The Richest People

It is often been said that one doesn't have to be rich to be happy. But richness doesn't have to be defined in monetary terms.

Some of the richest people in the world don't have much money. But they are wealthy in other ways.

Such "rich" people know the speed limit. Most of us know that gives our lives joy and meaning. But many people race through life so fact that they fail to pay enough attention to them. While driving on the road of Life, they are so focused on the destination that they don't appreciate what's all around them. But the destination is uncertain. Whether we will eventually reach it or not is uncertain. What is certain are the things we pass by on the way. Don't drive too fast to notice them.

Rich people understand that in life, there is bound to be disappointment, loss and failure. They don't live in the illusion that things will always be good and the ones they love will return their love and stay by their sides forever. But they understand that they can deal with life's challenges, learn from mistakes to create future successes.

Rich people place people above things. They know that no object, no matter how valuable or pleasurable can compare to the emotional and spiritual enrichment of a loved one's kind words, caring deeds and loving touch. Having said this, human beings are fallible and imperfect creatures... and they will occasionally leave or fail us. But rich people understand this, and continue to give love and compassion in spite of it.

Rich people know that being rich does not mean having a lot of money. They realise that regardless of how much money one has, one cannot hold on to it for long. But rich people also understand the benefits of having money, and will use it to make their loved ones happy and help others regularly.

Rich people see the value in labour and hardship. They have the ability to remain faithful and content no matter what challenges they face. They realise that whether times are good or bad, they are the only times we have. No one has more or less time, and it's better to make the most of the present than dwell on the past or worry about the future.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Business Attitude

When it comes to doing business, we often hear the word "aptitude", which refers to the talent and propensity for achieving business success. Well, certainly it helps a great deal when you have a natural flair for managing people, predicting market trends, or are skilled in import and export matters. Some people just seem to have a better "head for business, as they say.

But what's equally crucial, if not more important than "business aptitude" is "business attitude" - the manner and approach you carry towards a life in business. Many business people, despite their natural gifts for what they do, simply do not have the stamina for business. They drop out prematurely, after a few failures, or simply use up so much energy that they quite literally become too exhausted to continue.

Having the right business attitude, on the other hand, goes way beyond expertise, technique or "know-how". It's the ability to stay on course when scary winds are buffeting your ship from all directions. It's the ability to know when to row harder, when to let the sails take over, when to allow the currents to carry you.

In the business world, traps and potholes are aplenty. Failing several times is no uncommon, in fact, many business people will tell you it's the norm. Having the right business attitude means being able to handle these "downs" on your way to the "ups".

Think about the most successful person you know! How did that person become successful? Was he or she daunted by failure? Or were they always analyzing their mistakes, discovering what went wrong, and deciding not to repeat that mistake? It's the only route to success! It's so deceptively simple on paper, yet how many can truly do it in reality?

Think about your own thoughts about your success in business. Do you believe the only way to make more money is to work harder? Do you believe that you cannot be your own boss? Do you believe that the reasons for your failures are external? Other people, other events?

To achieve success in business (as with anything else), you have to believe that you can. Trying and failing is still better than doing nothing. At least you've learnt something. And take responsibility for your own actions. Do not blame people; learn from them. There are valuable lessons to be gleaned, even from your enemies.

Be constantly aware of what you're thinking. Re-program your mind to believe that you can, and you will!

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Article from Lee Kuan Yew's Daughter

Lets read from Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's daughter, director of the National Neuroscience Institute.......

*My house is shabby, but it is comfortable*
There is no end to wanting - after the Ferrari and the Birkin bag, what next?

By Lee Wei Ling

In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: 'Whilst boom time in the public sector is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that boom time is eventually followed by slump time. Slump time in the public sector is always
less painful compared to the private sector.'

Slump time has arrived with a bang.

While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us. It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.

Decades of the good life have made us soft. The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore , have had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities.

A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.

A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.

The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a chance to live in.

The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption. Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but wasn't that the root cause of the current cri sis - Americans spending more than they could afford to?

