A Place to Sleep and I Eat Everyday

Some nights I cannot sleep.

Call it insomnia, stress, or over worry, but my brain keep thinking and thinking and thinking when it's time to go to sleep. I have been having this condition for years. I know sleep is very important, so I ask my husband who is an expert in sleep peacefully like a baby at night.

I asked him,"With everything in life that was thrown at you, how can you still be able to sleep soundly at night?"

His reply was simple.

"Well, I can sleep good at night because I know that I have a place to sleep and I eat everyday. Nothing else matters."

...

This is so deep! When he said that one liner, I stopped thinking for a minute and let it sink. A place to sleep, and eat everyday. Isn't that the common basic needs of human? That is so true! So why worry about anything else?

So from now on, I will practice this concept every night before I go to sleep. As long as I have a place to sleep at night, and I eat everyday, I should be happy and content. And being content will lead to night full of sleeps.

May we all sleep soundly like a baby, tonight, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow!

World Peace (How)

In my previous blog post, World Peace (What), I describe what and why world peace is so important. I lay out the 5 stages of peace to get to world peace faster.

Now I'm going to share with you how we can achieve world peace together. It's actually easier than you think.

To accomplish a common goal, we have to unite and fight our common enemy. Who is our common enemy? Actually, it's not a who, but it's a what! Our common enemy is not each other, or other countries, ... the other people are our allies in this!

Our common enemy is the world's problem. We can list many of the world's problem, but I think this is the top 3:
1. Poverty/Social Gap
2. Climate change
3. Incurable diseases.

When people still think that other people is their enemy, they will try to eradicate other people. This way of thinking is dangerous. This could lead to tension and hostility. This could lead to war.

War is not the answer. Open diplomatic channel. Sit down and talk.

When we all can work together and find creative solutions to tackle the world's challenge, I believe eventually we will achieve world peace 100%. I believe one day we will have world peace!

If you want world peace faster, share this article around. May peace be with you.

World Peace (What)

What do we all want?

I think we want the same thing. World Peace. The world finally quits being so violent and for us to have peace wherever, whenever we are.

Why the world peace is so important? With peace, we can do the best without fear. Without intimidation. Without feeling have to be rushed or bullied into. Most of Miss Universe have been saying this since the pageant itself started in 1952! Come on people, it's 2017! It's time we promote World Peace!

I believe we can achieve world peace one day. Every countries, all of them, none exempted, will be at peace with one another. No more terrorism, no more war. Each countries can do what its best can do for the better of humanity.

To achieve this goal, we have to start with ourselves.

There are 5 stages of peace:
1. Self Peace
2. Family Peace
3. Society/Local Peace
4. Country Peace
5. World Peace

Next, how will we get there? I'll share the steps with you in my next blog post, World Peace (How).

4 Savings Type You Should Have

We all know the importance of having a savings account. You can save for rainy day, unexpected occasions, etc.The good news is, these days we are not limited to just have one savings account. You can have multiple savings account. 


By the way, this list doesn't include retirement planning, that is a whole different topic. Before doing number 2,3, or 4, you should establish the 1st savings fund, and set up retirement plan. After you all set with your retirement plans, then let's start the number 2,3, and 4.

Here's the top 4 type of savings that you should have:

1. Emergency Savings Fund
Experts say three to six months expenses should help to cover anything life throw at you. The bigger the better, so funding this right away will be a smart move. Prepare umbrella before it rains.This is your 'umbrella'.

2. College Savings Fund
Don't forget your children. Opening 529 plans will help them to have a better future. Give them their best chance to compete with other kids on the block. 10-20 years from now, their competition might be another graduates from different countries! Ensure they have at least a bachelor degree!

3. Birthday/Anniversary Savings Fund
To avoid feeling guilty on splurging money for your loved ones, start the birthday/anniversary savings fund today. This way you can avoid being in debt after getting that new diamond ring for her (or lavish watch for him). Having this savings also help to pay for that fancy dinner you've been dreaming for.

4. Vacation Savings Fund
This one it could be called a luxury savings. Why? Because technically you can still live without travel. But if you like travel and want to see the world, then you better start up the vacation savings fund. This way you don't feel in burden after your vacation done and seeing your credit card bill. Plan your vacation smartly and start putting money away! Bon Voyage!

