Ryan Ho's Entrepreneurship Blog

I believe majority of the successful individuals out there are always looking for the checklist and formula but over the years, i realize from over the years of searching for the answer, it is actually very simple, yet most people would avoid it at all cost. There are just some times when you give it your best but still fail to meet the grade.

To succeed, is to first learn to fail, not only faster, but numerous more times than what the majority have not gone.

By doing so, it is actually doing ourselves a service, to take a shortcut and fast-forward towards success, and avoid banging into the same walls and repeat the mistakes which new business owners, and start-ups will face.

Failures is the success package that is only being wrapped up with newspapers instead of beautiful gift wrapping paper.

Success with failures alone is not sufficient, the individual must be able to learn, reflect, and ensure there’s no repeat of the same mistakes, thus increasing the probability of success.

You’ll need to have quality gift being as the main ingredient that will guarantee your success, that is experience, and an eagle’s eye for details. The ability to identify potential trouble makers even before they show any signs by simply testing them, and making observations.

There are a few list of factors that which I’ve realized that success really does require third party or external help in order to process the gift to be of value to be appreciated by the recipient.

The help is not physical help, but rather in a form of experience, exposure, being placed in a difficult situation, and building a portfolio leveraging on a stronger brand initially until the personal branding and reputation is recognized by the related industry players before coming out on your own.

As i gradually am being tasked to help the company filter and identify quality service providers to increase the efficiency of the business, I realized something that I never once know nor even read in any books, but did watch and picked up in movies.

“It is not who you are that matters, it is who you represents that matters!”

By representing the business, the trust, creditability and financial ability are than being placed on the business representative, thus a nobody can instantly become a somebody due to a company employed individual, than when the company’s name is mentioned, the trust is immediately shifted to me, the representative, than a person becomes of value.

That is something that will never happen in a hardcore one-man-show type of entrepreneur example, and they will take a longer time to succeed, as they build on the trust, reputation from nothing.

It takes at least three to five years to build and grow reputation for a already successful business to be even successful, whereas it takes close to ten years for a individual to be successful, as a person build everything up from nothing.

Learning to leverage on a strong company with proper branding, credentials is an important skill, you don’t need to work for the business to leverage as joint venture or having them as your client works equally well if not better. So if you have nothing, start finding a company whom will offer you that positive leverage.

Exposure to more competitive market, under pressure to deliver results, combined with limited resources will really stretch an individual in a positive way towards success. Something that I currently am being placed in such a situation, or risk losing the job confirmation, at least that’s the way i am reading the danger signs from the instructions given to me to carry out the work.

Being exposed to competition is similar to the process of creating a gem, that requires high pressure in confined space to create a raw gem stone, following which, requires precise polishing that requires a skilled and trained individual to do so.

Limited resources forces a person to put on their thinking cap, thinking out of the box, and use any closest possible solution to address the problem first. During this process, it is a gradual appreciation and change in the way individuals do things, in terms of principles and perspective change towards the better and gets a person to see things from another perspective and get their brain run faster than ever.

With exposure to different landscape and business practices to meet expectations and delivery dates, it forces a person to level up and change gear to move faster or risk elimination. This is something that being a self-employed one-man-show entrepreneur, can never experience due to no competition except for themselves and against the naysayers hoping that they will fail faster so all their friends can celebrate failure together.

Being thrown in different situations will really help shape a person, their experience to be a better person and an informed decision maker. It is required to create the gift to be of value in order to be appreciated. This gift is what most if not all people will admit without any disagreements and that is experience, as it helps provide them from harm’s way.

There are both positive and negative experience, to be successful, it means to learn how to convert every single negative experience and failure in a positive learning experience to face the same problems at attempt to fix the issues at it’s root cause instead of running and avoiding it. That’s the ultimate difference in the successful and the failures.

Failure is not a option. it is a necessity before you can succeed.

Exposure, experience with the proper leverage under pressure with no alternative choice will help propel oneself or a business towards success.

When you feel helpless, than will you grow faster at the next opportunity to grow, thus learning to real truth to make full use of any opportunity that comes to us, thus the success succeed because they understand this perfectly and capitalize on it better then their competitors.

Cherish what you have and milk every single drop out of it.

In a nut-shell: The only competitive advantage a successful business have over their competitors is to be one-step faster than their competitors.

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Wealth creation is actually very simple by just following step-by-step instructions, but it is never easily for a start as many people will tell you this.

