Opportunity Defined by God of Opportunity

In some speeches where I talk about opportunity I usually include a little description of God of Opportunity in Greek Mythology; who profoundly represents “Opportunity”. And after the speech some come to me and seek for more information about him so here I wrote a blog on him which I want to share with you;

In Greek Mythology, his name is Caerus and he is the God of Opportunity. He is young, beautiful and unstoppable. He is the youngest child of Zeus (God of Gods).Being the last child may remind us that, later or sooner opportunity comes.

As I mentioned he was beautiful and young for us to remember; opportunity obviously never gets old, charm and beauty is always flourishing in its own season.

One noticeable thing about him is; his flock of Hair since he was bald from behind. Because Caerus can easily be seized by grasping his hair hanging over his face as he arrives. But once he has passes by, no one can grab him. A neglected occasion cannot be recovered when opportunity is gone. Once he has races by, he assumes his hard nature and rarely gives a second chance.

Caerus brings about what is Suitable, fit, and convenient and comes in the right moment and time. He has a balance on a sharp razor representing that sometimes it could be the critical or dangerous moment, but mostly he represents the advantageous, or favorable occasion.

There was an altar of him at the entrance of Olympia stadium, simply because Opportunity is regarded as a divinity and not as a mere allegory. And here comes people who may not believe in it to be real and when opportunity passes by they realized their loss.




Caerus, stands on his tiptoe since he is always running, and he has wings in his feet to fly with the wind. But if captured, he melts into softness by the forelock. And that makes how successful people grab the opportunity and slave what he offers to their favor.

And lastly through his abilities, he produces keen men and women nicknamed "opportunists", who are able to seize quickly whatever advantage the great seducer Caerus offers them.

How fast will you recognize his offering whenever he stops and rings your doorbell? Are you an Opportunist?

The Re-learned Lesson

“Write them down. So you won’t forget them!” my father said, sounding cautious, like the way all caring fathers advise their sons. I was 15 then and I had forgotten a promise I had had made to a friend; a forgotten promise that changed his life. Not remembering that promise caused him to fail and stay in same grade at school for another year.

That was not the last time, and I used to forget many of my promises and commitments since then.

In all those incidence my father would advised me the same thing; “Write them down. So you won’t forget them!” And a wedding changed everything. I suppose to play a special piano piece; as gift of the bride (who is a close friend of mine) to the groom, on their wedding. She have had asked me 4 months earlier than the event. That time I was 4rth year college student and due to our hectic schedules of quizzes, exams, different extracurricular activities as school officer and my job (I was working as a real estate broker in selling raw lands) I had forgotten about it. During the wedding when I was called to play the piece, there I was! Standing shocked and surprised. “Oh my dear God! Not Agggggain! I totally forgot about it” I believe you can imagine the rest of the story.

As they say “A mistake is going to be repeated again and again till the lesson is learned!”

Right there in the middle of the wedding I could imagine my father smiling at me and saying “See what happened. I told you son, Write them down. So you won’t forget them!”

Have you ever experienced forgetting such promises and commitments (of course except the wedding experience of mine). We tend to give promises, or commit to someone or something, and then we unconsciously forget about them. Here is what I have learned:

And I did it after that wedding night. I bought a small notebook and I called it “My Commitments” and divided it into different chapters. At the first page of each chapter wrote things like “to myself”, “to my family”, “to my school”, “to my barkada”, etc. and I wrote everything which I was responsible for; either through giving a promise or committing in something.

Since then I hardly got into troubles and people got to believe that I am man of my words. I am hardly late in a meeting or for an appointment (except for incidents which are out of my control) and I feel good about it, which is part of my leadership practice.

But some lessons should be relearned all throughout the life as we grow stronger a become better each day;

Recently I was told by one of the our Community Coaches, that I had committed myself in a task through a text message reply. Since I always participate in our activities I totally forgot about that text message. When I was remembered I didn’t feel good. I am a responsible person and I do my best in tasks which I accept. I believe a true leader keeps his promises and as T. Harv Eker said “Successful people never forget their commitments”. So there I just became quiet accepting my mistake, “Leaders admit their mistakes and learn from them” and I imagined my father again; this time telling me “you forgot to add another chapter to your Notebook, a chapter called “to CA2020”.


