I screwed up badly on this one. Now, you’re probably thinking that my 4-year-old daughter royally botched the job and damaged the family car, perhaps leaving a scratch here and a ding there. If you’re prone to exaggeration, you might even go so far as to think that I was called up by child services for an instance of child labor. The reality is much worse, but not in any way that you might imagine. Let’s start at the beginning. My daughter Alyson was three when she first started helping me wash the car. By help I really mean get in the way. And by wash, I mean dabbing the car’s exterior with ..read more

At an existential level, climate change is surely one of the greatest challenges we face as a species. And surely, our modern consumerist culture has to shoulder a big part of that blame. At a more basic level however, there’s a greater but less visible problem that modern consumerism engenders, and it is affecting our ability to both thrive and live to our fullest potential. What’s that, you ask? Problem Statement: We simply have too much to deal with Too many things, and too many distractions. If you’re not convinced, let’s start off with a few observations: We have so many things to keep ..read more

5 reasons behind the rise of the anti-self-help movement My friend James held up a copy of Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why” that he grabbed from my table and remarked matter-of-factly, “You still read this self-help garbage?” James’ isn’t alone in feeling this way. Self-help has gained somewhat of a bad rap in recent years and I can kind of see why. The rise of blogging platforms, video-sharing websites like YouTube, self-publishing services, and the availability of online marketing funnels spawned a whole new generation of self-help “gurus” rushing to get their names out there in order to ..read more

You’ve got it all planned out. You have this great vision of how success looks like to you. You know what needs to be done straight out the gate. You even have a poster on your wall of a Mark Twain quote that reads: The secret of getting ahead is getting started. And yet, no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to shake procrastination off long enough to get started on your goals. If this describes you, know that you’re not alone. In fact, according to one research, a shocking 92% of people that set New Year’s goals don’t actually achieve them. If we know that nailing our goals leads to pos ..read more

Your attention is a limited resource that you’re probably giving away far too easily these days. Similar to financial capital, the ones who allocate their attention strategically usually improve their odds of getting a better return on investment in themselves. I was reminded of this when I visited Dubai’s world-famous souks. Nestled along one end of the Dubai Creek in Deira, is a cluster of old souks (traditional Arab marketplaces) that are a hive of activity. Its vendors hawk all manner of wares from gold, spices, perfumes, and hand-woven textiles, to other less exotic Arabic hou ..read more

I’ve always considered myself to be of above-average intellect, but I found myself questioning that long-held belief back in 2011 when I was scammed to the tune of USD20k. 8 years ago to this day in June 2011, I received a random phone call while at work one evening from a guy named Guy (pronounced ‘Gee’) who claimed to be a partner for a successful Luxembourg-based investment outfit. Speaking in a baritone but crisp English-accent, Guy exuded and inspired confidence with his well-thought analysis of the markets, specifically the commodities market which he specialized in helping his clients ..read more

The time for excuses is long over. By the time the sun goes down today, you’d better be laying that first brick. Not for me, not for anyone else but yourself. And no, we’re not talking about the kind of bricks that some NBA players throw up. First of all, I hate that saying I genuinely get cheesed when people throw up the phrase ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ in my direction, especially when it is said as a convenient excuse for work progressing slowly or not at all. There’s a backstory to this. When I first started out in the family business some 8 years ago, I was raring to go. I saw myself a ..read more

Some of you might have already read about ‘The Four B2S Principles’ briefly explained here on this website. The Four B2S Principles form the crux of the Big to Small Thinking Framework, so if you are not familiar with it, I would highly encourage you to give it a quick read. Besides, it will give you a greater appreciation for the contents of this blog post. All caught up? Good. Let’s dive in. You may be wondering, how exactly do these principles play out in real life? How do they relate to each other? How do I know if I’m on the right track in the application of these principles? Some month ..read more

“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living — if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” — Denzel Washington Mentorship has been a hot topic for many years now and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. In a hyper-competitive economic environment where those in the upper echelons of their respective industries reap the most rewards, everyone is looking for the one thing that will allow them to leapfrog others in their climb towards the top. Me ..read more