It’s already 8th January as I’m typing this, but I’ve really been kind of overwhelmed with my FInal Year Project, personal work, company work, and basketball training these days to make a post here.

I did force myself to take time out and write out my personal and income goals for 2009 though.

Did you do that? 

If not..

It’s not too late!

Do it today!

Too many people have emphasized the importance of setting goals already, so I shall not talk too much about that either.

Write down your goals, THINK

about how you wish to achieve them, and make little baby steps EVERYDAY, and work towards your goal!

I’m pretty happy with what I’ve accomplished in 2008, but I have this weird, naggy feeling that 2009 is going to surpass everything I’ve ever done in spectacular fashion

Long story short, here are my goals within the first 6 months of 2009.

1) Buy myself a car. (I’m already shopping and will probably accomplish that goal in the coming weeks.)
2) Hit 5 figures with my projects.  (Strictly income from product sales/affiliate marketing.)
3) Put more effort into working on Marketing-Alchemist.com, KaizenDigitalMedia.com, and KangWeiAng.com. (And start going for offline business as well!)

These are my top 3 priorities for the first half of 2009.

Of course, I have more intricate plans on how I wish to accomplish those, but I shall not bore you with the details.

So, what are your goals for 2009? generic viagra for under $50.00

Merry Christmas folks!

This Christmas, I’ve done something different - something I’ve talked about excessively here.

I made loans to four entrepreneurs on Kiva!

Here they are:

Cee, as she is popularly called by her numerous customers, is a 42 year-old local restaurant operator. She is married and blessed with three children. With income from her business, she has provided for one of her children to graduate from senior high school. In her restaurant, she prepares and sells local foods like “banku” - rice with stew. Banku is prepared from milled maize grains and is taken with hot pepper or soup. Apart from this, she also prepares pastries like meat pies and cakes. Cynthia says that the prices of raw materials have gone up significantly and she needs the support of a loan to enable her to meet her production expenditures. She wants to use the loan to buy more raw materials like bags of maize, flour, margarine, sugar, meat, fish, vegetables, and firewood. Cynthia is a member of a group called Success Trust Group. In this group, members guarantee and provide support to one another to repay the loan. Her picture was taking when she was visited at her business site.

Khurshed Rahmatov is 20 years old. He is a young boy with a great desire to get ahead in life. Khurshed has been running a pharmacy business for 4 years together with his loving mother, pictured in the photo. Currently he is working in the city polyclinics in the dispensary.
Khurshed loves his work; he likes to help people and is ready to consult with the patients purchasing medicines in his store and those who could not find the required goods in his store. During all the years of his work, Khurshed was dreaming of opening his own drug store and saving money for this. He hopes that someday he can realize his dream.
Now Khurshed has requested $ 600 US Dollars for a term of 5 months. Khurshed is a client of IMON and has a positive credit history. Now he promises to repay the loan promptly and thanks everyone supporting him.

Mukaramakhon describes herself as a enterprising girl with the goal to achieve successes in the future. She decided to start a sewing business to help her family with household expenses a year ago. She started out helping a woman who ran a tailoring shop. Being very nimble, she learned tailoring and soon began running her own business at the tailoring shop. It has gone very well since then, and she has been able to grow the business.

Mukaramakhon is requesting a loan of $600 USD to purchase materials so she can fulfill her customers’ requests. The end of the year is fast approaching, and that is when demand is at its highest. She plans to repay the loan within 12 months. Mukaramakhon and her family are very grateful for your support in helping grow this business and move ahead.
 

Rawad is a 26-year-old man who lives in Aley, Mount Lebanon. For the past 16 years, he has been working as a barber.
Rawad is now requesting a loan in the amount of $1,000 via Al Majmoua in order to decorate his shop. Notably, this is the third loan that he has sought, and he states that he always repays his loans on schedule. His prior loans have helped to support his business operation, which he started because he wanted to be on his own from a professional standpoint. In the future, he plans to open another shop.
I’m guessing 95% of folks reading this are entrepreneurs as well.
 
Do give’em a hand if you can afford to; you know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur, not to mention being one in a backward country!
 
Again, Kiva’s the place to go to.
 
Merry Christmas folks, have a great one! 

 

I just finished reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman a week ago.

I know I’m really late into the game, but I’m actually glad I read it this late..

Because I wouldn’t have been able to understand much of it if I read it when it was first released.

Reading about the flattening of the world just feels that much closer to my heart now that I have two assistants working for me in Philipines.

I just couldn’t help thinking about my dear assistants while reading about how the flattening of the world aids collaboration.

The World is Flat is a must-read for ALL entrepreneurs, whether you function primarily online or otherwise. 

I’m serious.

It’s led me to think about one other thing that’s been on my head since a long time ago.

Everyone talks about “giving back”.

Now, I think I’m at a stage where I can afford to give back, and do my bit to change the world.

My problem has always been that.. 

I don’t know how to start!

Millions of people could do with some help..

And there are thousands of ways I COULD help..

So who do I help?

How do I help?

The World is Flat helped me find the answers to those questions (Look for the HP example in the book): 

I want to help entrepreneurs in third-world countries kick-start their busineeses, be it with funds or with my knowledge.

For the past few days, I’ve been thinking..

How do I do that?

Afterall, I’m just one person. 

One person with limited funds, at that.

And then I re-discovered kiva.org.

I’ve been a member of kiva.org for a few months after seeing that link in Allen Says’ signature on Warrior Forum.

I thought the concept was pretty cool but didn’t think too much about it at the time.

And then I read The World is Flat and everything just clicked.

Talk about a mindset change

I plan to be an active lender on kiva.org, and have chosen to make it “The Cause of My Choice”.

I’m kick-starting my efforts by telling you about it.

If you can afford it, and agree with me on how meaningful and inspiring the idea is, do become a microlender and spread the word as well, alright?

“Give a man a fish, and he has food for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he has food for life. Give a Cambodian $25, and he has food for a few days. (If he manages to buy food in the first place.) Help an aspiring entrepreneur, and he will not only have enough for himself, but he will help others do the same, and before you know it, the problem of poverty suddenly seems solvable.”