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Recently I've been pretty annoyed by someone in the family.
It's THAT person. You know like everyone else has issues with this person, trying to impose their views on everyone else like they know best, like they are damn great. And everyone else is hurt, annoyed, and just plain tired of that person. And yet that person thinks they are the hero of the whole story, that they are the one who has made the most sacrifices, that they are the one who cares the most. But everyone else is checking out and just staying silent cos it's too tiring to keep engaging with this person. And everyone else is just hiding in the room or keeping quiet so as to prevent further conversation or escalation of whatever topic THAT person is trying to spin for the day. An absolutely toxic person, and yet when you try to discuss this with him/her, the idea that they are the one with the issue will never cross their mind. They won't even consider the possibility that THEY are the one with the issue and causing all the tension within the family. I think everyone/most people have experience with THAT person. I don't think this person is unique to my family. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. A lot of times you hear about private equity (PE) firms "gutting a perfectly good company". With famous cases like Toys 'R' Us or Red Lobster. However, this narrative often misses a crucial point. From a purely investor point of view, these weren't "perfectly good" companies in the first place.
The reality is when private equity utilizes their controversial tactics, like asset stripping, sale-leasebacks, hefty management fees, aggressive cost-cutting, and loading companies with debt, they are only able to do such actions, largely because their targets are, at their core, inefficiently run businesses with underutilized assets and sub-optimal returns on capital. What happens is these PE firms, will buy out the underlying company. Sell off their assets, like real estate and make the companies rent the properties instead. Then distribute the proceeds from the real estate sales. Then they pay themselves huge management fees for taking these "strategic" actions, and continue with aggressive cost cutting and loading the companies with debt while distributing management fees and dividends to themselves. This is perfectly legal, and has been done many times. HOWEVER, this can only be done to inefficient companies. They may be profitable, but they are run inefficiently. Think of it this way. If a company is already generating strong returns on equity (ROE), returns on assets (ROA), or return on invested capital (ROIC), its market valuation would likely reflect that efficiency. It would be too expensive for a PE firm to acquire and strip the company of the assets and still make a profit on it. Instead, PE firms seek out companies that are run inefficiently and have opportunities to unlock value that current management isn't effectively realizing. This often means businesses with, Underperforming Assets - Perhaps they own valuable real estate that could be better monetized. For example, a barber company owns a shophouse and employs barbers to cut hair. The owner gets $2000 per month, from a percentage of what the employed barbers cut, and the barbers keep the bulk percentage. If the owner rents out the shophouse without running the business, he could maybe get $1800. Yes, the business is making more money (+$200) but it's inefficient for the effort and everything. It would probably be better to just rent out the shophouse. The additional $200 he gets is not an efficient use of resources. Or a company might have underutilized brand names, patents, or business units that can be sold off to raise capital. Inefficient Capital Allocation - The company might have a history of making poor investment decisions, deploying capital in ways that don't generate sufficient returns, or holding onto non-core assets that are a drag on returns. Yes they are still making money, but if you have a core business unit which makes 30% margins, and you keep a non-core business unit which makes 5% margins, that's a waste of resources as it drags down the overall efficiency. Bloated Cost Structures - There could be significant opportunities for cost reductions through layoffs, supply chain optimization, or streamlining operations. Stable but Sub-Optimal Cash Flows - After stripping the company of assets, even if profitability is low, predictable cash flow can be attractive because it can support a large debt load. The PE firm uses the acquired company's own future cash flow to pay back the loan used to buy it, amplifying their own returns on a relatively small equity investment. For the existing shareholders of such a company, a PE buyout often presents a compelling offer. Faced with a business that's underperforming its potential, a PE firm's offer, which is usually a premium above market prices, can provide an immediate and lucrative exit, allowing shareholders to realize more value than they might get if the company continued its inefficient trajectory. From their perspective, it's a good deal. As an investor, this is awesome. If you are an investor in stocks with low P/B ratios, and you get a buyout offer at book value, I'm sure you're happy and don't really care what the PE firms does to the company after you take the money. However, while beneficial for the existing shareholders and potentially very profitable for the PE firm, these practices come at a significant cost, which is why