Over my course of working, following my mentor, I was fortunate to witness the transformation and growth of how a profitable business help shape a millionaire. And from a millionaire, the rate of change at which the transformation was simply much faster than the climb up to the millionaire status.

The speed at which the business and the individual grows is minimally three times faster based on my humble one-sided observation.

What I have noticed during the process is that most people at the start of a journey is the most important step, without the correct mindset, 95 percent of the individuals will immediately drop out of the race after an effective period of 1 month.

Drop out reasons simply due to inability to do exactly as what they are told to do. In short- it is doing nothing.

Out of the remaining 5 percent, 3 percent will drop out after the third month. The last 2 percent, will have their success and failure confirmed after the 1st year of trying to do follow through what is taught and doing exactly as what they are told to do so. 1 percent out of the 2 percent will succeed either with profit or results, while the other 1 percent will again be eliminated due to failure to find their own compass, a direction whereby they know what to do, how to profit, and when to grow and multiply the profit accordingly.

Drop out reasons for the last 4 percent over the period of 1st year is simply due to greed, trying to follow and adopt multiple sources of income by signing up with more courses without even succeeding in any of the course yet and moving onto the next course, resulting in lost of focus, when there are many options for them to choose from.

The last 1 percent who made it pass the 1st year is than constantly tested and judged by on the ability to continue doing what they have being doing at least for a minimum period of 3 to 5 years without being losing focus.

What happens during the 2nd to the 5th year is the observation from potential investors, future business partners from far aside to judge if the person/entity is up to the standard of claiming to do what they peaches.

Consistency is being tested, ability to execute and deliver results is also being observed. Financial accounts of the state of both the individual (business owner), the entity as well as any employees and customers testimonials and reviews are being looked into and factored in as a consideration. Integrity, credentials, ability to defend and expand their own social sphere of influence are also being factored into.

It is only after the 5th year, that reputation has being established with deep roots (only applicable in the situation where financially sound entity).  During the 4th – 5th year, it is the networking, public relationship, bonding, and value, benefit exchange that is the focus, and being worked on, going to other businesses, helping each other grow, and sharing the money sources from the same pool of client database.

By sharing the money source, than are they able to tap onto each others database of qualified clients therefore increasing their sales closing by speaking to the right people with deep wallets.

Yes they do share their resources, as these type of qualified clients are more than willing to pay the following month, so that means the clients funds will never be exhausted. Unlike the poor where they keep all the secrets and money to themselves, thus their wealth can never out-grow that of a wealthy individual who has worked with other successful individuals.

In the absence of financial results, what’s left is respect with a strong aura surrounded with fear. For attempting to challenge a tested proven candidate will leave any newbies challengers worn out and reputation lost over their arrogance and inability to protect and proof their claims to validate with facts. (This comes not from theory but from actual experience of fending off a direct selling forum [under same user name for past 6 years] that i successfully eliminated every single one of the users who posted false, misleading, confusing information in attempt to source for leads.)

Now, even as i leave the forum to let newbies start their own threads without me posting inside the hard truth, leaving rooms for them to learn on their own, the other users are already smart and educated enough to even ignore the new threads knowingly that my thread is the only tested and proven source of information that they can trust with examples of facts to back my claims.

Moving on, and continuing on the 95% failure mentioned earlier, there are tons of reasons why the casualty rate is that high, due to the majority poor, but highly influence factor that clouds, and sway the shaky individual back to the tested to fail model of study hard and work hard model, only to complain later when they grow older “if only I had a choice back than” those type of excuse to save their pride and ego in front of the younger kids and like-minded friends.

The reason causing the extremely high failure has its roots deep rooted from birth, it’s part of our genes to copy, and indeed majority of all man-kind copied, copying the majority, seeing, listening, and doing exactly what they are doing. Thus the majority are poor, and the minority are rich, insanely rich based on the top 20 percent of the population of each respective countries.

To start generating wealth, first all of us have to break away from our genetic system, copying the majority, and start following the minority of individuals with tested proven successful model without even question nor even think. Just do as you are told first, get results than ask later, only when you start making money, than allocate a little portion out to test models that previously you wanted but rejected by your mentors and coaches, than will you thank them for rejecting you straight in the face.

The worst ever irony of wealth creation is that while successful millionaires share they secrets openly via workshops and seminars, the poor still think they are smarter and refuse to obey and follow the what is being told.

