Kudos To Jack Zufelt

"Thanks a lot Jack, that three hours spent in your presence was very worthwhile. Although it had me rethinking about my goals and purposes in life, it had also, unfortunately, set me into a nihilistic mode once again."

On that onemonday evening, 22th of oct, my friend Latiff and I had attended a S$97 "DNA of Success" seminar. The event is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Jack Zufelt. Of course the main speaker is Jack too.

He is notorious for going against the personal development norms,such as goal-setting, visualization, etc. You see, in his mind, only one thing counts. The rest are as useful as using a toothbrush for cleaning the bathroom.

He is a strong advocate of the "Core Desire". Everything else are secondary. Without a core desire as the foundation, everything else will eventually fall apart. If our core desires are identified first, all our goals and targets will be more substantial.

He gave some simple examples to illustrate his points. The one that hits me the hardest is that of the taekwondo students:

- He was actually teacxhing taekwondo some years ago (he holds a black belt by the way), and a man in his forty approached him and request to be his student.

He told him that he had wanted to be a black belt in taekwondo for the last ten years and asked Jack what will it take to have a black belt. Jack said something like "2 hours everyday, for 2 year". The man started squealing and complained about it. And Jack rejected him.

His rationale was not solely based on the man's reaction, but also his level of desire. If he had wanted the black belt that strongly for the last ten years, the minimal thing he could do was to find out what it would take to do so. Apparently he had not.

Then another man requested the same of Jack, to be his student and achieve a blackbelt. He asked Jack the same question and jack replied, "4 hours everyday, for 3 years". If your maths is good enough, you will realise that Jack was asking him to put in 3 TIMES the effort of the previous man. The reason?

He was handicapped. The man had some muscular disability which reduces his sense of balance. The guy can barely stand on one leg!

To Jack's surprise, the guy said "No problem, when can I get started?". In the end, he did put in those effort and get his black belt. The difference, as put forth by Jack, is the level of desire each man had for the black belt. If you want something badly, no amount of effort put in is too much, no amount of sacrifice made is wasted.

On hindsight, I realized that he is right. Our forefathers had built Singapore based on a very strong desire for a better life. It is not easy for the immigrants to leave the homeland that they loved so much and bear the brunt of the journey and unknowns of a foreign land. Heck no! It is that strong desire that gave them the support to move out of their comfort zone.

For a ship to find new shore, it has to lose sight of the port first.

On a personal basis, I know I had endured numerous last-minute-revisions the night prior to some exams which I had put off studying for. On those particular night, I could suddenly endure the lure of sleep and complexity of my syllabus. A non-stop studying marathon that could make sense of every complexities in just one session of studying and kept me glued to the books for 7 hours straight! How can you explain it?

I did not set any goals on paper. I most definitely did not visualize myself doing any studying, unraveling and staying awake. I did not repeat affirmations.

And I did not pray.

It was just that my core desire then, was to pass the exam. That was why sleep and other activities that would not contribute to attaining my desire were the least of my concerns.

***

Does that mean those self-help tool which have serve millions of people so well are absolutely redundant? No, they are not redundant. When the core desire is clear, effective goal setting, affirmations, visualization will all come naturally. If you have a core desire, you will want it so badly that your mind is preoccupied only with it. You will always visualize what would it be like to possess it. You will subconsciously associate the sights and sounds around you

with it. Your mind will conjure up a hundred and one ways to possess it. Unknowingly, you have done goal setting, visualization, affirmation, and everything that a success coach avocates.

So how do you find your core desire? How do you know if your goal is your core desire? Well, the only tools used are two questions:

1) What is it that you want... that you are not having in your life right now?

2) If you can have what you wanted, what different would it make to your life now compared to when you do not have it?

The first question is pretty much referring to our goals. The second one asks what does attaining the goals brings you? During the seminar, it is also the killer question that had people tied at the tongues. Unknowingly, many people set goals to fulfill a temporal desire, after which, the goal made no sense at all.

YUP, this idiot of me took these two questions so far that it sapped him of his energy for a whole week (not counting in the week after when I took one week to catch up on my schoolwork). I still did not have a satisfactory answer, just some speculations and mixed feeling for the growth of humankind as a whole.