Well I relearned the lesson.

“Don’t commit yourself till you are sure that you can do it, and when do, try your best not to forget them, and if you failed accept the consequences with a big heart.”

Don’t “My Asset vs. My Asset” Me!

Last Saturday while facilitating the Cashflow® 101 with a group, I noticed something some people tend to do, which makes them loose good opportunities.

Have you ever tried to buy a property which made you feel so successful (for example with 82% CCR)? And then another opportunity comes in and though in the eyes of an investor it’s a great deal you tend to reject it because of your expectations?

Yes, some people come to me and ask me why I still invested in a property which gives a lot less return compared to some of my previous investments. The answer is simple “Don’t compare an asset with my other assets” I compare the opportunity with itself. After all, for me I still have my passive income. And that is my objective by investing.

If you see opportunities grab it, don’t compare it with your previous successes. As long as it saves you money and makes you more and more money then why let it go! Everything has its own value in its respective place and level. Letting the Greed in us take control on our financial decisions brings us back into the rat race.

Be creative, imaginative and logic, use both your left and right brain and make the most out of each opportunity that passes by. Because if it passed by and you failed to take it you can’t grab it anymore.

I was told that Goddess of opportunity was a beautiful lady who didn’t have hair behind her head. Therefore whenever she just passed by, no one could grab her back.

Don’t let go of opportunities by comparing them with the past.

“Grabbing opportunities is the key to success, no matter big or small.”

If You Want to Be a Leader, Don Like One!

In a Monday morning I was riding a cab from home going to my Semi-Business Meeting with some of my young business partners. It was the first time I rode a cab whose driver was a woman! So out of curiosity and a conversational person that I am, I started to communicate by asking her “Is this your own family cab?”

“No, it belongs to company” she replied with her voice hitting the lower pitch than mine. She sounded like a man. Surprised I asked “is this your real job?” and she answered trying to keep her low pitched voice low; “yes, this is an only job I have”

“How about your husband?” hoping to hear something at least like; he also drives a cab. But instead she said “we are separated and I have 4 children to feed.” Trying to negotiate on the fair (since according to her the meter was not functioning well) we agreed on me paying the average cost of fair (where the art of negotiation saved me money and time).

Since I lecture and mentor people on Finance and Life Mindset and we have our Free Wealth Courses offered to public to increase their Financial Literacy, I tried to invite her in one of the activities, offered for free. That time I knew the courses could help her to decide in finding a better solution for her situation or add other options to his lifestyle. i started to share the importance of mindset and Money Operating System of individuals.

looking at me head to toe, she asked; “Are you working in call center?” as if she didn’t believe any of my words . I answered “No, I’m an Businessman and Investor, who shares his knowledge for those who want to succeed in life”. She turned her faced back to the road like telling to herself “Fool yourself young man” and then she asked “are you studying here too?”

I couldn’t believe it, so I told her “No, I’m a dental surgeon by profession” and I handled her my Business Card. She took a look at it and said “So who is Dr. Mahdi?”… I just smiled and said “That’s me, and I hope to see you successful one day” and became quiet.

then I tried to analyze why it was hard for her to believe in my words and then I remembered one thing that people believe in; to see is to believe.

I just kept quiet because I knew it was hard for a 37 years old, single mother who is a cabdriver; to believe that a 26 year old man who is wearing T-shirt with a picture of a guy playing ice hockey and blue Jeans walking in rubber shoes with white socks, would own any business, how more being a surgeon or talking about entrepreneurship.

Thinking of that and trying to see myself from her point of view, I got to see that I’m not wearing what I’m saying and that is giving her a false image of me. understanding her, i preferred not to say much, and just hope and pray for her success in life. After arriving at the meeting, I brought that up with some of my friends and we set to discuss about the importance of posture in our daily lifestyle. Since then I hardly wear something that hardly supports my position and my character, even if i'm going out to hang out with friends. Cause I started to believe.

“A leader; thinks, feels, acts and wears like a leader, all the time.”

