Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Finding Ideal People

They say that no man is an island, everyone is a part of the continent. This applies in everything. No one can truly live by themselves without relying on other people. Either it is in our social life, romance, or even business. All this connections and the way we interact with others defines who we really are.

Business revolves around interactions. How people interact with each other defines their degree of relationship.

In life we would rarely find anyone who thinks exactly just like us. Each of us has our own set of values and standards which determine our priorities and affect our decision making process. This is the reason why conflict always happens.

Finding people to work for us can be done just by offering them a reward. On the other hand, finding people with similar mindset and passion is significantly more difficult. I experienced this first hand in terms of looking for business partners.

Until now, the only few people I can really share my thoughts on business and visions are either my girlfriend (that is why I am with her) and a group of businessmen with age of above 35 years old. Because these people have undergone sufficient difficulties and problems in life, as well as matured enough to know about their priorities.

Most of my peers don't seem to have the same degree of needs for success. It's quite problematic knowing that most of my passion and thoughts are not channeled properly. Until now I still can't find any friends who are passionate enough to start a new business or try out new ventures. Only businessmen seem to have this kind of mindset as only strong and fast businessmen are able to survive in this cruel competitive world.

I learn greatly from my boss who is currently 28, but is able to achieve the skill of a veteran businessman. One thing that really impressed me is when he made a 70 year old businessman who owns a 100 million dollar company look up to him as if he is a more senior figure.

Currently I am nowhere near that level. The desire to succeed is there, but if it's not properly channeled, the whole process will take quite sometime to materialize.

I believe I will be successful one day, it's just a matter of when. And all I can do now is to try my best to reach the top as soon as possible.

It's always great to learn new things from more experienced businessmen. But among my peers, I can't seem to find anyone who I can really share my ideas with. As for older generation, it is harder to make them look at me as equals due to my age. As I need to really achieve something great first before people really give a damn about me. I guess being young has its own problems.

Finding a good business partner is definitely not easy.

Hunter, Farmer, and the Landlord

Here is a short parable about hunters, farmers, and landlords. We can illustrate hunters as those who are actively looking for preys in order to sustain their lives. Live as a hunter may not be stable. There are times when they are not able to find a single prey for a long period of time. Hunters trade their preys with farmers for crops. Farmers are those who own their own farm. They plant crops and expect it to grow several folds. They live a more stable life. But there are also times when bad weather or other unexpected events happen. Farmers have to keep planting to sustain their life, as well as pay rental to the landlords. Landlords are those who own the land, and they only need to sit down and collect rents from people who stay on their territory.


In life, most of us starts as a hunter. By working hard, once hunters have saved enough money for themselves, some would start buying lands and start their own farm. It is the same principle as starting your own business. Great farmers will then expand their farms and occupy a vast area under him. Eventually playing the role of a landlord. Landlords are those who have reached the pinnacle of life. Millionaires or even billionaires who own groups of businesses with hundreds or thousands of people under him. They can just relax and do nothing and will still have no worries in terms of their daily needs.


Who are we then? Are we a landlord. a farmer, or a hunter.

Most of us started as either a hunter; or if you are lucky enough, a farmer. The only way to go upward is to learn how to climb from the people on higher ground. To become a farmer, we need to properly learn the ropes in farming. In order to become a landlord, we have to be able to surpass other farmers. So the major factor in getting a better life is having a good knowledge and skill.

The main problem is that knowledge and skill can only be truly mastered by those who have the desire and motivation to learn. Without motivation and ambition, it will be extremely hard for people to achieve bigger things.

Some are born with a head start. For example, they don't need to go through the hunter phase or their parents provide them with their own farm for them to run. Some have the ability to absorb knowledge and skills faster than others. But this kind of head starts won't do any good if the motivation is not there.

Landlords are those who can constantly sustain or even boost their rate of growth day by day. A lot of people become disappointed or lose their ambition once they have experienced failures. Only those who have the never say die attitude will be able to reach the peak.