Life’s Work A memoir of life through the eyes of an entrepreneur, a record label owner, a vocalist of several bands and now... ...a father!
Written by Mohd Salihin (This is a 2014 revised edition. The first publication was done in 2011 and coming back to this book three years later, I’m happy to continue my story.)
This book is dedicated to my family members who have been supporting and putting up with my crazy ideas all these years. To my late grandparents, I will always love you and keep you near in my prayers. To my wife, thank you so much for making this journey complete and may we always be happy with our first baby boy Muhammad Aaryan Salihin and to my best friends, thanks for the good times.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR This is the part I get to praise myself for all the things I have accomplished over the years but I’m not going to do that. - In this revised edition of the book, you will learn more about me and someday I will pick up this book again and do a third revision. That’s what this is. That’s what life is. We keep going on for years and years, we take some time off to reflect on the things that has happened and we plan the next phase of our life. It does not take an author to know this, everyone knows it. I only choose to write about it. Sometimes I choose to sing about it. Sometimes I choose to forget about it. Since 2011, after the release of the first edition, I was still trying my best to make the old company BTS (Break The Silence Longboards) work out. Unfortunately it didn’t. The ship sank, and so did other things but what made it to the surface was more opportunities. Sure I was ten thousand dollars knee deep in debt. I had to get a job and each month, spent about a thousand dollars paying back those debts. They were eventually cleared, but it did take a toll on me, well, it’s only up to you to imagine how tough things were. This is the continuation of my story in the first few pages. So how you will read this book is in present times and backwards to how it all began for me.
Today, 12th January 2014 It’s a beautiful Sunday, my wife is trying to put Aaryan (my 5 month old son) back to sleep. He’s turning out to be an active and playful boy. A few years ago, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that in 2014, I will be living this way. As a husband and a father. I met my wife Nazurah a few years ago. Initially, she hated the way I dress. We would laugh it off every time because when we first met, I was wearing all sorts of brands. As a guy, I honestly didn’t care too much about how I dress up each day. In my mind, I had no one to impress so I just wore what I thought was comfortable. Sparing you the details of our adventures on my PX 150 Vespa over the years, we decided to get married. No I didn’t get on one knee to propose. You can say that I am not the romantic sort and she too didn’t like guys who pretended to be a perfect gentleman either. So how we decided to get married? We went out one day and applied for our own house. How romantic! or not... For the benefit of those not living in Singapore, (maybe I have more
readers from other countries this time around) in Singapore, where the grass is always green and the citizens are always unhappy due to the fact that our Government loves to rip us off, most people would either opt for a resale flat (previously owned by someone) or they would live with their parents forever (not applicable in my opinion) or they would get their own flat. A small 3 room flat in Singapore could get you a nice house in many parts of the world, here, we live in what most people call - a pigeon hole. So we managed to secure our small humble pigeon hole and then we got married and now, my baby boy is fast asleep. Time flies doesn’t it. In between all that, I had worked for a company for two years. The company is really disorganized and most of the people who came before me have already left the company. Others choose to stay because they loved the job irregardless of the flaws. My hats off to these colleagues of mine. The front line is full of difficult customers and their work is not made any easier by the incapable management team in the head office but they hold down the fort with pride and honor.
Now, I’m at the crossroads again. My wife is currently a full time mom and spends time with Aaryan while I’m out working, we constantly work on plans to make ends work.
We have already decided to: 1.Migrate and secure a nice piece of real estate abroad, in a cosy little island, away from the busy city life. As much as possible, we would like to raise Aaryan in a peaceful environment, away from the brainwash. 2.We plan to follow our dreams. My wife Nazurah has always been keen on production work. Not referring to factories of any kind but she’s really keen on doing events. She loves photography and videography. Many years ago, she was in a band playing percussion and to me, she sings well too. -I’ve always liked women who can sing (internal joke)
She’s far more talented than I am in my point of view as she has been involved in various projects including appearing on TV for some parts in dramas and such. She comes from a family of dancers and has been dancing since a very young age. When I was young, I was just a lazy boy who hated to go to school. Something about school that turns me off. School is important though, I learnt the hard way so as an adult, I kept trying to go back to school.
In 2006, I signed up for a degree course in Multimedia. It was one of those quick courses, just two years in a private school that costs a lot of money. All I had to do was to stay in school for 2 years to earn that degree. - Not too difficult at first. I was also working to support myself and that more or less screwed things up. The stress of work, the stress of a relationship, the amount of school work, I can only muster the energy to stay in school for a year. So I dropped out of school and despite clearing the diploma phase, they didn’t allow me to take my diploma certificate. Ripped off by a private school, I just carried on working. In 2009, I went back to school, determined this time to make it through and earn myself a diploma. Months passed, boredom strikes but this time around, I stayed on strong and earned my diploma. That made my mom proud for a moment. I was one of the youngest in my class as the other students were in their mid thirties and mid forties. So I learnt then that education is important but what you do with what you have learnt is most important.
