Business and Money Tips

* Take advantage of 2016 $500 Training Credit now, not 2016 at here * After reading the world's analysis, these are my 7 predictions for 2015 (as written on 21 Feb 2015): Low Interest rates in USA will not only not rise (as promised by Yellen), but remain the same or even decline.  The recent rise in the US Dollar will be reversed by the second half of the year If you think that the market is awash with liquidity, there will be even more hot money floating around.  This is because Europe and other nations like Canada, Japan, China and Australia are now embarking on ' Quantum Easing ', or printing of money into their economies Financial crisis will not materialize, instead there could be an Energy Crisis and Commodity Crisis . This means that everything will become cheaper due to the persistent low oil prices.  (note: I predict oil price will be below US$60 a barrel for most of 2015) Slow economic growth (less than 2%) will be the norm, and 1% to 1% growth is con

Now you too can start your day right with the following 7 mindful thoughts: 1.  Take Out Filler Words in Your Daily Conversation.   Filler words and phrases are sounds that have no meaning, they are there to fill in spaces while we are thinking.   The most common fillers are 'so', 'well', 'like', 'you know', 'how come' and 'sort of'.  Filler words reflect a unclear mind that just wants so speak.  Imagine a conversion full of filler words, what a mindless conversation it is! 2.  When Eating, Just Eat .   Many people like to gobble their food, and the more they like a food, the faster they eat it.  Many people are afraid that if they don't fast, that good food may be gone.   The point is until you adopt mindful eating, you are not absorbing the full benefits of the food you're eating and you're just wasting food!  In Japan, it is very rude to eat and talk at the same time, and munching a food while listening to a le

Exercise for you: once a day, look out for someone close to you - can be a family member, colleague, boss, Facebook friends, relatives or just friends - and give them a Mindful Compliment. Most people give compliments that are neither mindful nor meaningful.  Many are just flatteries, some are even sarcasms disguised as compliments.  Others compliment just for the sake of it, with no intention or mindfulness behind. Many people commented that when they give out compliments, the receiving person often block it."Oh, I am not perfect", or "Not really", "Today I am not in top form" or even start analysing the compliment and give their comment or rebuttal of it. In fact, being given a compliment creates vulnerability.  Some people may become wary of compliments at work, for the compliment from the boss often follows some kind of extra work and stress.  In adolescence, people often get compliments and later were stalked or teased.  Many people are not su

Are you a good boss?  Given a chance, would your employees want to work for you?  Most importantly, are you able to make people better than themselves, or make people better for just yourself?   Make no mistake: the best bosses could also be bad bosses at times.  The key to being a good boss is  how to Be the best, and learn from the Worst .  Taken from our all-time best-seller new course  How to Be a Great Boss  and books from Robert I Sutton, there are 5 things that you have to do: Don't Crush the Bird .  Managing people is like holding a bird in your hand.  If you hold it too tightly, you'll kill it. But if you let loose, you'll lose it.  Indeed managers that are too aggressive will damage relationships and managers that are too passive and not assertive enough will get people climb over their heads.  Like salt in a dish, too much will overwhelm the dish; too little is similarly distracting; but just the right amount of salt will leave an unforgettable experienc

In our training classes (listing at here ), people often ask me permission to do things like asking questions, sharing of experiences and even going to the toilets. I often told them, "You can do anything you like in my classes, including scolding me, as long as you pay your fees".  That inevitably draws chuckles from them.  We are unlike the Americans, who have never asked permission for anything.  They just go ahead and to it.  That's why Nike's slogan is "Just Do It".  If this is Asia, it would be "Ask Permission First".  Psychologists said that people feel the need to ask for permission because they don't want to be seen as aggressive or outshining others.  Some people go one step lower: fearing that their permission will not be granted, they dare not even ask for permission.  Such behaviour explains why many people are living below their potential.  You can see it everywhere like: Subordinates dare not do better than their boss Sa

Get your business read now, not later.  Because fortune favours the prepared, so said my fortune teller.  For those in business, remember that fortune goes to those whose business activities are aligned with the common good.  The 7 areas in your business as foretold by your fortune teller: Customers : You cannot rest on your laurels and assume that customers will come back, even though you have been serving them for decades.  Look at Microsoft: people don't use Windows phones even though they have been using Windows computers for 4 decades.  If only Microsoft can wow its customers and add more value every day , we will all be not using Apple and Android phones Vendors : Your suppliers are also your customers, so treat them well.   Treat your vendors better than your customers and you'll have non-stop business.  From the "Greatest Entrepreneur in the World" e-book Employees : The goal of all bosses is to find employees that will work for you for free .  Their pa

In this Chinese or Lunar New Year, many people like to know what is their fortune for this year. As what Sun Tzu said in The Art of War , if you know yourself and you know the environment, you are in no danger. Your Fortune in the Year of the Goat revealed in 5 areas: Money This year you will have chances to make more money than last year. However, you must be alert to take advantage of opportunities quickly or they will be gone. Furthermore, you must work hard, but not too hard or you will missed opportunities. Although this year (2015) inflation is low, you nevertheless must invest your hard earned savings into instruments that beat inflation, like REITs that offer quarterly dividends exceeding 6% per annum.   Lastly, you must know how to donate money, for the more give, the more you will have. Career and Business:  Things appear to be challenging in the short term, as the world economies are not looking rosy at least until the second half of the year. However, as long as th

The dumbest idea in the world must be to think that you are the problem. The smartest idea in the world must be to separate people from the problem. All the world's wars are created when people think that people are the problem, when in fact there is a problem in people. When you lump people with their problem, you become personal in your dealings with them.  Like when a service staff is rude to me, I make personal attacks if I think the staff is the problem, when in fact it is the service of the staff that is the problem. The wisest idea in the world is to firstly see ourselves as not our problems .  If not, how can we solve any problem in the world? The second step to solving any problem must be to know the root cause of the problem, followed by finding the solution to the problem.  The fourth and final step is to solve the problem.  If you too want to make your Chinese New Year holidays meaningful, put in good food for your brain.  Come for this rare course: HOW

Apple Inc. has reported the largest quarterly profit ever made by a public company in the world.  Thanks to iPhone 6 huge success, people are now addicted to Apple's products. But as much as 75% of iPhone 6+ (a new product) customers are switching from other phones.  In other words, Apple is not only strong in customer retention but also great in customer acquisition.  And the customers that Apple acquired tend to stick for long.   Apple's strategy is now studied by analysts and is comprised of 4 pillars: Offer a small number of products.  This reduces operations and supply chain complexity and gives Apple greater power when negotiating contracts with suppliers of materials and parts Focus on the High End. Premium products yield premium profits.  Apple focused on customers that are not price sensitive and are inelastic to demand; in short, people who can afford it and willing to pay the high price.  This is because Apple's customers are more interested in user expe

Samsung Galaxy S6 will spot 5.1 inches with screen all round Times have change: it's now fashionable to cover your backside.  Nobody does this better than Samsung: it's latest Galaxy S6 Edge has screen around its edges, the first in the world.  In fact, The Samsung Way does things both sides.  That's why Samsung is so successful: it turned from a low-cost low-brand maker to a global high brand high price premium product maker.  (as covered in our courses ) There are 5 ways that we too can cover both sides: In business, we sell cheap and expensive at the same time to the same customers in the same product group.  Demand is always there.  In human resource management, we pay talented people not high salary but high unlimited incentives for those that perform  In Purchasing, we choose the cheapest vendor for purchases that don't matter and go for the highest price for procurement that matter, like software In Finance, we are very tight on daily cash payouts