling the cords of clear plastic bags used by shops to the clear plastic bags. In fact, she is at home most of the time, but she is not around her aquarium most of the time, except at night, where she will be cleaning the overworked filtration system and changing the water of the aquarium. And she does clean the filtration system every day, and change the water of the tanks every few days.

But other than that, she is at the other end of the house, doing other things. And that is the reason that when anything happens to her aquarium, she will not know about it until she takes a break in the toilet, and passing by the aquarium in the process.

Look around you. Read the newspaper. Surf the net. From time to time, you may be able to come across disasters, accidents and conditions which can be avoided if some places of the world is not overcrowded.

Recently, there was a case where 12 died and 32 were injured because of a human stampede in the night club, News Divine, in Mexico City. An overcrowded, two-story night club was housing about 1000 people when the accident happened. Again, we see overcrowding as a contributing factor to the problem.

Many train accidents around the world happens due to overcrowding. Many developing countries have the problem of constantly overcrowded trains which still operates, even though the accident rate of their railway system may be already high enough, they still have no choice but to continue operation. Due to the fact that these trains are overcrowded, whenever any accident happens, many people are affected.

How about we leave the workings of the world to others and focus on something closer to home?

How many times have you seen advertisements, depicting the joys and enjoyment of having children, especially the pleasure of having a few children living under the house? In television dramas and in the cinemas, sometimes we see families with absurd amount of children living under a roof. Well, these families do exist in the real world. Some of them are even featured on the mass media, and are praised for. While some of these families are organised very well, some others are not that fortunate.

Okay. At this point, pro-children people will slam my blog with a lot of comments. One of the comments will definitely be, “You don’t have children, so you won’t know how happy one can be with children”. Well, really, I really do not know how a person will feel when they become a father or a mother. I do not know the feeling of being hugged by a child, or being looked up to by someone as a hero. I do not know the joy of raising a child, and watching them grow day by day. Even though I have cousins around myself who are married and have children, I still cannot put myself in their shoes, simpily because I am not them.

But, I have seen how some families have their plans crush due to a careless mistake which results in a child being born after 9 months. I have seen mothers shouting to their child with a gloomy face, even though her children are following quietly behind her, not doing anything wrong (and yes, from what I know, she never talks to her child. She always shouts). I have seen well-to-do families who have a handful of children to take care of, only to have their whole life turned upside down when their breadwinner is downsized.

Fortunately, all these observation are not the result of having children in a family.

I am sure that there will be times that a children’s smile is the reason why some parents are able to excel in their careers. I am sure that there are times when a quirky answer of a child to an everyday question, “like why do we have to get up to work every day?” makes the day of the parent to that child completely different from the norm. I am sure that every outing with a child will be different, even though that outing may be as simple as a walk in the park, or a trip to the beach. And I am sure, that every family who has a child in their home, will never have a dull day, since children are not born dull at birth.

So, what is the problem then? Why is everyone seeing broken families and unhappy parents around us? Why can some families function so well while others always quarrel? Why do some family seemed so happy, while some seemed so stressed out every time I see them? My friend, who has 3 kids, always seems to have a lot of energy every time I see him. On the other hand, My cousin, who has only 2 kids, always seemed to be tired. So, this has nothing to do with overcrowding, right?

Well, I can’t say for sure. For that matter, I can only say, both families are making roughly the same income. But my friend’s wife is a housewife. She stays at home and looks after their children full time. On the other hand, my cousin and her husband had to place their children in the hand of her mother, my aunt, while they are working in the day.

So, is the problem due to a badly managed family? Well, I think so.

But is it the only problem? I do not think so.

So, how does the problem of overcrowding come into the picture?

Well, let us do a simple math calculation then.

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!! WHY IS MATH INVOLVED???

Well, for starters, most people do not even wish to do simple math. Expenditure planning may just be as simple as grade 1 math. It may be as simple as:

Total leftover = Total income – Total expenditure

But, from what I know, many people rather use this formula:

Total enjoyment = Amount of money spent

So, where is the income? Some simply never thought about it. And why do I know that? Simply I know someone who does that. Of course, I do personally know the King and Queen of thrift. But I personally know the King and Queen of “Spend first, think later”.

So, how does expenditure planning relates to family planning?

Simply, using the first equation, just add in children.

So, the equation becomes:

Total leftover = Total income – Total expenditure

Hey!!! So, a child will not change the financial condition of a family, right???

Nope. Look closer to the equation.

In this case, “Child expenditure” adds to the total expenditure. A child eats. A child needs to be cleaned. A child needs to drink. A child needs clothes. A child needs money to be maintained.