When Success Means Being Obsolete

I attended a seminar in Post Graduate School of Ateneo and there I was introduced to the new concept of Social Entrepreneurship a field filled with happiness and wealth; a new trend of Entrepreneurship in the world.

There are two types of SE (Social Entrepreneurship); one is Profitable SE and that’s where you can empower the society as well as earn however the earning may not be much compared to some other entrepreneurial businesses (yet for some created abundance through quantity of their services) and the other is the Non-profitable SE. the latter focuses on the services surrendered to community in the point that their basic needs be satisfied through their personal sharing and efforts.

Example of the first can be FedEx, when they started to print the resume of unemployed who were seeking for job in the US. Or some companies that print the advertisements on the paper cups for very least amount of money. In both cases you can see empowerment of people or micro companies through services of big companies.

The sound example of the second type in our country is Gawad Kalinga started from a non-profitable organization of Couples for Christ; sheltering the homeless people of urban areas. They simply make residents of such areas build their own real houses with the help of GK People sponsoring the materials. Note that their services doesn’t end by turning over the houses but they educate the people on how should they maintain and keep the environment and the new houses clean and neat to provide the healthy and good looking environment. That is the more important factor, because after the GK people leave the area, the people would know on how to keep such a good environment and maintain it.

In both forms of SE, the service surrendered to community solves a problem and turns it into opportunities for both the mastermind behind it and the target community.

The success of these entrepreneurs is measured by the absences; if they are not around and yet their services or products keeps empowering the community then they are successful attaining their objectives.

Unlike some other organizations where they make the community dependent to their services (even if that is for free) the SE makes sure his system makes the community independent in solving their problems.

Therefore at the counterpart of some charitable organizations where they keep feeding the poor the fish, and even more than teaching them how to fish (which just save one generation on surviving), the SE makes sure to come up with a System that resolves the problem of the community where makes the fishing easier for them no matter how many generations.

And by looking at the people of target community who are empowered already and can focus in solving other problems comes the happiness and sense of fulfillment. Isn’t happiness and fulfillment what we seek in our life, then why not taking action in attaining it? Be the Social Entrepreneur who solves and empowers, that even if obsolete, people would remember him/her as a hero. Be the dream person whom you always wanted to be. Start building yourself today.

Does Your Future Make You Stressed?

“I can feel the stress from now already!” Leia said with fear and worries.
“Come on! You gon’na graduate on March right? And we are still in June!” I surprisingly replied!
Leia continued with her eyes seeking for hope in the sky and with her soft voice filled with doubt said; “Mahdi, you don’t know how it feels when your family invested in you by sending you to a good university for an expensive 6 years course of dentistry, and then they expect you to pass the board exam so you can support them in return!”

Just by looking at her; I could feel the responsibility she carries also, her fear and doubts. I asked her “what if you won’t pass the board?” shockingly like she never has thought of that answered “Oh No way! I’m dead”…

There was a moment of silence between us… I knew she was thinking and telling herself “What if? What if I fail? What if I won’t be able to practice what I spent 6 years of my life? What if I won’t pass the board exam” and I was thinking…
“Why should a graduating student worry much about her future to the point that she feels it’s a matter of life and death. As if she is left with only two options; My Profession (Job) and Death!?”

“Some 500,000 young men and women joined the rank of the country’s college and university graduates last march and all have one fear in common – not finding a job because of the current economic crisis.” - Entrepreneur Magazine, May 2009

Do you think there is a job out there waiting for all of them? -Probably Not.
Today’s world trend in Job and Employment; just doesn’t have the security anymore. Look at the number of employees fired because of recession! Employees are considered liabilities for some companies nowadays!

Do these fresh graduates have a chance? -Definitely Yes! But it depends on them!
In every recession, there are many opportunities, and after each economic crisis you can find many wealthy and successful people coming up to the surface.

What solution I suggest? -Join us; The Entrepreneurs.
Solving any problem and turning it into a successful business needs a sprit which is called the Entrepreneurial Spirit. And by doing so a system and then many job opportunities are created.

How about the capital? -What if I tell you, I started some businesses with 0.00 capitals!
Nowadays there are many successful entrepreneurs started from zero. Why not learning from them and those!? Look around and you can see many.