there is the negative narrative that "PE kills good companies". A lot of times, when PE firms gut their target company, Employees Bear the Brunt - Aggressive cost-cutting, very simply means layoffs, reduced benefits, or increased workload for remaining staff. For these employees, their "good company" that provided their livelihood is indeed killed. People who have worked there for years lose their jobs, etc. Communities Suffer - Especially in the US, store closures, plant shutdowns, or the eventual bankruptcy of a company can devastate local economies, leading to widespread job losses, reduced tax revenue, and a ripple effect on local businesses and services. A lot of times, older companies can be the main employer in a small town or they may be a supplying much needed products to the town. Think of the story of a young man who started out selling groceries in his town, and over the years, he made money and expanded to a big supermarket in his town and he owns the land that the supermarket is on. He's ok with low returns as he grew up with the community and because he owns the land, he can afford to sell his products cheaper to the community. This is a perfect target for a PE takeover and the community will suffer in terms of higher prices and/or if the company shuts down due to increased costs. Customers Lose Out - Cost cutting tends to see a drop in product quality, customer service, or innovation, disappointing loyal customers and ultimately weakening the brand itself. Customers might end up losing their beloved brand or they just stop going as the product or service becomes too lousy or expensive. The Debt Burden - The massive debt loaded onto the acquired company have a good chance of the company being pushed into bankruptcy, unpaid creditors, banks and further messing up the profitability of other companies involved in the deal. Which might lead to layoffs in other companies, if the debt is big enough to impact the other companies, suppliers. In essence, the phrase "PE kills good companies" isn't strictly true, from a financial efficiency standpoint. Instead, it is just capitalism. If a company is run well, the returns on assets, returns on invested capital, other investment matrices, etc, are doing well, then there is no meat for the PE companies to try to pick. If the company is under utilizing their assets, allocating capital inefficiently, then they are there to try to reallocate capital and maximize profits for the shareholder or other investors. They will offer existing shareholders a good buyout price, which the shareholders will accept, then they will get to work trying to clear up the inefficiencies to make a profit. The impact to everyone else, unfortunately, that's just collateral damage. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. When we think about business, most of us know, it's not an overnight riches thing.
People set up a business, it's a career decision, they grind at it for years, and in the process, they get rich. Strategies are planned over a long period, 5 year plan, if they buy an asset, they expect it to generate revenue for them over an extended period of time. This is real business, and most of us are realistic and we know it's hard and takes time. Yet, somehow, when we put on our "investor" hats in the stock market, all this foundational wisdom evaporates. When you decide to buy a business, or perhaps even set one up from scratch, you're signing up for a marathon, not a sprint. No entrepreneur launches a coffee shop, a tech startup, or a manufacturing plant expecting to be "rich" overnight. They anticipate years of hard work, strategic planning, reinvestment of profits (if any), and a relentless focus on solving customer problems and building a sustainable entity. The plan is inherently long-term. Success hinges on disciplined execution of the business plan, adapting to market realities, and building enduring value. No one is really thinking of how much the business is worth every couple of days of weeks. The business owner just gets up, and goes to work creating value for their customers. Now, let's compare this to the public stock market. Suddenly, all those principles of patience and long-term planning are thrown out the window. Investors (and a significant portion of financial media) seem to operate under the delusion that stocks are distinct from the underlying businesses they represent. The idea that the "value" of a well-run, fundamentally sound business changes significantly every minute or every day is totally absurd. Did Amazon's e-commerce operations suddenly become 5% less valuable because its stock dipped today? Of course not. Its long term strategic plans, customer base, and cash-generating capabilities remain largely intact. The expectation for 10%, 20%, or even 50% returns in a mere 6 months is truthfully, unrealistic for any sustainable, long-term investment strategy. I'm not saying that these kinds of returns don't happen. The stock market is wild on both the upside and downside. But these are often driven by speculative fervor, and rarely repeatable over time. Real businesses just don't grow that fast, that consistently, year after year. This short-term focus transforms investing, from taking an ownership stake in a business, into a frantic gambling exercise, where daily price movements are interpreted as profound signals of underlying health, or difficulties of the business, rather than the noise they often are. Overcoming this market madness is simple, though not easy. Approach stock investing with the mindset of a