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It’s  been awhile since I made a personal blog post. You normally hear me talking about wealth, career, success, personal development. And I must admit, i’ve become deadly passionate about these stuff ever since my journey began a year ago in Muar (March, 2009).

Subconsciously, I realized that i’ve started taking positive steps for a better life. For example, I’m determined to step out from my “Analytical” mindset to become an action taker. Over analyzing has always been one of my biggest weakness. That’s why nowadays I always tell myself to take action and just do it.

Another big change occurring in me is that I now enjoy doing things I love the most, not just for the sake of achieving financial freedom or having a nice body. Life is about the journey, not the destination. So now i’m determined to enjoy life to the fullest and live my passions. Also, i’m going to stop focusing on the results, but rather on the work that has to be done.

We have a long journey ahead of us, and my hope is to those that feel lost, find your true passion and calling and live it! Don’t let anything stop you from living life to the full and giving your fullest gifts to the world. Lack of time and money is NEVER and excuse. We can always create time and money if we want to.

I’d like to end this blog post by quoting a piece by an old classmate of mine, Phaik Leng. This is the 2nd time I’m quoting her on my blog. Her blog posts are just so spiritual and profound and I do feel inspired after reading them.

I decided to leave work at 5 sharp the other day, put on my trainers and went for a jog. After running a couple of rounds, i explored this little quaint town a bit with my camera and car, and I saw this little lake just off the main road. As I pulled up by the sandy bay, I saw an old couple fishing at the lake, with birds flying above them, and a soft breeze blowing against them – they were both wearing a peaceful look on their faces – such a tranquil moment for them, I thought.

And today is exactly one solid month since i left home to this new place. Senior staffs have been very warm and nice, and I noticed that the people here are generally cordial. The best thing is that, patients here seem to be friendlier and happier-looking too, and this gives a sense of satisfaction at the end of any tiring day.

Indeed, to adjust to a new place quickly, I realise that it’s so much easier if we look at the positive side of things. For a big hospital in a relatively small town like this, I’m sure I’m here for a reason. And i’m starting to see the rationale of it.

I’ll go back to that lake one day again. Just to chill and to watch the sunset, maybe.

To my dear friends who feel lost at times, I hope you’re inspired by Phaik Leng’s words. I’m sure there’s a reason why everyone of us are on this earth, and its up to us to find out our true purpose and live it to the full.

Yes I realized that I always come to my blog for quick updates… which is once in a blue moon. Oh well, better than nothing.

Ok so here’s what i’ve been up to.

Loading up on good books/e-books to read. I’ve got like 5 books that I haven’t read finish (all related to wealth, career and personal development) and also i’m following the Philosopher’s notes.

Meeting up with old, old friends. Realized that i’ve been neglecting all my old friends from college time to university life. I make it a point to catch up with some of them now and then. Helps me reflect on life and put things in perspective.

Workouts! Explosive, circuit training to be exact. Maximum results (in this case, fat burning) in shortest amount of time. Occasionally basketball and badminton. Please call me for badminton!!

Relationships… well let’s just say that maybe we weren’t compatible for each other in the end. Maybe its for the better. Right now, I want to focus on my career.

Also, i noticed alot of my friends going into businesses. Whether its MLM, Forex, Insurance, Unit trusts… All are good in my opinion. The best business one can do is the one which he can perform most consistently in and is most passionate about. For example, someone might be good at forex but might not be the insurance type. So just play your strengths and you will succeed anyhow.

Ok. So that was my quick update. Back to work =)

Today’s CPE (Continuous Pharmacy Education) Session was somewhat different from other days. Eli Lily, the company who founded Zypyrexa (aka Olanzapine, an anti-psychotic drug) invited Dr. Vincent Wong, the head of the Psychiatry department of my hospital to come and give a talk about Schizophrenia.

I’ve always known Dr.Vincent as a nice person, recalling back the time he came to take some medicines from me at the pharmacy on a sunny weekend afternoon. From the way he talked to me I could tell he was a friendly, humble person who even asked me what to write in his prescription for a flu drug. We had a light chat and we got to know a little more about each other, which gave me a very good impression of him.

The first slide of his presentation was simple, yet portrayed how he respected the pharmacy profession. “Pharmacists – Our partners in mental health care”. He recognizes that we are facing a tight budget, which makes it difficult for us to buy many expensive drugs for the patients.

You and I might think – “Why do we even bother wasting our money on these psychos?!” But for Dr.Vincent, treating patients with mental illnesses is not an easy job for him. The fact is this – when their illnesses are not well controlled, lives are endangered. Many patients attempt suicide or harm their loved ones because they aren’t thinking like normal people do. And its not their fault at all. Why? Because they can’t think properly due to a chemical imbalance in their brains. Mental illnesses are essentially brain diseases. It’s not because they had a painful breakup or they are “bad guys”, they are born like that. Sometimes stress induced by the physical environment triggers this chemical imbalance which they are born with which causes them to be like this.