You see, I asked myself the second question over and over again for different possible answers. Then it gets to the point when everything in the world is pretty much nihilistic.

I started out thinking that man can seek for all sort of things: money, power, beauty, etc. But it will eventually boils down to wanting validation of their purpose of existence, primarily through companionship and the respect that comes from it. In a nutshell, man really wants to feel indispensable and most of the times, it is through loved ones' recognition.

Let's take a look at revolution and domination, they stem from the desire for companions to be able to respect them as authority figures; Invention/trail- blazing and destruction stem from the desire to draw attention of more companions; altruism stems from the desire to provide for their companions and earn their respect; beliefs in the afterlife and in a superior entity stem from the desire for eternal companionship and validation. Non-social people still desire the same validation, but not from human. They find their validation through any differences that they have made, be it beneficial or destructive. Think of the 'cat-lady' who devotes her life to providing for cats.

So ultimately, the greatest motivating factor that pushes you to greatness is the respect, admiration and expectations of other people.

***

But the question that evades my understanding is this:

The validation is hardly enough to convince me due to its subjective nature. Do we fit somewhere else in the great scheme of things?

Once our purposes are validated, is the ultimate aim of our existence in this world as trivial as the cycle of 'live', 'grow', 'propagate', 'die'?

Any guesses for the purpose of our existence other than a trivial "continuation of species" without bringing the supernatural and metaphysical is pretty feeble. No wonder there are people who are dedicated to understanding the worlds beyond this world (heaven and hell, the universe and beyond the smallest visible millimetre). The Mayan who believed and "travelled" in the existence of 9 dimensions and fundamental physicists are good examples.

I rather not ponder over this question any further, it is better left to the minds of those whose livelihood depends on it.

For now, ace-ing my NUS exams comes first.

The day when Stephen Pierce enlighten me again

From: The desk of Kun Song
Date: 29th of July, 1:26AM, Singapore Time

To Stephen Pierce,

Good evening Stephen, how are you doing now? If you are still the same man I saw at WIS, my guess is that you’re most probably spending your time helping out another lost soul, another someone out there who really needs your guidance.

I know that this letter will never reach your inbox, unfortunately. The main purpose of this letter is to thank you for opening the eyes of a man blinded by short-sightedness. It does not matter if you will ever chance this letter. I just want to express my deepest heart-felt gratitude to you.

Although you have never met me nor speak to me personally, I wish to thank you nevertheless. If we will ever have a chance to speak to each other, the honour will most definitely be mine.

I started to develop an interest for Online Marketing three months ago, as a stream of passive financial income. With a twist of luck, I discovered that one of my friends, Latiff, is an expert on the subject, with nearly a decade of experience. Since then, I have been learning and practising under his guidance.

During one of our conversations, he mentioned a website called FreeIQ, which is basically a repository of info-products, and how useful it is for everyone. At that point of time, it went in through my left ear and exited from the right.

What a waste.

Just two hour ago, he had mentioned it to me again. At that point of time, I had a task on hand to create a report, but I was procrastinating. Subconsciously, I will grab at any chance to take my mind off the task. I know that as long as I can delay it till much later, my priority will switch to sleeping and I can push off the task.

As I was surfing through the FreeIQ directories, I chanced upon your free report, “Do Not Stop”.

I downloaded it and was, surprisingly, treated to a beautiful sight of colours and sleek designs, blended perfectly with the text.

The best part of the report is, of course, in the content.

I am totally in awe by the way you have strung the words so beautifully together. In this 'attention-deficit' era where most people are attracted to videos instead of words; and short articles devoid of the human touch of heart warming conversation that encourages and nourishes the spirit, you’re words have brought comfort and encouragement to me.

You have taught me that there are really no excuses when a person is fighting for his dream. There is always time to take one step closer to your goals.

You have taught me that any hardship that we are going through and any sacrifices that we have to make is only for the short term. Every business owner will have to go through this period of hardship. This is the reason why only 5% of entrepreneurs are ever successful. It is because they are not ready to pay the full price of success.

You have taught me that taking action is very very important. I admit that I’ve been scouring the internet, digging up resources after resources, crashing free seminars, buying books, seeking even more resources, all in an attempt to find the ‘effortless’ way to success. Either that or I having been finding excuses of insufficiency to run my own business. In actual fact, all the information that I need to START is all in place. Thanks to you, I found a new meaning in the quote by Jalal-Uddin Rumi:

"You wander from room to room
Hunting for the diamond necklace
That is already around your neck!"