I didn’t mention any of this in the first publication so I best add in on right now, so that years from now, my son may read about it and learn from it. January 2014, my wife and I are just starting out our very own production business. Its called Cellrat Media. I do hope some of my friends do join in the fun when they are ready, but in the meantime, Nazurah wants to take lead in the events department. For me, I plan to set up a professional recording studio and carry on my love for music. At the moment, I don’t have a promising job but it will do for now. Sometimes it’s just a test from God. How we respond to His tests are important. So in bad times, endure. In good times, be appreciative.
An introduction to my musical journey I started out listening to a lot of english and american rock bands, mainly 80s and 90s rock, some call it glam rock. I loved bands like Skid Row, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Riot, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Kane Roberts, Tesla, Winger, Warrant, Cinderella and at the time, Biohazard, an american hardcore band was also making a huge impact with their smash mouth hardcore music. Rage against the machines, Cypress Hill, an amazing soundtrack album of the movie Judgement Night was also tearing through the walls, spilling into the rest of the house. My cousin Hisham owned all those CDs so after school I just listened to as much as I could. Back in the days, MTV played all those music, unlike how they are today, playing dumbed down music to the masses of brainwashed people. Sorry to say this about the current state of times. I remember the first CD which I bought. My dad loves older stuff like Deep Purple, Scorpions, ABBA, Queen and The Beatles. I remember my dad has tons of vinyl, Paul Anka, lots of roots and folk records. My moms favourite band at the time was The Carpenters. She loved to sing and she had a good voice (the last I can remember her singing was like in the early 90s) Somehow, my mom stopped singing, my dad loved to sing but he had this low tone which made him only listenable to those who enjoy old Indonesian music. He would say, “Salihin, listen to this, this is evergreen.” I will always just ignore. So back to my first CD. I bought Queen Greatest Hits. Laugh it off but at that age, I thought that Freddie Mercury is an excellent songwriter. His music was ahead of his time. I hadn’t listened to Black Sabbath yet but if I had listened to Black Sabbath much sooner, Black Sabbath would be my first CD.
I enjoyed english songs more so I tried to be less biased so I went to the record store one day and I asked the man tending the store. “I want to buy the best Malay album at the moment but I’m not sure what I want.” So he gave me a cassette tape of the band Gersang. That became the only malay cassette tape I ever bought. I just couldn’t get into it that much. I’ll give credit to where it’s due but “evergreen” songs on that record were “Sunyi” and “Suratan Takdir.” These two songs had great lyrics, something at that age, I could somehow relate to. Maybe I was the most romantic ME when I listened to those two tracks. OK lame. Maybe they were just catchy or had a nice melody. After that, many years later, when you get to listen to Nirvana Nevermind album cranking out of the old boxy stereos, you will forget about sappy romantic music. The birth of the Seattle Grunge Scene changed my life. No longer do I listen to Skid Row and Guns and Roses on a daily basis. It was all the way Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, occasionally some Aerosmith but that really changed everything. Music in general was amazing at the time. Black Sabbath was still rocking, Metallica albums were selling out fast everything was loud. One of my favourite underrated bands was THERAPY? That band was amazing. The songwriting was unlike any other. Rollins Band, Black Flag, Bad Brains and all the other punk band soon caught on. So I was exposed to more and more, I was neglecting school more and more.
Just when you think that music cannot get any heavier, you have bands like TYPE O NEGATIVE cover the song Black Sabbath. I encourage you to find that song on Youtube. Forgive my endless rambling about music. Nirvana was spinning out of control, Trent Reznor was covered in mud alongside Greenday (I think it was Woodstock.) I wasn’t a fan of Hendrix yet so I didn’t know too much about him at the time. I missed those days badly. The bands were so talented, they were crazy, Man’O’War declared war on weak music and is still fighting strong. Wimps and posers across the world fell to their kness, ran screaming for Take That and Backstreet Boys. This is the music story never told but it’s true. From all that boy band crap, one of the most talented guitarist of all time, Racer X’s Jason Becker became really ill. He had a mental disease and he lost his mobility completely. The news saddened me quite a bit. All the time, I wasn’t aware that that disease was around and that it happened to one of the greats, well it made me explore the world of guitars. Jasons’ good friend was Marty Friedman. Marty also played in a band called Megadeth so I started listening to Megadeth. He made solo albums and my favourite song was “Thunder March.” That opened more doors to bands like Slayer, Kreator, Anthrax, Sepultura and also in my quiet days, I heard the music from a popular CD series called Power Ballads. On the CD were bands like Mr Big, Saigon Kick, Def Leppard, Tesla, Warrant, LA Guns, Trixter, Slaughter, Damn Yankees and another good CD was Richie Sambora solo album.
