Why Keen?

April 1, 2007

Steps into the unknown

What are the steps to success?

• Have a compelling reason. Checked.
• Have a vision that is made more real than fear. Checked.
• Take massive action. No time.
• Burn all bridges, and don’t look back. Er… Don’t dare to.

It is what Robert T. Kiyosaki said. Robert G. Allen talked about burning bridges.

All those years of what I’m sure some people will say is brainwashing and I am following that advice.

I am quitting my safe secure programming job, and taking up something that is as different as possible, real estate sales.

Will I succeed? I am certain of it.

(I am fully aware that I am accountable for everything I say in this entry, on public domain, in fact, that is partially why I am saying it. Burn another bridge. You being my witness, there’s no going back now.)

To me, it’s a massive change.

I have friends who tell me I am crazy. Our wedding is coming in little more than half a year’s time. Wedding package, actual day photography, house renovations… Things will get pretty tight very soon.

Of course, it’s not as bad as I make it out to be. I have a supportive partner, surprisingly supportive parents and very empowering friends. We have enough savings for the wedding, and a lttle more to last me three months without a paycheck. I have a house that is paying itself, more or less.

But why now?

It gave me goose pimples when I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” again recently. Robert T. Kiyosaki said to “work to learn and not work for money.”

Rich Dad also said that being broke is a temporary condition, but being poor is a mindset. If I am to become broke, doing so before 30 would be best because I will still have time to catch up,

Amazingly… I am following Robert’s footsteps, maybe consciously at the start, but now semi consciously now because I am who I wanted to be now, and that person finds what I am doing perfectly reasonable.

I sure don’t want to be broke, but in quitting, I am saying I don’t mind being broke in order to achieve freedom.

March 25, 2007

Zombie Republic

Have you stopped and looked at people around you sometimes?

I’ve come to a scary realization that there are a lot of zombies in Singapore. I am quite worried that I might end up becoming one. I am close, I tell you.

Have you noticed a scenario like this?

Someone trips on the bus, you see many hands stretched out near that person. But all the owners of these helping hands have expressionless faces. Once the near-victim is standing, and safe. The hands retract. No smile, no ‘Thank you’, no ‘You’re welcome’.

How about this?

A cleaning lady clearing tables at a food court. You say ‘Thank you’. And she snaps out of her zombie curse, and looks at you in a funny way.

Sometimes she might actually break from her curse and start conversing with you. But most of the time, she goes back to her state. Looking down, at the piece of cloth she is wiping the table with, with a scowl on her face.

What is happening? I think all the debate about raising our service standards would come to naught if we can’t stop the zombie curse. We would just have trained zombies, reading lines, saying thank yous and have a nice days.

It’s the frenzied pace we Singaporeans live at la… I think. Anyway this reframing makes me realise that sometimes it’s not that Singaporeans don’t care, but that they are not aware. Which is actually worse, but makes me feel better about people…

March 22, 2007

"The Pursuit of Happyness"

Watched a great movie on our proposal anniversary, and the timing for that movie couldn’t be more amazingly coincidental. The title is ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, by Will Smith.

It is based upon the life of Chris Gardner. He was a struggling salesman in the 80s who went through hell to get to where he is.

Talk about a wake up call for me. What is the price for success? Will I be willing to pay it?

Right at this juncture of my life when I am deciding when to quit my safe, comfortable job, the timing for this show couldn’t have come at a better time.

Chris had a child. He went through countless fights with his wife over making ends meet. Debts were piling. At one point, he was literally homeless, and he had his son with him all along.

His break came in the form of a job opportunity to be a stock broker at Dean Whitters. But he had to undergo training without income, and for a job that wasn’t even a certainty. There was only one vacancy, and he had to the best out of 20 interns.

I have quite a ‘safe’ cushion in terms of finances, I should be able to function without disaster for Hwei Min and I without any income for at least 2 months, and I have a considerably much better network than Chris had. It is still a little intimidating to imagine going without a pay check for training… Which I planned on doing.

Going to ‘S’ in the cashflow quadrant had been my plan all along, on my path to ‘B’. But now I am making the first ‘bridge burning’ decision.

The movie was nice, but as Tony said, if I had to model after someone, I have to get inside his head, and understand how he ticks. So I am looking for the book now. If I can find the book in Singapore, that will be great, meantime, I found the book at amazon.com.

Here’s a video of the actual guy…

March 21, 2007

Happy Birthday and Proposal Day!

Happy birthday Peppermint!

One full year ago, today was the day I proposed to Hwei Min. Today is our proposal anniversary.

We went back to the place where I proposed, the roof terrace of Esplanade mall. It was a wonderful day.

I am beginning to believe in my special powers. Hwei Min and I… We can control the weather!! Just last night, we mentioned how nice it would be if on the next day, the weather would be just right for us. There will be rain clouds, there will be a strong breeze… But no rain.

We got EXACTLY that!

Look at the pictures we took. Throw in birds singing, and you can imagine how great it was.

March 20, 2007

A lazy Saturday at the museum

Been to the National Museum lately?

You should go. The building had been restored and updated with a modern look and feel, while maintaining the old colonial charm.

Too bad the rest of the museum are camera-unfriendly. The tickets to enter the display areas cost $10 per adult. We didn’t even go in. The “no-cameras” signs are a real turn off.

But no loss to us. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously just walking around. Along a huge hallway, I thought I captured a cherubim, a small angel. A cheerful and energetic little boy running around. His dad was very friendly! Can see where the little boy got his cheerfulness from. When I asked for permission to take a picture of this cute boy, he posed for the photos. I have left my email address with him. I hope that he can give me his permission to share the other pictures I have of his cute son here. And I would like to hold to my promise of emailing him the pictures. Please email me! I want to share the photos with you!

Click to take a look at the rest of the pictures I have taken.

Saturday at the Museum