Is it really possible? -Of course Yes! I and many others like me have done it.

Why entrepreneurship?

“Entrepreneurship is an important key for unlocking the vicious cycle of unemployment. Through entrepreneurship, young people and college graduates - especially those with the means - can create not only new enterprises but also job opportunities for those seeking employment.”
-Prof. Eric Pasquin; chair of San Beda’s Colleges International Business and Entrepreneurial Management Dep.

It is easy to enter and is most rewarding. Besides you get to do what you want to do regardless of your course. This gate is always open without any requirements except the 3 Ds to start:
· Desire
· Drive
· Discipline

And 3 Es to succeed:
· Education
· Experience
· Execution

How can you require the education?
Again look for Good Mentors and Coaches and Business Communities.

Will that secure your future? I don’t guarantee. Cause success of your future is in your hands, but I know it builds character, and it takes a big character to have big achievements.

Entrepreneurship is not an easy field, in fact it’s a challenging one, but remembers, the entrepreneurs do their bests to change a challenge into a success. That’s why having the Unshakable Entrepreneurial Spirit is essential!

Are you willing to acquire that spirit or you still prefer to Sit down and wait for the future with closed eyes? (just because you fear the failures of tomorrows will just make you stressed!) Don’t let your circumstances control you. Create your desired circumstances instead. As one of my mentors in leadership said:

“Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best”

If you can’t practice what your college taught you to do, you still can practice something that can make you successful! Colonel Sanders (owner of KFC) was a military colonel not a chef!

POISE, the Ultimate Solution to Poverty

I was facilitating the group impromptu speech and I gave a topic to be discussed in a University of the Philippines, Manila.

The topic was “for Financial Literacy, what do we need? Will of Steels or Hearts of Gold?”

After listening to their speeches, i added some information and came up with this article, which i want to share it with you.

1. Politics:
The politicians made had the power of spreading the Financial Literacy; somehow as the power comes some people tend to forget their responsibilities. Peter Park’s Uncle failed to complete his sentence “With great power, comes great responsibilities and corruption!” so if you have a position in Government and if you care, then you know the best way to fight poverty is teaching others how to Fish!

2. Organizations:
There are many different great organizations like Rotary, Lion, etc that
Empower people in different aspects of their lives. Take a closer look; we can see some of them are just giving the fish to the poor and making them dependant to their services instead of making them to be independent. So if you belong to any organization; check if you are Spreading Financial Literacy or you are just satisfying the need of the poor temporarily! Take action, do something, start from where you are, share your Financial Education or guide them in joining groups that empower them!

3. Individuals:
You, yourself; what have you done today to update yourself about Financial Literacy? What have you done today in empowering your countrymen in fighting poverty? Were you able to enhance any person’s Financial Intelligence? If not, Take Action, learn something new on finance yourself, and share it with others. “We can’t give others what we don’t have ourselves!”

4. Spiritual:
I attended a mass few weeks ago and I saw majority of the attendees came to the church for the money given by some sponsors at the end of the mass! Surprised I heard the pastor of the church saying that “money is not important compare to soul and heaven! Being poor is a blessing for you to focus on your spiritual side!”

I believe money is not much important but it is what money can do which is so important. Money can reduce worries that lack of money creates. And with less worries, the mind can focus on other things, like spirituality. Poverty and lack of money makes a father to kill his family! (a friend of mine was a victim of such tragedy) people are willing to steal, snatch, kill, etc just to be able to bring food for their own family at the end of the day. Then how can we still sit and say money is not important! Let’s face the reality “It is the Lack of Money and not the Having of Money, which is becoming the root of all evils!”

If you are in any Spiritual Organization, please don’t stop people reaching their dreams by making them accept their poverty. Instead let them know there are ways, show them the right models, let them know “we were born to succeed, God created us to reach our goals. We are worthy achieving them. Lord provided us everything just for us to take the right action in getting them. It is possible. Idolize the successful ones, because we meant to be one. We meant to be successful” Observe those who give plenty of money for charity and helping others; they spend and they spend from their Extra Cash, they give it because they have it. How can you become a charitable person, when we are suffering from lack of money and we take that as blessing!”