So, the equation is more like:

Total leftover = Total income - (Total expenditure + child expenditure)

“HEY!!!! WHAT ARE YOU WRITING???” you may ask. “Why do you like to contradict yourself? This is the second article which you have contradicted yourself. In your equation, children adds more to the leftover, isn’t it?”

Well, in that case, we will expand the equation and take a closer look. And so, the equation becomes:

Total leftover = Total income – Total expenditure – child expenditure

So, is it clearer now? If it is not, let us expand the formula further:

Total leftover first round = Total income – Total expenditure

Total leftover second round = Total leftover first round – child expenditure

And so, you are left with Total leftover after deducting your usual expenditure and your child’s expenditure. And why is this so? Simply, children need money to be maintained.

WAIT!!!! “WHY ARE YOU TREATING CHILDREN LIKE A CAR??” you may be asking now. In fact, many people will be angry with me by now, since I have shown everyone the fact that children DO increase a total expenditure of a family. This is a fact which many choose to ignore. Some might even point the finger at a convenient target, sometimes the supermarket owner for raising the price of essentials, sometimes at the oil companies who increase the price of oil, and sometimes at the government, since the government can be blame conveniently for anything on the road.

And yes. Children do needs to be maintained. You and I are no different, and needs to be maintained. That maintenance fee might just be as simple as a bottle of water, or the price of a piece of bread. Some buy vegetables to go with their food, some buy meat to go with it, others pay for the ambience they dined in, others simply pay for things they can afford, and not because they need it.

And like a car, a child can be maintained with expensive items, or just plain essential items. Many argued that it is only right to provide for their children the best that they can afford, that it is only right that their children should have the best, so that they can have an edge against other children. Others argued that a child should learn to fend for his/her own in this world. That essential item can be provided, but luxury items should be bought with the child’s own money.

Whichever the case is, to live, people need money. To have a child, people need money. To have a child without money is pure suicide. We have seen them. We have heard of them. They are called abandoned child, or abandoned babies, and may be found anywhere, from the orphanage to the toilets in the subways, or even in the garbage bin.

And on the issue of overcrowding, there is another simple equation for it too. It is, but an oversimplified equation, but I am hopping a simple equation will be easier to understand. For some reason, some people trust very complex formula without questions, but seem to doubt very easy equations as if they can only applied to Grade 1 mathematics class. But what I believed is that, 1 + 1 is still 2. It is true that in binary, 1 + 1 is 10, but if you have one apple, and you buy another one, you get two apples. You cannot buy one apple, and have two apples, unless there is a sale going on. In that case, if buying 1 apple will get you 2 apples, buying 1 apple will still get you 2 apples, since you get 1 for free. Basic math applies wherever you go, no matter what language you talk in.

Oh, by the way, in binary, 10 is 2. If you do not believe me, ask your computing gurus around you. They will probably be able to tell you more about the different ways computers represents numbers, characters and information.

Anyway, back to the issue of overcrowding.

Let us do a little exercise here…

Herm, wait, don’t close the browser. Don’t switch to another page yet. Since you have already read until this point, why not take another 5 minutes to do this simple exercise to proof my point if you are still not convinced? It will definitely be over quicker than the few hours I have gone through in typing this article. I do believe that there are more good readers than there are good writers out there in this world, and some can even read a 500 page book in one day. Unfortunately, this feat is something I am unable to do at this time. However, this feat is something that I wish I can achieve before I die.

I will come straight to the point then. Let us say that the amount of money you have for your child is $1000.

So, in simple math…

Amount each child will get = amount of money allocated / number of child

Assume you have only 1 child…

Amount each child will get = $1000 / 1

Which is $1000.

Simple? Nothing too difficult, isn’t it? Now, let us assume that you decide to have a second child.

 

So the equation:

Amount each child will get = amount of money allocated / number of child

 becomes:

Amount each child will get = 1000 / 2

Amount each child will get = $500

Sounds simple, isn’t it?

And I will be sure that a few of you will be thinking, “Hey, the amount of money allocated to each child need not change. We just have to get more money so that the child both children can receive the same amount of money before and after the 2nd child arrives”.

Well, yes. I know. That is something parents do usually. In order to for both children to receive the same amount of money before and after the 2nd child is born, they increases the amount of money allocated for their children. For some, it will be an easy task. For many others, finding that extra amount of cash may involve selling away more of their time, something which many of us can never have enough.

The bottom line is, with a fixed amount of income, one can only allocate so much of their income for their child.

Are children a bad thing to have around then? Well, I do not know, and I do not wish to address it here. In fact, I do not wish to address this question if I do not have to. The focus of this article is on the problem of overcrowding, and definitely not about whether one should have children or not. If one can afford it, I don’t see why he shouldn’t have more children. On the other hand, I can find no reason for a family to stave their children either.