You have taught me, most importantly, never to quit on anything. Never quit, never quit, never quit. Never quit when you have failed to meet your goals, just start over anew. Never quit when you are falling behind everybody else, just continue. Never quit when nay-Sayers are jibing at you, just prove them wrong, one step at a time.

Although I have heard these lessons and virtues numerous times and understand their importance as well, any application of them is a rare occasion. Other teachings merely increases the awareness of the virtues, but does not put forth a concise image of what is it like to implement them.

It is not an easy task.

And your article has made it so. It has painted a vivid picture in my mind. It has told a story of my future, one that has endured through the test of time and stormy hardships, and I like it very much so.

^^ V

I guess I will be purchasing your ‘Optimindzation’ CD afterall. If a short eight page report can influence me so much, I sure would like to know what a hour worth of your new product will be like.

Once again, I sincerely extend my thanks to you, Stephen Pierce.

With All My HeartFelt Gratitude, Take Care
KS

Hello, my name is Kun Song

Today I saw a fantastic video on Youtube.

It was produced by Scotts, 'The Guy With The Name Tag'. He is the only guy in the world who wears a nametag 24/7, since november 2004.

I really like this guy alot, especially how he had helped people to improve their networking skills. Not only will you find plenty of free articles and free ebooks in his website, you will probably love ALL his works and All his endeavour.

Check out this latest video: Video Cliff Notes to "Make a Name for Yourself"

The Taxi Driver

Due to another appointment, I had to leave the seminar two hours before it ends, it was quite a waste, but USoS is definitely more important. The business will always come first. But long before I leave, the speaker introduced another pre-requisite, a virtue needed for success. He skilfully illustrated the point through a joke, with a twisted ending. Here goes:

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There was once a F1 racer in Malaysia. His skill was considered to be legendary and his passion is contagious. But he soon realised that his eyesight is failing him, due to old age. He had no choice but to withdraw from racing, it was a terrible moment for him. Even though he was offered a coach position, the thought of watching other people race while he is unable to do so for the rest of his life is simply too much to bear. He decided to leave the community of F1 racing.

The thrill of racing never stops running in his blood. So he took up the job closest to being a F1 racer, a taxi driver! Despite his failing eyesight, he is perfectly capable of handling the cab with finesses. From the moment he sat on the driver’s seat, he started to manoeuvre the cab like he used to do so. Even while passengers are onboard, he cut corners at 80, braked late and drove with fervour unlike anyone before.

One day, a priest flagged down his cab. This priest is the exact opposite of him. He’s a believer of God and enjoy a slow pace of life. The taxi driver sped through the streets and dived between traffic. Finally, his sight gave up and he crashed his cab. Both the driver and the priest were sent to meet the Maker.

Before the Maker, the driver was allowed into heaven while the priest was sent to hell. He argued, “I preached the gospels day and nights all my life, abide to your Words and all I get is eternal suffering!? The reckless driver gave no regards to his passengers’ lives and killed me in the most humiliating of ways and he gets to bask in your glory forever?!?! This is not right!!!”

God replies, “I understand that you have been serving me loyally since your baptism, but your long and monotonous sermon has bored my followers and they are less appreciative of me. Secondly, your life is as clean as a white sheet. You have live a life without passions and wasted my gift to you, the gift of Life. On these two accounts, I am sending you to Hell. On the other hand, the driver lives his life to the fullest every single day, even till the last moment. For his passion, he is granted to Heaven. Besides that, he made every passengers praise my name with all their might. During their ride, all of them shouted, ‘OH MY GODDD!!!!!!’”

The (paid) Enyouth Seminar In Singapore

On the 8th of July, Sun, I went to one of Enyouth company seminar, through an invitation by my friend. Although my friend gave me a wrong timing (Two hours earlier) and I wasted much time waiting for the seminar while sitting in BK restaurant, but the seminar speaker made all the wait worthwhile.

For people outside of Singapore, here are some backgrounds regarding Enyouth. It is a MLM company that had its roots in Singapore and specialises in selling Magnetic Therapy products. Personally, I like the features found in their products, but their company history is the juiciest bit.

