I traced back the reason why I contacted him and I realized that I texted him after I announced in Facebook that I was doing the Online Management Coaching.
Contacting Pal was me having a hypomania. This is what I texted him later on:
[10:27 PM, 5/5/2020] sharudinj: Pal, during the podcast, I want to talk about how I was struggling with Bipolar Disorder
[10:39 PM, 5/5/2020] Perth Pal Singh: That’s in my plan pun 😂
[10:39 PM, 5/5/2020] Perth Pal Singh: You be helping lots to understand about that
[10:40 PM, 5/5/2020] sharudinj: 1 out of 4 people are suffering from mental illness.
[10:41 PM, 5/5/2020] sharudinj: Aku ni among the survivor. According to my doctor, I am her fastest recovering patient
[12:04 AM, 5/6/2020] sharudinj: Go and conquer as many land Alexander, then when you are ready, let's enjoy the stars together. You are an amazing man buddy. Don't go changing.
I was in hypomania. In that state I am overly affectionate. Just like when I first met you or when I was listening to Els.
My concern is I might get into mania while I am doing the podcast. It will be embarrassing.
Even if I am not in mania, I don't think people want to hear about my experience when I was at the peak of my Bipolar.
I want to talk about it as I experience it. About me battling Iblis for 15 years. About me going through ECT and about how I no longer believe in religion.
These things people don't want to know. People are interested in knowing the success story. I am more interested to tell people, "Hey, you want to see sunrise walk towards the East. You all got it wrong. Everybody is running to the West hoping to see the sun rising from the West".
My values are completely the opposite of the masses.
Instead of more or more expensive, I am going for less or less frequent.
[7:23 AM, 5/13/2020] sharudinj: Bro, I had been thinking... I think I skip the podcast. My values are very different now from the masses. I might ruin your show.
[7:28 AM, 5/13/2020] sharudinj: Instead of more or more expensive, I am going for less or less frequent. People are not interested to go for less, everybody is on a hedonic treadmill 🤣
My formula for success is dependent on my ability to nibble and run. The minute I pop my head in the mainstream, I will contaminate my belief system with the belief system of the masses.
The key is to make enough and exit early. Then focus on what you really want in life. In my case, my long term goal is health and happiness. My daily pursuit is read, run and write.
Keep it small and simple. Otherwise you got caught up. You can't get caught up.
As usual Ramadan is a messy month for me. This time I am well prepared. I got apple and butter for lunch. Let's try to lose 5 kg before Syawal.
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Sarah, I want out of the corporate world. There is nothing more for me there. The corporate world are interested to go for more and more expensive. They are not interested to have less. Imagine if the people start thinking like that. The economy will not grow. The economy is an economy based on people spending to buy more and more things.
Princess is now in a sweet spot. She finished paying off her car and she only spend RM400 on fuel, toll and lunch every month.
The rest who are on borrowing have to keep on working to service their loans. They get caught up in the hedonic treadmill. By the time they finish paying their loans, they start on a new loan. So they got caught up. You cannot get caught up.
When you don't have loans you can save more. I found out later in life that money grows but things get old and depreciated. What counts really is cash at hand and food on the table. No money is instant death while no food is slow death. The rest of the things can't help you much unless you have jewelries.
This I learned during the hard times. In 1999 I was caught with my pants down. I own so many things but they are liabilities. I have to earn a certain amount so that I can service my loans. Those thing I own didn't help at all.
The person to the rescue was my wife. Luckily our borrowing ratio was low. We were being conservative. After that we got rid of the extra cars and motorcycles. I even spring clean my unused things and sold them in Cash 'n' Carry.
There is nothing good coming out from more or more expensive except to stroke your ego. However the situation is different if it is OPM. If it is your money, it is better that you let your money tree grow. That is why I save 33% of my earnings and I do not disturb my reserves. In 10 years that will double. Then only you harvest.
You can only do that provided you are frugal. If you are flamboyant, doesn't matter how much you earn, you cannot save. Pal may drive a Lexus and own so many stuff, but he also have a RM2 million dollar debt. I drive a MyVi and everything is paid for.
One of the best decision I ever made was to marry my wife. The next best decision was to let her have all my money and the house. I am happy getting daily meal allowance from her. I only keep a small amount for my monthly petty cash. Even that I cannot finish RM100 a month.
That doesn't mean I am on ascetic. Once a month the family have a lavish feast. I still eat steak on father's day and Red Lobster Seafood Platter on my birthday.
Where do I cut short? Clothes, shoes, perfumes, bags and books. Gone are the days I wear branded and designer clothes. I still buy branded footwear but I buy the value for money items. As for perfumes, I scale down from RM300 per bottle to RM25 per bottle. Instead I invest on fragrant soap. Books are now ebooks which I got from Pirate Bay.
The fact that I own a small car means I save on petrol, road tax and insurance. There is one thing about knowing it, it is another in actually living up to it.
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