5. Education:
Scholastical Education, Professional Education and Financial Education, are the three and different types of education we have. Your elementary to high school teaches the first type for us to read, write and speak. The college makes us ready for our profession by teaching us the second type of education. And the last one (financial education) is never been taught at school! It is our own responsibility to acquire it, by reading books, attending seminars, joining business communities, having good mentors and being surrounded by Millionaire Minded people.
As Donald Trump said “We go from learning to doing. The worst thing is to learn hard lessons by doing before learning. Learning itself is an investment. Be careful about what kind of education you receive.”
So if you have not started yet, Do it now! Invest in yourself by investing in your Financial Education.

“Share and apply the POISE, in many letters of it as you can, and be one of those who solve poverty”

Love or Money?

Some attendees in the Free Wealth Courses I facilitate tend to tell that “you know; Money is not as important as Love”.

How about you do you believe in that?

Some say “with money you can be with anyone at anytime you want” or “No Money; no honey!” and in other hand others would believe “for me my spouse’s love toward me is more important than money” or “love is wider that money!”

Let’s take a closer look by reasoning out of the comparison subjects (here Love and Money). Scientifically you cannot compare importance of two different things that don’t belong to same category. For example you can’t say that insects are more important than trees in our ecosystem, or you can’t say leg is more important than hand! “Money and Love can not be compared and they are both important.”

The fact that Love and Money are two different things that can’t be compared in terms of importance is a fact. They are both important. And another thing is; “Money and Love, together can empower each other.” Successful people are those who have sweet families and spend time with them most of the time, and they were able to generate enough income to support their needs. Just look around and point to the local wealthy people, they have less arguments on money, therefore they have stronger relationship. And in other hand the poor couples tend to argue on their unsatisfied needs with each other, where in long term loosens their relationship.

And most importantly is “you can have both money and love!” We are not left to chose one and leave the other. Some just use that, as an excuse to justify themselves. Remember a loser always Blames, Complains or Justifies for his/her failures.
The universe has abundance of both for us to reach them and use them for our own success and prosperity. We are given both hands and legs, we are given both heart and brain, and we are given both love and money.

"Stop justifying, and start taking responsibility, because no one else than you is responsible for your happiness."

Lessons from a 13 Year Old Millionaire-Minded Boy

“Start young, Learn through the way, and retire young, happy and rich!”

“I have read Rich Dad Poor Dad and Guide to Investing, and that is the reason why I’m here to play Rich Dad’s Cashflow®. I want to play this game; because Robert Kiyosaki said it will help me learn more on Finance so when I grew up I wont need to be employee and work for money…” Joshua said, attending our Cashflow® Workshop. He even asked his Sister Elica, 14 years old (also interested about Financial Education and the youngest brother 7 years old (who plays Monopoly and loves the game boards) to join the Workshop.

Facilitating it I wanted to challenge him by asking him questions and see how much he has learnt from those books.

Surprised I saw he has memorized the important parts very well. So during the time that I did the discussion as facilitator, I asked him to participate. It was first time a teenager surrounded by adults sounded more knowledgeable than others. Some where surprised. During the discussion he pointed at some points that I missed.

He played well, though he was not able to get out of the rat race; I tried to teach him the importance of Teamwork and how 3 of them can join forces to be financially free. Though I recommend the children to play Cashflow for Kids®, I don’t regret I allowed them to play. They already had the right mindset. They learned as much as other adults. They executed even better in some parts. “I learned real life is hard that’s why I’ll enjoy this year to explore and enjoy my life, then I’ll start Financing”, Elica Said after the game. “How can I join your group to learn more and start a business?” Joshua said. And Gino the youngest millionaire minded brother just said “I like Monopoly, but this board game is more beautiful”

Though they still have many things to learn and see how the real life teaches us on our mistakes and failures, and the emotions we deal in different good or bad Financial Situations; I am so proud that I was able to share my knowledge and add more information and empower them.

These are other few things I learned from these inspiring successful angels;

-Teach your children early and see their success and prosperity earlier than what others expect.