Overcrowding is always bad. If you can find one instance where overcrowding is good, please tell me. Apart from being about to squeeze more sardines into one can, I could find no reason to squeeze a lot of people into a given area other than to save cost. Believe me; having to sleep with someone right beside you is uncomfortable, especially if you can find no reason to do so. Other than a heaven for diseases, I really find no other party benefitting the situation at all. You will be correct in saying that I am a pro welfare, pro comfort person, but what I have to say is, having the problem of overcrowding isn’t good. The effects of overcrowding may not surface now. But if they surfaces, they probably cause a lot of damage, like the bunch of discuses that died that my mother used to own.

 

Title: The ABCs of Making Money

Author: Dr. Denis L. Cauvier, Alan Lysaght

In a nutshell:

A very condensed book which combines everything you need to know to get rich, from how to improve yourself, how to buy your own business to how to excel at your workplace.

In a paragraph:

Essentially, this book actually condenses everything I have read so far into one small little package. It Contains references to other materials which you may need, as well as forms and exercises you can do yourself. This book goes straight to the point and in 233 pages, presents to you everything you need to know to get richer than you are now. One word of caution, being a condensed book meant that this book is just a overview of things to come. Getting specialised advice is recommended for certain subjects mentioned in the book.

 

Full Review:

Reading this book really reminds me of all the different self help books that I have read and reviewed on this site. Although I cannot say that I can remember all the details of the books I have read, the topics presented in the book are ideas which financial self-help books normally promotes.

This book has it all. This book grouped financial ideas and gimmicks within three major topics, namely, Attitudes, Behaviour and Creation of Money,

Attitudes showcases the generally accepted attitudes and ideas about money which are essential to a person who wish to increase their pocket size. Things like goal settings, changing one’s mindset, associating with liked mined people and rich people are showcased to the reader within the span of a few chapters. Essentially, many concepts mentioned in Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” are been mirrored in these few chapters, with some difference in the tone and focus of the subject matter being discussed. Since I really feel that reading Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad” series alone is a sure way of making Robert rich and driving yourself towards disaster, reading this book alone and trying to act smart might give you a big surprise. And this surprise might just turn your bank accounts into zeros. Yes, just zeros.

Some concepts have their names changed, for example, the Rat Race which is widely accept as a “poor people’s race”, is now combined with a new concept and called the “Money Minimiser Maze”. Yes, you did not hear me wrong. This book introduced the concept of “Money Magnets” and “Money Minimisers”. The former being people who are able to make a lot of money, which the latter are people who just finds is hard to gather much money at all.

The name, “Money Minimisers” and “Money Magnets”, to me, are strange choice of words. At first glance, the word, “Magnet” may make a lot of sense. After all, rich people do seemed to be abot to gather a lot of wealth, something the other 2 classes seemed hard to accomplish. However, if you look closely at the choice of word carefully, you may find that the word, “Magnet”, may be a wrong choice of word.

Why is that so? Isn’t the ability to gather wealth the same effect as magnets gather paper clips? Well, if you would just try to remember what is a magnet is, you may agree with me. No, don’t worry at all. “Money Magnet” is a fine word. I like the way a magnet works, and hopes to be a “Money Magnet” too.  However, what I am suggesting is that maybe the word, “Magnet” could be better used elsewhere.

Considering how magnets are made, and what are the properties magnets are made of.

First, magnets do not “make” themselves stronger. More often than not, permanent magnets loose their strength over time if they are not kept properly. Electron magnets need constant power supply to do work. Naturally occurring magnets are of no use until some smart people dig them up and put them in a bowl of water, in which, they turn into the compass. Maybe these natural “Money Magnets” do need a little push by their mentors for them to become useful, like the compass.

Secondly, without doing anything, natural magnets can attract paperclips. So, if you ask me, a “Money Magnet” is one who has the “magnetism” already, often someone who is born with a silver spoon or inherited their wealth, thus, having that “magnetism”, they are able to attract more wealth. And natural magnets are formed. They are not animals. They cannot make themselves stronger like animals can.

So, maybe, just maybe, the word “Money Magnet” can be used elsewhere.

“Money Magnet” aside, this book is a treasure trove of information and exercise you can do. The concept of financial planning is introduced in this book and the ways to achieve a person’s financial goal are clearly outlined in this book. Basically, this book has no fancy linings. It do not go a long way to show you facts, figures and necessary items to accomplish to reach your ultimate goal. This book just goes straight to the point. For some, it may be a journey of information overloading. To others, it may be just the thing to get people started.

Another important point that the book emphasis is the ability to sell. To be able to sell your products, your abilities and even yourself, will ensure that those who wish to pay you will be able to do so. It is of no use if you have the smartest brain in the world. It is of no use if you have the strongest body in the world. It is of no use even if you have the formula to everlasting youth. If you do not have the ability to sell yourself, no one will believe you. No one will be able to know you exist. No one will be able to pay you, since they do not know your service, talent or product exist at all. And it is fast becoming a common occurrence that in a company, it is those who can present, those who can sell things that gets the praise, not that smart person who hides in the cabin and make that piece of gadget or that awarding winning presentation.

