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.”