it is breathtaking

Tonight I felt excited that my late nights and hard work have paid dividends. I am gradually finding out that branching out into different channels of prospecting can be really thrilling. The discovery of new ways of roping in clients to service is inexplicable! I have made many friends, total strangers who did not know me now trust me enough to do proper jobs with their hard-earned income.

If I push on, edge closer, inch nearer, I will soon find my face next year in the papers, no doubt a very small one, but one all the same. I will be one of the planners who have risen to the occasion and in the future, as a leader in the industry, I will have my own tale to tell. Bright talents of the future will only follow established men, and no one else, and building this track record will be absolutely vital to building a solid team of planners.

I have learnt many hard lessons, and more is to arrive. I have come to learn to read people better - genuine, good people and others. I have learnt to talk to older folks and be impressionable young men. I have learnt to minger with young parents with children and talk to them. But I have much much more to learn. There are so many angles, so many dimensions to this life than I have ever thought.

One day, I will find some successful people and find out how they lead their lives, and I must learn wholeheartedly from their ways. The most excellent men may not be the most affluent, but so long as they have rich experiences to share, I must give my listening ear. My ego is worth nothing if I accomplish little in life, and compared to these great men in society, I still have much experience to gain.

Right now it is only the beginning, but I see the road map ahead, and it is a very exciting one. No work has made me so excited before in my life. No career has the potential to shape my character and personality to such an extent. I must look up to the clouds, and soar with the eagles.

As a reward for working as hard as butchers' dogs (as recently quoted by Ferguson), and in celebration of 25 years of my existence, I decided to get myself a gift. I still cannot shake off my passion for toy collectibles and art combined. This particular ninja up for auction is one of a kind, hand-made and sculpted by John Mallamas, better known by his pseudonym Jin Saotome! You can google and find his page on the internet. His custom toy figures are amongst the best in the world. His custom figures can fetch up to US$800+ at its best. Although the auction price of this ninja is nowhere near that astronomical sum, it is still a decent 3-digit figure. Still, it is unparalleled in terms of handiwork. Enjoy!

living for faith

After a ridiculously packed Saturday (which was all work and no Halloween play), I took a breather on Sunday and went to church. I met Geri's brother and mother who were both very happy to see me there. I talked to them for a bit, but the main focus was the theme of this particular Sunday mass. The theme has an uncanny parallel to my line of work, and the more I listened, the more excited I got. My obsession for finding out the purpose in life is what drew me to literature, philosophy, politics, religion, and now, business. I saw a common thread that ran through religion, business, and politics. The theme was on saints.

As I have told several friends, I really enjoy listening to this particular priest who barks at his flock i.e. church-goers. Although I'm no Catholic, I think he is a fantastic priest who can deliver his message and impact the audience. He drew examples from history, of the various stories of saints in the world, including Mother Teresa. To me, the priest exemplifies Machiavellian excellence, for Machiavelli looks to the Romans to model on the latter's success. The priest told us to look to the past saints and read about their history, so as we may follow the footsteps of the most excellent of saints, so that we may become better Catholics. In my line of business, we look to the best in the industry, the Top of the Table performers (e.g. my Director), Court of the Table performers, and Million Dollar Round Table performers (e.g. my manager). When you follow the footsteps of the most accomplished men, you can only get better at the craft. To excel too, you must be driven. I believe that if I learn diligently from them, from the best in the industry, the best in the history, I can rise to become a formidable planner.

In life, it is all about choices, free will. For Catholics, do they want to choose actions and choose to lead a life which is a shining example to all others? For politicians, do they want to choose to be remembered as a solid authoritarian ruler or an ineffective 'nice' ruler? For planners, do we want to choose a life of fun and relaxation, or be driven and be the best in the industry?

The choice is yours.

running for life

Today was the third Friday I have been training for the December marathon. I covered an estimated 16km-17km but in very poor timing. My boss was the only one who was behind me egging me on, although he was tired himself. This coming marathon is one where I am aiming to complete without the onset of muscle cramps, and I am damn sure I am going to complete it in record time, my very own record time, in 5 hours perhaps.

While jogging at East Coast, I saw a giant sign plastered on one of the lamp posts. It read:

"RUNNING IS LIKE A JOURNEY OF LIFE. YOU GET BACK IN RETURN WHAT YOU PUT IN."

The phrase echoed in my brain for the rest of the run. This marathon is not intended for me to shed the pounds. Rather, it is a journey for me, from training day to the marathon day itself, whether I can keep up the discipline, whether I can prove the worth, whether I can give my due diligence. Many things in life are not under our control, but this is something which is, to determine my standards.

I met a couple of friends for drinks at night the last two nights after work, and they filled me in on the same phrase that I endorse, that "young people should go out and give their all when they're still young." I am very pleasantly surprised that both these friends uttered these words. Both of them are girls, and it shows that no good woman likes a slack man. At least to me, a man without drive is as good as a man with ED! Even some of my female colleagues mentioned that a man is the sexiest when he's committed and driven to do something unrelated to the woman.

I have somewhat found my purpose in life, in helping people by making sure that their umbrellas are there on a rainy day. Money aside, there really must be something else that makes sense for me, that clicks. I am very glad to be helping those who want to be helped. I have been put to shame by the actions of some clients who are younger than me but placing their families' needs before theirs.

Some friends have expressed their concerns at my line of work. I can only say that I enjoy very much what I am doing. There is a higher purpose to this, because knowing that I am there to be able to deliver a cheque to the bereaved family is something which money cannot buy. I wouldn't choose any other career that is more emotionally rewarding than this, except maybe charity.

alvin poon: 1984 - 20XX

While the title may be a tad morbid, someone shared with me the significance of the dash. The dash that is in between the year I was born and the date that I go. The dash represents the journey of me, the person, and how much value I have brought to the people around me, to my parents and to my friends. It represents how much I have achieved in my life too, whether I have wasted my life away, or I have done something I've always wanted.

I want to bring my parents overseas for the first time in their lives, and thank them for raising me. I want to earn enough to ferry them around in a car bought with my own sweat and tears. I want to grow old with Geri. I want to give her the best because of her support. I have grown to appreciate many things because life is short for some people. I want my dash to be worth the while.

As the proverbial saying goes, "Money does not buy happiness." It's so true. Money merely makes more options available. I want to maximise my time available in my life to make those options come alive. The option to give my parents a holiday every year, the option to pamper Geri regularly, the option to give my children a solid education with sky-high uni fees. In my life, these things matter. Unfortunately they are not free. When I do not have the means, they no longer become options.

My parents chose a life of simplicity. A combined household income of $2000 per month can hardly be called much. Yet instead of buying a car for the family, instead of going on holidays, my parents chose to give me an education fund, which they took tens of years to build. Few parents have that magnamity of spirit. Now that I have been educated, unlike them, I should utilise my abilities to maximise my propensity to earn, in order to sow the seeds for future generations. Men will always be remembered for that, for the sacrifices made.

My uncle was sacked unceremoniously with 2 months' worth of pay after 30 years of service with the company. When I learnt of that, I realised that in this age, loyalties to company mean little if they are not earning. We put our lives, our pay, our ability to service loans, our future, into the hands of some giant corporation that we have no say in. It is time to change with the times perhaps. Maybe it is time to be entrepreneurial, like the government encouraged us to do. Maybe it is time to put our destinies in our own hands. It may fluctuate in the short-term, but stability is assured in the long-run. This is the life of a self-employed and a business owner. As my colleague put it, "We create our own destinies".

How much is my dash worth?

It is in my own hands.