An Ork tree that resists the wind loses its branches one by one and with nothing left to protect it, trunk finally snaps. The oak that bends lives longer, its trunk growing wider, its roots deeper and more tenacious.
Does this sound familiar to us ? When we are being attacked by people, we learned about the mistakes that we made. From the mistakes, we learned to progress in life, we are smarter and wiser.
For the past years, I have learned to empty myself, unlearn and relearn. I learned to surrender to the call of nature and I emerged victorious every time.
When you are weaker, never fight for honor's sake, choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and ittitate your congureror, time to wait for his pwoer to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you -- surrender first. By turning the other cheek you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power. Do not resiste or fight back, but yield turn the other cheek, bend. You will find that this often neutralizes their behavior.
If you find yourself temporarily weakened, the surrender tactic is perfect for raising yourself up again -- it disguises your ambition; it teaches you patience and sefl control, key skills in the game; and it puts you in the best possible position for taking advantage of your oppressor's sudden slide. If you run or fight back, in the long tun you cannot win. If you surrender, you will almost awlasy emerge victoriois.
Monday, December 29, 2008
What has Breakfast to do with Discipline ?
It was report at AFP on Fri, Dec 26, 2008 that theories linked between food and sex.
--Quote --
Dec 26, 2008 AFP -- TOKYO - THERE are many theories on the links between food and sex, but Japanese researchers have came up with a new finding - young people who skip breakfast tend to lose their virginity earlier.
In a study of 3,000 people, those who did not regularly eat breakfast when in their early teens said they lost their virginity at an average age of 17.5, versus an overall average of age 19 for all Japanese.
For those who had a morning meal when they were younger, the average age of having the first sexual experience was 19.4.
The study, backed by Japan's health ministry, was aimed at finding ways to curb unwanted pregnancies. It concluded that a stable home life discouraged early sex.
'Those unhappy with their parents - such as for not preparing breakfast - may tend to find a way to release their frustration by having sex,' said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association who led the research.
'If children don't feel comfortable in their family environment, they tend to go out,' he told AFP.
Additionally, young people who start having sex early tend to miss breakfast because they return home late, he said.
Japan has one of the world's lowest birthrates as more young people put off starting families, finding them a burden on their careers or lifestyles.
The survey also found that nearly 40 per cent of married couples had not had sex in more than a month.
Respondents said they were too tired because of work or found sex to be a pain, according to the study. -- AFP -- Unquote --
I can remember what my father told me 40 years ago:- " Families that prepare breakfast for their children are one who sleep earlier and wake up early for the day. This is considered as a good family. " He said, we need to prepare breakfast always for our kids so that they have a good day. It is considered as a family upholding discipline, high morale and ethics.
We need to communicate with our family members to know their problems, issues and challenges. We need to get connected with our kids. Failure to connect will result in societial problems.
Do you want to have a good family, well discipline ? then please connect with all the members in your family. Let us have a balance between friends, work, social life and family.
A lot of them were successful at their work place, but failed in relationships at home. We need to have a balance between social life, work and family so that our relationship is unique in our life. Unbalanced life will lead to stress, pain, and mental torture.
Wishing you the best.
--Quote --
Dec 26, 2008 AFP -- TOKYO - THERE are many theories on the links between food and sex, but Japanese researchers have came up with a new finding - young people who skip breakfast tend to lose their virginity earlier.
In a study of 3,000 people, those who did not regularly eat breakfast when in their early teens said they lost their virginity at an average age of 17.5, versus an overall average of age 19 for all Japanese.
For those who had a morning meal when they were younger, the average age of having the first sexual experience was 19.4.
The study, backed by Japan's health ministry, was aimed at finding ways to curb unwanted pregnancies. It concluded that a stable home life discouraged early sex.
'Those unhappy with their parents - such as for not preparing breakfast - may tend to find a way to release their frustration by having sex,' said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association who led the research.
'If children don't feel comfortable in their family environment, they tend to go out,' he told AFP.
