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Anyhow, I have little text files from 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2008. The most recent one is a mindmap. Not sure what happen to those in years in between. I might have them written down on some of my notes in my old journal.

Seeing my old goals was interesting. It gives you insights to who you are back then. What you thought was important. It is also interesting to see how your goals evolve over time. Some of the goals which I held on to for many years, now is no longer important. For me, I noticed that as I grow and change, priorities change. Some of the goals I accomplished much later than the date I set and I even had a goal to have a girlfriend. Yeah, right! What a lousy goal since I have no control over that and my social skills are … let’s not go there. Enough to say that the goal did not happen at the appointed time. I did find my better half over 6 years back and it been great.

Back to the point I want to make with this article. I’m at the point to putting down some short term goals and it feel a bit scary initially. Looking back, while there was a time I felt down & disappointed when I did not achieve the goal then, and somewhat kicked myself, at this point, not achieving the goals is okay with me. And I’m  beginning to see that while goals give direction, it is not the be all and end all.

I looked through some of the goals and wonder what it would be like if I got them. Perhaps it would give some new experience e.g. having a sports car and show off a lot (okay gotta keep pride in check) but other than that, I don’t see much benefit it would bring to me. Some might say, I’m trying to comfort myself. Well, maybe but I don’t think so.

Like I mentioned, goals gives direction only. That too direction can change. Looking back, while I think that goals are important, they are much overrated. They cause you to grow, to learn, to change. While the less important goals 10 years down are left on the wayside, I realized, some more important ones came true albeit later.

What about you? Do is to keep your goals list of yesteryears? How do you relate to goals after a decade of setting them?

I read this verse in the bible

Ecc 11:4  If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything (Good New Bible)

which says that you cannot wait for perfect conditions to start something. This applies to everything be it to invest, to start something that’s on your heart for some time. While I always pray and kind off wait to get more information before embarking on major decisions, there comes a time to just do it. No matter how much research or information is gathered, it will never be enough. The world is changing too fast for that.

Having said that, your personality makes a difference in starting. People with a choleric temperament will tend to jump into things while a melancholic will tend to take much longer to decide.

Anyway, whatever it is, you still have to start or you will never harvest anything!

Whatever position you are currently at, there are some things you can do now, rather than waste time doing nothing. Skills wise, you may be into 2 possible groups. Either you are skilled at something and your expertise is worth something, (just not at the moment) or you don’t have really expertise in any field.

If you are in the latter group, then I suggest that you go learn some new things. There are many things are available online or books you can borrow from the library to learn something. Why not learn a new language or learn public speaking? Or web design? Or how to organize events. These skills will become valuable down the road! There are plenty of things you can try. But this comes with a caveat. You have to do it well enough that you rise above the norm. Don’t stay at beginner level but learn with the aim to become an expert. If you can, be great. There is where value lies.

On the other hand, if you already have some skills, the perhaps starting a blog would be something to consider. Learn to market yourself. Think out of the box. For example I have a friend who really like marketing in the retail world but could not get a job in that specific sector. He had to settle for a job (still in marketing) in an different industry that is more regulated and his creativity is some what stifiled. I suggested he start a blog to review existing marketing design especially towards the layout, design and colors. What works, what doesn’t and why etc. While at the moment, he needs to stay on the job to pay his bills, in the months ahead, assuming he is good at what he does and builds a following, instead of getting a job, many more options will open up. Possibilities down the road would include maybe a book, freelance consultant work, or perhaps paid speaking engagements all come to mind. Who knows. What you build online is like an online resume!

But best of all, you are doing something to increase your value.

You might think that my friend here (let’s call him Bob) is a top of his field or someone brilliant that he received 6 offers. Nothing like that sort. Not to put Bob down but he is an average guy, late 20s not much specialization to speak off.  The fact was that there are jobs available if you are willing to do it.

On a side note, I spoke to another business owner in an engineering related field. The problem he says, "People are asking too much pay!" While you can and should ask for as much as possible and don’t sell yourself short, depending on the industry you are in and how long you’ve been jobless, I reckon this calls for wisdom.

Being prepared for the interviews and find out about the companies you intend to work for. That’ll give you some hints which company to choose if you are fortunate enough to have several job offers. So ask yourself to see if you are asking too much.

