Author Archives: ramya

The Seeds of Investment – Part II

Posted on by
1

If you have taken the time and effort to invest in yourself, your reputation, your image, and your relationships, you can start to look toward investment of a financial kind.

What I’ve learnt is that your best investment is first in the preservation of your name and integrity, and this starts from a very young age, whether you are rich or poor, employed or unemployed.

But following this, how do you move into financial investments?

The best financial investments do not start on a grand scale. It is a common misperception that you can only start to invest when you become rich. On the contrary, it is the small, but strict investments you make no matter how little or how much money you have that lead you to becoming rich.

This is the investment in learning how to save money, and learning how to most wisely invest the money you have. The very principle of saving money is, it is money that you will never spend.

For every dollar you have, put aside 40% of that to savings. Open two accounts. One is a true savings account that you never touch, and in this account, you place 20% of what you earn. The other account is your buffer or emergency account, and in this you place the other 20% of the allocated 40% of what you earn. You only touch this buffer account in the event of a true emergency, for example, if you are hospitalised or for a family emergency. The reason for a buffer account is so you never put your hand in ‘the cookie jar’; your savings account.

This is a habit that must be formed from an early stage. Every month, it is much easier to put aside $40 from $100 (40%), than it is to put aside $400 from $1000 (40%). If you can’t start with 40% each month, then start with 20% (10% in each account) and slowly increase the amount.

The funny thing is, however, that many people say they will start to save money once they have a lot of money. It doesn’t happen that way. The more you make, the more you spend. And it becomes easy to live outside your means, which in itself is a very dangerous trap, as it means you have no contingency plan if things don’t turn out the way you plan. If you haven’t developed the habit of saving when you’re young, it will be very difficult to develop it when you’re older.

There is also the principle of compound interest to benefit you. If you start putting away 40% of whatever you earn from a young age, by the time you are 25 you should have hundreds of thousands of dollars just by simple saving and compound interest.

If you’ve been working for the past ten years, this saving money can become your capital for a lot things. But a wise businessman would not use his own money to invest. If you have $100,000 in savings, you can go to your banker and ask for a loan with the money in your savings account as the collateral. With $100,000 in your account and a proven track record of regular saving deposits, the bank would probably give you a loan for $80,000. You can invest this while your money is still in your account earning interest.

Of course, financial investment is a huge area of discussion, and this Gem is not meant to provide you with in depth financial planning advice. This Gem is simply to encourage you to realise and consider the steps behind the process of financial investment.

Please take a moment to ponder… The seeds of investment grow by first planting them in yourself. More seeds must be planted as a percentage of what you earn into a savings account and a buffer account. These seeds – by diligently watering them with good relationships, a strong reputation, further saving and compound interest – grow to become the trees you can climb. From the limbs of these trees, you are now ready to wisely and seriously consider investing in that house, the stock market, a business, or any other investment that will see your ‘trees’ bloom for generations to come.

 

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark

Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

The Seeds of Investment – Part I

Posted on by
4

Are you thinking of making an investment? Considering investing in a business or in the stock market? Or maybe investing in a house?

Before you invest in any of these things, you should have already made a few wise investments of an entirely different nature. No, I am not talking about financial investments. I am referring to the type of investments that without which, any financial investments are almost sure to fail. Or at least prove extremely difficult to get off the ground.

The very first thing you must invest in, from as young an age as possible, is yourself. This might sound like a nice, ‘airy’ concept, but without investing in yourself, you’ve got no chance of any other type of investment. Think about it.

Invest in your own name, reputation and integrity. Everyone is given a name and credibility when they are born. However, if an investment is not made to build that credibility and foster goodwill in that name, it can quickly disappear or become a liability. If you make a promise, honour that commitment. If you say you will be somewhere at a certain time, make sure you are there. Do not lie. Foster trust in yourself from others by ensuring they have reason to have confidence in you. If you do not invest in your name and integrity, when the time comes to make a financial investment, it will be difficult to secure trust from those you will need support, whether it be banks, business partners, financial supporters, or references to ensure your investment.

Invest in your position. This means investing in your studies and investing time to better yourself and to absorb all the information and knowledge that you can. Think of your mind as a notebook. If it is closed, its pages will forever remain empty. But if you open your notebook, you are then able to write as much information as you can and record as many experiences and memories as you want. Also remember to invest in your appearance and your image. Again, just like books, many people will judge you by your ‘cover’.