So life in the 90s slowed down a little. The Seattle Grunge Scene was buzzing and a lot of new bands were inspired by that. MTV started playing music from Yngwie J Malmsteen. It was in that era where a lot of the energy dipped into more melodies songs. Radiohead burst into the scene with Creep and shot them to stardom. I was in school, always with a cassette player, a pencil or a pen (90s kids) will know what to do. I still couldn’t afford CDs that much. Not long after Kurt Cobain had enough and pulled the trigger. Layne Staley of Alice in Chains also had a sad ending and one of the most documented internal band disputes broke out in Metallica. After years of fighting, Jason Newsted left Metallica. Without Kurt Cobain, Nirvana went seperate ways. Dave Ghrol started Foo Fighters. Krist Novoselic went on to form Sweet 75. Foo Fighters as we all know is the most successful band between the two. Grunge music was never the same again. In the same time, I just learnt of this singer who said that “The KKK took his baby away,” and when he got over that, he said to his mates “Hey Ho, Let’s Go!” Somewhere in the history of the band, the vocalist also said this, “I don’t wanna be buried, in the pet cemetary. Don’t wanna live my life again.” That band is The Ramones. Back in school, now in the mid 90s, some of my friends were into Punk music. They loved bands like Rancid, The Ramones, Screeching Weasel and all that. I was still a bit slow to catch on but eventually I did. However, I wasn’t that keen on those bands as I was always a fan of good lyrics. Music had to have a strong message and no one had a stronger message than the UK punk bands.
I’m a huge fan of CONFLICT - The Ungovernable Force. They play extremely political punk music, backlash against the Royal British Family, A strong supporter of animal liberation front and a loud voice for the people who were also at war against Maggie. Maggie recently passed away and I’m sure there was a huge party somewhere in the UK. I started my own Punk band in 1994. We weren’t that good so there were a few lineup changes. I started out playing in a band called Teenage Slackers. We had a demo and after a change of lineup, we went on to play a little faster. We then called ourselves Desecrate. It was on one of the school holidays, I was working in the hotel industry. I was working at Regent Hotel as a Room Service waiter. It’s a funny job to be honest. I once stood outside the room, a tray of food balanced on my hand and rested on the edge of my shoulder. As soon I reached the room, I stood outside and before i could ring the bell, I could hear a woman moaning and screaming. What an awkward moment. I didn’t know if I should go back or stay at the front door? What should I say if the food turned cold and the guests cancelled the order? So I rang once and waited. Still waiting. Till a lady opened the door and took the tray from my hands. Looking a little pissed. It was weird. Back to punk music, I wrote my first song in the service lift of that hotel. It just came to me and so I wrote down the lyrics on a piece of paper.
It’s called Fight For Freedom and it goes something like this: Verse 1 We want our freedom, like so long ago And now we see, there is no such hope We want to fight, for what we feel is right So let’s unite and we’ll show our might Chorus Fight For Freedom, Freedom, Freedom (Repeat) (There’s more to it, but thats all I can remember.)
It was that moment on where I found something that I love doing. Writing. Desecrate went on for 4 years before I left the band and formed my own band in 1998. We were influenced with more bands in the underground scene by then. So we named the band Wartorn Nation. I came up with that name as I wanted to find something similar about all countries. Every country has faced war so the name Wartorn Nation (WTN) came about from that theory. We were playing a genre called Grindcore. The music is strong in it’s lyrical content and the music is loud, fast and in your face. That’s what we wanted to do after performing in various gigs in Singapore and Malaysia with Desecrate. To keep on going, we recorded two demo tapes on cassette. One in 1998, another in 1999.
We then got our break when an Australian Record Label called “In League With Satan” showed interest in our music. At that era, Vinyl records have been around and widely used as the main format for music. CD was still expensive at the time. Everyone had a record player at home so we did our first recording for our first 7” Vinyl release in year 2000. Our guitarist wrote a letter to a band in Japan called EVOL and asked if they were keen to share that 7” Vinyl with us. So they said yes and we had the first project planned out. Just for the record, in those days, we wrote letters, some would call them snail mail. Emails were rarely used. Everything was arranged by snail mail so everything took a longer time to plan out. To this day, I still have some old snail mail from people who wrote to us about our music. Having a vinyl release, it really paved the way for us. That was our secret weapon. More record labels outside Singapore began to talk to us about future recording plans. Vinyl was much easier to be sold and traded amongst the other labels. So from there, we started doing records with another label called American Line Productions for our next project. That new record was sold out in a few months and the momentum carried on. We hit a slump sometime after that. In the year 2000, I was touring in Germany with 11 bands by myself and I was with a Record Label/Tour Organizer called
Revenge Productions. My friend Dani invited me to Germany for the tour so I accepted. I was amazed at how bands came together from all over Europe, USA and I had first hand experience of helping out in the venues. It was the craziest 2 weeks of my life. I wasn’t even 21 years old yet. I came back to Singapore and WTN continued to write more material but we found it hard to get bigger labels to release our materials. I kept on trying but to no avail. But I had a plan...