So, is it worth reading this book? I say that it is worth reading, since it is a condensation of many books and ideas into one. But take note, it is impossible to contain everything you need to know within 233 pages, so, spent some time to read other books which have the subject matter that you are interested in.

 

Every week, we see hundreds and thousands of people queuing up just to get their hands on a ticket which promises a huge sum of money with a little money down. The fact that the amount of money required to buy that lottery ticket is so small that often, patriots of lotteries buys a few tickets, hoping to increase their chances of winning the top prize every week.

So, how easy is it to win in a lottery? “Very easy” will be the answer for some of the people queuing up in the lottery house. “I know the secret” will be the answer of another group if you had asked. They are the ones who seemed to win lottery every now and then. But most of them are never richer than when they started, since they lose as much they had won, giving them the illusion that they do win a lot of money. My very own mother always announce to the world when she wins the lottery. And she did win a lot of times. At times, she will have some small winnings every other draw. At other times, she will have one or two winnings after every two draw.

After I had challenged her to record down her expenditure and winnings, which she refuses, she decided to let me write my name on the winning ticket, as a name and identity card number is required to claim a prize. Her reason for asking me to write my name on the winning ticket is that her hands can no longer hold a pen properly. Strange enough, apart from writing my name on the winning tickets, she does all of her writing on her own. But the fact is, she is not getting richer. Although she wins at the lottery frequently, the amount that she lost out weights the amount she won eventually. Why is that possible? You may ask. Well, let us find out together.

One of the popular lottery systems that are available around the world is a system where you choose a handful of numbers out of a set of numbers and the lottery company will “randomly” choose a handful of the numbers available. What you will want to see is that, the handful of numbers that you picked is the same as the handful of numbers that the lottery company picked. In that case, you would have won the grand prize. You will be taking home the accumulated prize, and it will be divided among winners if more than 1 person bought the same combination of numbers. Therefore, even if a person won the grand prize, they will be praying hard that they will be the only person who bought that particular combination that granted them the ticket to the grand prize. Luckily, some lottery company will publish the amount of people who are eligible for the grand prize along with the results so that people will be able to see how much they have won, and how many lucky people had won the prizes at that particular draw.

Often, in order to make their customers happy, the lottery company will give up a small amount of “consolation” prize to those who had picked 3 or more numbers correctly. Of course, the more numbers you guessed correctly, the more money you get. For some reason, this way of using a small amount of petty money to keep people happy, to keep the dreams of gamblers alive. Strangely, this act of giving out a small sum of money to keep losers relatively happy is very effective, so much so that most of the gamblers keep going back to the lottery stations, hopping to win that grand prize and become a millionaire overnight. Sadly, many patrons went to the lottery purchase counter in the hope of winning back what they have lost. I am sure that you would have heard these words at some point of time in your life. Words like, “I have this gut feeling that the number I pick is going to come out”, or “the time is ripe, time to make a killing”, sometimes “my horoscope says…”, or even “I have a dream last night”.

So, what are your chances of winning the lottery actually? Is rocket science involved? No, I don’t think so. In fact, the answer lies in simple math, found in statistic textbooks you can pick up in the library. Now, many of you at this point will disagree with me on this point, that winning the lottery is a science. Many of you reading this may have picked up a book about how to increase your chances of striking the grand prize of the lottery. Authors of these “Win the lottery with ease” books claim to have found the secret to winning the lottery. Some even tie the lottery numbers to a certain object, for example, the date, time, or even your birth date. Some even propose some “lucky numbers” which you can buy, so that you can win the lottery without effort. Strangely, I do not see many Porsches on the road in my neighbourhood. So, what happened? Is everyone so stupid that they choose to ignore these “Lottery guide” which allow them to win huge fortune with ease? Or are they people who believes that “money is the root of evil”, and that being poor allows them to obtain enlightenment? Well, from my observation from the long queue of people stemming from the lottery shops, I dare to say that, most people just don’t win anything from the lottery most of the time.

Let us do a simple calculation then.

When you pick 6 numbers from, let’s say, from a set of 49 numbers, what are the percentages of winning all 6 numbers?

The probability of winning the first number is 1/49.

Sounds high, isn’t it? 1/49 looks like a high enough number. Well, let’s convert it to percentage then.

1/49 = 0.0204 = about 2.04%.

Oh, so, the percentage is about 2%. So, for every 100 numbers you buy, you will have 2 numbers that is the same as one of the number that appears on the “lottery result” screen.