business owner. Invest in businesses, not tickers. Before you buy a stock, ask yourself. If this were a private company, would I want to own it for the next 5-10 years? Do I understand its competitive advantages, its management, and its long-term cash flow prospects? Focus on the fundamentals, not fluctuations. The daily gyrations of the stock price are largely irrelevant to the intrinsic value of the underlying business. It is just noise and as much as it is hard to ignore, you just need to focus on its earnings, its balance sheet, its market position, and its strategic direction. And of course one of the most important things is patience. Just as a business takes years to mature and generate significant wealth, so does a well-chosen stock. Compounding takes time, and the biggest gains often accrue to those with the discipline to hold through market volatility. And we need to expect sustainable realistic returns, long-term returns from equities are generally in the high single-digits to low double-digits annualized. Short term jumps of 10, 20, 50% are typically unnatural fluctuations due to market hype. I'm not saying they don't happen, but expecting continuous market moves of 20% regularly isn't something normal. As much as businesses can grow, they also need time to really fulfill and execute the business strategy to actually generate the profit and cash flow. The truth is, investing for the long term, whether it's building a business or buying a share of one, requires the same virtues. Patience, strategic thinking, a focus on intrinsic value, and a healthy skepticism towards get rich quick fantasies. It's not glamorous, but it's how real wealth is genuinely created. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. Let's talk about something that we usually ignore, especially in Asian countries.
Yet impacts us like any physical ailment. Our mental health. Mental illness has been treated as an invisible issue, compared to something like a bad heart. But yet, the similarities between a failing heart and a struggling mind are far more alike than most of us realize. If we look at how we've come to understand heart disease, we can maybe explore a clearer path forward for mental health. Think about heart disease. It’s not like one morning someone wakes up and suddenly experiences a full blown heart attack out of nowhere. No, these are typically long term issues. Years, often decades, of accumulating risk factors. Diet choices, stress, lack of exercise, genetics. His/Her arteries are quietly hardening, cholesterol is climbing and blood pressure is creeping up. Most of the time the patient feels fine, but internally the body is not doing well. Then, one day, the system breaks, the patient experiences a heart attack or a stroke. The mind, is similar. It doesn't just "break" overnight. We often hear stories of sudden mental breakdowns, but more often than not, there's almost always a history of stress, unresolved trauma, chronic anxiety, or prolonged sadness. The accumulating weight of personal struggles that eventually lead to a breaking point. I.e. a depressive episode, a severe anxiety disorder, or something like that. Just like your arteries slowly clog, your mind can slowly become overwhelmed, until it can no longer function normally. The "heart attack" of the mind often feels sudden to onlookers, but for the person experiencing it, it's the result of a long, silent battle. If we look at our history of medical discovery, not too long ago, there was a time when the concept of "cholesterol" was virtually unknown to the average person, let alone the idea of testing for it to predict future heart trouble. The idea of drawing blood to measure some invisible fat in your blood to predict a heart attack years down the line? Decades ago, that would probably sound like nonsense to many. Yet now, blood tests, imaging techniques, and a deep understanding of cardiovascular risk factors. Annual blood tests and blood pressure checks are standard, preventive medicine. We accept these tests as just our normal check ups to identify risk factors before any major issues and allow us to make lifestyle changes or medication. I think maybe someday, mental health will have its "cholesterol test" moment. Currently, diagnosis is based primarily on self-reported symptoms and observed behaviors. Something like waiting for chest pain before acknowledging heart trouble. Maybe in the future, there can be breakthroughs that can give us more objective, preemptive insights into mental wellbeing. Of course, these tests don't exist yet, and maybe even the technology to test for it hasn't even been discovered, but I hope someday it will come. So that people don't get accused of being chaokeng. And we can all agree with some quantifiable method whether someone is experiencing mental issues are not. Of course, for the us, the public, we also need to be receptive to these new ideas. Just as people in the past might believe that blood tests for heart disease is rubbish, there will definitely be resistance to the idea of quantifiable "tests" for the mind to help prevent mental illness. The thing is, life is tough, and not everything is a mental illness. We will all face periods of sadness, grief, stress, and overwhelming challenges. These are normal, difficult parts of being human, and often, we need to just soldier on and push through in life until things get better. We shouldn't medicalize every negative emotion. However, there's a critical distinction to be made. When the "tough phase" turns into a pervasive, debilitating state. When the sadness consumes you for weeks on end, disrupting your work, sleep, or ability to connect with others, when anxiety becomes a constant, paralyzing fear that traps you in your home. I think it's time to recognize that it's no longer normal human life challenges and maybe it's something that requires professional attention. Just as you wouldn't soldier on through chest pains or persistent high fever, you shouldn't dismiss the cries for help from your mind. Our wellbeing, both physical and mental, depends on recognizing when the silent accumulation of risk factors has crossed into genuine illness and we need to take proactive steps to try to keep ourselves healthy and fully functioning. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. We all carry around a mental blueprint of the world and our place in it. A comfortable, often flattering, picture of how things should be and how we are. But let's be realistic for a moment: that internal narrative often clashes with the gritty, unvarnished truth of the real world and how others actually see us. And when it comes to getting ahead, or even just getting by, the latter is what truly matters.
It's a common trap. You might genuinely believe you're a strategic genius, capable of outmaneuvering anyone in the boardroom. You might see yourself as the most empathetic listener, the most innovative problem-solver, or the most dedicated team player. And perhaps, in your own carefully curated echo chamber, that's entirely true. But the truth is, your self-perception is largely irrelevant if it's not validated by external reality. For example: you might be convinced you're "super smart." You ace IQ tests, you solve complex puzzles in your spare time, and your personal projects are nothing short of brilliant. But if your boss, the person who doesn't share that opinion, then your perceived brilliance is, for all intents and purposes, null and void in the context of your career. They see your output, your collaboration, your contributions through their own lens, influenced by their expectations, their metrics, and their interactions with you. If their perception is that you're merely average, or worse, then promotions, increments, and opportunities will simply pass you by. The same principle applies beyond the office walls. You might view yourself as a pillar of your social group, always ready to lend a hand. But if the people around you consistently find you aloof or unapproachable, then your self-proclaimed helpfulness counts for little when the people around you think poorly of you. You might think you're a fantastic communicator, or presenter, but if your message consistently gets misinterpreted by your audience, then clearly, your delivery isn't as effective as you imagine. The thing is, the world operates on what they perceive of you, not what you think of yourself. What others perceive of you is probably the real reality and what you think of yourself is probably just your own dream. No one really cares about your dreams. You can have the best intentions, but people won't know them. So how do we get around this? Honest Self-Assessment: Invert your thinking. Instead of thinking you're right, always think you're wrong and try to justify it. It's like hypothesis testing. It's always better to think that you're not so good and try to do better, than to think that you're awesome and expect people to think the same of you. Seeking External Feedback: Actively ask for criticism. Look for people who tell you that you are wrong. Especially from people you respect. That's not to say listen to them blindly, but to ponder and reflect upon what they say. They may be right, they may be wrong. I've found that valuable people around you are those who dare to tell you that you are wrong and not just tell you that you are right all the time. Look At How People Are Interacting With You: Do you have friends? Yes? No? Is it by choice? There are some people who choose to have just a handful of friends, but maybe you want more friends, but somehow people don't like to hang around you. Maybe that's your fault? Maybe you aren't as awesome that you think you are. Are you getting your promotions and a good bonus every year? Are you always quarreling with your wife? Maybe you're the problem? I'm not saying you are confirm always the problem. But it is a chance to reflect. Usually, the reality is what is really happening around you. The real world doesn't care about your potential or your intentions as much as it cares about your demonstrated impact and how you are perceived. Embracing this often-uncomfortable reality is the path to understanding the real world and being more truthful to yourself. Otherwise, you're just living in a world of your own making, and that world, unfortunately, rarely intersects with the one that offers promotions and opportunities. Think about this from the other point of view. Look at someone you don't like. Describe him/her. Useless? Stupid, incapable, rude, unfriendly, rubs me the wrong way? Ok, now... do you think they think that of themselves? Probably not right? Now, remember, someone else is probably thinking something negative about you. Something which YOU don't think of yourself. So in the end, the real reality, is what people perceive of you. Which reality you want to live in, is really up to you. For me, I've felt that the closer I am to the real reality, the better I am at navigating the world and people around me. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. I like to think about life as a game.