Their CEO, Mr Raymond went bankrupt for three times before he started the company. Although he is ridden with damaged reputation and zero assets, he had managed to garner the trust of some people and set up a company with its own unique and distinct culture. I think he is a persuasion guru of some sort… His office literally started in a coffee shop, and then it moved to a bigger office and he continued to do so until he owned half of a building in Singapore busiest district. From their latest update, I know that they are renovating the place and going to own its own corporate building soon, all accomplished within a decade.

I must clarify this; I am in no way associated with the company, either as a distributor or a customer. But I am most impressed by the brute perseverance and rock-solid beliefs he had displayed. Despite his multiple rock-bottom failures, which many will use as excuses, he had stayed focused and started up a company which is truly his. I salute this man.

************************************************************************************

Initially, I had promised my attendance to support my friend. I know he is truly a good man and had work very hard for his recognition. Proof: Despite my repeated warnings of never approaching me to buy anything, he still did it. Even though it irks me, I am proud to acknowledge him as a friend. His perseverance and beliefs is definitely something I can learn and follow.

At the seminar, I heard a few remarkable thank-you speeches, in particular, the life philosophy that they live by. What’s even more inspiring is their average age. They are no more than three years from my age and yet they have success in their grasp. This realisation really struck me hard. For every minute that I have wasted on trivia, they are using theirs to inch closer to their ultimate prize, how can I ever lose out? Must CHIONG LIAO!!!

***********************************************************************************

The hype behind any seminar is built up around its speaker. The speaker for the seminar was no small fry. He joined Enyouth once before going to Malaysia to set up SIX more companies. He is also the Malaysia consultant for China and holds a doctorate. There are much more mentions of his credentials and deeds, but the entire list is simply too long. And my whole mind is more occupied with the anticipation for the man to take the stage. Just a side note, I realised I had forgotten his name. @_@

Note to self: always write down names

Now about the speech, he started off the standard way; getting the audience to shout, message each other, give positive affirmation to your neighbour and hug them. Then he began with the ‘sperm and winners’ relativity theory. Although it is a cliché, he mentioned something very accurate: YES, there may be a first place, second place or a third place, but the reality is; only the champion gets the booty. No 2 and 3 will eat dust with the rest.

Important lesson aside, most people who never check up on the process of fertilization will never know the truth. The fastest sperms in the canal will actually die first in order to neutralize the acidic environment. They are clearing the minefield for second fastest wave, which will also be sacrificed to ‘disarm’ the egg. Only the late and moderate speed sperm get through. Personally, luck does not register as a winner to me. Even though I have a great urge to explain it to my friend, I rather that I don’t discourage him again.

IMORTANT!! The speaker mentions that to achieve any form of successes in life, you only need to do two things. Although they are very brief, the concept is all encompassing.

One, Be your own boss. Although he is referring to offline start-up companies, it actually applies to most forms of success. Being your own boss means taking charge of every aspect of your life; from your self-disciplines to your personal finance. If you do not have the courage to be your own boss, you can kiss success bye-bye.

Two, Leverage your time. How very true. Athlete takes supplement and body treatment to reduce length of time spent resting. Professionals use software to perform tedious calculations, mundane routines and multitasking. Sales and marketing personnel outsource all their workload outside of their forte. And apprentice uses their mentors’ experience to guide and enlighten them on their mistakes. It is so obvious. You can scrimp and save or scrutinise every seconds spent in meaningless activities, but until you realise the real key to success is simply time leverage, you will not get far in your field. It is exactly how the rich does it. They can just use a few months to replicate what would be a year worth of effort. They leverage a lot on a huge pool of intellect capitals and other people’s time. (technologies, professionals, relationships, etc)

In my next post, I will show you a special joke that the man made.

The Fisherman

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf.

He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday.

He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach.

"You aren't going to catch many fish that way," said the businessman to the fisherman, "you should be working rather than lying on the beach!" The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?"

"Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the businessman's answer.
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman, still smiling.
The businessman replied, "You will make money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman again.

The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman's questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said.
"And then what will my reward be?" repeated the fisherman.

The businessman was getting angry.
"Don't you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!"
Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?"