I visited a customer yesterday and saw this 3 questions he had on his wall. I think the questions are fabulous to improve your life, your business, your relationship and practically any area of your life.

What are the things you are doing, that you should NOT be doing?

What are the things you are NOT doing, that you should be doing?

What are the things you are doing well, that you need to do more?

Simple, profound and at the end of the year, I believe these questions can help you move your life to the next level.

After much thinking and soul searching, I reckon I needed a team to help me flesh out some of the projects. At this stage, I didn’t want to reveal too much information as to what I was up to, to my potential team members, but I did mention my ideas generally to them. I knew I needed people to reflect back ideas both positive and negative. After all a few more brains are better than one.

What I discovered was interesting. Immediately, I found myself in 3 major groups. Some were keen to know more, asking good questions along the way. Some shot down my ideas, while others listened but did not ask any significant questions.

Some of my friends, the entrepreneur type immediately were very eager to know more as well as share ideas what they were doing. Where as, I found a few people were not too positive about what I shared. Based on the feedback I’ve gotten, I generally know who are the people I wanted to work with. The reason being not so much about them being negative about my ideas (anyway, for them it is doing more of the same old thing, with a bit of variation), but the way they didn’t listen more. Or even to ask questions to find out more.

Contrast the time I spent with an younger entrepreneur friend. Well, for one, in spite of the still high property prices over here, he managed to purchase several at way below market. Something many people say can’t be done!

Which leads me to making more money through team working. I think, if you have been trying to generate either side income or develop a business, but find yourself still not getting the results you want, I suggest that you look for people around you who can give you good feedback. Hear them out. Sometimes, it is not because your idea don’t work. It just need some fine tuning.

You might not learn anything from them, but just by having someone as a sounding board, can keep you going and verbalize what you’ve been unable to put down. You may even surprise yourself at what you blurt out of your mouth. There lies the gems hidden at the back of your head.

Being in such relationship can give you a tremendous boost like what I did for me. In my case, I’m sharing with my friend what I’ve learned the last two years one the internet and he in turn will show me the ropes how to get investment property on the cheap. This also save a tremendous amount of time, which by now, you’d know is worth heaps.

In summary, here’s all the points again.

• teams allow you to save time and make more money
• you must find people who are like minded but different enough to contribute
• don’t include negative people on your team, but
• listen to negative people. They can give you good feedback on an weakness in your business plan you might have overlooked
• teams make working more fun

But, what happened in the last 2 weeks was, I got wind of a sub notebook for under $400. Being curious, I went for a look. If you don’t know it yet, it is the Asus Eee PC which is a popular gadget today. Basically, it is a relatively cheap laptop that runs all your basic applications and it is based on a Linux OS. Small and cheap enough to do typing, emailing and cheaper than some PDA’s. Well, I did not buy this gadget, (I would have if I did not buy my PDA last year) but it led me to Linux OS, specifically Puppylinux.

What is so special about Puppylinux? It is a very small operating system and will run on an old Pentium with just 128MB of RAM. I’m not sure if you can still find a running PC that old. But I’m pretty sure you have some old PII or PIII around. Now, with computer prices dropping all the time, where is this post heading?

Well, most of us would have parents or kids at home who “also” wants a computer, right. It can be for surfing the net, for parents and older kid, or playing games for younger children. Instead of junking you PC, or donating it, and spend a few hundred buck to get a new PC, you can give it a new lease of life by installing a different OS on it.

I’ve tried Ubuntu in the past it is still a bit big. For very basic needs, PuppyLinux can do the job. It even runs without a hard drive. Boot it into memory from a LiveCD that you can download and you are off. I’m typing this post using PuppyLinux, since I managed to dual boot my Vista laptop. It took me sometime since I did not want to kill my one and only work machine, but if you have an old PC, I’m pretty sure setting it up will be faster.

Back to the Eee PC. I took a look at this laptop companion at the nearby computer retail shop. Apparently, these little fella are flying of the shelf. Asus have a hit on their hands and other computer makers are jumping onto the bandwagon. It just made me think. A lot of the stuff on our computer that we have, we don’t really need. Sure, when I bought my laptop last year, I wanted something to last me a few years. So, I have my dual core machine etc.