It's pretty close to an RPG, or even MMORPG, I've talked about this various times in this blog. I recently thought about the final 2 dungeons. Imagine, you're playing an RPG, at a certain point in the game, late game, you suddenly get sucked into the 2nd last dungeon. It's time based. So when you've played a certain number of hours, it teleports you into the 2nd last dungeon. Doesn't matter whether you're ready or not, doesn't matter if you have all your equipment ready, your party is ready, etc. It just happens. If you prepared for it. Well, good for you. Else, well... too bad. I'd refer to the final 2 dungeons in life as 70-80 years old, and 80+ years old. Most of us, statistically, will live beyond 80. So the numbers aren't unreasonable. The thing is, are you/will you be ready for it? Do you have enough money? Do you have friends and family? Do you have/need a partner? Do you have a support system/community? Have you done all your side quests? At 70+ onwards, you aren't going to be mountain climbing or sky diving. These side quests will need to be done way earlier. If you need to farm money, you gotta do it earlier. The final dungeon doesn't have many mobs to farm money on. Today is the same as tomorrow, and tomorrow will be the same as the next day. Day in day out, there is no cut off date, and yet the years will go by. Those with kids will have a better cut off timing with their lives, as they have to go thru the same phases as their kids, PSLE, O lvls, army, marriage, etc. Without kids, I don't have that, so today is similar to tomorrow, which is pretty fine by me. I do have to be mindful, that the days/months/years are going by, and if I want to do something, I have to plan to get it done. Travel, lifestyle, hobbies, health, etc. But I/we have to take note, that eventually we will all grow old and there won't be much time left to prepare for our later years. I'm not talking only about money. It gets harder to meet new friends, find new hobbies, as the years ago by. We get used to our old ways. Eventually our parents will be gone as well and we will be in that generation, my parents are in their 70/80s and in a number of years I will be 50+ and they will likely be gone. I do ask myself. What more do I want to do/experience before I get too old. There are still some things. I'd like to maybe travel to Taiwan or Japan for 3 months and drive around. Live their local life. I felt my experience in both France and the US was enlightening. Living in another country for an extended period helps me to understand that in most places. Life just goes on. People aren't all that different. It's probably challenging to accomplish. My wife still loves her job. So it's hard for her to take an extended break. It's more optimal for her to keep her job which will keep her happy for years, as compared to me wanting to travel to a couple of countries just for a couple of months. Maybe one day I'd want to travel on a private jet. Expensive. I don't know if I'll ever feel that I'd splurge on such an amount. (曾经拥有 I once used to have) I dunno... It's still a long way off. These 2 Dungeons, but they are creeping up on me. I don't feel it yet. But I know it will come. I hope I'll be ready for it. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. I haven't written in many months. But I'd like to pen some thoughts for myself to remember and maybe re-read again when I get older.
