Don’t Lose the Groove

Grooooooovy! Yeah, I enjoyed an excellent productive period when I was in the groove. Months passed….and unexpectedly (or ignorantly), I hit a speed bump mentally and physically.

I supposed I may have forgotten to go for my pit stops during my “groovy” period and coupled with some unexpected circumstances, that contributed to my speed bump. Losing my groove was tough. Lost my jive, creativity, energy, etc etc etc. Sigh!

Being the stubborn (sometimes) person that I am, well, I guess it took this “bump” to slow me down and go for my pit stop….a slightly longer one than anticipated. Being on such a high tempo for so many months consecutively, it took quite a big effort to just chill. Managing this down time was a real challenge and I had to learn to live with it.

The early days was ok…then it followed up with frustrations and restlessness. For you high performance folks out there, you would understand. Still my mind and body was having none of my attitude! It’s almost my mind and body telling me to go ahead with whatever I want to do, just leave them out of it. Oh oh 😦

No point being rebellious about it, so just embrace the down time and manage myself better. At least I do not add on to the frustration. Wakakaka. And learn to laugh while I am at it 😀

Few days ago, I thot I was recovering and was ready to drive out of the pit stop at top speed….then my engine stuttered. Arrrrrgh! Back to the pit stop. More waiting and down time. Tick tock tick tock! Reminding myself at all times to smile, laugh, rest, etc.

Today am feeling the signal that am ready to leave the pit stop. This time, am being wiser. Gonna leave the pit stop casually before gradually increase speed and momentum. So far so good…..easy does it 😀

See ya’all soon at F1 race track aka life!

 

 

TUNNEL Vision. TUNNEL Emotion

Had experience on numerous occasions speaking to tunnel vision people. Frusrating it may be, but bearable. BUT when it comes to tunnel emotion people….well, let’s just say even one time is once too many.

Tunnel emotion people are simply too emotionally narrow, limited, easily offended. All they tend to see or feel is negativity. They are not able to comprehend the fact that even a coin has 2 sides and do not bother to try to understand the other side of the story.

For one to grow and mature emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even as an employer/employee, we cannot afford to have tunnel vision, especially tunnel emotions. It is a tremendous baggage that will hold us back….perhaps make a few enemies (not by others but us making enemies of others).

Life offers us choices. If we are given the freedom to choose, why can’t we choose wisely? The answer is obvious. Taking the path of “I am like that” is just a lazy excuse.

So guys and gals, life is short. Let’s not make excuses not to be a better person. Choose to be the better person!

The MaGiC Moment

Seems like only yesterday when I stepped into Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC). Blink and months have passed. Our tenure in MaGIC has come to an end with beautiful moments of our experience there.

I still remember the first day I arrived in MaGIC and met a friend. I was asked if I was there as a mentor or investor. Well, neither! I was there as a participant. Even the most seasoned serial entrepreneur needs to continue learning. Sometimes the best place to learn is from the startups…..a collection of fantastic minds and ideas.

I was there as a participant aka cofounder of my new brand, #SparePartsAsia with my Philippines partner. SparePartsAsia is a true Asean Economic Community brand, a joint venture between Malaysia and Philippines, for the Asia market.

I already had experience wearing the hat of an entrepreneur and investor and now, a whole new experience – a startup cofounder. Yes I was expected to go thru the works – build the system, pitch, etc etc etc. Does that make me a more complete entrepreneur now? A BIG yes 😀

So as I complete this post, I wish to express my thanks to the amazing people in MaGIC for their support and encouragements.

 

Inside Out Upside Down

I am not the Wizard of Oz, though I don’t mind being one in this instance. The thoughts of being able to transform and impact an entire industry with the wave of a wand is simply too irresistible. 

How do we transform a company and industry, so entrenched into traditional? Bulldozing thru it would be nice but unfortunately the reality is we have to do it one step at a time. The key here is conviction, vision and perseverance. Equipped with these 3 key traits, we need to assemble a team too. This is the 2nd hurdle, possibly the biggest too.

Try inviting Generation Y folks into a traditionally entrenched industry. Only the craziest thrill seekers and most stubborn will step up for this challenge. All said and done, it is not impossible. Difficult, not impossible. We have embarked on a mission to recruit our own team IMF. 

In the initial stages, one will have to be a Rambo (one man demolition team) and prayerfully soon others will catch the vision too and come onboard. Then we will have our special forces team. Yes, this is me talking….man are boys too. We love our “actions”…..cars, gadgets and armies.

To-date we have hit a few milestones and are pressing ahead for more.

If you are reading this, ask yourself….”Am I game for this challenge and adventure”. If you are , quickly drop us an email at talent@egan.com.my

EGAN Forklift Parts Specialist

http://www.fb.com/EGANEQP

http://www.fb.com/ForkliftPartsForSale

http://www.instagram.com/egan.forkliftpartsspecialist 

Inspiring Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Myself and business partner aka wife has a great passion for business. In our early days, we love to PIONEER businesses. Life was tough and challenging but it is the overcoming of challenges that provided the utmost satisfaction. We subscribe to the notion Entrepreneurs are Overcomers 🙂 .

As the years pass, physical limitations have naturally crept in, not to mention more important priorities such as more time for loved ones. Still, the entrepreneurial blood runs in us. In our early years, we faced challenges of securing funds as well as other critical support. With this in mind, we want to be a blessing, especially to the youth. Myself and wife are strong believers in the youth – in their dreams, ideas and vision. Sometimes all they need is a little support. Therefore we set out reaching out to the youth and their new start-ups.