The rich’s rule is: Follow the money.

The poor’s rule is: Follow the crowd (majority). Thus most remain poor even if they are taught how to succeed. They failed mentally before even they started.

In a nut-shell: Always ask yourself this question when you are in doubt and denial of unable to move on towards doing a route less traveled.

That question is: Majority Rich or Minority Rich.

That answer will be the guide and financial compass to show you the route you should take.

Remember this take away: All of us have a choice to be either rich or poor and whom you listen to.

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There is a common saying, failure is the mother of all success.

While many people claim that they know they what failure means, but from the action, and response, it is clear that majority of the individuals do not even know the what the real definition of failure means.

To succeed and win in places where majority of all others have failed, there are a couple of reasons why we all must learn first learn to fail before we succeed.

In business, it is always a route of hardship and it is never easy. Should a individual or business entity always have a smooth journey towards the top, when he/she is faced with a obstacle, than will they understand why it is best to first learn how to fail before winning.

Reason being so is primarily because once the person at the top loses the top position, they will drop all the way downwards to the rock bottom, with no chance of survival. The person or entity at the second position who just took over the first spot, will utilize their own network and connection to block every single opportunity to block a fallen champion from reviving and take back their former glory.

Just look at Tiger Woods, the moment he dropped from his number one spot, to fifth, twentieth position and finally twenty-fifth world ranking than lost his own aura, the fear that most golfers would respect him has literally vanish into thin air. The respect that most golfers had of him gone down the drain, as he is still trying to correct his own swinging style to make improvements and get more birdies, eagle if not hole-in-one hopefully.

While the respect, aura of fear has vanish, the public and the crowd are still following Tiger Woods, as he still possess much more media attention than the other newly crown champions.

From the wife chasing after Woods causing him to get into a car accident, to sex scandals, to knee injuries, all bad times happening one after another, thus causing him to lose momentum, focus and old injury made matter worse..

While most can be prevented, by learning from history, but arrogance has led to his very downfall, and now he is learning to pick up the pieces and learn to be a better man by paying for the consequences in financial compensation to impose a gag order on his wife, his ex sexual partners from talking about it.

This is something that many of us can learn from, is to first fail many times, before we rise all the way to the top, so as not to allow such an incident from happening.

While we still do not know what is the future for Woods himself, all that we can hope for is that he had better find back the old shelf, with the good swing, and learn how to be a better man. It is only that after he apologize, and admit his mistakes, that the crowd is still willing to follow him, giving him a second chance.

Failure is not scary, in fact it is a must go-through experience, only which will it make us a better person. Success is scary, as it creates the illusion of everything is going smoothly, so there’s no contingency plans made, thus it is a long way back up to the top, taking a long time to climb back up.

To win, and attain success, fail first, and fail faster than all other competitors, so in the event competitors fail, we who have already failed, know how to do damage control, minimize the loss to the lowest, and emerge as the winner, just like how the Singapore economy was able to remain competitive and have a stronger currency value and positive outlook when the USA, Europe financial markets are in turmoil.

Thanks to our cabinet ministers and their rich experience of past hardships, experience, and most importantly, learning from history, than are we Singapore able to withstand what many other economies globally are unable to. That is success, and it should be celebrated, but celebrate it in a positive way to serve as a reminder for others not to repeat the same mistakes twice.

In short, to succeed, first you fail. Next if you fail again, learn from your own experience as well as your competitors’ failure and find out why it happened, and turn them into you experience. Next study what causes global failure regarding whatever markets that are connected to our sources of income and come up with back up plans to protect it from the incoming risk.

That should be the reason why failure will only lead us towards success, and not to repeat history to fail again twice in the same area.

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The main difference that differentiate the rich from the poor is the way they handle  secrets.

The rich succeed as they know clearly and surely how to keep their lips sealed, and hold onto the confidential information that they know should not be shared or passed around even to their closest next of kin when profits, integrity, reputation is at stake.

By keeping the information to themselves, execute the instructions, get some results first before they filter and share the secret with only individuals who deserve to get a slice of the pie in exchange for something of similar if not better future prospects.

The key point here to note is, information exchange, helping each other to grow richer based on core expertise guidance in respective markets to grow their wealth both ways, thus creating multiple streams of income by letting the experts handle it, and does it without any questions nor doubts.