The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don't you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the world!"

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I'm doing right now?"

KeyWord: dream, joke, life goal, success, vacation

The Dilemma

I am currently facing a dilemma, regarding my accommodation during my NUS terms. There are some concerns involved and I have yet to come to a decision.
I hope that by listing out all my concerns, I can come to a conclusion to this question: Should I stay in a hostel or continue staying at home?

In no particular order of preference, here are all of them, the pros and cons, and what inner Kun Song is thinking about.

Pros:

- I can optimize my room for efficiency, with minmal usual distractions unlike noise pollution or lights out timing at home. (This is very true, but I can always work during the day and sleep early at night)

- I can enjoy a brief period of tranquillity, no TV pollution, no incessant conversations and negative remarks.
(Although it is definitely a blessing to have your family talking to one and other under one roof, it is kind of counter-productive when you’re splitting your attention between doing work and communicating with your families. When you’re ‘in the zone’, a term for being engaged in a extremely productive state, most likely you will choose work over family…but yet family still comes first, what a waste)

- I can have greater rein over my room, negating the pain of seeing a room invaded by stuff that serves no purpose.
(My room is shared among my sister and brother, their belongings, my belongings, my dad’s belongings and 3 beds. Most of the their belongings are poorly organised and my dad is a packrat. It only needs two adults in the same room to feel how crowded my room is. Zero privacy)

- I can have more flexible timing with regards to my sleeping and waking up hours.

- They say absence makes the heart fonder, I think it will help me to appreciate my family better. (But hey, I can get the same effect by visiting old folks home, this is not exactly a good excuse)

Cons:

- A minimum of $40 per week for double bed and $60 for single is very hard on the pocket, especially when you have no income. (Biggest concern) This is highly against my personal motto.

- I will need to participate in hall activities, actively. Otherwise I will not be allowed to continue my stay. (Hey, I’m only testing the hostel lifestyle out for a semester, not like I have to stay there throughout.)

- It may not feel so now, but judging from past experiences, I tend to miss my family, a lot, when I’m separated from them.

- My siblings will lack someone to push them to do their work, clean their room and study. (Actually, it not working as well as I hope it could be)

- My room will probably looks like a dump, since I’m the one doing the cleaning most of the time(Hey, you can always clean it again during the weekends, it is whether you want to spend the effort or not. It’s all in the mind bro.)

- Dad and Mum made not much suggestion to my dilemma either( Bro, iot may be their money, but it is you who will be spending 14 weeks there. You made the choices, not your parents)

- I got this recurrent feeling that it is not that necessary, due to my inner voice.(Don’t blame me, I’m only helping you to make a balance decision, you wield the ship, not me)

Basically those are what went through my mine. Sure hope I can reach a decision soon.

(Don’t hope dude, give some actions, do something on your own. I know you are just lazy to make a decision on your own. Why surrender your decision to others’ opinions? I know you’re parents are paying the bulk of the cost, but you’re 21 soon, buck up man.)

Ah…NO, no more ‘ah’s. I must come to the decision myself.

Phew, it feels so good to type everything out.

My Very First Article

Walking with the Jedi

Bringing the Force into your life

"The Force will be with you, always.”

-Obi-wan Kenobi

I believe the word ‘Jedi’ will definitely lead our thoughts in one direction, Star War the movie. Indeed, the trilogy directed by George Lucas had not only brought the fascinating stories on the big screen, but it had also introduced new idols into the global culture. ‘Jedi’ is one of them, it represents the pinnacle of melee combat and mental superiority; and sparking off countless fan sites, video games and controversies.

However, this article is neither about how to weld a 3600°C glow-stick nor about cranial optimization. It is about introducing an old friend; a Jedi with immense wisdom to guide you on living your life; just like how he had patiently coached Luke Skywalker to attain Jedi-hood.

For the non-Star Wars fan, please allow me to give you some clues. Think of a highly eccentric, winkled green skin alien with size handicapped and bad grammar. No, it’s not George Bush, I’m referring to Yoda, the little green man with 900 candles on his cake and he lives in a swamp. With his 900 years of experience, dealing with the sentient and the dumb, you can be sure that he IS the right man to bring you through any storms. Being his personal student, I have been instructed to carry on his work to deliver more people from the Backside.