Next, invest in other people. Invest in relationships. Invest in forming trusting alliances with people whom you respect. Work on earning their respect in return. Even from childhood, invest in friendships. Give favours, help others, and invite people for coffee or for dinner. Become friends with people. It is from here that networking really stems: your network of friends. People often ask me where I find people whom I can trust and whom I am willing to do business with. I say it is a result of a collection of friendships and partnerships from the past 40 years.

I cannot, today, call upon the interest of my past if I did not first invest in myself, my reputation, my position, my image and in other people. I cannot call upon that for favours now if I did not sow a good reputation.  So the only way I can reap a relationship will have to be from what I have planted in the past. If I had ripped those people off, or lied, people would not do business with me, because once you ruin your reputation, it is very hard to undo the damage.

Please take a moment to ponder… Never underestimate the importance of investment in yourself. Consider these important investments before even contemplating financial investment, as it is personal investment that allows you to go on to the business investments.

Next week, in Gems of Wisdom, we can start to think about investment of the financial kind.

 

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark

Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Choose Your Coach on the Sports Field of Business

Posted on by
6

We play on the sports field of business. Whether it is in network marketing or in the corporate world, we are all players and are all part of a team. This game that we play every day of our lives can be difficult.

Our performance not only reflects on ourselves, but on our whole team. From within ourselves, we must find the motivation, the strength, the passion, and the commitment to push ourselves to succeed. We must also have the right external factors, such as training to make our team strong, the right equipment, and the right coach.

On this sports field of business, there are two possible coaches we can choose from: Coach A and Coach B.

Coach A supports us, but doesn’t push us. Coach A is OK with mediocre and is more concerned about not offending us or hurting our feelings. Coach B, on the other hand, supports us, pushes us, and may even drive us to frustration with his relentless commitment to propel us to fulfil our potential and beyond. This coach is not concerned about whether or not he hurts our feelings.

Let’s say we are playing football in the hot sun. It’s been a long day. The scores are even and there are 30 seconds left in the match. Your body is aching and you don’t think you can take another step, but your teammate passes you the ball and there’s a gap in the defence ahead. Coach A sees how exhausted you are and talks to you from the sidelines, saying, “You’re tired, take it easy. Don’t push yourself. There’s always next week’s game.” Coach B, however, yells at you to “Pick up the pace! Don’t give up now! I don’t care if you collapse at the end, but you can make that touchdown and you will make that touchdown! There is no tomorrow. This is IT!”

Unfortunately, many people seek out a Coach A in their life. Having a Coach A allows us to be more comfortable in trying, but allows us to not feel pressured to try too hard. Coach A reassures us that average and lacklustre is good enough.

I challenge you to seek out a Coach B in your life to push you to your limits. Associate yourself with the type of person who will teach you to never give up and who will never let you give up. And do not resent them for this. If you have made a decision to play on a team, to work in a company, or to thrive in a network, then there is no excuse not to give that decision 100% of your effort, your passion, and your dedication. Having a Coach B helps you to do this.

Please take a moment to ponder… Do you have Coach A in your life? Are you perhaps your own Coach A? Are you OK with mediocre, or do you dream of something bigger and better? Are you shutting out a Coach B because it is just ‘too hard’ to move up and out of your comfort zone?

It is time to choose your coach.

 

Sincerely,
Joseph Bismark

Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

What’s Your Mission Statement?

Posted on by
1

Every company has a mission statement. This mission statement drives the company to where it wants to be; serves to remind the people behind the company about the purpose of going to work each day; and reinforces commitment to the end goal. A mission statement gives a company its soul and injects passion into its core.

The value that a mission statement brings to a company can be directly related to the value a similar statement about a person’s own mission and purpose brings to that person’s life. There is a big difference between working because you want to, and working because you have to. This difference is what separates a life truly ‘lived’ from a life that is just ‘led’.

All too often I hear about two separate ‘parts’ of a person’s life – their personal life and their work life. I listen to people say that these two parts of their life are in direct competition with each other and I hear them complain that work gets in the way of their ‘life’. Excuse me, but how can you have two lives? We are all given just one life to live. If you spend much of your life complaining about the work you must do, then you must ask yourself, “What is MY mission statement?” Have you found your purpose in life?

Think about your attitude towards work. Are you waiting for your boss to tell you what to do? Are you just hanging around until work is given to you? And do you complain once you actually have work to do? Or are you excited to begin each day and work towards something you are passionate about? Do you take pride in yourself and what you do? Are you creating work for yourself and telling your boss what you are going to do in order to do your job better?