And as bonus,I'm going to throw in one more savings type that you should have. I heard Christmas is coming in 4 months, so if you celebrate Christmas and all the gift-giving festivities for this holiday, you should open a ... Christmas Savings Fund!

If let's say you have 24 family members for gift giving, rather than buying all 24 gifts in November/December, you can break it down to just 2 gifts a month (starting January). This will help you to avoid having too much purchases in one month. Instead, you'll spread your money to 12 months period. Having a little bit purchases here and there helps. Now, I know it's not practical to buy the gifts right away and storage that in your closet. You could run out of place soon. So I recommend to just stash away the money first, let's say the dollar amount equals to 2 gifts a month, then you can go shopping spree on Black Friday!

Hope this article helps! Let's saving today and reap the rewards tomorrow!

Happy Savings! :)

Why Titanic Sunk

20 years ago, 1997, I watched a great movie called, Titanic. This is a movie that I watched over and over again, and everyone who know me back then can testified how I really adored Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater's love story in this awesome film. I like the movie so much, I even listened to Celine Dion's OST Titanic "My Heart Will Go On" like ... a million time!

A lot of people say that the reason why Titanic sunk was because of an iceberg. But the truth is, Titanic sunk not because of the iceberg. The iceberg was already there anyway.

The reason why the giant ship sunk, is because of... poor planning.

1. Life boats counts were less than the passengers, crews, and everyone aboard.
The ratio between the life boat and the people on board was way off. When Rose raised up this concern to one of the higher-ups, they just dismissed it. Have they paid attention to Rose's concern, they could make a game plan on how to solve this problem earlier.

2. The leadership team wasn't in unison.
One got too ambitious and want to make the headline by making the ship ran faster than what was agreed. The captain was influenced by the news reporter, and made a bad decision to speed up the boat. This greediness cost lives.

3. The crew was distracted.
Remember the scene after Jack and Rose made love in the carriage? They went out from the side door and were laughing out loud. The look-out crew on top of the ship got distracted with their laugh and kinda laughing at them. When he finally no longer distracted, it was too late to send the warning that could avoid the iceberg. Bam!

So... how we can prevent this from happening again? Easy.
1. Plan ahead. 
2. If there was issue escalated to your attention, do something about it. 
3. Stick to the plan and if you need to make any changes, analyze why.
4. Don't get distracted. Focus on your duties. Focus on what you're doing now. 

These steps will help us in any situation, whatever your "ship" situation is. Don't blame the iceberg. Find the root cause and find resolution. Then solve your problems.

Have a good day, everyone!

Life is ...

What is life?

1. Life is a multiple choice.
The way we comb our hair, the flavor we choose our ice cream, the choices we make everyday, make up our life. Just be wise with our choices, they will follow us. Always choose to do the right thing. Always choose the best. Always do your best.

2. Life is an essay.
Every day we start with a new blank page. We can write whatever we want in it. Life is unlimited, you can be whatever you want to be.

3. Life is a book.
When you look at your past life, let's say in school, college, or your first work, you'll find your life is always evolving into something different in each stage. Just like a book filled with chapters, so does life. Each stage of life is unique and surprising. And when you "read" your life from 5, 10, 15, even 20+ years ago, you'll see that you are growing into better state each time. If you're life is not getting better, then change something.

4. Life is how you handle plan B.
This sentence is so deep, there's even no explanation needed for it. You can plan all you want, but life always will throw something at you, and that's called plan B. Chess is a good practice game on how you'd like to "plan" life.

5. Life is what you make it.
It is what it is. Life is what you live. How you think and do everyday is the sum of your life. Daily habits become the way of live. So cultivate a good habit, every single day.

Have a great life!

The Purpose of Life

What is the purpose of life?

Is it money? Wealth? Fame? Success? Reaching the top ladder of the world?
It is not actually.

The purpose of life is... happiness.

No matter what you do in life, if you are not happy doing it, it's not worth it. Without happiness, everything is shallow.  I found that when people are happy doing their work, they'll be more successful in their field. There's a deep connection and correlation between happiness and success.

Finding your inner happiness is as important as outer happiness. There are a lot of people that may not have everything their heart desire, but they are still happy because they are grateful for things (or people, like family and friends) that they already have.

