True happiness is the result of suffering

Some people have characterized Buddhism as a negative religion that identifies all that we experience as suffering and does not acknowledge happiness at all. This, however, is a misinformed view. It is true that Buddhism speaks of our usual, ordinary happiness as the suffering of change. This means that this type of happiness is unsatisfying: it never lasts and we never have enough of it. It is not true happiness. If, for example, eating ice cream were true happiness, then the more we ate of it at one sitting, the happier we would become. But soon we reach a point at which the happiness at eating ice cream changes into unhappiness and suffering. The same is the case with sitting out in the sun or moving into the shade. This is what is meant by the suffering of change.

Buddhism, however, provides many methods for overcoming the limitations of our ordinary happiness, this suffering of change, so that we reach the everlasting joyous state of a Buddha. Nevertheless, despite the drawbacks of our ordinary happiness, Buddhism also explains the sources for achieving that kind of happiness. Buddhism provides this teaching because one of its basic axioms is that everyone wants to be happy and no one wants to be unhappy. And, since everyone is looking for happiness and, as ordinary beings, we do not know of any type of happiness other than the ordinary, usual kind, Buddhism tells us how to achieve it. Only when that wish and need for happiness has been fulfilled on the most basic level of ordinary happiness can we go on to aim for deeper, more satisfying levels of it with more advanced spiritual practices.

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RIGHT TIME AT THE RIGHT PLACE…

There is a saying “Right time at the Right Place”. While you cannot control the Time, you can certainly control the Place. Being at the right place is all it takes for you to succeed. Being at the right place and putting your whole heart into the Action will eventually create the result you desire when the right time comes.

Opportunity for us to succeed is always around. However, in order to get the right opportunity you need to commit yourself and take the action. Opportunity will not wait for those who procrastinate and merely sit and wait. Only those who dare to take the first step will land themselves with the right opportunity. You don’t need to see the entire stair, just take the first step as said by Martin Luther King Jr.

LIFE’S FORMULA…

What is the formula to succeed? Do you agree that:

 

Action = Result?

If there is no Action, obviously there will be no Result. Simple. However, let me ask you one question: “Between Action and Result, which is more important?”

90% of people will say Action. Let me ask you another question: “Will you work for a job which pays you little but it’s an easy job or you prefer to work for a job with great pay and you are willing to learn whatever the job requires you to do?”. 

We are by nature Result oriented. If the Result is not attractive, we will not even waste our time doing the Action. As a student, we focus in getting the Result we want. We target to get 10A’s in the final exam and we will do whatever it takes to get those A’s. We may dislike History, Geography or Additional Math, but we will learn those subjects and succeed in the exams.

Flexible Time versus Time Freedome

Do you know the difference between flexible time and time freedom? Flexible working time simply means your working time is flexible. No 9 to 5 office hour. No need to rush to office early the morning (trying to beat the traffic jam) just to clock in. But, you still need to trade time for money. Stock trader, home based business, real estate agent and insurance agent are some examples of jobs/businesses with flexi hour. Less working hour but still need to do some work to earn money. Stock trader needs to monitor the chart and news daily before taking a trade position. Off course once that is done, the trader can sit back and monitor the trade. Still no time freedom. Imagine the stock trader is hospitalized... who is going to trade for him? Can he leverage his trading task to someone and still make money?

Time freedom on the other hand means you don't have to work anymore. All the ground work for your business has been completed. You just sit back and enjoy the fruits. The only way for you to achieve time freedom is by utilizing the power of leverage. This will require you to delegate any task required to make money to someone else. Leveraging on the skill and labor of someone else. That's the beauty of a network marketing business. Leverage on the downlines. Remember, every downline in your organization represent a future time. What? Well.. your organization is not built in a single day. Hence, every level down basically means someone join your organization in a certain period. The lower the later. Still confuse? Say your organization grows 1 level every month. That means it takes 5 months to have an organization of 5 levels deep. That means on the 5th month, your team mates who join your organization on the 4th Month is helping you to grow your organization without having you to do anything. That's a future action. And only with future action you can have time freedom. So, which one do you prefer? Flexible time or Time freedom?  

Residual income revisit.

Employee works over time either to get promoted or earn extra money. The idea of trading more time for more money is so deep into their head that they have little clue on what is passive or residual income. To them, residual income is for lazy people. It's for those who don't like to work and expect money to come into their pocket. Let's revisit the idea of residual income.  

