Wednesday, May 22, 2013

My Favorite Business Magazines & Books

1. Personal Money Magazine

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I have these subscribed. Personally the best personal finance magazine in Malaysia. What I love the most about these books is the fact that it’s not for businessmen. It talks about taxes, managing your income, how to invest your money, study cases, and the latest government initiatives. A lot of financial jargons, but simple enough to flip through to find something useful for the average joe.

2. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

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One of the most inspiring biographies. I finished this book in like, 3 days! If you wonder how did Apple get so famous and successful, you'd know why from the very beginning of the book.

3. Rich dad Poor Dad series

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And I mean, the whole lot. If you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you’d get a lot of good from reading these books. They open up your views on how running a business can get you financially free.

I read them when I was 16, accidently because I was bored. You can safely say they change my whole life and the reason why I quit engineering so easily. I also got feedback from others who’ve read the books, and they had the same revelation that I had.

My favorite books in the series: Rich dad, poor dad, cashflow quadrant, and guide to investing.

4. Richard Branson, Losing my virginity

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Sometimes business books can be fun-reading like this one. It’s fun, inspiring and gets you moving whenever you reach a tight spot in your life. Makes you realize that if you don’t work hard, you won’t get what you want.

Of course, there are lots more, but I’ll highlight them in a different post.

Happy reading!

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Waiting Game

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Hi all!

You know how, after graduation from uni, relatives will start coming to you asking when you’re getting married?

Or how after you’re married, they’ll wonder when you’ll have children?

Wellllll…….. after pulling so much hair in the past stressing over things people say, I just simply decided that I couldn’t care less.

We have our reasons and you wouldn’t understand even if we explain it to you.

Do you remember finishing high school and having palpitations over the exam scores? And gee will I get that uni/scholarship I applied for? Stress no 1.

Once you go into uni, you often ask yourself, what if I fail? Stress no 2.

After graduating, you palpitate over job interviews and start listening to other friends having clinched a super job in a multinational company. What of me? Why am I so unworthy to get a good job? Ring a bell? Stress no 3.

Everyone’s getting married. Stress no 4.

Everyone’s having a baby. Stress no 5.

Their baby is standing up, mines not yet. Stress 6, 7 8 infinity.

For me personally, I drew the line in college when I knew that I couldn’t win against expectations. And so I stopped comparing, and started strategizing. It’s not an accident that I never applied for a single engineering job anyways. I just made up my mind in the second year of uni, while all the time trying to keep my head above water in exams and can’t wait to finish the degree.

I just think that once you learn to listen to the beat of your own drum, that’s when the magic happens.

Do I get green with envy when someone travels around the globe and having worked in a multinational company? Yeap.

Do I get green with envy at wives who could cook effortlessly for their husbands and family? Yeap.

Do I feel pressured when asked certain questions, which some are downright inappropriate? You betcha.

But then again, my life is pretty swell. At the end of the day, I’ve got my loving family, my chanel, my little bun, my little apartment, my fishes and plants. That’s not to mean that I won’t get my dreams in the future. I mean who knows right?

You just have to learn to desensitize yourself from people’s opinions and expectations. Sometimes it’s your own expectations as well.

Just an advice, when you find yourself stressing over something you don’t have control over, well—just stop. Because as muslims we’re taught to work hard, then leave the rest to God.

So when you’ve worked hard, and nothing happens, that’s usually God’s sign of saying to you ‘it’s not the right time yet’.

So stop stressing, comparing or envying!

I’m ganna leave you with a quranic phrase that has kept me going all this while:-

"There is no creature on Earth except that its sustenance is upon Allah. He knows its habitation and its repository. All is in a clear Record." [Sûrah Hûd: 6]

Peace and Salam!

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