I have mentioned this quote by Theodore Roosevelt earlier this year in Gems of Wisdom, but I feel it needs to be stated again to make this point. Roosevelt once said: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” This is the secret to happiness.

Nothing motivates you to excel more than knowing you have a purpose and are passionate about that purpose. But no one can find your purpose for you. You must decide what it is you want to do. There is a saying, “If you can’t stand the heat… get out of the kitchen”. If you decide to be a chef, don’t step into the kitchen and start complaining about how hot it is in there. No one forced you to be a chef or forced you to be in the kitchen. But if you decided to be there, then get down to business and start cooking! And if you have identified cooking and being a chef as your purpose in life, then you won’t ever notice the heat at all. You will be too busy enjoying your work.

Don’t make excuses. Once you find your purpose, the excuses will disappear.

Please take a moment to ponder… What is your mission statement? What drives you and what excites you? Identify what this is and define your mission statement. And once you have found your purpose, communicate it to the people around you, as this then becomes your declaration of commitment to living your life to the fullest. Without your own mission statement to motivate you and to give you passion for your life, you are simply getting in the way of others who are living their lives with a purpose.

 

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark

Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Success with a Capital A

Posted on by
1

When I was a child, I remember how lazy I could be about getting out of bed in the morning. My mother used to have to drag me out of bed to go to school. But I also remember that when it was a holiday, or there was something exciting happening that day, I could hardly sleep the night before and I didn’t need anyone to drag me out of bed in the morning. I’d be up so early and bounding out of bed to start the day.

As I have grown older, I realise that every day should be started like something exciting is happening, because every day, something exciting really is happening. Life. I believe that a person, and especially a leader, should really wake up in the morning. They should Arise and Awake! Arise from their slumber and awake from their ignorance. Every day is the chance to reinvent ourselves. When we truly arise and awake, we then aspire to ‘be’. And if you are aspiring, then you are more open in terms of assimilating.

What do I mean by assimilating? I mean collecting wisdom. Because that is what life is about. Every day of your life, you wake up and meet people and learn things. You assimilate with the people, places and ideas around you. Once you are open to assimilating into the world, you start acquiring new knowledge, new skills, new things. You acquire what you were aspiring for.

You see, if you don’t truly arise and awake each day, then you won’t aspire to be anything. It is because of this aspiration that you assimilate and acquire. And once this happens, you must assess what you have acquired, and analyse its worth. Once you have assessed and analysed what you have taken in from the world around you, you start the step of applying this worthy information and these valuable experiences into your life.

From this application of what you have learnt, the next step is definite. You will start to achieve.

But it doesn’t end there. Achieving is not the end goal. Perhaps the most important part of reaching success – no matter if it is success in your personal life or success in business – is that you must always appreciate what you have. To truly appreciate what you have achieved, you must attribute your success to the people and things that led you to that success. You could not reach this stage in life if you did not assimilate, so how can you take all the credit for yourself? Humility is so important and therefore, hand-in-hand with this attribution, is acknowledgement. And this is where many people fail. There is a need to acknowledge the people who helped you get to where you are. Success is not about competition and putting others down so you appear superior. True success comes from raising others up with you. Acknowledging the role other people have played in your success is basically where your fulfilment comes from. By doing this in life, you will be applauded. And you will truly be happy, content and successful.

Everything in life is a process. It is all step-by-step. Success, too, is a process. It is a very valuable realisation to know that the first step in any process will eventually lead to your end goal. It is a very motivating realisation. If you want to reach success, you have to take the first step. And you have to follow the process through to the end.

Please take a moment to ponder… If you Arise and Awake each morning, you Aspire to be something and are more open to Assimilation, which means you will Acquire. Once you Assess and Analyse what you have acquired, you will Apply this to your life and it is here that Achievement is realised. However, one you achieve, it is important to actually Appreciate what you have and to Attribute that achievement and Acknowledge those who have helped you along your way. Then, you will be Applauded and you will be happy. Then, and only then, will you be truly Successful.

How do you start each day? Do you start each day with the first and important step towards success and towards true achievement and fulfilment? Do you arise and awake?

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark

Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

Symbiotic Success

Posted on by
1

Having adequate resources is vital to a company’s ability to conduct its business. More so, having the right resources is paramount to a company’s success. But let me ask you: what is the most important resource in your company? Which resource is the one that makes all your other resources really work for you?

It is so easy to get caught up in having the latest technological systems; the best office equipment; the strongest branding; the most competitive public image. All of these are important, but what about people? Your employees, your directors, your suppliers, your contractors?