INCISE TO EXCISE Productions. Now that i know how labels work, how they talk to bands and how they manage bands on a larger scale, I started my own record label. It was called Incise To Excise Productions. The problem was, all the major labels were too busy to release our new songs. The solution to this problem was learning how to release our own songs. So after learning from Dani, my german friend for some time, WTN was in the studios again to record more materials. This time, we had plans to collaborate with two bands from Europe. One was from France, they were called Morgue. The other was from Poland and they were called Squash Bowels. We all had weird names because from the first Grindcore record we released with the Australian label, In League Wit’ Satan Records, we decided to move towards a genre called Goregrind. Goregrind was more fun. It wasn’t political at all. It was more like soundtracks to B-Grade Horror movies. Horror movies that will never make it to the big screen because they were too imaginative and too violent and at the same time, it was low budget and all the bloody, messy special effects looks too cheesy and fake. So that was the humor in Goregrind.
I went on to self release the materials with the two european bands and the records were well received. Most of WTN records were pressed only once, 300 pieces maximum. They came in various colored vinyls. This is my first business and I was thrilled. I planned to do a lot more but suddenly, an offer came along that was too good to refuse. One of the leading labels from the USA who were well known in the Goregrind industry offered us a slot in their label. In Singapore, we were the first Goregrind band to be signed to a label in the US. So that created more buzz for the bands history. We went on to release a full CD album with Razorback Records but to my dislike, WTN decided to take time off from writing music. It was 1994. The highlight for us that year was to read all the reviews from various distros and magazines from all over the world. They each gave a review of our album and that was the best feeling ever. The best review came from a zine called Bringer Of Gore (who reviewed all our vinyl records) and Terrorizer Magazine who placed WTN as #14 in a list of Best Albums in 2004. WTN became inactive, with that, forced Incise To Excise into a slowdown and untimely demise.
In 2005, WTN was invited to perform in the US at the Maryland Deathfest. In 2006, we were again invited to perform in the US at the Maryland Deathfest. Both years, I had to turn them down as some members of the band were on the verge of getting married and busy with their careers. It was really sad for me. As I had dreamed of playing on a grand stage for years. That dream still burns inside me today. After that, my life became boring. As you all know, in 2006, I attempted to get my degree in Multimedia but failed. In 2007, I had an emotional breakdown and was depressed for 18 months. In 2009, I was feeling better and I earned my Diploma. Soon after many horrible relationships, I met my wife and now we’re married and happy. What a roller coaster ride. I now sit comfortably on my sofa, Aaryan and Naz in the other room playing with some toys. On a good note, we are now working to regain our missing passion. We are planning to set up a professional recording studio so that I can continue producing music. She is saving up to buy her dream camera
and in 2016, we will have our own flat. We will also secure our plot of land by then and develop our retirement home one brick at a time.
This is it.
The extended version and we are back at the present. In the next section, is the business side of my life, the first 2011 edition of this mad blurb called Life’s Work. Now my job is to make sure my new label turns out well so that I can feed my family. The rules of the games have changed but the game stays the same - To keep going on in life, reinventing myself again and again.
No fear, do doubts, just patience and sticking to the goals. I have a new band now, my wife is involved in it this time and we’re writing new songs. This life is indeed an amazing journey so I leave you with the rest of this book - The 2011 format. Thanks and may you find peace and success in your life’s work.
CHAPTER 1 Do you love yourself enough that you are willing to break a few rules to be happy? There are many laws that govern us but which of those laws should we really break free from? I ask myself that question sometimes and with my firm decision, I will carry on living in my chosen path. I have to be honest to you that rules donʼt always apply to me. That has worked for me so far and I shall not change that too quickly. Iʼve read countless numbers of books in the last few years and I certainly hope this one will be memorable for others as it will be for me. Writing is after all an extension of oneʼs soul, similar to creating music, dancing, painting art, making films, documentaries and every other creative platform out there.
“Anything and everything can be achieved if you put your heart into it” - That is a lesson in life I will never forget.