We are thankful that we have now an established network of friends and entrepreneurs that are helping connect to the younger aspiring entrepreneurs. We receive proposals from all places on a regular basis and also engage with them. God willing, we have a few propositions that are progressing well and may translate into successful ventures.

How about you? Are an aspiring or inspiring entrepreneur too?

Zero to Hero

Most people look forward to public holidays as it’s opportunity to take a break. Few days before this I received a call from a good friend. He’s Zung, the renowned Celebrity Photographer. He’s conducting a seminar for fellow professional photographers called “Zero to Hero”.

Am ever ready to support a fellow friend and impart knowledge to make a difference in people’s life. My role is primarily to share my experiences as a successful serial entrepreneur from the financial perspective.

Topics shared encompass entrepreneurship, insurance, investments, real estate and estate planning.

The time allocated flew by in a few blinks. Was the objective met? Judging from the twinkle in the eyes of the audience, I would say that is a definite YES. Questions started flooding in towards the end and after the session.

Towards the end of the session, we were flooded with questions and requests for personal consultations.

For those of you wanting to achieve more financially, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our details as follow:

Email: nickg.financialdesigner@gmail.com
Links:
http://www.fb.com/NICKG.advisory
http://www.fb.com/CelebWill
http://www.fb.com/Business.Succession

 

Blogger I Am Not….Perhaps

As you can well see, I have not “input” anything into my blog for some time. It is not that I have nothing to write or share, just that my inspiration to write dissipates really quickly. My desire to write will last about 5 minutes after which it is sayonara.

Still, if am still keeping this blog, I suppose there is still hope that one day I can and will cultivate a more disciplined and consistent writing.

Till then, cheerio people….

FROG or PRINCE?

Have you ever experienced moments where you completely misjudged a person? A man who wears slippers with singlet and shorts may be construed as a pauper while he is actually a millionaire and vise-versa.

I had a very interesting (to some extent confused) experience today. The story goes like this…

I was in one of the Starbucks outlet doing my work. All was well. Service was good, coffee was satisfactory, crowd was there but not noisy and air-conditioning & seating was pleasant. I was seated in those single seater chair and table. Two tables away was another patron who was equally engrossed in work.

In the midst of brainstorming, I noticed a foreigner walking in and out, as if he was searching for something. What caught my attention was his behaviour. Visualize this ~ he was untidily dressed, messy hair, wearing slippers and carrying one bag together with a few plastic bags of stuff. Got it? You have a visual in your mind now?

#1   Would you say he is FROG or PRINCE?

Well, he continued his going in and out of the outlet until he eventually sat 2 tables away from me with his bag on the seat and plastic bags strewn around the floor. As soon as he sat down, I smelt something fishy “literally”. It gave me the impression he came from the rubbish dump or he had not bathed for days. Anyway I ignored him and continued with my work while he seemed quite contented with looking around. Within 3mins of him sitting down, the other patron 2 tables away hastily left.  Still I continued with my work.

#2   Would you say he is FROG or PRINCE?

The next thing that happened surprised me. He took out a laptop from his dirty looking bag including a seemingly branded headphone. I was very curious about him and yet was not willing to risk him finding out that I was quietly cautiously peeking at him.

#3   Would you say he is FROG or PRINCE?

He seemed to start doing some work on the laptop with headphone on his head. After a few minutes he stopped and looked around as if he was lost. He even seemed to be talking to himself. All this while he constantly shifted his body posture, at times even sitting like a trishaw man (no disrespect meant).

#4   Would you say he is FROG or PRINCE?

After another 5 minutes, I decided he’s becoming a tad too much a distraction. I packed my stuff and left, still quite amused while at same time confused with this character. Throughout his time there he did not order any drinks.

I noticed that through my observations of him, I wandered between categorizing him as FROG and PRINCE.  I mean no disrespect to this man but he is one the most interesting characters I have met in my life. At the end of the day I was not able to decide if he was a FROG or PRINCE.

Freak Weather Spectacle

I have read about it in the papers, seen it in the tv news and movies but today I witnessed the prowess of mother nature.

At about 1.30pm, weather turned really dark. After 5 minutes, rain started to pour. It was as if water was released from the dam up above the heavens. After another 10mins, wind picked up. The strong winds lasted less than 10 seconds and was so strong that the rain was moving almost horizontally.

10 seconds is not long but the fury unleased by mother nature was enough to bring down trees all over the place. I was looking out the office together with a few members of my staff when we saw the first small tree crashed. Then the next, then the next. It was like a domino effect.

We are but small little creatures compared to the force of mother nature. Now is half hour from the first rain drop and it is now only drizzling. The damage is severe. Cars are dented and crushed. Trees (BIG trees) were uprooted.

My car incidentally was parked next to a tree too but this tree did not crash though the trees everywhere were. Who cares about the rain and wind. As soon as I saw trees falling, I quickly hopped into my car and moved it to a place where there are no trees.

I truly thank God for His protection. My staffs were scratching their heads in disbelief that this tree did not crashed while bigger and stronger ones did.

Now that I am finishing this blog, the rain has stopped completely and the sun is out!

Invasion of Common Area

Is it little wonder to us that some people can and will do as they wish? Is the 5-foot way considered a common area thus belonging to the public?

In the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, some people/organizations seem to have adopted this belief in a not so “legal” way. Similarly, the authorities seems to be conveniently oblivious to these acts.

Half of 5-foot way blocked (right view)

5-foot way blocked (left view)

 

5-foot way blocked (see half of the common area is gone?)

View from the front

How is it that people can be so selfish and be completely ignorant towards the neighbours and public? The above company conveniently extended their premise in front and back of their office, both taking up half of the 5-foot way common area. The space extended is being used as showcase/display.

To our local authority, it is time to open your eyes and be pro-active.