A lot of times, when we look at politics, we look at it internally. How does this leader after us as a country. His/Her policies, ideas, vision for the future. A lot of times, we don't think about how important that leader is on his views on international politics. A way to look at it is... A leader can be good at internal politics. He can get himself elected within his own country. So people like him and maybe his local policies may be good for his own country. However, this person, might be terrible with international politics. He might not understand how his country ties in with the overall international position and powers. He might make missteps, misunderstand his country's importance, misplay his cards, etc. And I think this is a terribly important consideration for a country when electing their leaders. Scenario (This is my opinion) We are looking at an ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia at the time of this writing. The current President was popular enough to get himself elected. I read this as good internal politics. However, in my opinion, he did not understand the power dynamics between the countries/powers around him. From how I read it, it was a win-win gamble for the western nations to tempt Ukraine with NATO membership. If Russia allowed Ukraine to be a member, western nations would be able to put military bases on the doorsteps of Russia. If Russia did not allow Ukraine t be a member, it would be forced into a war before Ukraine attained NATO membership, which also works in the interests of the west, aka keeping Russia destabilized as a country. In my opinion, Ukraine misplayed their cards on this, thinking that it was a freebie offered by the west/NATO. An unfortunate pawn in the global game of chess. Now, I'm not saying I'm siding with any side. War is bad for everyone. For war is when old men talk on tables while young men die on battlefields. The point I'm trying to make is, politics isn't as simple as just voting in a leader who will take care of citizens. They also need to have the intelligence and wisdom to understand their country's position in relation to the countries around them and the world. It's just not as simple as just winning an election due to the popularity of the individual. Or the ability of the individual or party to improve the lives of the citizens. Yes that's important as well. But we should also remember that we live in a complex global system, and we need leaders to know the country's place in the world. We live with neighbouring countries, and we need to know how to get along with them as well to attain peace and prosperity. No, this is not a sponsored post, it's just coincidence that the election is on this year as well. I'm just writing this as a diary post, cos I read my own blog once in a while to reflect upon things as I grow older. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. There's really only 1 thing to know about investing right?
Buy low, Sell high. That's it. Simple right? Now, everyone can do it. The thing is... the concept is easy. Doing it, isn't. I have a friend who wanted to get into investing around a year back in 2021. Everyone was making money. Crypto, S&P, ARKK, etc... So my friend asked for advice, etc etc. Now, in 2021, markets were getting toppish. I didn't really want to tell my friend to start in 2021. But I also know my friend's character. If don't start now, then probably won't ever start. So I said to pretty much buy some index tracker, and a REIT ETF, and do a monthly DCA and forget about it, and maybe 10-20 years later, the investment would probably grow. (I am not making any recommendations to any readers on what to buy. Each one has their own objectives. This is just a specific example based on a situation which I have encountered.) Fast forward 1 year later, 2022. The markets are down, and my friend is thinking of stopping the monthly contributions. This story isn't new. For a lot of new "investors", young "investors", etc... They get interested in "investing" when the times are good. When everyone is making money. Markets are hot. I wrote about the shoeshine boy here. Most new "investors" are probably buying high and hoping to sell higher. Well the perception of "high" is relative to the time frame anyway... And when things turn south, a lot of these new "investors" get turned off by the losses and walk away. A lot of them get burned by Clob shares, dot com, the DBS mini bonds, crypto, etc... And my friend, who didn't get involved in any crypto, also suffered losses enough to reconsider the whole idea of DCA. It really isn't easy to keep DCA, when you're losing money every month. Even some of the more experienced investors lose faith/hope at times. Don't say a newbie. The thing is, assuming the asset is a good and stable asset in the long run, DCA works. The investor would get a somewhat average entry price over the long run, and if the investor sells maybe within 10% of the peak of the next cycle, the investor would do pretty well. OR just DCA into retirement, depending on objectives. DCA works only when the investor actually does the DCA. I'm not saying DCA is great. DCA is a tool. It depends on objectives and how it's used. Today's main point is Buy Low Sell High. The idea is very simple. When do you think is a good time to buy investments? When times are good? Or when times are bad? You're welcome. The usual disclaimers. ERSG is not making any recommendations for investing or financial planning for readers. Don't just take recommendations from jobless bloggers online. Do your own research. Everyone has their own objectives, go find a certified financial planner or something. