Friday, December 30, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
House Buyiing
Recently a lot of people at work have been talking about buying a place - I guess this is the stage where we are building our "foundation" for the future. It's interesting how people mix the rational and irrational aspects in the decision making process. It is true that the home can be most people's biggest (maybe even only) investment in life, and we want to make sure over time we are building equity and such. So a lot of people make their decisions based on "expected highest return on investment", take into account interest rate, housing prices, etc.. to build a forecast, etc.. That is critical for people were in the business of professional real estate investing.
But then to buy a place to live, realistically it's quite an emotional (and irrational) decision as well. Like I know people who just love the area so much that given rational choices they would not move. Some people would move really far from their normal perimeter to get cheaper housing or better investment. In reality, your cost is not just financial in nature: just think of the time and stress in commuting or driving. With higher oil prices and stuff, even the financial aspect is not justisfied. But then more importantly, you may make money from many sources, but you can't really buy time.
That's just my view, of course. The other funny thing about the whole home buying discussion is that there're just no limit to the different points of view about the decision.
But then to buy a place to live, realistically it's quite an emotional (and irrational) decision as well. Like I know people who just love the area so much that given rational choices they would not move. Some people would move really far from their normal perimeter to get cheaper housing or better investment. In reality, your cost is not just financial in nature: just think of the time and stress in commuting or driving. With higher oil prices and stuff, even the financial aspect is not justisfied. But then more importantly, you may make money from many sources, but you can't really buy time.
That's just my view, of course. The other funny thing about the whole home buying discussion is that there're just no limit to the different points of view about the decision.
Friday, December 16, 2005
The 90/10 Principle
Author: Stephen Covey Management Guru
Discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations). What is this principle?
10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no
control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example.
You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just have happened. What happens when the next will be determined by how you react.You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.
She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work.
You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is " D".
You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened.
Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic?
Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?
Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.
You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it.
The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle.
The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache.
We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.
Discover the 90/10 Principle. It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations). What is this principle?
10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no
control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%.
How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react.
Let's use an example.
You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just have happened. What happens when the next will be determined by how you react.You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over.
She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work.
You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.
Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?
The answer is " D".
You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened.
Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having.
Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.
Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.
If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.
How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic?
Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive?
Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.
You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job.The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take out your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it.
The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle.
The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache.
We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Work Ethics and Professionalism
I just kept thinking about this a few times today.
We talked about how when you need partners or people to help you with jobs, it's difficult to find somebody else with the same level of professionalism, work ethics, and quality (say, regardless of skills) whom you can trust with your own reputation on the line. There are these great people, they just deliver with quality, treat people right, get priorities straight, and you simply enjoyed working with them. And from the way they work, you know they have been like that even from their school days to the various stages of their career.
Interesting enough, I didn't get the sense that these were "trained". Seems like it's the person, maybe their values, how they're brought up, cultural background, etc. But not that somebody just went through a course, program, or even a job and magically changed. I wonder how to get people there.
We talked about how when you need partners or people to help you with jobs, it's difficult to find somebody else with the same level of professionalism, work ethics, and quality (say, regardless of skills) whom you can trust with your own reputation on the line. There are these great people, they just deliver with quality, treat people right, get priorities straight, and you simply enjoyed working with them. And from the way they work, you know they have been like that even from their school days to the various stages of their career.
Interesting enough, I didn't get the sense that these were "trained". Seems like it's the person, maybe their values, how they're brought up, cultural background, etc. But not that somebody just went through a course, program, or even a job and magically changed. I wonder how to get people there.