Joseph Bismark - Gems of Wisdom Blog

A young monk is sent out from his monastery with the mission to find a sword and bring it back to his master. On his way, he passes beautiful gardens and forests and even contemplates abandoning his mission in order to indulge in the beauty around him. But finally he sees a sword, lying on the ground next to a dead samurai. Thinking this must be the sword his master sent him to find, the young monk picks it up. Suddenly another samurai leaps out from behind a tree and challenges the young monk to fight.

“Please! Spare my life! I am not a samurai, but a monk on a mission to find a sword!”

The samurai ignores the pleas of the young monk, and exclaims, “Draw your sword! It is my mission to kill 100 men!”

Shaking and thinking of anything he could say to get away from the samurai, the young monk pleaded, “If you spare my life now, I promise to come back to fight you!” The young monk had no intention of ever returning to face what would surely be his swift death at the sharp blade of this crazed samurai. But the samurai agreed to spare the young monk’s life if he would later return to fight.

Safely back at the monastery, the young monk was trembling as he placed the sword at the feet of his master while telling the terrible story of how he almost died in his mission to bring his master a sword and how he was forced to make a false promise in order to save his life.

His master said, “Now that you have returned with this sword, you must go back and fight the samurai because you cannot turn away from challenges in your life. You must face your fear and complete your promise. This is your mission now.”

When the young monk further protested that he had no idea how to fight and that his life would surely be over if he returned to fight the samurai, his master simply replied: “Do not worry. When it comes time to fight, just pull out your sword, place it up in the air and close your eyes. Just trust me. Do as I told you.”

At first, the young monk did not want to follow his master’s orders. That night, he couldn’t sleep, but slowly he came to accept that this would be his last night alive. In the morning, the monk started witnessing things that he had before taken for granted. On his way back to the samurai, he was calm and detached from the world. He knew he would soon die and in the face of that realisation, he walked confidently and calmly towards his greatest fear.

When the young monk reached the samurai, he held the sword in his hand and a steady expression on his face. “I am honoured that you have returned to meet your promise,” said the samurai. “Now we must fight.”

And with that, the young monk remembered his master’s words. He drew his sword, held it above his head, and closed his eyes. He was steady and calm with the knowledge he was about to die.

As the young monk stood motionless with his sword drawn and eyes shut, the samurai nervously circled him. The samurai was confused at first. Then he became afraid. In all the great warriors he had fought, not one had faced him so calm, so still, and with his confident eyes closed.

“Surely,” said the samurai to himself, “this man is the greatest samurai I have ever come across. He has returned to fight me, and now stands waiting with his eyes closed.” The samurai dropped to his knees.

When the young monk finally opened his eyes, he saw a shrivelling samurai begging for his life to be spared and praising the young monk as being the greatest samurai that ever lived. “I realise how arrogant I have been and how wrong I was to try to kill 100 men,” said the samurai. “Please spare my life, Great One, and I shall never kill again!”

The young monk stood still and said, “I will spare your life if you leave here and never kill anything ever again, and you must leave here and do 100 good deeds.” And with that, the samurai was gone. The young monk returned to the monastery as a changed person with unquestionable respect for his master, and lived the rest of his life without complaint and as if each day was his last.

The Seeds of Investment – Part II

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

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

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?

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