Although he seemed (somewhat) dead in the end, I can assure you that he is perfectly alive. Stay with me till the end, and I will tell you how he has been doing…( No kidding, we’re buddies)

1) Let’s start, I’m pretty sure that you are feeling confused and lost now. Please don’t ever feel frightened or turn-off by anything, whether they are major changes to your daily routines or some unknown. Before I continue, let’s hear what my green friend has to say, he’s good..

“Fear is the path to the dark side.

Fear leads to anger.

Anger leads to hate.

Hate leads to suffering.”

-Yoda

He is correct, nothing good will come out from your experience with fear. It is simply a prehistoric instinct within us. In the past, man had to come face to face frequently with the unknown, which he perceived to be hazardous. The evolutionary advantage of fear helps the body to increase production of a chemical known as adrenaline.

It helps to modify the body’s biochemistry to gain instantaneous boost of physical capabilities to escape predation. However, in our modern context, it is still beneficial in life-threatening situations, but a nuisance in getting tasks done. So does it mean that we are imprisoned by this biological ‘advantage’?

Of course not, the solution to confronting your fear is summed up in Yoda’s next two quotes.

“Clear your mind must be,

if you are to discover the real villains behind this plot.”

“Do or do not…There is no try”

In case you are stupified by his grammer, here's what he meant actually:
The first quote, in plain English, means that if you want to understand the underlying beliefs for your emotions and your fear, you have to take a step back and judge the whole situation again as an outsider. (It is always easier for us to judge other people than our self, right? Now you try judging yourself as from a third-party perspective)

Dissociate yourself from the present and find the reason behind your illogical fear. It may arise from a malicious comment or bad experience. Fear arises from false beliefs which are built upon external influences. So you need to find examples of why the belief is NOT real, by finding counter-evidences and re-examining your original limiting beliefs. You may seek help from friends who can see your strengths better than you do. They can displace your fear better than you think so.

Now for the second quote. It is the mantra for every successful people. Although it is pretty self-explanatory, I’ll explain it here too. If you want something to work, put your heart and soul into it. Giving a half-hearted effort has a few disadvantages.

First, you’ll lose your motivations very easily, since it is not your top priority. So it will not work out very well. Secondly, your strategies will be rather murky. It will be very hard to review it and figure out areas of improvements. Thirdly, You probably have absolutely no goals in mind other than ‘if it works, well…. If it don’t, it’s still alright’. Guess what, you will probably take the easy way out, by contributing minimal effort and time into it.
What can you expect to get out of it?

Similarly, if you are focused on eliminating your fears, put more effort into it, seek help when necessary, but most importantly, never stop in your effort for success,
May the Force be with you


Yoda’s History: Although he ended up to be something of an extinct-species spectral wraith with zero asset to his name, he is currently the boss of a chain of online businesses and the author of several publications. I know it’s true, cause he’s also my personal friend. He’s still eccentric, but has grown much taller, manage to MASTER English Language and has converted to Islam 24 yrs ago. He has changed his name to hide his glow-stick prowess and moved from swampy grave to Singapore. Oh yah, if you are curious whether he has taken any botox injection or skin whitening treatment, you can find him at www.ultimatesecretsofsuccess.com.

Ten ways to sell apples and get rich, which one will YOU choose? (Personal favourite = Last one)

The hard-selling way: Stand out alone in the open street and peddle your apples from morning till night. You will face the scorns and smiles of people passing by. You sold apples, you get paid; you get lazy and you can kiss your earnings goodbye.

The Scam way: There are 101 case studies and theories to expound on. Other more common scams are: substandard apples, waxing the apples’ skin or even masquerading China apples as Fuji apples. Some unique models include: Selling a red banana disguised as an apple or peddling magic apple seeds.

The Direct sales way: Ask your friends and relative to promote your apples to their friends and relatives. You will find strangers calling you at night claiming they are the ex-classmates of your godmother’s colleague’s son-in-law’s neighbour’s doctors’ deceased patients’ classmates. Fascinating ^ ^

The MLM way: Convince a gullible dumb ass that your apples are the best among the industry and he should recommend it to five more friends. Best of all, he can get paid and enjoy the millionaire lifestyle if he teaches his friends to recruit five more dumb asses each to sell the apples and they in turn recruit five more and duplicate it infinitely. Sounds Egyptian-y, doesn’t it?

