One of marketing maven Seth Godin’s recent post on what generosity truly is struck a deep chord with me. As we are celebrating Christmas tomorrow, I thought it would be good to highlight some of his ideas, peppered with my own perspectives.
In Godin’s own words:
“Generosity is not merely giving a discount, or giving what you make away or creating a race to the bottom. It’s far more complex than that. ”
How do you define success? Can it be measured by wealth or power alone?
Apparently no. Not least according to Arianna Huffington, founder and editor of Huffington Post Media Group – one of the world’s most influential news and information brands. In her latest book Thrive, Huffington proposes that there is a “third metric” which quantifies success by one’s well-being, wisdom, sense of wonder, and ability to give.
Why are some folks blessed with riches while others struggle to make ends meet? What is the magic formula to wealth?
The answer, according to renowned millionaire guru T. Harv Eker, is found in one’s money blueprint. In his bestselling book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, Eker urges us to change our personal money blueprint and reprogramme the way we think, feel and act in order to achieve mastery over our wealth, attain financial freedom, and lead more meaningful lives.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent National Day Rally speech got me thinking about the challenges of planning for one’s retirement. Are Singaporeans aware of how much funds they need to retire comfortably? Do they know what their true retirement living costs will be?
I like how PM illustrated the case of a fictitious 54 year old senior technician named Mr Tan, and how his estimated living costs of $2,000 per month could possibly be met. Through the example given, PM showed that a CPF Minimum Sum of $155,000 – to be adjusted to $161,000 next year – isn’t an unreasonable amount to be considered in one’s Retirement Account (RA). In fact it can only cater to a very basic lifestyle and is probably insufficient for those who retire earlier (at say 55 rather than 65 years of age).
Nick Vujicic is a man on a global mission. And boy is he creating waves wherever he goes.
At the tender age of 31, Nick is a motivational guru, evangelist, and author of several bestselling books. A celebrated speaker, he gets invitations to speak from all over the world – Australia (Melbourne was his childhood home), Europe, US, China, India, Africa, and South East Asia (including Singapore). He is also an avid swimmer, surfer, sky diver, and actor.
“There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation, where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.” – Nigel Marsh
How much stuff do you really need in life?
Do the things that we own end up owning us instead?