Residual income is income that does not require your direct involvement. For example owning rental property, royalties on an invention or creative work, and network marketing. If you want to earn more, work less, and have a decent retirement, you're going to have to start creating income streams that do not require your direct involvement. Whether you're just starting your business, or you've been running it a while, the sooner you start thinking about how you are going to shift your business model to create more residual income, the sooner you can achieve personal and financial freedom.

Let's look at two basic types of passive income, and a third type of income that, while technically not passive, is a key strategy for earning more and working less. What sort of profession can give you residual income? 

• An insurance agent who gets commission every year when a customer renews his policy
• A network marketing or direct sales rep's income from her direct customers when they reorder product every month
• An aerobics instructor who produces a video and sells it at the gyms where she teaches
• A marketing consultant who creates a workbook and sells it in e-book format on the Internet
• A photographer who makes his photos available through a stock photography clearing house and gets paid a royalty whenever someone buys one of his images
• A restaurant or retail owner who has grown to the point of hiring a trustworthy manager

Another example of residual income is called leveraged income. This income leverages the work of other people to create income for you. Some examples of leveraged income include:

• An e-book author selling her e-book through affiliates who promote the product
• A network marketer who builds a downline and receives commissions on the sales made by people in his downline
• A general contractor who makes a profit margin on the work done by sub-contractors
• Franchising your business model to other entrepreneurs (the ultimate leveraged income)

It is not uncommon for someone to have multiple residual incomes. For example, an insurance agent may get involved in a network marketing business and earn income from both his insurance policy commissions and the commissions from the sales of his downline. Many successful businessmen have multiple residual incomes. This is possible because they are not trading their time for money. With time freedom, they are able to embark in extra businesses which generate extra income. 

Trying something new...

Trying something new especially in a business venture requires some courage (not a lot really.. ) and leap of faith. Over analysing won't get you anywhere simply because there is no such thing as perfect business venture. It is just how hard you try. I bum into an article on the psychology of trying new things written by Alex Lickerman M.D. and below is an excerpt of the article:

1. Trying something new often requires courage. And needing to summon courage is itself a benefit. Once it's released it will, like its second cousin once removed, anger, indiscriminately engulf everything in its path. How wonderful to open a flood of courage and be carried on its waves to destinations of unexpected benefit.
2. Trying something new opens up the possibility for you to enjoy something new. Entire careers, entire life paths, are carved out by people dipping their baby toes into small ponds and suddenly discovering a love for something they had no idea would capture their imaginations.
3. Trying something new keeps you from becoming bored. Even I, the most routine-loving person I know, become bored if I'm not continually challenged in some way. And it's not the new challenges I'm eager to take on that represent my greatest opportunities for growth—it's the ones I'm not.
4. Trying something new forces you to grow. We don't ever grow from taking action we've always taken (the growth that enabled us to be able to take it has already occurred). Growth seems to require we take new action first, whether it's adopting a new attitude or a new way of thinking, or literally taking new action. Thrusting yourself into new situations and leaving yourself there alone, so to speak, often forces beneficial change. A spirit of constant self-challenge keeps you humble and open to new ideas that very well may be better than the ones you currently hold dear (this happens to me all the time).

source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201004/trying-new-things

How to decide which Network Marketing company to join?

Choosing the right network marketing company to join is very important. The number 1 criteria is the product. Network Marketing is a long term business venture. Hence, if the company has no good product which can sustain in the market, chances are the company will not last long in market. Many successful network marketers lose everything they have built when their company closes down. There are plenty of companies embark in network marketing business model just to get quick bucks. They don't invest any money into RND of their products. These companies simply use any generic product in the market and engage network marketer to build them a fortune. Remember, when you recruit people into your organization, you are putting your trust and reputation at stake. Choose wisely.

The 2nd criteria will be payment plan. This decides how you will be paid. While most network marketing companies have similar payment or compensation plans, there are a few which stands out. Learn these jargons well: Break Away, Vertical Compression & Horizontal Compression. Break Away is a No, No. A company that practises Break Away compensation plan basically has the right to "chop" off a certain part of your organization when "certain" criteria is not met. One example will be rank achieved. For example, one of your downlines has achieved Director Rank, same or higher than your rank, you may not be able to earn any commission from him and the rest of his organization unless you uprank. With such scenario you will be constantly trying to out rank your downlines. You will never be able to retire because the moment you stop there is a possibility that your downlines will over take you and you lose all the commission.

So remember these 2 criteria when deciding which network marketing company to join. The ranking of the company in Forbes are not so important. Joining big network marketing company does not guarantee you big result. In fact, joining not so well known but good company has the advantage as you will have more opportunity to build your network.