Then, how about the next number? Since the same number is not repeated, surely your chances of winning the next number is higher, isn’t it?

Well, you are right. The chance of winning the next number becomes: 1/48.

Converting to percentages, it is as follow:

1/48 = 0.0208 = 2.08%

Still, is it about 2%.

What about the third number? Surely the percentages have gone up, isn’t it?

Well, it is 1/47, or 2.12%.

The chance of winning the fourth number will be 1/46 or 2.17%.

And for the fifth, will be 1/45, or 2.22%.

And for the sixth, it will be 1/44, or 2.27%.

Whoa!!!! Sounds great, isn’t it? You chances of winning the lottery actually increase with each subsequent number you get correctly. So, it pays to buy the lottery, isn’t? I am sure that some readers will close their browser now and run to the nearest betting station and throw their family’s saving and buy a few thousand lottery tickets. My advice to you is, don’t. There is more to it. I am not finished yet. There is a lot more maths to do than what I have shown you. If 2% chance of winning is a big enough chance for you, you might be surprised with what you are about to see. If 2% is considered as a very small chance of winning, what I am about to write below may cause you to rethink the brain capacity of human, since they have a large percentage of people investing in the lottery system. If you are a statistic major, you should know what I am going to say in the next few paragraphs, so, feel free to scroll down a few paragraphs and read the rest of the articles. Whichever is the case, please continue reading. The information may be the difference between having a person jumping off the building since he have no money to return to their creditors as they have borrowed millions of dollars to buy lottery, and a person who may bring home some insight about the lottery system.

So, some of you may be using the calculator now, and adding up the numbers together.

“Hey! Why all these warning?” you may ask “Isn’t the percentage, when added together shows you that the percentage is 12.9%?”

Seeing this number will convince some of you that the lottery is the answer to your millionaire dream, isn’t it?

Since the figure is about 13%, it directly means that for every 100 times you visit the lottery station, you will strike the grand prize about 13 times.

Whoa!!!! Isn’t the figure is everyone’s favour? Are the lottery companies stupid? Why did they come out with a business model more stupid than the guy who you know, whose business which went bankrupt last month? The return rate of buying a lottery is very, very high, isn’t it? Assuming that the grand prize is always hovering around the million dollar mark, winning 13 times will mean that you will more or less win about 13 million dollars, isn’t it? Assuming that the lottery ticket is about $10, this will mean that with the “investment” of $1000, you will be bringing home $13,000,000 home with every 100 lottery ticket you buy. Sounds terrific, isn’t it? So, is my article about how to get rich by throwing your money into the lottery?

Sadly, no. This article is not about how you can win the lottery. This article is not about winning the lottery at all. In fact, if I know how to win the lottery, why should I tell it to anyone? Why should I let everyone in the world share my grand prize? Why should I be Santa Claus and give out my money to everyone in the world?

No. This article is not about teaching how to use the lottery to get rich. This article is teaching HOW to WIN in a lottery. But the only way to win in a lottery is not to buy it at all.

Yes, your eyes are not fooling you. I have actually written down the words, “The only way to win in a lottery is not to buy it at all”.

This article is about getting people to know how much money people have thrown away. This article is about how people should use those money they spent on lottery ticket to a more meaningful use. This article is about why there are so many “Secrets of lottery” books around the bookshop, each one claiming that they know the “true secrets” of the lottery system. This article is written so that people who wish to spend their life buying lottery tickets for the rest of their life in a hope to become millionaire will instead, use other methods to reach their goal.

YES!!. This article is about how to win the lottery. Sadly, the only to win the lottery is not to play it at all. And the reason for it is, the chance of winning the grand prize of the lottery is not even 2%.

What??? Not even 2%?

Yes. You eyes are still not fooling you. They are perfectly all right. The chance of winning the grand prize is not 13%. The chance of winning the lottery is not even 2%. You may choose to ignore it. But the fact is, you, and the people around you, are not striking the grand prize, as the authors of many “Secrets of lottery” book have promised.

I’m sure that many of the readers will be closing their browser now. And what is the reason? Well, I am sure that there are many who are still searching for the “Secrets” of the lottery system. They are looking for websites, or blogs, which promise them the secret of how to win the lottery. If you wish to know how the lottery system ensures that the grand prize is always attractive, please read on. If instead, you still believe that there is a magical formula around which will guarantee you the ability to win the grand prize as and when you wish, you are free to do so.

 In fact, if you can really find one, please show it to me. I do wish to be the next grand winner of the next lottery. But just as I have said earlier, why would anyone want to share their secrets with you in the first place? Are they just trying to do everyone a favour by distributing wealth to everyone? If distributing wealth to everyone is their intend, why isn’t he or she finding out the bank accounts of everyone in the world and transferring their wealth to everyone? Why are they selling books instead? Why are they publishing their “secrets” online even? Isn’t it time consuming enough to get the bank accounts of charities organisations in the world?