The poor continuous fail due to the very different approach of how they handle private details that should not be disclosed at any point nor to anybody. They trade in the information in exchange for fake friendship who are just like leaches sucking the blood and taking a free ride without any intention to provide any benefit to the provider.

When information is concerned, the less people knowing it, the better, so there’s more to earn, and the less hands it passed, the more accurate it is, as it reduce the changes of it being misinterpreted. When there are discussions, secrets turn into news, and soon after it becomes a gossip and turns into speculations, and eventually becomes a bet in a form of gambling. Without any form of proper knowledge of handling money, they than blame their inability to control money and push the blame onto the person giving the ‘secret’ to them, and asking them to compensate for their losses, and keep quiet if they do make a profit from their friends.

The difference that makes the poor poorer, is also due to diluted profit sharing, the more the share, the less they get. The more they share, wrong information get passed around, and it may affect the market patterns when it stocks market is concern. They refuse to return anything nor share any other profitable revenues in return, nor do they have anything to offer in return, thus they can never ever grow their money.

Money multiplies in the form of growth, it takes the correct first step to repeat the second step and grow the amount over time with due diligence and not negligence that cause greed, laziness to do homework and depend of quick tips and bet their whole fortune and pay a heavy price of loss and the bitter taste of failure.

The best part of secrecy is that until you earn the rights, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to succeed without any guidance. Start off by learning how to keep information secret to yourself first.

The most important point to note to succeed and make it big in life (shortest possible way) is to pay your way into the secrets. This is the identical strategy adopted by even large companies where they acquire smaller companies just so to get their hands on the trade secrets.

The thumb of rule to success are as follows:

If you got no money, earn it, than spend wisely.

If you got money, buy information and get others to work for you.

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Friends are people who started off as strangers, to acquaintance, before coming friends, best friends, buddies etc.

But as we grow older, and wiser, our number of friends start to decrease due to change of environment occupation and thus companionship becomes less than important as we all learn the primary importance is money, without it, survivor will be a problem itself.

The rich and poor people all have their own judgement on how to select the friends they choose to hang out with.

As the title suggest, selecting the good friends is important, but maybe only a couple of people will realize this, and more than half the population (poor individuals) never learn nor understand why they need to be picky, choosey when it comes to selecting friends.

Here’s a couple reasons why you (die-die) must know this:

One: Like minded people tend to stick together, and they attract the same people too as well. If you want to be rich, you need to think like a rich, talk, behave, and network with the rich, so one day you will soon be rich.

Two: Your network of friends whom you hang out together often determines your net-worth. It is only natural, and also instinct for man to hang around people on the same level to feel comfortable.

So if you are comfortable hanging out in people earning, entertaining and enjoying themselves with the leisure widely used and patronized majority, than you will remain poor, for happiness blocks a person from moving forward. It is a trap so to speak, that’s why successful individuals are never happy with what they have and always aiming higher. That said, leads us to the phrase “Don’t rest on your laurels”, speaks for itself and gives competitors a chance to overtake the leaders in any niche, something that is tested and proven.

Three: Your results, achievements are directly connected to the network, social circle that you hang out with.

That’s the reason why rich get richer, as they recommend and help each other succeed by helping others, they are helping themselves, having to return favors to each other in future.

The poor on the other hand only takes advantage of each other, and never returns the favor, thus they only get back to worse, it applies even to the intelligent, rich individuals in the wrong crowd will still be broke ultimately.There are only hindrance to each other.  (This happens even in family members living under the same roof, where poor family members would not want you to succeed, because it makes them look stupid not to follow in your path when you success means the people around you are all failures.)

Four: Learn and do the right things, whatever that helps you win, become a champion and succeed in life. It is a route less traveled, since our number of friends are decreasing as we age, grow older, why not start replacing negative with positive friends. The winners takes all, that’s why they always go against the flow where objections are plentiful, and the winner shares credit and rewards with their team-mates. The losers can only take if not fight for whatever is left behind, and never to share anything they get with the others.

In life, we only live once, so do the right thing. Isn’t it what everybody sets out to be successful in our own ways no matter how small or insignificant the success is?

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Timing is everything.

It matters in business, relationships, education and even life itself.

In business, investors, business owners, operators always wait for the right timing before executing their advertising, promotion campaigns in order to capture the highest potential viewership and attention when it comes to buying advertising spots in television, radio, newspapers, mobile marketing using apps.