A good friend of mine Raihan, once said that to me as we parted. We were playing music in a band together for six years (WTN). We had made a decision to disband and go our own ways - to pursue our own dreams. That was when it struck me that my life was about to change. He went on to start his own business as a fitness instructor. He had a wonderful idea to begin with and achieved in getting the funding to pursue those dreams. A year later, I found out that he was beginning to earn a large sum of
money every month from his business and he soon married his girlfriend. In the beginning, he offered me a position in his company but not knowing how I could contribute, I hesitated, procrastinated and eventually missed out on that opportunity. I did not regret that decision but time proved that I was wrong. I missed out on a life changing opportunity because I let my doubts get in the way. Everyone has missed out on that winning ticket before and some may never see it again. Despite living in a small country like Singapore, I did see him only once many years later. Since then, Iʼve been working odd jobs and trying everything possible to be in line for the next opportunity.
“Opportunities are abundant” -There are also people who attracts them and receives them more quickly than others. Train your eyes and your mind to see them. Take action.
EVERYONE MAKES A DIFFERENCE Everyone is different and we donʼt always have the same belief system. We grew up in different countries, different cities, different times and in different families but itʼs truly amazing that we are all united by a few similar things as well.
This world we live in is full of beautiful creations. From the things man are able to build or invent with our imaginations to the greater elements and nature only god has the power to create. We rise from our beds in different times of the day from many different locations throughout the world yet the common pursuit that all of us share are: - Success - Comfort - Security - Spirituality - Creativity - Peace - Love - Harmony - Wealth They all add up and creates purpose and balance. What destroys purpose and balance are: - Anger - Betrayal - Lies - Hatred - Violence - Doubt - Personal gain in the expense of others - Selfish behavior - Sickness - Poverty Balance is easily upset and can be dangerous in the hands of man yet in moments of anguish, tragic events and natural disasters that affects millions of people worldwide, unbalance
may also bring about a change by showing compassion to help others in need of help. We may monitor the weather, the stars in the distant galaxies and our health with technology that continues to evolve but we get caught in our blind side once awhile. Where can we find a gadget that will help us get on the right track in life? A device that gives off a warning signal before we do something stupid that puts us in a bad predicament? I wouldnʼt run out to find one if I were you. All we have to do is to dig deep and find it in ourselves. The next time you see someone in need of your help, remember that you are capable of restoring some balance back into their lives.
“When we think of others, we open the doors to opportunity. When we go back to our selfish ways, we turn the key to our own cages.”
Chapter 2 The year was 2001 and I had just completed National Service and I was hungry to get back on track. WTN was making good progress and we had planned a series of recordings in the studio. I needed money so I took on two jobs. (I was already running Incise To Excise Productions.) My first job of the day was as a Barista in a small cafe at International Plaza. We were open by 6:00 am so my day begins that early. Since I was working in an office building, the cafe would close for the day at 5:00 pm in the evening. I wasn't making enough money from that job so I decided to work at another restaurant during dinner time. I quickly found a job at Tanglin Mall and it was rather perfect. I started work there at 6:00 pm till 10:30 pm at night. Only with the second job, I could manage my commitments with the band and the label. After several months of working 16 hours a day, I was exhausted. I needed to make a change. I was still a normal guy behind a coffee machine at the cafe but at the restaurant, I had climbed my way from the very bottom, to a comfortable position in the company. It was rather an easy decision so I stopped working at the cafe and joined the restaurant full time. With the change, I started my job at 11 am and went home at 10:30 pm everyday.
It was certainly more relaxing despite being in a hectic work environment. The lunch crowds were fairly predictable but the dinner crowds were without a doubt, challenging and interesting in every way. There, I met "Uncle Tommy" the owner of the company. Together with his partners, they owned a chain of restaurants. He'd always bring his new clients to the Tanglin Mall outlet, where I was at. I had never seen him with his family so it was all about business all the time. He would always walk into the restaurant with a big smile on his face and he'd shake the hand of all his workers and call us by name. "How are you Salihin?" he says, sitting in the bar stool as I was casually preparing some drinks. "I'm doing good thank you." My relaxed voice fills the air. I like it when “Uncle Tommy pays a visit to the restaurant. After spending the last to years serving the Army, meeting someone who respects others is a breath of fresh air. Uncle Tommy probably regards us as an extended family, always concerned about our plans for the future, encouraging us to dream big and take small steps to secure a good future. He was my very first mentor. Someone I chose to learn from. He taught me early on how the smallest details is important yet through his teachings, he was never over powering or
annoying. We all know how annoying bosses can be but with all the success in the world, that man was never boastful and irritating. Watching him in a distance, I learnt many things. He'd check the freezer for food that was going to be expired, he talked and made every staff on his team his friend and he'd cook alongside the other cooks in the kitchen. His cooking impresses me the most. Not only does he own a chain of restaurant which requires a different set of expertise, he has years of experience as a cook and he came up with some of the items on the menu. How much knowledge does he truly possess in his brain? Only god knows but in 2001 I learnt something about life that is very important just by observing uncle Tommy and understanding his intentions in our conversations.