I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don't believe in the supernatural and I don't think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: 'Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.'

My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today's standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of being shabby.
Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.

Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn.

We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.

But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never lived through difficult times.

No matter how poor you are in Singapore , the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore. Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.

Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one's own labour is one's prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously. But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering.

After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to? Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.

When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our
fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it?

We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to make that choice.
In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.

To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.

*The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. *

Creating a Life of Abundance

The Chinese New Year is near, and many of the traditional greetings that will be uttered and sent via email and SMS will have something to do with abundance. Prosperity, for example, is an abundance of monetary wealth. And when it comes to money, most people believe that you must work longer, harder, or be luckier than the next person if you are to ever achieve any type of financial security. It is a common belief that "money is hard to come by," or money doesn't grow on trees."

Well, although I have never seen a money tree, the concept of wealth creation can be much easier than most realize, or can imagine. Obviously though, money isn't the only aspect of living an abundant life. Abundance also includes good health, joy, love, satisfaction, and continuously working towards being all you can be.

To make matters simpler, there are actually 3 areas that determine a true sense of fulfillment, which must be balanced if you are to truly experience and enjoy life to the fullest.

These 3 key areas are Money, Health and Relationships.

If you had $30 million but your health was such that you couldn't get out of the house to enjoy it, it would have little value. If you had the same amount of money and great health but no one to share it with, life would be quickly become empty and meaningless.

By the same token, if you were absolutely broke, but enjoyed health relationships and outstanding health, it would be impossible to experience and fully enjoy those things that money can buy, which would allow you to do for yourself and those you love, whatever you would like.

With respect to money, it has been estimated that if the worlds wealth were divided amount the people of the world equally, there would be enough for every single person alive, children included, to live in a 3000 square foot home and have $7 million in cash! So why is it that some seem to have it all, while others scrape by from day to day just to pay the bills and keep food on the table?

Well, negative geopolitical factors aside, the answer is thoughts and emotions. These two incredibly powerful aspects of your life are what determine what you have or don't have. These two seemingly simple aspects of mind are the difference between living a life of overflowing abundance or barely getting by. This is because our thoughts and emotions form our beliefs. These beliefs are established, for the most part, when we are just young children and are based on the experiences of our parents, and what they were taught and came to believe as truth in their life.

Before we can create a life of abundance, we have to understand that three key areas contribute to its development - money, health and relationships. And when it comes to money, it's our thoughts and emotions that determine if we are financially secure or not. Our thoughts and emotions feed our beliefs and our beliefs are what drive our lives.

Many people believe that the occurrences that happen in their day to day lives happen because that is "Just the way life is". what many fail to realize is that the reason these things happen as they do is because that is what they are attracting themselves through their belief system.

Take for instance Roger Bannister, the man who broke the all time record of running a 4 minute mile, on May 6th 1954. Until the time he accomplished that incredible feat, it was believed to be impossible, and beyond human ability to do so. That is until Roger Bannister came along, who broke the previous world record, and finished in an amazing 3 minutes 59.4 seconds! Once it was found that such a thing actually could be accomplished, that record has since been broken many times! Once people actually believed that it was possible, it became much more so!

Look at your own life. What self limiting beliefs have you allowed to hold you back from accomplishing your most sought after dreams and deepest desires? What unfulfilled dreams are you hesitating to act on because the world says that it's impossible?

You don't have to be a track start to create whatever it is that you desire in your life. You don't have to be someone else to achieve whatever you desire and enjoy more abundance in your life than you previously imagined. You don't have to be anything other than yourself.

So what is the secret of abundance?

There isn't one.

All that is necessary to attract all the abundance you could ever hope for, is for you to shed the self limiting beliefs that you have allowed to stored as your truth. All that is required is that you develope an awareness of the overflowing abundance and unlimited potential given to you.

You have the power to choose.

Change your beliefs and you can change your life.

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Eugine Loh, 938Live, MediaCorp Pte Ltd