Examples like: Cashing in on year end sales, especially when Christmas and New Year is round the corner, thus giving more reasons for customers to buy more. As they need to buy gifts, and new furniture, new renovation, repair works to give their homes a uplift for a new year with new look for fresher feeling.

In relationship, both genders will at times capitalize on the best moment to propose the other hand to live together as a couple.

As for education, tests and examinations are always place at the end of each term and closing academic semester respectively. Why can’t tests and exams come before studies? It’s obvious, as they need ample time for students to learn, practice and prepare themselves, getting ready for the examinations.

Getting rich, be successful also requires timing, wait for the perfect moment, but as we wait, get ready, and be prepared when it comes. else when you miss it, the spot will be taken by others who are more prepared than you. (This always happens in sports, businesses and even relationship.) Only people who grab onto the opportunity when presented clinch the top honors, and recognition.

Success must be continuous riding on the momentum and maximizing on the frame to go even higher. It’s a bit like how celebrities using some tricks or two to gain more publicity, so as to become popular and earn more money.

How to seize the moment. It is simple, but again, it is not easy. While you wait for the perfect moment, continue working on other projects, if you have completed one, as you monitor the already success project, than work on slightly bigger project riding on your previous success, as those are only temporary, so work on more projects, so when the time comes, the person/business who is more successful with higher profits (combined) compared with their competitors wins.

He who succeed, and thinks it is his/hers, will not win. Just think of the the rabbit and the tortoise story and you will understand.

Winners never take break, losers take lots of break.

So what if you want to take a small break, make sure you have an edge/advantage on your competitors, take a break, rest yourself, and get back up fast before your competitor is within your sights (radar), you will continue to take the lead. By that, it means always be aware of what competitors are doing, thus you can take a break as long as you continue to let them play be the chasing pack, while you lead the chase.

Never rush, plan your time properly and you will be one step closer to success, it is just round the corner.

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Fear is a distressing signal to a perceived threat, impending or imminent danger. It can also be cast from imaginary threats that is not for real.

There is a great difference in the way we handle fear against those from bought up in western culture.

Asians have lots of fear, due to the lazy parenting methods of scaring babies to keep them from making trouble, thus they grow up to be afraid of anything and everything that is unfamiliar or unknown to them.

Westerners on the other hand, never groom their children to be scared, instead they always encourage their babies to continue trying, and stand up where they fall until they succeed, such is the difference in how people living in different cultures have different understanding of fear. As westerners, they never know what’s fear from my perspective, as they were not taught to be afraid, thus they are more entrepreneur than most of the Asians.

To face fear is to venture into the unknown. When people do not know what they do not know, and they keep trying until they succeed, than comes a success formula that they are quick to duplicate in everything they do to multiply their results.

I have my own fair dosage of fear.

The most memorable experience of fear was when I was fifteen, on a trip to mountain expedition in Malaysia, organized by the uniform group that I was part of. Realizing that I was afraid of heights (walking on a path next to steep slops of the mountain) only when I was three quarters up route towards reaching the submit of the mountain, my legs was shaking, as the group was pushing forward fast, at that moment, another team mate got a leg cramp, and was forced to stopped, while the mountain rangers had a quick discussion, they radioed back to the head quarter office, leave a ranger by his side, and the rest of us abandon him in the care of the ranger and move forward.

The climb was hard, having reached the submit, with only thirty minutes stay on the submit, it was a mad dash down to back to base camp at the mid point of the mountain. It was only during the dash back to base camp for safety that i learn the fear of death was not as scary as being left in the dark of the mountain forest without a shelter over our head for rest and putting myself and the team mates at risk and the mercy of forest creatures.

After that, fear was something that was deleted in my mind until the last weekend. Another fear popped up, the fear of speaking to a camera – I was giving a testimonial of my search engine optimization results for being found on page one major search engines like Google.com, Google.com.sg, Yahoo and Bing. At that recording period, in under three minutes or so, i had five NGs..without a script, I was instructed to write out what I wanted to say in the camera if not I will repeatedly have blank thoughts, and left speechless in front of the camera again.

After the training ended, I took another attempt at the testimonial recording, and surprisingly, it was fine in just one take by reading from the paper that I prepared with considering having to rush to catch the last train back home late in the night.