"Behind every successful person, lies years of preparation, self education, dedication, self belief and self sacrifices."
Chapter 3 At times, wanting something so bad makes us sloppy, at times we disregard the risks, we disregard the consequences and we make decisions hastily. Iʼm a victim of my own brash acts and acts of stupidity at times. It is with regrets and mistakes do we feel the pain and the recovery makes us wiser. We seldom make the same mistakes but we constantly find new things which turns out to be a new mistake. Thatʼs the frustrating part when things just donʼt go as planned. How do we a s s u r e t h a t we d o n ʼ t fa l l v i c t i m s t o u n s e e n circumstances?
- We can only go as far as developing skills which allows us to plan things well, stick to something for years till we achieve mastery in that chosen field of work and hang on to dear life that something or someone doesnʼt come along and rock the boat. Sometimes, holding on to something too hard makes it turn bad. Like relationships with other people for example. If you always want things done your way, you are limiting another person their expression and growth. In business, you have to listen to your team and accept new ideas to allow the company too grow.
In romantic relationships, being over powering suffocates the relationship as well. Anger, frustration and lack of satisfaction is directly linked to this. If you notice, all of which are feelings. Feelings are the fuel for the human soul. Every result we make is created by how we feel.
If you feel good, people will see it. People will be attracted to it.
You’ll only feel good if your mind is clear, you’re unaffected by the troubles in your life and the society that surrounds you. When you feel good, you’re able to be more efficient in your daily life and you’re able to make the smart decision.
That itself determines the result of whatever it is you are doing. Feeling good sounds easy doesnʼt it? I encourage you to pay more attention to this powerful tool. When you wake up every day, start off by feeling good, think of the hours before you and fill that with activities and goals that would make you feel good. When you start thinking of good actions, your brain sends signals to your body, they trigger your productive nature to be more active and you do enough of this every day, feeling good come naturally. Youʼll be amazed with the results and the things that youʼre working so hard for comes so much easier.
SUCCESS Even the smallest or simplest tasks requires effort and commitment. We have all had our success and failures and quite frankly, that is what life is all about. Itʼs about the days that has passed and the days that are still to come. How one chooses to spend those days will determine his or her future.
Failure is very much like ʻFakeʼ friends: - Youʼll have plenty of them. - They come and go as they please. - Sometimes, theyʼll really drive you up the wall. - Sometimes, theyʼll make sense and youʼll learn something new from them. - If you spend too much time hanging out with them, youʼll end up becoming a bum. Iʼm not saying that having friends will make successful. Iʼm trying to make you see that fail at something, donʼt be too hard on yourself, yourself up that much. Accept it, retrace your see where you have gone wrong.
you less when you donʼt beat steps and
Success are like ʻTrueʼ friends - When you find them, they will be there for you in good and bad times. - They bring out the best in you. - They make you feel great. - They take you to new heights and follow you to new lows.
- They remind you not to repeat the mistakes you have made with your ʻFakeʼ friends. - They will refer you to more ʻTrueʼ friends. So go on! Make more true friends and spend less time with fake friends. With these simple comparisons, youʼll be able to extend your networking influence into the right crowd. Your success in life is partly depending on it. Another important factor that you need to know about before and after achieving success is time management. This is possibly the most important skill that you need to master. -Being poor at this can almost guarantee that you will be average.
“Make room in your life for failure. There’s nothing shameful about failing at something. What is shameful is that you don’t try at all.”
TIME MANAGEMENT Successful people are truly masters of this. They use this skill to become better than the average person. We all have 24 hours a day. What we do with it makes everyone different from the other. What do you do each day? - Make a list. What books are you reading or do you want to start reading? - Make a list. What do you know and what do you plan on learning? - Make a list. Once you have made that list in your mental memory, take out a blank sheet of paper and write down that list and just by doing so, you have taken a bold step forward from yesterday to the person youʼll be some time further ahead in future. Now hereʼs the hard part.
“Taking that first step and stay committed to the list.
Don’t let it be another meaningless piece of paper with some random writings on it.� Chapter 4 If you have made a choice to be more successful, do these three things very well: #1- Read Books Every Day and cultivate the habit of lifelong learning. An hour of reading at the start of the day, and another hour at the end of your day for a year will result in you achieving 730 hours of self education. You will have amassed a huge amount of information. Information that could help you be a better worker in the company, a better business owner and investor, a better athlete, a better coach, a better student, a better performer, a better musician, a better writer, a better, more successful individual. #2- A Successful Change Starts With A Change In Habits. Learn to distinguish bad habits from good habits. Do more with your time with activities that brings positive results and growth in your life. #3- Change Your Financial Blueprint. What is a financial blueprint?