I also remembered several years ago when we went shopping for a new microwave oven, (we already have a full size oven) I thought of getting just the one with microwave functions rather than a full fledge microwave will bells and whistles. I have to say, most of the time, we use it to reheat food. The normal heating is into semi retirement! Perhaps, going back to basics is all we need.

By the way, PuppyLinux is free. You don’t have think about getting a licensed copy etc. So if you can get your hands on an old computer, go grab it. It’ll save you more than a few bucks I think.

Oh, if you like a small “disposable” laptop, consider the Eee PC

I wanted to do a review of 2007 in December, which is my normal practice. Perhaps by next week I can get something up. I found that it is good to look back before looking forward. Stuff that I’ve done in 2007, places where I’ve grown and most important lessons that I’ve learned. Mistakes that I should not repeat. I suggest that you do something like that too.

In order to review 2007, I looked back at my diary and also my journal (that I jot in from time to time). One big thing was I wasn’t consistent in keeping journal. That’ll probably be on my list of things to improve on in 2008.

For those who come by to this site, you’ll probably notice that the theme is designed by Chris Pearson of Personified. I was looking for another theme from Chris when I saw this old post he wrote about kissing the corporate life goodbye. Chris writes

Does the idea of a corporate gig give you that warm, fuzzy feeling? Is a raise of 6% per year until you retire to a $20 storebought cake and a Rolex your idea of financial well-being? Did you know that health insurance really isn’t all that expensive?

And nine months later

I have what is essentially a new outlook on life. I’m free; I’m happy; and I feel like I can do anything I want to do.

I’d like you to read his article there to get some inspiration. Although your journey to financial freedom might take longer than 9 months, it starts with a goal. That’s important. After many years of going after goals and seeking things “outside” on myself, I realize it is just as important to look “inside” yourself. Who do you need to be to get where you want to go. Knowing who you are will tell you where you should go. Otherwise you might be copying a lifestyle of others but it is not what you really want. Climbing a ladder leaning on the wrong wall.

Ask yourself what brings you joy? That sense of flow. And instead of wanting success, strive for excellance to be you. To an Excellant you in 2008.

How do you do your review?

1. Be creative and brainstorm. Sit down and think of an appropriate gift. Some gifts are thoughtful and don’t cost much. If possible, think of a theme for everyone.

2. Prepare a budget. Yep, with all the glitter and feel good / feel bad factor, you can get carried away to buy an expensive gift to feel good/redeem yourself with family and friends if you have hurt some feelings along the year. Saying sorry and meaning it, is much cheaper! Bring along a list and calculator to total up your shopping.

3. Take stock. Before you go shopping, look around your house for gifts or items that you might have bought earlier and never use! You’d be surprised at what you have. Vouchers and other items your received from annual dinners etc make good gifts.

4. Give away used stuff. Not that old shirt or blanket but you might have a special item that you’ve not used in along time and might not use again. Like a family treasure, if might just be the right time to let someone else in your family enjoy the treasure. After all, it is a season of giving.

5. Shop at one go. Go to a place you can get almost everything in one go. By looking through your budget that you made up plus with a shopping list, you can scout around and total up how much you are going to spend. If you are over budget, you can cut down on other items across the board without having a too expensive gift for someone and a too cheap gift for another. Then you might be tempted to be “fair” and justify yourself to spend above when you can’t get an item for another person.

6. Leave the credit card at home. If you have a hard time sticking to a budget, leave your credit card at home and bring cash. Yep, pulling a stack of note and counting it off for the cashier have a psychological effect. Trust me, it has an impact on your spending.

Winning is important when you want to improve your financial well being. By winning, I mean you see measurable results. Whether you want to get out of debt, save some money, buy a home, quit the lousy job, you have to know that you are making progress. Other wise, you won’t keep doing the things you must do.

The same thing happened to me recently. I was trying out something to generate extra income. The first month, I made some money and I was elated. Following month, ziltch! I was down cast. Then this month, the money came in. Just a small amount but I was so happy and it made me want to keep going.

Human beings need feedback in whatever we do. If we don’t, most of us will stop doing it. So I’d encourage you to keep going. Look for the small results that tell you, you are moving forward.