-Always be open to new teachings. Learn great things, unlearn the old and wrong things and Relearn the empowering things.
-Never say “I know that”!
-It feels so great when I teach others and empower them on how they can succeed in life, no matter old or young.
-always listen cause you can see and learn from small kids the big lessons.

Self Made Millionaires vs. Team Made Millionaires

“In this Information Era, move in the path that makes you reach your goals faster and easier”

While talking to my Mentor and Coach in Finance, he pointed out the different people in the past who succeeded financially on their own. By learning and sacrificing many things. People like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, etc. What took my attention were their ages, and the time they spent to reach that level of Financial Success! And suddenly I remembered my conversation with Mr. Lance Miller (See him in my album) the 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking.

“How long it took you time to win this title?” I asked at the lunch table. He replied; “13 years!”. Shockingly I asked “thirteeeeeeeeeen years?”

And he said “yes, because I learned everything by myself. I wasn’t coached and never attended any classes on this subject. I practiced and joined the competition by myself and failed and learned more…”

Compared to the 2007 World Champion of Public Speaking, who became an inspiration to many new Public Speakers, it took Mr. Miller (though he is still my favorite speaker among the champions in the past 25 years) 9 more years to win the title. Searching for the reason behind success of this new Champion; I found out that he had surrounded himself with different people expert in the field. He simply gathered A TEAM!

Same goes in Finance and Business nowadays. In this fast changing era when everyday new information and technologies being publicized; an individual Entrepreneur has a higher chance of succeeding if he joins forces with other experts than competing against them. Remember in today time, the faster you get to your desired results the better you are, and then the titles follow.

Based on the people whom I studied I have put them in comparison (and you may add more);

And as you can see, there are companies starting merging together; though they competed against each other in the past. Sample of those in our country are banks (like BDO and Equitable!)

Therefore one of the reasons I suggest people in joining communities such as CA2020.net is to provide the potential of creating the Team that helps them winning the money game, faster and easier.

So, you still want to go solo?

The Financial Road Less Travelled!

Today I had a meeting with one of my Mentors (one of my Rich Dad’s) and we talked about Real-State Businesses and Opportunities; a very important and informative meeting that I never forget. As we were talking about those types of Investments my emotions of Excitement and fear started to kick in again! I remembered the shifting from one Quadrant to another (Based on Robert Kiyosaki’s Teachings!).

Just looking at the papers and numbers I could feel both the fear and excitement in me. The uncomforting feelings of the situations and yet needing to do the transmutation for my dreams to come true. I know this is next in the list of what is right TO DO! To move further forward in the road less travelled.
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For those who don’t have any idea about the Cashflow Quadrant® let me give a short review on that (for more understandings I suggest you to play the Rich Dad’s Cashflow – refer to my Posted Pages in my blog);

1st) E Quadrant:
It’s when you are working for a company or for a system or better said when you work hard for money. Majority of us belong to this quadrant and unfortunately our School System trains us for one day to be belong to this quadrant.

2nd) S Quadrant:
When you work for your own system; majority of the high paid people belong to this group, people like Doctors, Attorneys, Lawyers, etc. the thing with the people of this quadrant is, if they stop working, they stop earning too.

3rd) B Quadrant:
When you own a system but you have people working for you. In our country businesses like SM Malls, Starbucks, etc goes under this category. But it doesn’t
mean you should be a big business owner to start. Here is when even if you don’t work the system you created still works for your income.

4th) I Quadrant:
When your money, works hard for you to make money! IS THAT POSSIBLE? Definitely! For example when you own stocks, IPOs, Mutual Funds, etc.
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They say the road to Financial Freedom is;
E -> S -> B -> I
or simply from the Left side of the Quadrant to the Right Side. And I call that road; “The Road Less Travelled”, since less than 10% of the population of our country belongs to the right side and the rest are stuck at the other side!

In many cases in life we know the right action, the right plan, the right thing to do, yet because of many things like our Personal Reaction and Emotions, we fail to do them and then we take the road mostly traveled. The road ordinary ones take, the road less risky, more secured but less interesting and less rewarding!

Believe me this shift from one quadrant to another is not easy and not comfortable, and that is the reason only extraordinary people can shift. Simply because if it was easy then everyone would take that, and if that happens then there won’t be any extraordinary thing about it.