Few days have passed, i realized something in common on confronting fears, we can never be too prepared for it, but be prepared nonetheless, and when you are being rushed, fear is non-existent at that very moment, at least it works for me. Being placed under pressure is what kills fear.

Now that I think and link up with why businesses always have date lines, contracts to follow, somehow it give a slight element of pressure, so people will not think of what’s going to happen if they do this or that, but rather forcing them to meet datelines or risk compensating clients for financial loss, which is effective.

It works by eliminating the fear, and replace it with financial loss, something that is practical, logically, so our minds will be in control by not thinking too much, just following the instincts and never look back, coming up with different methods to  shift the attention of fear if not divert their attention to somewhere else of higher importance.

After i understand the link between fear, pressure, contract, it links up with time limit and punishment. When we set a time limit and a harsh punishment to ourselves for not meeting target, it could be the very step that will push everyone of us forward towards achieving our goals and targets in life.

Perhaps you should give it a try. Hope that you can conquer your fear this way too.

The fun yet stupid part of fear when you learn to overcome it is that when you look back, and ask yourself :”Why am I afraid of this silly thing in the first place, now that I have completed what i previously thought impossible”

When I think about it, there are still many small and unknown fear that I have, I just have to overcome them one by one, and I hope you will overcome them too.

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Elimination is part of every day life.

It happens anywhere and everywhere. From games, schools, to relationships and even in businesses. It is happening on a daily basis.

In a game, like Survivor, where it is both a game as well as reflection of real life, those deemed as a threat to others are quickly being eliminated. In Survivor Redemption Island, Russell was  eliminated from the game, thanks to his team purposely lose to the immunity challenge just to vote him out, and they too paid a heavy price for voting him out in the end for not knowing how to play the game, which they could simply learn it by keeping Russel in the game and kick the weaker competitors out, given the fact that they are fighting against another team who has an equally strong opponent Rob who later gained full control of his team and was finally declared a Survivor Winner on his fourth attempt.

In academic education, the strongest students with the best results gets to choose their desired courses when they graduate and move on to the higher education. Results is what clearly differentiates and tells when, how and what kind of elimination with reasons allowing a student to learn from their weakness thus able to move forward.

In relationship, there are also clear signs of elimination that we can learn from. Failed, broken, separated relationships are signs that elimination is in the process of snowballing and worsening. The most evident proof is which when children grows up, refusing to take care of their parents (those cases of children tried but are unsuccessful due to difficult parents with nasty temper and behavior) living in the old folks home if not on their own with no frequent visits from their children or even siblings.

By the time those people who are already abandoned, realized their mistakes, it is already way too late, that is why seniors at the old folks old, majority of them have learn to contented with whatever companion they have. Happy with the sight of having social workers, volunteers and events to lift up their moods.

However in business, elimination is something that all business owners and investors would least like to hear, see nor experience it themselves. For it mean loss of revenue although it will grow their experience and aid in future business tie ups and partnerships with better results based on previous experiences.

In the business sector, elimination signs are clear, but inexperienced individuals know nothing about the signs, and before they know it, they are debt ridden with enormous debts and unable to save their businesses and in worse case scenerios, forced liquidation and filing for bankruptcy.

It is only up to today, that I realized the real definition of elimination having being eliminated from the business sphere, due to zero profits in one of my test projects. The reasons, I know what went wrong, but it only came to me when some one told me that was not workable. Than I rethink the past, where it was rejected by my mentor previous..somehow it make sense..but one thing is confusing..while my mentor don’t want to be part of the potentially failure business venture, he and his business partner, his own mentor even tried and tested it themselves before joining another business venture similar to what I have already failed in.

So the confusion and question is: Is it what I’m doing not workable, or is it the ways which I’m doing it is wrong, thus it calls for a change of strategies to make it a success?

Business elimination is cruel, it comes without warning, nor will anybody be there to advise you, for every natural business elimination means one less competitor and more business to their own business. Such is a cruel and harsh fact that explains why doing business is so simple, but it is not as easy as you think it is.

It is actually more difficult than it seems on the surface.

From what I have learned, here’s what you can take away to avoid repeating the same mistakes and notice the signs of elimination in future.

1. It comes to you quietly like a sniper or a vulture waiting for the perfect opportunity to go in for the kill.

2. You will expose most of your weakness to your competitors without you even knowing it.

3. There is little competition for that specific market. (It can be either your competitors themselves knows nothing too, or it is just a gold mine waiting to be discovered)

4. You will get hungrier day by day. In terms of financial terms, zero profit, with growing expenses to maintain a failed project/business.

