Thursday, June 23, 2011

My friend, PH is retiring

He is heck of a person. I have known him for more than 10 years and he is an easy going guy and invest generously in many unsuccessful ventures and have many directorships in various private limited companies. He is coming to 55 and he chose to retire and venture into some business.  I have seen him time and again failed in his ventures and has advised him to be careful and leave some money for his retiring years.

He has been working in a large public listed company which recently have been taken over by another big group . These big boys are playing big games and he feel that he has enough of it and he chose to ease out and live a more simple life. Working for an employer is different from becoming your own boss and running  a business. These are two different animals and they behave very differently, A good worker need not necessary be a good business man and vice versa.  In business , you have to heartless and cruel sometimes , otherwise people make use of you and keep your funds with them as if you owe them.   To these bad guys, you need to be heartless  or else you become penniless.

Because of his directorship in so many companies on volunteer basis , things are turning bad and the companies are running into trouble and he has been receiving so many SOS calls from this companies. History repeat it self many times over and he is fire fighting the cases. It is truly a troublesome affair.

My advise to him is to cut the roots one by one and untangle  all the knots slowly and gradually , otherwise, these matters will come back and haunt him over and over again. It is never easy but he has to take the first step.

To all my readers, I am sharing this experience with you is because I want to sent a message and the message is to be kind to yourself. Take care of your affairs first before taking care of others. So, never stand as guarantors or participate in the business of others especially friends. Open your eyes wide to see what you are signing or going into. Make sure anything you do , you have an exit clause somewhere and also a limit to your financial exposures.  Exercise these triggers heartlessly like a robot and with precision. No hesitation to cut loss if things are not going right.  I have seen many people been entangle in all sorts of financial problems and spending their time running around managing their debts. This is not a nice way to live your life.

I have seen normal people living like devils and mad man if their ability to serve their debts has been compromised by all sorts of reasons. People can do crazy things when they are desperate. Their mind is so disturb and choppy until they could not sleep , lost their dignity and talk nonsense. They became illusion. These desperate people even resort to loan sharks and borrowing on credit cards and finally, using one card's fund to cover other cards and running round as their loans escalate.

My message here is do not be greedy or soft hearted , be kind to your self and take care of your welfare first. Good friends are hard to come by but to have a peaceful and good life , you need to preserve your strength for them and not be drag down by your good friends. If you are able, you still can help or provide some advise or small financial help . If you are with them, nobody will be able to help either one of you. Remember when it rain, do not go into the rain together and get both of you wet. If either one of you go to get the car in the rain, at least one of you is dry and fine and can help the drenched one.

Be kind to your self and do be careful when you are young and do not litter so many problems in your twilight years. This is the time to wind down and go off into the sunset.

Namaste.

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