Additionally, young people who start having sex early tend to miss breakfast because they return home late, he said.
Japan has one of the world's lowest birthrates as more young people put off starting families, finding them a burden on their careers or lifestyles.
The survey also found that nearly 40 per cent of married couples had not had sex in more than a month.
Respondents said they were too tired because of work or found sex to be a pain, according to the study. -- AFP -- Unquote --
I can remember what my father told me 40 years ago:- " Families that prepare breakfast for their children are one who sleep earlier and wake up early for the day. This is considered as a good family. " He said, we need to prepare breakfast always for our kids so that they have a good day. It is considered as a family upholding discipline, high morale and ethics.
We need to communicate with our family members to know their problems, issues and challenges. We need to get connected with our kids. Failure to connect will result in societial problems.
Do you want to have a good family, well discipline ? then please connect with all the members in your family. Let us have a balance between friends, work, social life and family.
A lot of them were successful at their work place, but failed in relationships at home. We need to have a balance between social life, work and family so that our relationship is unique in our life. Unbalanced life will lead to stress, pain, and mental torture.
Wishing you the best.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Managing a Finanical Crisis
MANAGING A FINANCIAL CRISIS
Know your financial position
Prepare a Statement of Position - which lists all your assets and liabilities and where these are. As part of doing this look at the real current values of both assets and liabilities and the timing of when debts were incurred as well as the repayment arrangements. This will help to identify what level of equity you have, whether you have some assets which are unproductive or surplus to your requirements, which assets are encumbered and therefore your future borrowing capacity.
Prepare cash flows - Both historical and projections should be done to help with the analysis of what has happened to put you in this position and if/how you are able to trade out. At this stage it is also a good idea to do some "what if" scenarios for the projections to enable you to identify and analyse some of the future risks that might be encountered.
Compile the past Financial Statements/Profit and loss/Tax returns - By compiling these figures you or your consultant/Financial Counsellor can then analyse them to plot trends in what has brought you to the current crisis. It also helps with preparation of the cash flow projections and in identifying where income could be increased or expenditure could be shaved.
Prepare a strategic audit
Doing a SWOT analysis can identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to which the business is subject. Once you have identified what these are, you can start to use your identified strengths and opportunities to progress your enterprise. By also recognising your weaknesses and threats you can work around them or attempt minimise their effect on the business.
Revise your long and short term goals
You will never get "There" if you don't know where "There" is. Goals clarify what you are doing it all for and why you are going without now in hope for the gold are the end of the rainbow. It is extremely difficult for most people to identify and set their goals but is extremely rewarding when they are made and planned for and they then are achieved. Write the goals down as this has the effect of giving them credibility and substance. Identifying them also helps in the future planning of the business direction.
Decide if the deficit is a continuing problem
Some examples of short-term problems may be a short drought, short-term price collapse/fluctuations, disease outbreak or short-term grain price increases. If you identify that the problem is short term, a solution might be to seek carry-on finance from your lenders. It may also be possible to forward sell some of your product, sell a piece of surplus machinery or redeem an off business investment with the view to reimbursement at a later date.
If you identify that the problem is a longer term one such as a prolonged price collapse, high price structure for the business or a long term drought, then you may not be able to get further carry-on finance or it may not be an appropriate solution to the problem. If this is the case then you may need to look at other measures of addressing the problem.
Look at increasing income
Review your whole business and see if there are ways of increasing the income which have not been looked at in the past because there has not been a need. There may be an opportunity to improve the technology used in the enterprise, which will give gains in income. Such examples as weighing stock rather than relying upon purely visual assessment, or mechanised feeding systems which deliver more precise rations than being done by hand to maximise the weight gains through having fresh food on demand.
Increases in income may be achieved through better timing when your product is available. This could be done by timing the maximum number of stock to be ready at the time when higher prices are paid on a cyclical basis throughout the year, for example in the lead up to Christmas each year.