Your financial blueprint is your set of ideas about money. It may be derived from your experiences, by your parents or by laziness. Yes! Laziness. If you think like a poor person, you will do little to earn more money, you will spend more than what you earn, you will have little or no savings, you will resort to going into debt. You will always be unhappy about money. The good thing is, everyone can change your financial blueprint.
5 Basic Rules Of Survival: Rule #1 - Look for ways to earn more. You donʼt need to leave your day job, you just need to learn how to get more from it. Rule #2 - Look for a second income. The more sources of income you have, the better your chances of becoming financially free. Rule #3 - Start dreaming again. Dream of that business you wish to own. Read books on starting your own business, find a mentor, and focus your energy into it. This time, donʼt give up. Note: Stop dreaming about that new car. Cars are liabilities. It takes money away from your precious savings. Iʼm talking about car loans, rising fuel costs, ridiculous amounts of money driving into business districts, ridiculous hourly parking fees. If you really must have it, no one can stop you. If it makes you money, do it. If it doesn’t, just be prepared to waste plenty of your hard earned money.
Rule #4 - The universe pays you for being kind. In order to receive more, start giving more. Be more charitable. Rule #5 - Invest your time in building a good network of friends. Spend less time with others who does not contribute to your progress. Note: In your readings, include reading about money management. Here’s why:
Money is not the root off all evil. If you believe it, donate your own money to organizations who will do amazing things with money.
Donate regularly to the poor. Your contributions will provide for them food, shelter and medicine. They will appreciate that money, they will smile when they receive it and perhaps then youʼll see that money is indeed the root to happiness and new beginnings.
Donʼt turn your cash to trash. I recommend everyone to find out more about the five laws of gold. Donʼt know what that is? Google it up. Thereʼs a good book written about it. Basically itʼs: First Law - How to save money, Second Law - What to do with your income, Third Law - How not to lose it to others by borrowing it to them without possibility of repayment
Forth Law - How not to lose your savings on investments you know little about. Fifth Law - How to make your money work for you. After all, your money affects your life, your dreams, your retirement and the people you care for.
Tip from the author: Do this immediately, donʼt put it off for even one more day.
“Think of 5 people you spend most of your time with. They are more influential to your life than anyone else. -
If you find that these 5 people are average individuals, help them become successful individuals too.
“You will help them change their lives for the better and your life will change for the better too.”
Chapter 5 In late 2009, I found myself in a bad predicament. I was injured waist down. No, I am not paralyzed but the thought and threat seems real to me till this day. Iʼm happy that it was not a life threatening injury but it did leave me in pain for many months. I suffered from a spinal injury. It affected the mobility in my legs and I was constantly in pain. After going through some tests and eventually needing an MRI scan, the test results confirmed it. The doctors found that a part of my lower spine was cracked and protruding towards one of the nerves in my lower back. The doctors left me with two options. Option A: Take care of my back and endure the pain. Option B: Go for surgery (but that doesnʼt guarantee that the pain will go away) I was bed ridden for a few weeks due to the pain. It was unbearable to move around, painful with every turn of my body and fear that the slightest jerk would worsen my condition loomed in my mind. I gave it some thought and I decided not to go for surgery. The months ahead proved to be very challenging indeed.
I wasnʼt able to work, I didnʼt move around that much and I spent most of my time alone, away from my friends.
I felt demoralized. Faced with adversity, I kept thinking of what I will do when I recover? Clearly, I wasnʼt able to go back to doing sports, lifting weights at that stage would jeopardize any chances of a full recovery. Yet with the time I had on my hands, I continued reading and did some research on some business ideas. Before getting injured, I was the owner of a cafe business that went bad. It was a terrible experience but I kept playing my cards till the very end. I lost a large sum of my familyʼs money, hurt my pride and shook up my confidence. I put my friends and family into so much trouble and I felt really bad about it. Those few months were pure misery for me. Despite that, I decided not to beat myself up. After resting in bed for 4 months, I decided to get a new job and start working on that new business plan. I quickly found a job which I regard as a walk in a park. Iʼm used to stressful and demanding work conditions and this new job of mine is the easiest of them all.