5. Your pace is getting slower and slower, while your competitors are catching up on you.

How you can avoid being eliminated or even being caught in the process are as follows:

1. Set a period of observation of the results.

2. Set a date (time limit) to pull the plug if it it not profitable and focus on other projects.

3. Don’t wait for results to come in before starting new projects. Instead, start multiple projects and develop new products and services while you wait for results to come in. This way you greatly minimize your risk of financial loss with some products that can give you a profit to cover for those loss making projects.

4. Hire the professionals with the network to help you sell the products, never depend on yourself due to limited resources as well as network.

5. Always attempt to new strategies, projects, and services to find the next best source of income, but do it discreetly to avoid telling your competitors what you are doing.

To avoid elimination, there is a very simple and easy rule. That is to follow the leader, copy and learn every single trick the leader does, and make good decisions that does not put yourself and others at risk. In the above picture, Survivor Redemption Island, Russell’s team did exactly that, a poor decision to kick him out, fighting against another strong opponent without a equally experienced leader to lead the fight, that resulted in the whole team’s loss.

To win and succeed, it is always about the basics, follow the leader. (Learn, copy and model after everything that the leader does and wait for your chance, and duplicate the same thing). It is as simple as that, something that I failed to realized sooner. Luckily, I was eliminated with minimal financial loss, for i have couple of back-up plans in pocket.

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Sports is an activity that involves both individual, and team competes for a championship in an open contest against any incoming competitor.

While it may not seems to have any significant link to business or entrepreneurship, there are some relationship and similarities if we were to compare and identify similar traits of both the sports and business.

The traits required for both sports and business are as follows.

Precision -To hit back back at your competitor at the right time.

Advantage -  Attack and focus on the competitor’s weakness in pressuring them to give way under pressure

Preparation – Athletics all prepare and exercise on a regular if not frequent basis to be in the best of shape and health condition

Recovery – They will get injured in the process of competition, but they will accept their failure of temporary defeat over lack of preparation to strengthen to muscles, and work towards recovery and strengthen their weakness so it will be twice if not thrice as difficult to have their injury surface again. That is done so by proper rest and acceptance of their weakness.

Reflex – The natural body behavior to move accordingly on its own to hit back responding to movements required to win if not move forward.

Correction – Instant error acknowledgement and immediately correction of past error, commonly seen during badminton, table-tennis and many other sports.

Practice – All sports individuals frequent practice in perfecting their moves, on both the attack and defense whenever required

Exposure – Getting more exposure to the stronger players, giving them more experience in which forcing them (under-performers) to immediate accept their weakness and improve on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses so as to improve their overall performance and gain experience to know what is required to play at the top level.

Footwork – The basics of all sports defined as the foundation to greatly minimize injury, how to properly move forward, backwards, sidewards without tripping nor hurting yourself in the process.

Play – While sports may be a competitive sports, they are also in enjoying the playing process, not just with the sports, but also with the competitor and the audience and giving back different set of responses and strategies based on the competitive landscape. Enjoying the play is a must, without with, they will be just ordinary playing the sports at a leisure pace.

Momentum – Just like the formula in science, this also has the same formula. Requiring constant if not increasing speed and force to make sure the stronger competitor gets his/her way against a weaker opponent. When dealing with the professionals and experts when both contenders are on the same competitive level, focus and concentration is important, as there’s a common saying “Mind Over Body”

Distraction – While there may be plenty of distractions in any sports event where the audience create noise pollution in the form of cheering, the same cheering might be a nuisance to another group of athletes sharing the same venue with two different group of games happening at the same time. Professionals have however learn to cope with this distraction and selectively ignore negative distractions. By turning a blind ear to the booing, jeering and accepting on applause and encouragement when they deserve it, blocking if not positioning themselves in a self enclosed mental state of mind.

Rules – Always following and keeping within the rules (obedience) are what makes sports so sought after, for it is considered fair for all within any game.

Coach – Any professional sports competitor will always have a coach to guide them, just like business, they also have with the exception of a mentor instead of a coach.

Face off – The courage required to face competitors and maintain composure even if oneself is losing behind, and continuing the game with sportsmanship like a true winner to complete what they have started.

