Book Review: The power of purpose

I would like to do a book review on this book, the power of purpose. This is my first book review or some can put it to be a summary of the ideas encapsulated inside it as a review would be more of a critical analysis and comments on the author's idea and believe.

This book is somewhat geared towards te idea of philosophy, names such as Plato and Aristole belief on living your personal live the right way and as a result achieving happiness from it. Because of this, I feel that this book gives me a great insight on the ideas communicated to me in the book. Unlike other self-improvement books which generally tends to look at 'hacks' to improve your personal life and productivity, this book gives the reader the perspective of looking at life through the 3 levels of thinking; first level, second level and third level, which I would explain later and also envisage a pyramid which at its peak, is the acme of sucess, or in this case, the power of purpose in life.

The author likes to go on a back to basics approach or a fundamental approach as he explains different concepts in the chapters. Therefore, I feel that understanding what the author sees as basics is where we should start this little conversation on his book. He defines that everyone looks at different people or in the process of communicating with other people, he or she will have 3 levels of thinking. The first level, wihch is what most people could be in, encompasses questions such as "how do I feel about myself". The act of self-fulfillment is very important to this group of level one thinkers then. And when there are bad times, these people seek self-pleasure to overcome their period of sadness. But this does not bring you closer to the goals that you set out to achieve. To sidetrack a little, I wish to touch on a very key idea he expressed in no relation to the 3 levels of thinking. The idea of it is not so important of winning the battle but one should focus on winning the war. It is rather self-explanatory after this and I'm glad that I did not forget to share this idea over here. As I have already explained on the first level of thinking, I'll now move on to the second level thinkers who asks questions like " How will others perceive me to be." This is an advancement of the self-centered first level thinkers in that the individual is now mindful of the people around him or her and he/she wants to make a good impression on them. This however, is again, a step away from what the author thinks is ideal state. The third level of thinking packages questions such as "How are others thinking, and what are their goals and finally to come to a conclusion of how could I help them achieve their goals." It sounds ironical but lets draw te example of me, blogging now. Ask me to see it as a level 3 thinker I would have questions such as, there are people reading this blog that seeks to improve themselves, and to become better indivuals in their surroundings. That is their goal and how can I help to let them achieve the goal, that is to constantly blog down my little ideas over here so it may have a chance that it can help the reader when he reads it. Hence, here comes the cream of the pudding. What do I benefit from being a level 3 thinker then? Firstly, I have already forge a close bond in some way with my readers and establish trust in a subtle but it is still present amond us. Next, it drives me now with a purpose, in order to be able to help others, I need to constantly read up on such good sources of information so that I have things to write on. In conclusion, this might sound simple, but isn't being simple the clearest and best way to look into the game of life?

Next, the author then take this fundamental principles to a higher platform, now you can imagine that you are on a hierarchical platform now, and you are at the lowest base of it, despite you have already so accomplished by understanding the 3 levels thinker. First base, which is the most sound and stable, is that you got to have an ambition in your life. Plato mentioned about we all live in a world of imperfection but within each of us there is always a perfect state, an ideal world that all of us wants to come to, and that can be the source of your ambition, ie the fuel or drive that keeps your inner flame burning. Second base: you must have the insight. You must be able to gain knowledge and know every situation that occurs in your life, that's when your chances of success is greater. Looking at the art of negotiation, who has more knowledge usually has more power. And this second base is a springboard from the first base, that is you got to have a goal to strive towards, then you can focus your energy on fulfilling the second base( i.e. the insight) , which then can make you progress on to the third base of relationship. Building teams and sharing everything you have, keeping no secrets and let me forewarn you that keeping on secrets is a touchy issue, and it is advisable to read up the book on it so that you won't feel that it is going against the grain of what you feel is correct. What can I say about hte building of teams, well the author breaks down to what amkes a team effective. They must "share common interest, have commitment (this is long term as oppose to interest) and have te same desire to work to improve on something to bring them closer to the above 2. Otherwise, a team is much like a doll. A figure without much "effective" value. Pardone me for my blunt vocabulary: I just couldn't think of anything better to phrase it. The highest base is postive thinking. Get bottom 3 right, and the last one should berather simple to achieve if you keep the fundamentals with you always as you apply this pyramid.

That is all for my book review. Hope you like it.

~cheers

Chasing a higher lifestyle as your income increases

Hi everyone, it has been some time since I have actually typed something over here. I know no amount of reasons could justify my lack of activity here. So I'm sorry for being the owner of this blog but not taking care of it.

I would like to share with you something, that is what happens when in your individual personal life, you suddenly get an extra stream of income. Be it a windfall, a one time gain, or an additional stream of income. May I ask what do you do, what is your mentality towards this additional stream of income. You might fall into 2 categories; one, you will take responsibility and ownership of that sum of money. Two, you will try to adapt to this new environment that you are in. Lets start with the second group first, once you get a raise, promotion, strike some lucky draw or in other ethical means has sourced for an additional flow of income, you would think that "my bandwidth (in terms of finance) has increased, I think I shall adapt to this positive environment. Then, that's where your eyes would began to scout around for 'wants' that could match the so called increase in your income. Let me tell you that it has just recently happened on a personal basis for myself and this will only let you lose a great opportunity to get closer to your goal of achieving financial freedom. Let me touch a little on the idea of opportunity. Opportunity, to the ancient Romans, is a lady god who would bless those that is fated to meet her. however, this god is has a rather special characteristic in her that she doesn't wait for man to embrace the opportunity presented upon them and it will go if the mortal does not want to meet her. Coming back to my point on why is there a wasted opportunity for the second group. The answer seems obvious and why not think about these now. Opportunities come and go, and let's say that this is a fair world and that every individual has an equal probability of receiving an opportunity, then this is considered you have wasted 1 of the 'x' number of opportunities that you will experience. Right?
First group of people, they are the better one, for they used this opportunity to bring them one step closer to their dreams. They are the ones who still stick to their 'needs' and not progress onto their wants. They are discipline in their finance and would put this extra sum into their spreadsheet of their goal to their financial freedom. Then they can progress on to see what can they do with this (specfically this and not their entire net worth) to make it grow harder for them. And looking at the power of compounding, where they are slaves for you and their children would be slaves working for you. Depending on your ability and preference and of course, your risk tolerence and other factors, you can channel them into the appropriate vehicles to make these money work harder for you. It is rather dry to read till here and so let me put my own personal experience down here again. My maiden flight, my blog title, has a sub-meaning that as I'm young and starting out, I definately will make mistakes and it is always good to admit to your mistakes and take responsibilities for your actions, that is the a criterion to good leadership, I have a lot to learn in my maiden journey towards this world. The horizon is clear but visibility is stretched to a certain distance only, beyond it is the vast unknown. After I have gone into the second group, I then tell myself that this is an 'unplanned for' money. This, I must say is a rather good technique as it tells your mind that oh, I have a loophole to cover up, I better do something about it. And then action would take place and this additional money would be somewhere inside your master plan. You then run scenarios on it and how would this new item affect you towards your goal. Positvely of course because it is a deposit to your net worth account. But to date, I must admit that I'm no where near to my financial goal.

~Cheers