Inspirational Talk

This morning, I went back to work @ Tiong Bahru for in-service. This first in-service for the year 2009 is not related to rehabilitation, rather it is something that most people should know or have to know - Financial Planning.

But this is not just Financial Planning, there is also inspirational talk by the speaker-Apelles Poh. The speaker is a Financial Advisor who has achieved the coveted Million Dollar Round Table qualification every year for the past 14 years, and for the past four, he has made it to the Court Of The Table, which boasts the world’s top 1 per cent of financial practitioners.

I like his talk as it is inspirational, allowing me to reflect on myself. Other than "Daddy Sanath", he is another guy that can make talk so interesting. Did I say Apelles is also a writer of the book Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often?


The introduction of the book can be found here.

He started the talk by singing 3 songs:

朋友 - 周华健


童话 - 光良


Always On My Mind -Elvis Presley


I managed to jot down some of the things that he shared with us about financial planning and most importantly, about life.

This story of 2 monks:
There was this lady that needed to cross the river. Thus, the old monk agreed to carry the lady over. The young monk was angry and puzzled. Thus he asked, "I though we were not supposed to be close to lady and carry her?" The old monk replied, "I have already left her at the other side. You still carry her in your mind." The young monk has not let go.

"There are 3Ps that you have to let go: Past, Pain, People that caused the Pain."

"There are 3Ps why people work: Passion, Purpose, Profit."

"The bank lends you an umbrella when it is sunny and takes it away when it rains.

- Mark Twain."

"Buy what you need (80%), not what you want(20%)."

"There's no bad things in life, only lessons."

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

"Money is what you can buy and money is reduced by inflation."

"People can change. Things can change. Be financially independent."

"People are always rushing. I call them Rush-ian. I once saw a friend and ask him where he is rushing to. And he said, 'Relaxation Centre'."

"Hatred is like taking poison and hoping that they will just die. But when we do that, it is WE who suffer."

In the talk, he also mentioned about Lifestyle Inflation Rate.

Heard of it? It is about how a cup of coffee cost much more in Starbucks or Coffee Bean than in Kopitiam.

And while waiting for someone just now, I read almost half of that book in 2.5 hours and some of the interesting quotes:

"You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your despair. - Douglas MacArthur"

"When we can truly live and not just merely exist, then we break the hold of the past and take hold of he future."

"Faith is one of the foundations of life, giving meaning to the past, power in the present and hope for the future."

"No one can go back to the past and start a brand new beginning, but we can all start now and have a brand new ending."

"By shutting the door to people, you may also be closing your soul to the healing balm of another soul. Relationships hurt but relationships also heal."

"Complementing each other focuses on similarities and also on differences, and seeing these differences as a blessing, not a curse; an advantage, not a disadvantage."

"For relationships to last, we must aspire to give and take. Not take and take."

This is indeed a good book to read. Anyone wants to borrow from me can approach me when I've finished reading it.

An inspiring book.

Live well, Love much, Laugh often.