I would argue that it is having the right people – and how we select, develop, educate and support those people – that could be counted as the most important resource that a company has. People are our greatest asset. Without knowledgeable and skilled staff; without polite and enthusiastic customer representatives; without focussed and committed managers; without these people, the company robs itself of the very foundation on which to build corporate success.

Like any asset, we must invest in our people to help them grow to their full potential. The relationship between a company and its employees is a symbiotic one. By raising our employees to achieve greatness, we are fostering greatness in the company. We are also nurturing genuine loyalty amongst the people who, at the end of the day, hold the company’s success in their hands.

We all know that it costs so much more time and money to find, recruit, train and induct talented new staff that it does to retain the staff we have. It is important therefore that we truly realise just how important our people are as a resource to the company. And it is also important that we commit ourselves to encouraging a supportive and satisfying working environment and corporate culture, in which these employees are able to flourish.

Please take a moment to ponder… A happy worker is a good worker. We should never think of our employees as unemotional machines assigned to fulfil a job. Nor should we ever view our staff as being a means to an end. Companies should empower their people to be the very best they can be. The rewards of doing so are great for both employer and employee.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director, QI Ltd

The Wisdom of the Search

Posted on by
Reply

Through all of my Gems of Wisdom, I try to impart to you some thoughts, advice, tips and reflections that I have learned from higher authorities and thorough self-realisation. Is this ‘wisdom’? I do not present myself to be wise, but what I try to do every day of my life is to find a little bit of wisdom within myself, in everything and everyone. Something that challenges me and motivates me to constantly seek out my purpose in life. I share this search with you through Gems of Wisdom to try to also challenge and motivate others to do the same within themselves. For what is life if not a journey on a search for purpose and fulfilment?

I don’t think many of us really know who we are and why we are here. And it seems the more we know, the more we realise what we do not know. This is a humbling experience, and we should internalise this experience into ourselves to further push us along on our journey. We are all constantly searching for that place where we belong, a place of real refuge, a place where real peace is found. We’re here for a purpose and we should embrace the search for that purpose. That to me is where true wisdom is born, knowing how insignificant we are in the grand scale of the universe.

We should not stop until we discover our purpose. What’s more, once we find that purpose, we should accept it and continue to search for ways to fulfil it. Everyone is born to be a leader, for example, but not everyone accepts that born instinct. Not everyone seeks to fulfil their purpose. Some shun away. In some ways, we are being selfish by not standing up and confidently taking hold of our purpose. Once we stop being selfish, true fulfilment comes into our lives and we not only begin to live out our place in life, but we begin to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Please take a moment to ponder… if we are faced with a wide, gushing river, how do you cross it? Do you try to swim against the current on your own? You know that your purpose is to cross the river, but how? You must seek to fulfil this purpose. By joining together with others, and holding hands to form a human chain across the current of the river, you, and many others, will be able to cross. And then you may all continue on your journey of life.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director
QI Group

The Importance of Milestones

Posted on by
3

When I think of milestones, I do not think of material wealth or things that I have gained. I think of milestones as points in our lives when we have reached personal achievements within ourselves or for the benefit of others. To me, success is relative. It is relevant to the person, and for me, success is certainly not material or about status or about money.

Some people say I am successful, but I do not feel successful and I am not successful in many areas. I might meet someone who can speak ten languages and I think to myself how successful they are. I can only speak two languages and I truly respect those who have learnt to speak many. The day I can speak ten languages will certainly be a milestone for me!

When we do reach these milestones, we must acknowledge them. We must reflect on them and ponder how we are going to continue to better ourselves and others. In a recent speech by US President Barack Obama, he said: “You will be judged on what you have built; not what you have destroyed.” When I heard this, I had to write it down because it is so true. If we reach a milestone, and have had to destroy others – whether it be the possession of others or the hopes of others – it cannot be considered a milestone. But if we have helped, raised or built others on our way, then our achievement can truly be considered a milestone.
Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director
QI Ltd

Maybe, Maybe Not

Posted on by
1

The dualities of life are a funny thing. One minute you’re prancing across the dizzying heights of success, and the next, you feel as if you’re standing in the deep trenches of despair. It is easy to be caught up on this wave of life, allowing your moods and attitudes to reflect the push and pull of the world around you.

Seeing people who are constantly riding this volatile wave has made me think very seriously about my own life journey. Everyone has ‘ups and downs’, but when I allow my character and disposition to mirror these ups and downs, I must remember that I am only expressing a fleeting reflection of outside pressures.