It is a bit challenging to find happiness in this world today. With all the hecticness of life, busy rushing in and out doing this and that, with us constantly being pitted against each other in every measurement metrics out there, being truly happy is a rare state of mind. Sometime we thought we're happy if we have these stuff, or happy if we reach our goals and destinations, or happy if we have a certain person in our lives.

But who are we kidding?

Happiness is not the matter of owning bunch of stuff. Happiness is not when we reach certain stats. Happiness is not when we have finally connected with this person or that person.

True happiness is when you feel peace, calm, and serene even though it's chaotic out there. Happiness is when you can relax amidst the full schedule ahead. Happiness is when you share your happy moments with those people that you love and loves you back. Happiness is accepting who you really are and embracing your inner self. Happiness is being content.

Today, I wish you to be happy. Practice happiness everyday.  It is the purpose of life.

Start from Finish

Last week, I had the chance to spend time with a 9-yr old boy name Jayden. He likes puzzle, so I gave him a maze riddle on how to guide a prince find his princess.

I was amazed at how Jayden solved the puzzle!

Normally, we would start at the prince (start). But Jayden is unique, he started from the princess! From the finish line. And he traced her way back to her prince!

Although this is not the "right" way to solve the puzzle, but nonetheless, he was being creative and look at things from different spectrum. For him, to finish the riddle easier, he started from the end.

That was an eye opener moment for me. How many we adults struggle with our problems, because we just stuck at some point, and forget to see the finish line? Maybe we should change our approach and start solving our problem from the "finish" line! Who knows it makes the resolution easier to find?

I guess this is what Stephen Covey said in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with "Begin with the End in Mind."

Way to go, Jayden!

Butterfly

"If you want to be better, change.
If you want your life to be better, evolve."

Metamorphosis is the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. We know what kind of animals that go thru this process. My favorite one is butterfly. Butterfly does not just change, it evolves. A humble caterpillar can eventually become a beautiful butterfly after the whole process is complete.

In a lot of things, we should learn from this metamorphosis process. In becoming the person we desire, we continually must change and evolve to think like one, do like one, and become like one. It's all start with think and doing a simple habit, and with repetition we will master that into a way of life.

If we want to be better, we simply must change. We must let go negative habits, and build up our positive sides. Continue to build up your strength, and slowly but sure, forego the weakness. And if we want our life to be better, we eventually must evolve, like a butterfly.

Isn't it great to see a caterpillar that small and fragile, eventually become a big butterfly with such wonderful colors and wings? To strengthen those wings, we need to not skip the chrysalis process, which is the one that develop us and make us one step closer to our "butterfly" goal.

Evolve. Be better today. Be butterflies everywhere!

Live Your Best Life

"If today you wake up again in the morning, that means you given another chance to live your best life." - Anonymous.

To live your best life.

Many of us wander through life as if there's another day of tomorrow. We take things for granted, we take people for granted, and we disregard experiences. But I bet there are many people out there that would trade places with us, given an opportunity. People that only has so many days left due to their critical illness. People that in their deathbed relieving their best memory with their family and friends. People who already passed away. People that are not given another chance to live another day.

We heard the phrase,"Live as this is your last day." I say,"Live as if this is your best day ever to live!". Let's give it our best. Let's give it our 100%. In everything that we do. What we think, say, and do in action should be in unison. We shouldn't settle for mediocrity and be complacent in yesterday's glories. Instead, let's make new accomplishment, new things to strive for, new time for people who matters for us.

Today is the best time to live in this earth. We have so many advantage ahead compared to people living few centuries ago. I think we live better than even kings and queens of the past! Kings and queens of the middle ages doesn't have internet. They don't have Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram to entertain us. They only can settle with a game of chess - an actual chess because they are strategizing thru war! They have to be happy if they live after 40 years old because they might escape dysentery, but us? We might live a bit longer thanks to technology, inventions, and new cure in healthcare.

In the past we attend school face to face, but now? We can learn so many new things thru television and online studies. Website like Youtube and other online learnings help us to understand how things are. In the past we have to fill up our spaces with tons of books, but now, Kindle can store more than 6000 books all at once, and you can bring that when you fly to your next vacation spot.

So many great things happen in this world today. So many good things we can do and teach the next generations. So let's teach them the attitude of thinking big and do great things.

Let's live our best life TODAY!