Ok. Enough of these senseless chatters. Let us look at what really is the real chance of striking the grand prize.

Earlier on, I have already shown you, that the chances of striking the first number is 1/49 in a 49 number lottery system, isn’t it?

Well, that did not change at all.

So, the chance of striking the first number is still 1/49, or 2.04%.

So, 2% seems high enough for a game that supposedly depends on the luck of an individual, isn’t it?

Well, if choosing a single number will allow me to win $1,000,000 in a 49 number lottery system, I will definitely throw my whole family’s fortune into buying lottery tickets. Since 49 tickets will cost only $49 in my country, I will be making $999,951 out right.

Sadly, the lottery company is not that stupid.

Most lottery system will only award you if you have 3 or more numbers correct.

So, how hard is it to get 3 numbers correct?

Let’s do the math.

So, the chance of getting the first number correct is 2.04%, isn’t it?

The chance of getting the second and the third number correctly is 2.08% and 2.14% respectively.

Hey!! The percentage is still high, isn’t it? 2.04 + 2.08 + 2.14 is 6.26, isn’t it?

Wrong.

Yes, the formula is wrong. The percentage will not add up. If it adds up, you will find the lottery company being bankrupt the moment it has its first draw.

Then, surely 2.04 x 2.14 x 2.14 is the correct formula, isn’t it?

Nope, because, 2.04 x 2.14 x 2.14 = 9.08. This number, to me, is outrageously high. And I am sure that some readers reading this article will be using this formula, since it convenient. And they will refuse to read on, because they will be running around, telling everyone they met how they met one writer who contradicts himself in an article he wrote, coming up with the “correct” formula which “proves” that lottery is indeed the way to obtain great wealth.

Nope. This formula is close. But having a favourable result does not mean that the formula is correct in this case.

And why is this so, this is due to the fact percentage is just an easy to let everyone see how good or bad a situation is. In fact, the formula to calculate percentage is as follow:

Percentage = (final result/initial result) x 100%

Therefore, a more accurate way to read “chances” is to leave it in the “probability” form, instead of the percentage form, which is just 1/49 for the first number, or 0.0204.

With this, let us use back the formula we have used just now to recalculate the percentage.

The calculation is therefore, as follow:

Chance of getting 3 numbers the same as result = 0.0204 x 0.0208 x 0.0212 = 0.000008996, or about 0.0009%.

Hey… wait. Wait. Wait a minute, why is the result so small? Why is there such a big difference between the two results?

Let us look at the probability of getting 1 number correct first.

The probability of getting the first number correct is 0.0204. There is no problem with this number, i believe that everyone will agree with it.

Now, let us look at the probability of getting BOTH the first and second number correct.

Probability of getting first number correct, is 0.0204 or 2.04%.

In order to calculate the chances of getting both the first and the second number correct, we have to multiply the probability of the first number, with the second number. And therefore, the result is as follow:

Probability of getting two numbers correct = 0.0204 x 0.0208 = 0.00042432, or around 0.04%.

You may be shouting, “Hey!!! That number is terribly small!!!! Something must be wrong!!”

Nope. I don’t think so. If you will go to anyone who has studied statistic and probability, they will show you the same thing.

Let us look at something simple first, something which is taught at every probability lesson I have been to.

Consider a pack of cards. If you wish to, you can take out a pack of cards and do this little experiment while reading this article. You will only confirm what I have written in this article. And that is also the reason why there are only, at best, a handful of people winning the grand prize at each lottery draw.

In a pack of card, there are four Aces. After shuffling the cards, try to pick up four cards at random. More often than not, you will find that picking up four Aces at one go is almost impossible. At best, after many tries, you may be able to pick out 1 or 2 Aces, assuming that you pick the four cards at random.

Now, repeat the exercise with using only a deck of card with 4 Aces, 4 twos, and 4 threes. Pick 4 cards at random and you will find that the chances of picking up four Aces increase dramatically. Let us look at the numbers then.

The probability of you picking up 4 Aces in a deck of cards of 52 cards is:

1/52 x 1/51 x 1/50 x 1/49 = 0.0192 x 0.0196 x 0.02 x 0.0204 = 0.0000001535, or 0.00001535%.

This is assuming that you are doing it without replacement, just like the lottery system, in which the numbers are not repeated.

Next, the probability of you picking up 4 Aces in a deck of 12 cards is:

1/12 x 1/11 x 1/10 x 1/9 = 0.083 x 0.0909 x 0.1 x 0.111 = 0.0000837, or around 0.00837%

So, getting four Aces in a deck of 12 cards is still hard.