Consider this ancient parable:

There was a farmer who had a strong, hard-working horse. This horse could plough fields all day and carry heavy loads. The farmer’s neighbours, who did not have such a prized animal, often said to him, “You’re so lucky to have that horse.”

The farmer, going about his work, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”

Then one day, the farmer’s horse broke through the farm gates and ran away, leaving the farmer without the animal that he had come to depend on. The farmer’s neighbours said to him, “Gee, you’re so unlucky that your horse ran away.”

The farmer, getting on with life without his horse, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”

A little while later, the farmer’s horse came back with ten mares, all strong, fit and healthy. The farmer’s neighbours gasped and said, “You’re so lucky to now have 11 strong horses to work on your farm!”

The farmer, grooming his 11 horses, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”

The farmer’s only son decided to take a ride on one of the mares. On the way home, the mare bolted and threw the farmer’s only son to the ground, crushing his legs, which became infected, and later leading the son into delirium, balancing on the brink of death. When the farmer’s neighbours heard this, they said, “Oh no! Your only son is dying! You are so unlucky.”

The farmer, while aiding his son, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”

Before long, war was declared, and officials came to the village to draft the village’s young men to serve in the army. Upon seeing the condition of the farmer’s only son, the officials decided he could not fight, and so they did not draft him into the war. A few days later, the son’s fever broke and he regained his health. The farmer’s neighbours, whose sons had all been drafted into the terrible war, cried out to the farmer, “Oh, you are so lucky that your son did not have to go to war!”

The farmer, while hugging his son, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”

I am always revived when I hear or tell this story. The moral is that the true significance of things that happen in our lives can never be totally understood at the time they are occurring. Every event holds elements of both good and bad, and the true implications of the event may not be truly known for many years. Life will throw so many things at us and it is our job to steadily steer through all of it to live our lives doing what we need to do. Who has the right to say whether something is good or bad; lucky or unlucky? Even bad things happen for a reason. My father used to always say to me, in Spanish, that “everything bad happens for a good reason”. How true this is.

Please take a moment to ponder… If we allow ourselves to be thrown around by life and if we wallow in self-pity or boastfully brag during good fortune, we are allowing ourselves to become the puppet of something we cannot control and are blinding ourselves to tomorrow’s ramifications of today’s events. Take the good with the bad. Ask yourself if YOU are lucky? I hope that you find the answer is: Maybe, maybe not.

Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark
Group Managing Director
QI Group

The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back

Posted on by
1

Number 47


The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back



Until a few years ago, I was always rather confused when it came to the old adage ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. It perplexed me that a single piece of practically weightless straw could do such damage to the desert’s equivalent of a monster truck. It wasn’t until I travelled to the Middle East and asked one of the locals about the actual meaning of this saying that I came to understand the true depth of the phrase.

I was told that apparently, a straw really did break a camel’s back. The camel had been piled up with so many loads of bags, sacks, pots, rugs and other items that when the final handful of straw was placed on top, the camel simply collapsed.

I often feel just like that fully laden camel must have felt. There are times when I feel like I am so heavily loaded with not sacks of rice and bags of wheat like the camel, but with approaching deadlines, feelings of frustration, organisational disagreements, differing of opinions and so on. And there seems to be a reverse correlation between the heavier my load gets and the less I express my frustrations. Because unlike the camel, I have the ability to express the reasons why my ‘back is breaking’ and do something about it. It all comes down to another adage: Confront or Conflict.

Never be afraid to confront issues before they become conflicts, especially if the other person involved is a close friend, colleague or relative. True friends are those who tell you how they really feel. We may hear good news every day from strangers, but it takes a true friend to be comfortable enough to confront you with your best interests at heart.

Before our load becomes too heavy, we must try to remember that if someone’s actions are causing us frustration, or if a friend, family member or colleague is doing something that annoys us, we must confront the issue before it turns into a conflict. In other words, we must speak up before a whole lot of issues build up on our back to the point where one small and somewhat insignificant matter becomes our proverbial ‘straw’. There is a limit to how much people can bear, we must be vocal about this limit.

Please take a moment to ponder… if we do not confront what is annoying us, it will inevitably lead to conflict. And if we are confident enough and comfortable enough to confront those things, then we must remember that it is the issue, not the person, that we are confronting.

Improve your management and leadership style; enhance your communication skills; and resolve the issues that are piling up and becoming a burden. Confront or you will conflict.


Sincerely,

Joseph Bismark


Group Managing Director, QI Ltd