Most enterprises are multi-enterprised. This means that there is several separate small businesses within the business. By doing a gross margin analysis on each of these businesses you may be able to identify which business is the most profitable. From this you could then concentrate on the most profitable parts of the business and leave the least profitable alone to maximise the income.
An alternative may be to seek off income for one partner. This may be an opportunity to inject cash flow into the business and maximise the effectiveness of each partner involved in the case where all are not fully occupied.
Look at ways to reduce costs
A short-term solution may be to defer some expenditure or costs, which are not essential until the income improves. It may involve making arrangements with a creditor with whom you have a good relationship to "put it on the slate" in the short term.
One hidden cost blow-out is often personal expenditure, as it does not generally appear on the taxation profit and loss statement. It may be time to review the living expenses as a way of increasing the businesses bottom line.
Capital expenditure tends to be in large slices and will put the cash flow under pressure in times of difficulty. It may be appropriate to review if the capital expenditure is really crucial or whether it can be deferred till a later date when the cash flow is more positive.
Overhead costs are those which tick away no matter how productive the enterprise is at the time. Review what is being spent on items such as labour (can you do without that extra worker?), machinery, insurance, phone, repairs and maintenance and principal and interest debt servicing costs. There may be ways of reducing these costs through timing or revision of the operation.
"Beware of false economies" in reviewing the reduction of costs as there is real trap in minimising costs to the detriment of production. Cost and return is a delicate balance when it comes to the bottom line of the business.
Look at restructuring loans
As identified in the previous step there may be a more appropriate structure for your debt that may suit the current situation. It may have been totally appropriate when the loan was entered into but due to the changing environment it may now be the enterprise's Achilles heel.
Look at going interest-only in the short term if you believe the problem is only short term. The debt will not be reducing but at least the debt servicing will be brought back to a bare minimum.
Better timing of repayments is also an option. By timing repayments to the period when income is anticipated to be at its greatest, then there will then be lesser reliance upon the overdraft or cash reserves. Rather than half yearly repayments of two large amounts it may be more appropriate to time the repayments monthly if cash flows are regularly monthly.
Term loans quite often repaid over a short term if the cash flow enables this when the loan is implemented. It may be appropriate to term this over a longer term if cash flow difficulties are experienced, to free up funds in the short term. A down side of doing this however is that more interest is paid over the longer term but this negative may be offset by the affordability factor. A common fault of businesses is to purchase long-term assets with short-term finance and visa versa. In other words, an asset that will have a long-term value might be purchased out of the overdraft or cash flow rather than on a long-term loan facility. This tightens up cash flow. In good times this may not cause a problem but when the pressure is on it can be overwhelming. The alternative is also a cause of problems where a quickly depreciating asset, which has to be replaced often, is funded on a long-term loan. You may still be paying for the first item when you need to raise further funds for its replacement. Again cash flow suffers.
Consider financial reserves at your disposal
Look for finance that is designed to smooth out the highs and lows of cash flow between years rather than have tax eat up any profits that may be accumulated. If the financial problem warrants, now might be a good time to redeem these deposits.
Investment in off business assets is also a good risk mitigation strategy in the good times. When the business is under stress financially it may be appropriate to sell the off business assets to protect the core asset. At this stage it may be appropriate to identify which is the core asset and which could be done without to protect that which was identified as a core asset. Things to weigh up in this instance are return on investment against potential for return as well as other non-monetary concerns.
Investments previously made in shares and managed funds may also be an avenue to bring cash back into the core business. Off business investment is a good risk mitigation strategy with generally liquid reserves, which can be brought back into the business when needed.
Superannuation or Life policies are a source of emergency funds in time of financial crisis. Life policies can be cashed in if able to help fund deficits and superannuation funds will allow some withdrawals in times of financial hardship. Each fund has its own rules in these situations and these should be readily available upon request.