The Franchise way: Make a public announcement that anyone, including strangers who have never seen your apples before, can sell it to others. These people will pay you to get the franchise rights and earn commissions while you will be reaping the largest share of the pie. Your apples will be sold all around the world and your reputation will travel with it. So far so good, until the day when your franchisee set up a rival stall and you’re history.

The Business way: Borrow huge capitals, set up apple stall in the heartlands and register it. You will employ people to assist you but still spend all day at the apple stall. You will sell more apples, earn big bucks, get interviewed and showered with flatteries, but realise that your mum had forgotten your name.

The Hitler way: Impose your will upon the world that your apple is the BEST and the only thing they ever need to survive. Lie that bananas, oranges and other fruits are actually apple impersonations and they deserve to be send to some collective chute and be fumed.

The JV Way: Liase with other organisations. They will help you peddle your goods in exchange for the same favour. Win-Win Situation. Alternatively, both of you can pool resources to create something else with more value than the total of individual resources. For example, Mac sell apple for their cross-selling. You can sell apples and give away Mac vouchers.

IM way: Set up an online stall to display your apples to the world audience. Success hangs on how you draw traffic to the cyber stall and persuade the visitors to order your apples. You will be making a living from the Internet while sitting in front of the computer in just your underwear, or maybe not.

Ultimate way WARNING, not for the faint hearted. Zero capital, moderate effort, extreme wealth. Successfully utilised by my best friend Jim Dognum. The following is his story.

At the age of twenty, Jim have decided that he wanted to be a millionaire. Without a single dime to his name, he went around asking for 50 cents to start his business. One good-hearted passerby gave him the money and he bought an apple with it.

He used his clothes to polish the apple till his teeth reflection is visible on the skin. With a bit of sympathy, he managed to sell the apple for a dollar and bought two more apples. He repeated the process day by day, always reminding himself that he would be a millionaire. By the end of the month, he stood as the proud owner of an apple-selling enterprise and had $5,000 to his name. And finally, one day…

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His millionaire mother-in-law died and left the daughter and her husband a million.

THE END

Solemn swear to myself

Currently, I’m on the track to my first USD 1000 bucks. Itching to know dear Kun Song have been up to? I’ll let you know when I hit my first thousand bucks.

For now, I want to make my top-priority goal a public declaration.

I, Yeo Kun Song, S86*****J, solemnly swear to
My Future Self in 2026, my Family and Friends
That I will earn my first USD 1000 through that One Way
With the help of my friends, Latiff and Shafi’e.
Until then, I will not cut my hair and will look like a shaggy dog.

And that is my promise to myself, my future self, my loved ones and my friends
The growing of long hair will stay till the day I made USD 1000 bucks!

1///\\\
/@~@\\
111(1111\/
111U

To My First USD 1000!!!
KS

$25 in just 3 hour

Just Monday’s morning, I had made $25, relatively effortlessly. The way I do it is idiot-proof but still took me 3 hours and plenty of fidgeting. But in retrospect, it still amused me.

What I did was to become a ‘beta’ tester for two sets of university entrance exam. Just last week, I received an email from a certain Dr. Tay who told me that I was eligible to help him test out the quality of the two sets of exam papers targeted at China students. It was supposedly A-level standard Physics and Maths. HaHA, sounds so innocent. I told him I’m probably not the best candidate (I did not take A-level physic and my Maths skill is currently as sharp as my pet tofu) but he didn’t seem to mind it. So why should I mind.

The deal goes like this; I will take a two-hour Maths Paper followed by an hour of Physics and the final score will not affect my CAP. At the end of the 3 hours, I will be paid $25. If my results happen to be among the top three, I will be awarded another $50.

And here’s what I have to say…WAIT LONG LONG AH.

Here’s what Really happen: I went to the venue and realised that I was among at least 50 people, majority of them are not Singaporean. Not that I’m harbouring thoughts of hate crimes, but these foreign guys are really the elites for sciences and maths. So hope of that $50 is gone. I have lost my first battle before the war had started.