But what if without that shift you won’t be successful in achieving your dreams? You will waste the only life given to you to live it with prosperity and happiness? And to go for your goals no matter what? So if you have the desire and ambition to reach your goals then you should do the shift. Not shifting has its own circumstances and this one means no more result in life, no progress in life, and goodbye to your dreams!

Well, I prefer to take the road less travelled, because that’s the road extraordinary ones take.

Which path do you take; the path to extraordinary life? or the life most people are contented to live in? To stay in present situation for the rest of your life or to move in the road to happiness and success?

The Choice is yours!

By: Dr. Mahdi T.K.

Who You Wanted to be and Who You are Now!

Sometimes as we grow older, changes occur in our biological systems as well as psychological, without us noticing it!

What surprises me more is that our lives changes mostly due the country we live in, the culture we are surrounded with and the people whom we tackling every day.

And in case of more than 80% of our people, these changes are unpredictable and unavoidable.
As I was traveling in different countries from Middle-East (where I grew up first half of my life) to the Far-East (where I grew up the second half of my life up to present) I came to this point that people as they grow older, tend to forget what they wanted, what they could have,and how they desired to live.

Sometimes we give up our dreams just to adjust ourselves with our current situations and we stay contented with that for the rest of our lives.

Sometimes we take a 4 to 6 year course in the college and yet after we graduate, we stay in that 4-6 year course for the rest of our lives!

But hey, we were not born to be contented with our situation! We were born to go for more, to go for better.

Thanks God to the other 20% of the population who made the difference, by changes they made. Changes like;

Making the wheel, using the power of steam, building the airplane, controlling the electricity, landing on moon, writing books that moved nations, discoveries and many more…
Sometimes I pray “God, place me in that 20% of population that make the big changes for betterment of mankind!”

As of present and where you are now, are you living the promising life you wanted to have when you were a kid? I don’t know how old you are, but I know when you were a kid, you wished when you reached this age (that you are living now) you would have things, you could do things and you would be someone. My question is; “Are you living that life you wanted to live?”

If not, then do something before it will be too late!!!

by: Dr. Mahdi T. K.

3 Most Dangerous Words and the Empty Cup

I still remember that untill fours ago i would passionately participate in many groups and tried to prove myself by sharing whatever i have read or knew about different things until one day I saw myself not growing further!

It was in a seminar when the facilitator said, “If you think you know, then you won’t learn something new about it, and when you won’t learn something new about it while others do, one day will come when you will see yourself left behind…”

Trying to think of myself right there, I saw he is talking to me, contented with what I knew and being proud of them, I had closed the doors to new and better information about principles of life.
Right there I made my cup empty to fill them with new and better things; therefore since four years ago, I changed my mind and I left it open to new information.

Nowadays, I still see people (even among my friends) who are like who I was four years ago, so when I see they resist to accept the change they have to go through for them to be more successful; I share with them the story of “Empty Cup!”;

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Let me share with you more of People’s reactions to this story:

· “You cannot learn anything if you already feel that you know.”
· “Preconceived ideas and prejudices always prevent us from seeing the truth.”
· “You should open your mind before you open your mouth.”
· “Some people want to be taught everything in one sitting. It’s not possible.”
· “This story proves to me that you have to unlearn before you can learn.”
· “We shouldn’t get too wrapped up in one aspect of life. If we do, we close ourselves off to new experiences.”
· “Even though you may be full of knowledge, you should always be open to the fact that there is still more to learn.”
· “If you want to learn, you have to shut up and LISTEN for a change.”
· “We should be open to the views of others, and accept them as their own. Treat each opinion individually, and don’t just add it to your own.”
· “Sometimes another person has to catch you with your guard down in order to teach you something.”
· “The professor’s understanding of Zen is too intellectualized. The master is trying to point him towards a more intuitive understanding. If you’re too intellectualized about ANY subject, often you miss the boat.”
· “Too much of anything is just too much!”

Since then I never used the 3 most dangerous words in a language; “I know that!” because I believe “when you think you know much about something then you won’t be open to know more about it!”

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Dr. Mahdi T.K.