Day 6 - Money Machines

If I would make an illustration of how my money right now, monthly income and everyday expenses look, it would not take an expert to tell me that I am on the verge of bankruptcy.  If I won't act now, I might just end up staying inside the house to avoid possible expenditures.  Thinking about it gives me a little despair.  And despair I consider is one of the greatest suffering.

To increase one's income is not really synonymous to desiring a higher-paying job.  Although that would, in general, contribute to one's earnings, in the long term, it would be advantageous rather to desire to increase your money machines or your income sources.  That, I learned from continuous reading of articles about money management.

Right now, as I had decided to quit my corporate career, I am left with only two money machines, my part-time teaching career and a small business I started out with friends.  However, for the next two months, I am going to increase it to five.  Yes.  I will be adding three more sources of income by the end of the next two months.  I am now in the planning stage of a new business and I am intending to launch it by the last week of August or by early September.  Also, I am thinking of getting back in the corporate world.  This time I will be pursuing a career in a multinational company and will be doing a night shift job.  I already attended an interview for the position I was eyeing for, however, I am still thinking thoroughly if this action would fit my long-term goals and objectives.  Lastly, the third money machine would be the investment I will put on the stock market.  My friend and I are scheduled to attend a seminar on stock market investment on September and I hope it would truly guide us and give us the jump start that we needed.  I am very much looking forward to achieving all of these.

Let me share with you words from Paulo Coelho's blog.

Facing despair

A warrior of the light often despairs.

He thinks that the feelings he had hoped to awaken are nowhere to be found. Many afternoons and nights he is forced to adopt a position of the defeated, and no new event can bring back his enthusiasm.

His friends comment: “perhaps your fight has come to an end.”

The warrior feels pain and confusion upon hearing these comments, for he knows that he has not come as far as he wished. But he is determined, and does not abandon that which he set out to do.

Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens.

Today I read about an article by Mark So which tackled on money management.  It was a very good read and most articles in his blog are similarly inspiring and easy to decipher.  You can check out the article and the rest of his blog posts here.

Day 3 – Death and Physical Wealth

If there is one thing certain about every man’s existence on earth, it would be that one day it would end.  Death, like the sunset, is a natural occurrence – a part of the cycle of human life.  Each one is expected to undergo through it one day.  Yet, most people (me included) would often find talking about it too morbid.  It normally generates an unexplained fear and resistance.  But, if death is certain and we expect that one day it would happen (today or tomorrow perhaps), instead of running away, shouldn’t we be preparing for it?

I love how Paulo Coelho shared how awareness of death creates an impact to men.  He says, “An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely.”  If today you were given a chance to know the exact day and time of your death, would it change how you would plan to live the next years or months or days or hours of your life?  I bet it definitely would.  But how different would it be from how you planned your life today?  If you see significant differences between the two, I suggest you reassess the way you are living your life right now.

If you will ask me today if I am ready to die at this very moment, I would answer you with a “yes”.  I won’t deny that there would be a little trembling, but I would humbly tell you that I am happy with how my life has gone so far, how proud I am with the courage I have gained and how content I am with the relationships I developed with people.  I know I still have dreams in my heart that I still would want to fulfill.  But what truly makes a man is not the prize he gets from achieving his dream, rather the journey he took and the people he met along the way.

I have always tried to live every single day of my life as if it was my last.  And because of that, I try as much as possible to avoid harboring regrets and what-ifs.  I seize every opportunity that comes my way and uphold every decision I make.  Whatever is done is already done.  Some things may have turned out not quite as planned, but there is nothing much left to do about it.  What I have in grasp is my future.  I could only sharpen my skills, do better than the last time and hope for the best outcome.

From today, I would see to it that I exert all my efforts to seize every single moment of every single day towards achieving true happiness, towards gaining true wealth.

I often play badminton with my friends as a hobby.  However, in the past months, we have restricted ourselves from this recreation and put more focus on the demands of our jobs.  But from now on, since I am developing healthier habits, I am committing myself to playing this sport as an exercise once a week.  Further, to develop more discipline, I will schedule a jogging session for at least an hour thrice a week.  (This is yet to fit my schedule; perhaps after I get unhooked with my current full-time job.)  I have registered myself to a fun run (5K) on June 19.  I need to practice my running skills prior to that.

Developing a healthier lifestyle does not automatically shield one from death.  But too much abuse of one's body by giving in to harmful human desires could increase one's risk of ending his life rather much early.