Competition – Always being aware of the always growing and changing competition as new, seasoned, experienced opponents take their time to play required to clinch a win with adapting to new competitors with different strategies required to secure a win.

Support – Behind every sports, there must be sufficient support in place, both physical, emotion and even mental.

Win – Any sports, all players play to win, even in leisure game to foster relationship and rapport between both parties. There’s a saying “Play To Win”

Punishment – Applied only when a party or a group attempts to ignore the rules and guidelines and take matters in their own hands. Offenders are dealt with by suspension of any participation of competition to ensure only the fair game is observed in sports.

in a nut-shell, if you were to take away the sports element, and use the same words on the business, you can easily identify and apply the same set of equations into any business model and sector as long as you know how to play the game.

Just apply all the rules and doings on sports onto business and you should find that it is much easier to succeed in business. The reason why people think and feel its difficult is because there’s no clear hard and fast rule that applies to all businesses since they are all different. Now that you know the secrets, apply and follow exactly and you will succeed in no time.

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School is said to be the place whereby majority of the people get to learn knowledge and pick up new skills vital required for independence when a person reaches a certain age.

School is not only a place but just one of the many sources whereby knowledge are being passed down and practiced. Only those who really knows the importance and cherish what was imparted to them will have a taste of success in small amounts when they are still learning.

Knowledge need not be taught only in schools, but also in private courses, from a group of company, like-minded peers, friends and colleges.

School is like a specialized place whereby an individual decides which course, and future is suited for him or her before starting education in the school.

Majority of the students who graduate from any school both locally and globally end up working as employees instead of being an employer if not an entrepreneur is because of a few reasons when they made foolish decisions when choosing the school that they want to learn from.

Stupid reasons are as follows:

1. Following your common group of friends to study in the same school.
2. Wanting to have more chances to meet and hook up with either a fellow student or senior in a particular course (following their idol).
3. Selecting a course based on the prospects (guaranteed immediate income upon graduation)
4. Not knowing what to choose, just obey parents orders, get into any school, as long as can upgrade qualification will do
5. Not to be left behind, refusing to retain due to poor results, want to be on the same pace with your peers.

Those are the few reasons that i can think of, if not heard from other people’s conversation (people who spoke loudly on public transport) and in news reports.

That is why most people failed in the long term, and which is why there is such a term as job-hopping, and career switch when students become adults and they realize their mistakes of poor decision making and for having wasted precious time during youth for making poor if not wrong decisions.

Only to regret and relearn by signing up with private courses after work to catch up, and not repeat the same mistakes again.

It goes to show that a wrong first step (decision) will lead to many wrong steps following which. In short, one wrong leads to more wrong.

On the contrary, look at all the bright, top results students, why and how did they manage to score top grade?

Time after time, proven tested, and never wrong, the replies are the same. Those top scorers have a clear goal, course, and future that they want to pursue, thus they work damn hard to get to where they are when results are released, such is a clear reflection of even working society, where 99 percent of the people either studying or working and even parenting kids don’t have a clear idea on why they are doing this and that for what reasons and if they are doing it just to be normal (herding behavior – which is normal of not wanting to be left out) versus those 1 percent of the top students who know exactly where, when, how, and what is required for them to secure the slot for the course that they want.

With a clear goal, knowing the entry qualifications, and fighting their efforts to get in, that’s what schools are actually built for, to impart knowledge to those who really want it, and not for people who just go through the process without asking what is it that they really want and if the future of graduating with that certification of a specific field is what they like.

A parent’s wrong decision, pushing a children to study in schools just for face, ego and pride to bring up the family status at their own children’s expense of bright prospects, by forcing them to study stuffs that they don’t like.

There’s too much of a nasty consequences already out there, but there is however one extreme positive result from this if the child learns to fully utilize what they have learn and put it to good use. That brilliant example will be Jay Chou, who was actually forced by his mom to study all the different music instruments against his will. But luckily, he managed to find a good mentor – Jacky Wu who gave him a excellent opportunity to showcase his talents, and showed him the ropes to the music industry.

To sum up, you can learn anything you want, even if it is being forced upon you. You can succeed as long as you know how to utilize the knowledge to your benefits, and finding a mentor who will show you the ropes coupled with his excellent strong knowledge of music contributing to his success, which is why he named one of his early albums after his mother.

Why people fail even after education is due to the fact they don’t know how to use their knowledge to their advance. Being intelligent isn’t enough, you will have to be street-smart.

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