How about getting four Aces in a deck of 8 cards?

Well, the odds increase to:

1/8 x 1/7 x 1/6 x 1/5 = 0.125 x 0.1429 x 0.1667 x 0.2 = 0.000596, or around 0.0596%.

Whoa! Wait a minute, we are talking about getting 4 cards out of 8 surely, the odds should be better by a lot, isn’t it?

Well, all I can say is, if you do not believe the numbers that I have written, you can always do the experiment yourself. Remember, this experiment is about getting ALL 4 Aces from a deck of cards. Getting 3 out of 4 Aces will not count as a “hit”, and thus, it should explain why the odds of getting all 4 Aces in a deck of card is so hard to do, if it is done randomly.

And so, what do this experiment explains?

Well, if the task of getting all 4 Aces is already so hard, what makes you think that getting six numbers out of 49 numbers will be easy? Try to repeat the experiment with the intend to get 6 cards in a deck of 49 cards, and you will find out how hard is it to get 6 cards that you want from that deck of 49 cards. So far, those who are able to draw out 6 cards from a deck of 52 are called illusionists or magicians. However, the methods that they use are highly documented that though enough training, anyone can perform a trick or two. No, I am not saying that performing magic tricks is easy. I am only saying that with enough training, one can be a card master too.

Let us look at formula for finding out the probability of getting 6 numbers out of 49 numbers again.

1/49 x 1/48 x 1/47 x 1/46 x 1/45 x 1/44 = 0.0204 x 0.0208 x 0.0212 x 0.0217 x 0.0222 x 0.0227 = 0.0000000000984, or about 0.00000000984%.

Errr…… ok. This result is quite stunning, isn’t it? I have already known that the numbers will not be fantastic. However, since I have not done the calculation prior to writing this article, I did not know that the odd is this bad.

So, what do the numbers means? Well, for starters, it means that for every 1,000,000,000 ticket with random numbers you bought, about 10 of that tickets will get you the grand prize.

But you might be thinking, “Hey, but there is always a handful of people getting the grand prize each draw, isn’t it?”

Well, my answer to you will be, in order to justify the numbers you saw above, you will have to count the number of tickets everyone bought in the draw, including those who bought several tickets at one go, which is not really an easy task.

And yes, this odds explains why only a few can win the grand prize in every draw.

Some of you may be thinking right now, that “The grand prize of the lottery is a few million dollars. Surely I will be able to recoup the losses when I win enough?”

Well, let us do the math again.

Let us assume, that the grand prize is $1m. That is, in pure zeros, $1,000,000.

Then, let us assume that the numbers we have calculated holds, and that each ticket costs $1.

In that case, for every 1,000,000,000 ticket, you will get about 10 tickets which grants you the key to the grand prize.

This will meant, you spent about $1,000,000,000 to get to win 10 x $1,000,000.

Hmmm. Immediately, you can see that if all the number adds up in this simple calculation, you will be having a loss of about $990,000,000.

Well, this is just a simple calculation, one which ignores the possibility that you might win the “3, 4 and 5 number correct” prizes. Let’s assume that for every dollar you buy, you awarded $10, $150 and $1000 for the “3, 4 and 5 numbers correct” prizes.

Since the probability of getting 3, 4 and 5 numbers correctly is 0.00000917, 0.000000199 and 0.00000000442, the total prize will then be as follow:

(9170 x $10) + (199 x $150) + (4.42 x $1000) + 10,000,000 = $10,125,970

And if you have noticed, you actually get less prize money as the number of numbers you get correct, even though the absolute amount of the prize money had increased.

Looking at the numbers, you find that, under normal circumstances, you will definitely lose more money than you gain by buying lottery tickets. In other words, buy lottery tickets if you want to have a negative income.

 Invest in the lottery system if you want to waste some money, or that you really like giving money to others, that you enjoy making other people richer. According to Robert Kiyosaki, only about 1 in 100 companies will be able to survive after 10 years, owning to the brain power and hard work of their owners. This figure, 1%, is definitely higher than what you get from “investing” in the lottery system. In other words, stop wasting money. The only way to win in a lottery is not to place your bet at all.

Thanks to Rich Life Carnival for featuring my post.

Title: The Five Love Languages

Author: Gary Chapman

In a nutshell:

A book ESSENTIAL for couples or anyone who wish to have a person to live with for the rest of their life.

In one paragraph:

A book essential for anyone who is currently in a relationship, or is planning to get a partner. It matters not whether you have already decided that you will remain a single for the rest of your life, or you have decided that your marriage is already gone, unsalvageable, reading this book will allow you to understand why some people can never get their love message across to the other party involved, be it their spouse, their girlfriend or boyfriend, or their love ones.