At this stage it may be appropriate to review how things are going and make decisions about the future
If steps 1-8 have worked, the crisis may be over and things are back on an even keel. It is now time to implement risk minimisation strategies to stop another similar crisis happening in the future If 1-8 did not work, there is now a need for some important decisions to be made about the future.
It is now time to consider selling part or the entire business !
Be prepared to act - failing to act is common - in a depressed state people try to escape from their problems by doing nothing but it doesn't work, it only makes the problem
Now that the pressure has eased it is time to maintain tight financial control and to communicate with your financiers
You have revised you plans and are working towards a new future therefore it is time to manage this more realistic plan to ensure that the problem you have just come through does not resurface.
It is now also a good time to work on your relationship with your lenders to rebuild the bridges and gain their confidence back that was previously there but which may have suffered during the crisis. This will stand you in good stead in the future for the next time difficulties are experienced. Murphy's Law still prevails and therefore it is not a matter of if it will occur but when.
Know your financial position
Prepare a Statement of Position - which lists all your assets and liabilities and where these are. As part of doing this look at the real current values of both assets and liabilities and the timing of when debts were incurred as well as the repayment arrangements. This will help to identify what level of equity you have, whether you have some assets which are unproductive or surplus to your requirements, which assets are encumbered and therefore your future borrowing capacity.
Prepare cash flows - Both historical and projections should be done to help with the analysis of what has happened to put you in this position and if/how you are able to trade out. At this stage it is also a good idea to do some "what if" scenarios for the projections to enable you to identify and analyse some of the future risks that might be encountered.
Compile the past Financial Statements/Profit and loss/Tax returns - By compiling these figures you or your consultant/Financial Counsellor can then analyse them to plot trends in what has brought you to the current crisis. It also helps with preparation of the cash flow projections and in identifying where income could be increased or expenditure could be shaved.
Prepare a strategic audit
Doing a SWOT analysis can identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to which the business is subject. Once you have identified what these are, you can start to use your identified strengths and opportunities to progress your enterprise. By also recognising your weaknesses and threats you can work around them or attempt minimise their effect on the business.
Revise your long and short term goals
You will never get "There" if you don't know where "There" is. Goals clarify what you are doing it all for and why you are going without now in hope for the gold are the end of the rainbow. It is extremely difficult for most people to identify and set their goals but is extremely rewarding when they are made and planned for and they then are achieved. Write the goals down as this has the effect of giving them credibility and substance. Identifying them also helps in the future planning of the business direction.
Decide if the deficit is a continuing problem
Some examples of short-term problems may be a short drought, short-term price collapse/fluctuations, disease outbreak or short-term grain price increases. If you identify that the problem is short term, a solution might be to seek carry-on finance from your lenders. It may also be possible to forward sell some of your product, sell a piece of surplus machinery or redeem an off business investment with the view to reimbursement at a later date.
If you identify that the problem is a longer term one such as a prolonged price collapse, high price structure for the business or a long term drought, then you may not be able to get further carry-on finance or it may not be an appropriate solution to the problem. If this is the case then you may need to look at other measures of addressing the problem.
Look at increasing income
Review your whole business and see if there are ways of increasing the income which have not been looked at in the past because there has not been a need. There may be an opportunity to improve the technology used in the enterprise, which will give gains in income. Such examples as weighing stock rather than relying upon purely visual assessment, or mechanised feeding systems which deliver more precise rations than being done by hand to maximise the weight gains through having fresh food on demand.
Increases in income may be achieved through better timing when your product is available. This could be done by timing the maximum number of stock to be ready at the time when higher prices are paid on a cyclical basis throughout the year, for example in the lead up to Christmas each year.
Most enterprises are multi-enterprised. This means that there is several separate small businesses within the business. By doing a gross margin analysis on each of these businesses you may be able to identify which business is the most profitable. From this you could then concentrate on the most profitable parts of the business and leave the least profitable alone to maximise the income.
An alternative may be to seek off income for one partner. This may be an opportunity to inject cash flow into the business and maximise the effectiveness of each partner involved in the case where all are not fully occupied.