So we started out with Maths paper first. I remember the anticipation. Maths is always my best subject in school and had never failed to ‘A’ for major exams. But I soon realised why I could perform so well then…because I had daily practice/exposure, which is exactly what I’m lacking now. 10 MCQs and 4 open-ended questions, and I had no answers for all 14 qns. Come on man, it is all graphs, trigonometry, more triangles, and inequalities plus one permutation problem. I can’t help laughing to myself, ‘Kun Song, you piece of dumb ass, now you are stuck on the desk for the next two hours with a piece of rocket science test paper. If you aren’t greedy for $25, all these won’t have happen….’ But it did, so I decided to attempt a few questions. Turn out that I still remember a few chapters, especially permutation. Since I had too much time on hand, I ended up pondering over this deal. Maybe this test is just a façade to observe what students will do under academic test, maybe there are hidden cameras around, or it may be a conspiracy to rig our mind with the hypnotic arrangement of graphs, triangles and numbers. Worst of all, this may be an introductory test to spark our curiosity for the department’ modules and force us to drop our courses and join them instead. Well, apparently it works on me. I really want to know the answer to some seemingly easy questions. This is what happen when your body is rooted but your mind is wandering, creativity will get out of hand and radicalism takes its stand.

Anyway, physics comes next. Much better, at least the module I took during the Special Term helps, not much though. At least it is less conceptual than Maths and consists of 34 MCQs only.But I only have the confidence for 3 questions. It’s back to ‘spinning the pencil’ for the answers to the other 31 questions.
Not that bad, I managed to survive the three hour test and earn $25 bucks amidst the conspiracy theories and some really bad experience.

The first interview

Hello blogosphere, I’m Yeo Kun Song from Singapore.

This first post will be dedicated to remind myself, of the underlying reasons to fulfill my mid-term goal, which is to retire myself before the Year 2026 Aug 16th, also my fortieth birthday.

The following will be a fictitious conversation between an imaginary reporter, Mark Samtin and me.

Mark: Good evening Mr Yeo, I am the reporter, Mark Samtin.
(Standing up to exchange handshake)
Me: Hello there Noon, you can just call me Kun Song.
(Hands shaken and proceeding to sit back and relax)
Mark: No problem, and you can just call me Mark.
Me: Sure, let’s get the interview going.
(Smiling)

I understand that you have recently set up a blog. Can you tell us more about the blog?

Definitely. My blog is found at http://www.iwillretirebeforeforty.blogspot.com/. It will showcase my journey to retirement before the year 2026. I will be sharing my experiences in the quest for more money, particularly how I intend to earn my dough, and my ventures with multiple sources of income. I will also be sharing some interesting sites with topics ranging from health issues to simply no-brainers. Readers can definitely look forward to a dynamic blog.

If the Internet is as profitable as you say so, why not retire in your younger days? Please tell us why do you choose to retire at forty.

(Laughing) First of all, let me clarify the question. I have never intend to generate my income purely from the Net. It is only one of the ways. I also trade in the stock market and continue to advance in my full-time job. Secondly, I believe that everyone have to contribute to their societies, be it driving the economy or educating those without the privilege to learn. Before 2026, I will be part of the driving force and when the time comes, I’ll treat my family to a long break. Then I will dedicate myself to education. So age forty will be the peak of my career and I want to leave in remembrance of my full glory.

Haha, I believe all of us desire to be remembered for our best achievements too.
What are your retirement goals?

First of all, in terms of money, I believe that passive income is the key to a comfortable retirement. I aim for a passive income of $8, 000 per month, with inflation taken into consideration, and I have targeted a few sources of income that allow me to accomplish that. Secondly, health is also my utmost concern. No point being a wealthy billionaire with a withering life. I cannot dare imagine myself with a billion dollar net worth and unable to utilize them fully. I rather be a thousand-naire and a full-time player compared to a billionaire but a benchwarmer.

Mark: I guess that will be enough for my article. Thanks for the chance to interview you, Kun Song.
Me: No problem man, its my pleasure. Feel free to email me if you need more information.
(Hands shaken and preparing to leave)
Mark: Thanks a lot, I appreciate your help today. I hope to do another interview for you soon.
Me: You’re welcome anytime, just drop me a call. Bye.
Mark: Bye!

(Waving hands in the air)