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. Wisdom & Intelligence A lot of times we talk about how smart people are. IQ... stuff like that. It's not only intelligence that gets us thru life. It's a mix of both intelligence and wisdom. It's like... people can get thru Uni. That's intelligence. Knowing the answers to questions. That's intelligence. But wisdom, is knowing to ask the right questions. The intelligent person may fix an issue. The wise person would ask, why do you need to fix that issue. Where is the real problem? No point fixing an issue to the wrong solution. This is highly related to critical thinking. The ability to look a bit further and dig a bit deeper into any topic. How many people we know who get thru tertiary education, to end up lost in life? There are folks who don't study well, but still able to get far in life. It's not about one or the other. It's having a good mix of both. Common Sense Highly related to IQ and wisdom but yet I feel requires a header for itself. You want to get to Tampines, you must take EW line on the MRT. If you take NS line, you'll never get there. But yet so often we see people who keep doing the wrong thing hoping to get results that don't correlate. Then they complain and blame everything else, except themselves for being on the wrong path. To get to your goal/destination/whatever... you need to know where you are, and where you want to go. Then chart your path there. It's important knowing where you are as well. Cos without knowing what's lacking, what the gap is, then it's not possible to chart the path. And sometimes, there's folks who have illogical thinking... Absolutely no common sense. They just have no idea that taking the NS line will not bring them to Tampines. They do things which they believe will get them to their goal. Except it is the wrong thing, but they don't know that it's wrong. As unbelievable as it sounds, these people exist. They want something. They try to get it. They do all kinds of weird things to try to get it. As an outsider, one may wonder, what they are trying to do, cos it doesn't make sense cos you know the stuff this person does won't lead to their goal. But yet this person doesn't know, doesn't recognize that they are doing things which doesn't get them closer to their goal. Hard Work & Perseverance Once again. It's not one or the other. It's having a good mix of both. Life is a marathon. There's a good number of decades. No point burn out too early. Work 5 years after graduation, burn out, stressed, depressed, etc... no point. But staying in a lum nua job, no career prospects... well... someone's gotta do the job. If that makes you happy that's fine. But if want to earn more, then one has to find better jobs, harder jobs, etc... It's like you're a mage class, but low on MP. Cast one powerful spell then no more MP and cannot cast anymore spells. Or you're a mage class with high MP but only learn low level spells. Can cast a lot of spells but the damage is low. It's a balance. Need to have good enough MP and strong enough spells. Discipline & Focus I also think this is highly related to perseverance. And yet, I feel it's somewhat different. To make yourself do things that isn't natural, that you don't really want to do and to keep doing it. Like the discipline to eat less, cut sugar, exercise. Spend less, save more. Discipline to sleep early, or study/read for an hour everyday, and to keep doing it. And not get distracted by other things. That requires focus. I never realized that focus is actually quite rare. After chatting with more people around me, I realize people get distracted a lot. They do something then their mind wanders. Or they try to do something, then something else crops up and they do something else, but then after that they don't quickly return to the first thing they were doing. They forget what they were doing and they just do other random activity. May get worse for future generations, cos of all the short vids which are so popular these days. It may raise a generation of folks who can't hold attention for more than a couple of minutes. Earn & Save & Invest Come on... it's all 3 right? Let's not kid ourselves. U strike lottery, don't save and invest, there's nothing left. If you can't earn much, how to save? If you can't save, how to invest? As much as I get a lot of stuff free, I also recognize that there's an accumulation phase and an investing phase. It's a balance of them all. Of course those who earn more MAY have an easier time saving. MAY, cos if they earn more, but have an expensive lifestyle, they may save more, but their savings are meagre in proportion to their spending. Someone who earns $100k, and saves $10k, vs someone who earns $10k and saves $5k... The higher earner would have a hard time trying to save for retirement if his lifestyle is expensive. And as easy it is to say these 3 words, earn, save, invest... They are an accumulation of the traits which I mentioned above. Intelligence, wisdom, common sense, hard work, perseverance, discipline, focus. There are probably other traits which are important which I haven't listed. And the thing is, it's not just one or the other, we need a good balance of them all to navigate through life. It's like looking for the best wonton mee. There is none. There are a bunch of wonton mees that are better than others. So there's no best trait or skill or most important skill to get you through life. There are a bunch of skills and characteristics which are generally important and the whole bunch of them will help get you through life. <<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>> Did you like this post? 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This is the link to my first post... how it all started...
Mindset changes throughout the years How I make use of my wife An Interesting Email AuthorMale, born in 1982. Archives
August 2025
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