Look at ways to reduce costs
A short-term solution may be to defer some expenditure or costs, which are not essential until the income improves. It may involve making arrangements with a creditor with whom you have a good relationship to "put it on the slate" in the short term.
One hidden cost blow-out is often personal expenditure, as it does not generally appear on the taxation profit and loss statement. It may be time to review the living expenses as a way of increasing the businesses bottom line.
Capital expenditure tends to be in large slices and will put the cash flow under pressure in times of difficulty. It may be appropriate to review if the capital expenditure is really crucial or whether it can be deferred till a later date when the cash flow is more positive.
Overhead costs are those which tick away no matter how productive the enterprise is at the time. Review what is being spent on items such as labour (can you do without that extra worker?), machinery, insurance, phone, repairs and maintenance and principal and interest debt servicing costs. There may be ways of reducing these costs through timing or revision of the operation.
"Beware of false economies" in reviewing the reduction of costs as there is real trap in minimising costs to the detriment of production. Cost and return is a delicate balance when it comes to the bottom line of the business.
Look at restructuring loans
As identified in the previous step there may be a more appropriate structure for your debt that may suit the current situation. It may have been totally appropriate when the loan was entered into but due to the changing environment it may now be the enterprise's Achilles heel.
Look at going interest-only in the short term if you believe the problem is only short term. The debt will not be reducing but at least the debt servicing will be brought back to a bare minimum.
Better timing of repayments is also an option. By timing repayments to the period when income is anticipated to be at its greatest, then there will then be lesser reliance upon the overdraft or cash reserves. Rather than half yearly repayments of two large amounts it may be more appropriate to time the repayments monthly if cash flows are regularly monthly.
Term loans quite often repaid over a short term if the cash flow enables this when the loan is implemented. It may be appropriate to term this over a longer term if cash flow difficulties are experienced, to free up funds in the short term. A down side of doing this however is that more interest is paid over the longer term but this negative may be offset by the affordability factor. A common fault of businesses is to purchase long-term assets with short-term finance and visa versa. In other words, an asset that will have a long-term value might be purchased out of the overdraft or cash flow rather than on a long-term loan facility. This tightens up cash flow. In good times this may not cause a problem but when the pressure is on it can be overwhelming. The alternative is also a cause of problems where a quickly depreciating asset, which has to be replaced often, is funded on a long-term loan. You may still be paying for the first item when you need to raise further funds for its replacement. Again cash flow suffers.
Consider financial reserves at your disposal
Look for finance that is designed to smooth out the highs and lows of cash flow between years rather than have tax eat up any profits that may be accumulated. If the financial problem warrants, now might be a good time to redeem these deposits.
Investment in off business assets is also a good risk mitigation strategy in the good times. When the business is under stress financially it may be appropriate to sell the off business assets to protect the core asset. At this stage it may be appropriate to identify which is the core asset and which could be done without to protect that which was identified as a core asset. Things to weigh up in this instance are return on investment against potential for return as well as other non-monetary concerns.
Investments previously made in shares and managed funds may also be an avenue to bring cash back into the core business. Off business investment is a good risk mitigation strategy with generally liquid reserves, which can be brought back into the business when needed.
Superannuation or Life policies are a source of emergency funds in time of financial crisis. Life policies can be cashed in if able to help fund deficits and superannuation funds will allow some withdrawals in times of financial hardship. Each fund has its own rules in these situations and these should be readily available upon request.
At this stage it may be appropriate to review how things are going and make decisions about the future
If steps 1-8 have worked, the crisis may be over and things are back on an even keel. It is now time to implement risk minimisation strategies to stop another similar crisis happening in the future If 1-8 did not work, there is now a need for some important decisions to be made about the future.
It is now time to consider selling part or the entire business !