 

Full review:

Before I actually read this book, I was told that I am actually reading the wrong book. Instead of reading this book, I was told to read the other book in the series, “The Five Love Language for Singles”. Keeping that point in mind, I started reading the book and found that instead of expecting the information to be useless to me, the information presented in the book in immensely informative.

The five love language for the couple as written in the book reflects exactly what I see in many of the couples that I have seen. These couples came appear in my life in the form of relatives in my family, as well as several friends who are much older than I am. Those that practised effective communication with their partner are the ones that who enjoys living with their spouse. Those who don’t, enjoy spaces WITHOUT their spouse. How I wished that they are able to read this book that I am reviewing now. Sad to say, they will not. Without a doubt, they will denounce my good intention as “words from a child” and ignore it. It doesn’t matter if I am twenty five years old and had read more books than they have in their life time. What matters to them is that everyone listens to them and don’t ask questions. And this is precisely why this book is a good book for them to read. But sadly, they may never get the chance to read this book as their minds are closed to the possibility of improvement, unlike you, who is reading this blog now.

Along with the “five language”, Dr Gray Chapman also suggests steps that readers can use to improve their love life with their spouse. These steps, however, are not “miracle steps” which will improve your life the instant you use them. They are not “magical touch” which will change your spouse the moment you execute them. To achieve the outcome they desire, the couples as described in the book sometime had to endure being mocked by someone who they had vowed to live their life with at the wedding ceremony. This mocking can go on from days to months, as described in the book. It is really sad to know that people in this world, including myself, derive joy from mocking others with good intentions.

The book is enjoyable to read since the information in the book information in the book is presented in a way that readers are able to read the book as if they are reading a story book, and not a facture self-help book. Each chapter in the book leads to the next, grabbing the attention of the reader by leaving the answer of the question raised in the last paragraph of the chapter to the next chapter. I could not believe the book that I was reading is a self-help book, since the author did not present the five languages to the reader as a “definition”.

Rather, the author, Dr Gray Chapman, allows readers to “discover” the languages by experiencing what Dr Gray Chapman had experienced when he is counselling his patients. Rather than to show the readers the “absolute true way” of life, or the “definite answer to your problem”, Dr Gray Chapman preferred letting the readers to “accompany” him while he counsels his patients. He prefers to show the readers how he had “discover” what the languages are, rather than giving a direct definition, or a direct answer to the problem every couple had to face at some time of their marriage. Instead of proclaiming to the readers that he “knows the answer to your problem” like the way some of the other self help book are written, Dr Chapman prefers the readers to join him as he tries to come up with solutions to help couples who wish salvage their marriage.

So, how does this book actually help me, a single, who do not even have a girlfriend? By reading this book, I actually have a better understanding why certain people react in a certain way when their partner behaves in a certain manner. It also illustrates to me the kind of love language that I probably speak and prepares me for what is going to hit me in the face when I start a relationship myself. This, however, does not meant that I will definitely be a good boyfriend or a good husband, as the effort to read the book and carrying out the actions required to maintain a good relationship is two entirely different thing altogether. It is true that I do not know better than most couples out there since I have not being in a relationship before. But I can surely say that having read this book, I am much more mentally prepared for what is going to hit me in the face when I do start a relationship in the future.

This book is not thick, but the information written in it can be the deciding factor on whether a marriage ends in a divorce or a happy “till die do us part”. Most of us will not be able to live our life as the fairy tale we have envisioned when we fall in love. What we can do instead is to create an environment that is conducive for a healthy, happy marriage that will ultimately contribute to the physical and mental well being of our lives.

It is really easy to give up a “failing” marriage. It is easy to put the blame on other people. Unless you are a saint, I am sure that at one time or the other, when a problem surfaces, you will first find out who to blame, who to point your finger to first. Rather than focusing to find the solution to solve the problem, one will often focus on finding another person to blame. It will be the other person, the software, the cat, the weather, the air, or even God that is the problem. To some, it will never be himself or herself that is the problem. It will always be the other person. Instead of trying hard to solve the pressing problem, these people who love to point their fingers at other people make it a point to tell everyone that the problem lies elsewhere. In fact, within the book, we find instances where finger pointing creates a barrier for the seemingly “flawless” person from getting help to salvage their marriage. To me, this is not very smart. And it is also not very smart to close your mind to ideas from others, especially so if they have counselled more couples than you can personally know.

Read this book. This book is another book that can be finished within a day. It does not matter if you intend to remain single or you think that your marriage has already reached a point of no return. The information within the book will enable you to understand why people behave in a certain way, and why they are particularly sensitive to certain actions or words thrown to them by others. Rather than putting off reading this book until you are actually married, I recommend this book to be read now, since the information you gather from this book will not only help you in communicating effectively with our spouse, but also communicate effectively with your loves ones.