I feel ashamed of myself as a pharmacist. We say we want to save lives. Yes, admittedly, we are having trouble with our finances. But we complain whenever the doctor decides to start a patient on an expensive drug, or insists that we give branded drugs over generic, despite both drugs having the same efficacy. But one thing I learnt from this session – is that the most effective drug to treat a mentally ill patient is not the most expensive drug, it is the drug which the patient is most willing to take consistently throughout his life. Patients normally don’t take their drugs because the drug might not be causing any effect, or has excessive side effects. Also, because they don’t think that well, it is more difficult for them to understand that there is not much difference between a branded and generic drug. I feel ashamed of myself because I only see what’s on the surface, that they’re crazy. I get very annoyed whenever they stand in front of the counter demanding that they get their drugs served immediately, with branded labels and also the right colour and right amount of tablets. (Yes, some even count the number of tablets supplied in front of me). But I’ve come to realized, it’s not their fault. I should show empathy towards these patients because they’ve been socially neglected, their families have stopped caring and they cannot function in life.

My call to all pharmacists out there is this: Even if we can’t buy more drugs for the patients, let us treat them with more love and care. Be patient with them and do everything in our power to make their lives better. Find ways to provide them with the medications they need to help them take back control over their lives. Give them a chance at life.

Special thanks to Dr.Vincent for sharing his insights on mental healthcare with us.

It’s time once again for my looooong deserved blog post about my life. Life is so unpredictable. As fate might have it, after stressing for many many months I have decided to come to a stern decision about my career life.

I have decided to continue my job as a Pharmacist. Yes, this might come as a shock to most of you, considering that I have been ranting for months about financial freedom and escaping 9-5. Truth is, I still want it, just that now is not the right time for me to abandon my job. For one, patients need me. Hehe. But besides that, I have decided to keep my options open.

As we all know, in order to achieve financial freedom, its wise to not keep all our eggs in one basket. We have to have multiple streams of passive income. That is why I have decided to obtain my pharmacy license. Meanwhile, I will be focusing on Internet marketing part time and also building the skills I need for me to enter into the business world (offline and online) when the time is right.

However, despite the ups and downs and multiple failures I have gone through in this year, I have learnt so much.

Proud to say that i’ve already received several paychecks from online businesses. The amount is not alot, but now I truly believe that it can be done, even part time. As T Harv Eker says – “How you do anything, is how you do everything”. If I wanted to be rich online I can do it even if im doing part time. So the coming 3 years will be interesting to see if I can really make it happen.

I’m glad to have been a participant at Edmund Loh and Elle Wong’s IM Weekend Workshop. The workshop lasted 2 whole days starting from 10am to 6pm.

Despite Malaysia’s wonderful reputation on punctuality, most of the participants were either early or on time. Things started off abit shaky but sooned everyone warmed up to Edmund and Elle’s friendly and humorous personalities. The speakers held nothing back as they guided us step by step through every module that they taught, citing hands-on examples online and engaging participants to do the same through their laptops. Edmund also pointed out many mistakes that he made throughout his internet marketing career and saved us the trouble of having to go through the same pain, anguish and frustration that he did.

Both speakers portrayed different speaking styles which complemented each other throughout the workshop. Edmund inspired the participants through his stories of rags-to-riches and did not hesitate to answer any queires from the crowd. Elle was an excellent public speaker whom portrayed professionalism, confidence and also power in her sessions and gave the participants many useful insights into her expertise.

Things took an interesting turn when Edmund announced a contest among the participants to design the best sales copy page in a given scenario. The participants were fired up and learnt alot from each other when Edmund critiqued the pros and cons of the sales letters one by one. The winning team was given a free PLR membership on one of his sites.

Towards the end of the workshop, Edmund motivated his participants to take action and generously offered free hosting to participants who took immediate action by signing up for a paid domain name. The workshop ended with participants leaving with each others contacts and who knows, they might become the upcoming stars of the internet marketing arena.

In a nutshell, kudos to Edmund and Elle for organising a really helpful and enjoyable Internet Marketing Workshop. If you guys ever decide to hold another workshop, i’ll be sure to be the first to sign up! =)

2.40 am from the computer of the TDM room at the pharmacy.

I have decided that I am no longer going to apply for the Mdec Preseed Grant for now. Truth be told, i’ve come to realised that dealing with the government is too troublesome and I much prefer to be my own boss so that I get to set the rules.

Therefore, I have decided to go back and focus full time on something I have neglected for quite awhile – Internet Marketing. The truth is, Internet Marketing is just another way to make a living just like Real Estate, MLMs and Selling insurance.

However, I really like Internet Marketing because of the flexibility it allows. You can work from home or anywhere with your laptop and an internet connection. Coupled by the fact that im really fascinated by the Internet and the speed its evolving. Past generations didn’t have the internet and although more and more people are using it to monetize, I believe there’s alot more potential out there to be tapped into.

On a related note, I just want to say i’m really grateful for the people around me who support me no matter what I do. You guys know who you are… Thank you. I promise I won’t let you guys or myself down. =)

P.S I’m going for Edmund and Elle’s Internet Marketing Workshop this weekend. Whoever is interested can check it out here.  Early birds get a 2 for the price of one totalled at RM588. Drop me a shout if you are going as well!