Be prepared to act - failing to act is common - in a depressed state people try to escape from their problems by doing nothing but it doesn't work, it only makes the problem
Now that the pressure has eased it is time to maintain tight financial control and to communicate with your financiers
You have revised you plans and are working towards a new future therefore it is time to manage this more realistic plan to ensure that the problem you have just come through does not resurface.
It is now also a good time to work on your relationship with your lenders to rebuild the bridges and gain their confidence back that was previously there but which may have suffered during the crisis. This will stand you in good stead in the future for the next time difficulties are experienced. Murphy's Law still prevails and therefore it is not a matter of if it will occur but when.
Nick Vujicic Motivated me
This morning, we went to attend a church service where Nick Vukicic ( a man without limbs ) encouraged us to enjoy whatever we have to glorify the name of God.
Nick was born in 1982 ago without limbs, but he graduated with a double degree in Finance and Financial Planning in Australia. He inspired me that God has a message for me everyday.
We need to use our life to bring people to God to be saved - either we have limbs or not, we need to enjoy whatever God has given us.
Nick can swim, read Bible, ride a speed boat and fishing.
Traveling extensively to over 19 nations, he has extremely humbled by the continuous opportunities that the Lord has given him to share his testimony along with the hope that he has in Jesus with people in so many nations and situations. His greatest joy in this life is to introduce Jesus to those he meets and tell them of His great desire to get to know them personally by allowing Him to become their Lord and Savior.
One of his favorite scriptures from the Bible is Psalm 139:17-18 that says, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
God has used him to let people know in countless schools, churches, prisons, orphanages, hospitals, stadiums and in face-to-face encounters with individuals how very precious they are to God. Secondly, it’s his pleasure to assure them that God does have a plan for their lives that is purposeful. For God took my life, one that others might disregard as having any significance and filled him with His purpose and showed me His plans to move hearts and lives toward Him. Understanding this, though faced with struggles, you can overcome too.
Be encouraged today as you read this promise from the Lord found in Jeremiah 29:11 of the Bible, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Nick challenges people all over the world to dream big, trust the Lord with all your heart and to not grow weary when we fail to understand God's Wisdom and great purpose for our lives. Share it with your friends and family, your youth group, someone going through a tough time or anyone who needs a refreshing experience and inspiration to keep their eyes fixed on the promises of God.
Personally, I am encouraged by Nick's testimony. At the end of the service, there were 300 people accepting Christ. WOW.....
Nick was born in 1982 ago without limbs, but he graduated with a double degree in Finance and Financial Planning in Australia. He inspired me that God has a message for me everyday.
We need to use our life to bring people to God to be saved - either we have limbs or not, we need to enjoy whatever God has given us.
Nick can swim, read Bible, ride a speed boat and fishing.
Traveling extensively to over 19 nations, he has extremely humbled by the continuous opportunities that the Lord has given him to share his testimony along with the hope that he has in Jesus with people in so many nations and situations. His greatest joy in this life is to introduce Jesus to those he meets and tell them of His great desire to get to know them personally by allowing Him to become their Lord and Savior.
One of his favorite scriptures from the Bible is Psalm 139:17-18 that says, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
God has used him to let people know in countless schools, churches, prisons, orphanages, hospitals, stadiums and in face-to-face encounters with individuals how very precious they are to God. Secondly, it’s his pleasure to assure them that God does have a plan for their lives that is purposeful. For God took my life, one that others might disregard as having any significance and filled him with His purpose and showed me His plans to move hearts and lives toward Him. Understanding this, though faced with struggles, you can overcome too.
Be encouraged today as you read this promise from the Lord found in Jeremiah 29:11 of the Bible, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Nick challenges people all over the world to dream big, trust the Lord with all your heart and to not grow weary when we fail to understand God's Wisdom and great purpose for our lives. Share it with your friends and family, your youth group, someone going through a tough time or anyone who needs a refreshing experience and inspiration to keep their eyes fixed on the promises of God.
Personally, I am encouraged by Nick's testimony. At the end of the service, there were 300 people accepting Christ. WOW.....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