I started working in a bookstore but I was the most unlikely candidate for the job. I wore earrings to work, had a unique hairstyle at the time and when my bosses were out for meetings, I played Bob Marley albums in the storeʼs radio for all to hear. It suddenly became this cool bookstore and the expats who lived in the area flocked to the bookstore for good music, and new books. At times, Iʼd get into trouble for injecting my own blend of entertainment to the work place. Soon enough, I was banned from playing music in the store. The uptight manager didnʼt seem to see the impact and the new business my music brings to the shop. I became unhappy as my ideas were not accepted. I was being controlled again. Something very common in a work place. A few months later, after struggling with the working relationship (my efforts at work wasnʼt appreciated no matter what I did.) I decided to move on to a new job. I hate starting over from scratch but at times, it was necessary. On my last day of work at the bookstore, no one said anything nice to me and as I walked out the door for the last time. All they had to say was, “Bye! Take care!” Suckas! Not a single word of thanks from the people I worked with, from the company who I made money for. I never returned to that place and I stopped supporting that company. I never recommended anyone to buy anything from that company ever again. They eventually closed down.
Note: If you own a company and a fellow member of the company leaves with a bad taste in their mouths like I did, Iʼm very sure you will also lose their valued support and lose the customers who patronize the store after they have left the company. No one could be like Uncle Tommy. Cool and professional in every sense. Uncle Tommy awarded me the “Best Performance” in 2001. My first of many certificates for my hard work in various companies. The real joy is to work in a company that notices your level of commitment and rewards the effort. Though I went on to pursue another line of work and I left the job at the restaurant, I still support the company. I tell my friends about it and I join the unpredictable dinner crowd in various restaurants owned by Uncle Tommy. One simple gesture of appreciation earns him 10 years of my support as a customer. Itʼs easy to make new customers but very hard to retain them.”
“It’s costly to attract new customers to your business but keeping them with you is all about service with sincerity.”
Following My Dreams With my bad back, I made a firm decision to start my own company. By then I had already realized that growing the company will take many years. I already had Incise To Excise Productions under my belt, also gave a D-I-Y T-Shirt printing business a try, I knew early on that failure was a part of business but so was success. I knew that the big companies are a success because they faced all their challenges head on, failed and the ones that are still surviving did not give up. There are some famous people who are currently millionaires and billionaires but at one stage of their lives, they were down and out, under massive debts, some were forced to bankruptcy. Donald Trump He found himself $900 million in debt in 1990 and lost a lot of his business ventures but somehow restructured his debt to be back on top running a billion-dollar empire. Cyndi Lauper Before her hit song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” came out, was in a group called Blue Angel with John Turi. The band broke up after a record flopped, and their manager at the time sued them for $80,000. Lauper was forced into bankruptcy in 1980 but recovered quickly and became an 80ʼs icon.
Walt Disney Walt Disneyʼs name is synonymous with Mickey Mouse and the “happiest place on earth,” Disneyland. However, Disneyʼs career wasnʼt always a moneymaking venture. In 1921, he began a company called the Laugh-O-Gram Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri but was forced to file for bankruptcy two years later because financial backers pulled out. It must have been fate, because Disney then headed to Hollywood. Toni Braxton Toni Braxton sold over 15 million albums in the years leading up to her 1998 filing for bankruptcy, and some believe she filed so she could get out of her recording contract with record label LaFace. When she filed, Braxton was $3.9 million in debt and all of her household possessions, including the two Grammys she was awarded in 1997 were priced to sell so she could pay off her creditors. Despite her conflict with her label, she signed a new contract in 1999 worth $25 million with them. There are many other real life accounts of failures, comebacks and success stories found on the internet. Closer to home, someone you know may have also been stuck in a rut but dug deep, made amends and found success. Success may not always be about dollars and cents. It can be a battle to regain health like how I battled with mine, It may be to restore happiness in a home, it may be at your workplace or the ever challenging journey to start a new life with your loved one or to bounce back from failed businesses or the struggle to keep the current one going. Iʼm not a professional writer, though I would love to be one with more practice. The completion of this book will be a testament to my self belief and efforts to learn and try new things in life. I love business mainly because I love making decisions on my own. I am able to create my own destiny, write my own paycheck, create my
own branding, explore options I could never really do as an employed individual. Personal satisfaction is a big part of why I keep doing business.
“Everybody wants to be their own boss, but few are willing to work hard enough to achieve it.” Anybody who is currently running their own companies or is trying to become a business owner would agree on that fact. Itʼs really not as easy as it seems. Iʼm not going to discourage anyone but I do hope that more people try. The rewards are incredible. The journey leading to success is painstakingly long but worth the effort. How do I know this? Well, I can feel it manifesting in my soul. The effort to learn my business to the smallest detail will make me better, it has made me smarter because the fear of failing another business drives me to become a better person.
With business comes risks. With risks, comes possibilities. Iʼm sure you will discover the changes in you if you are trying to achieve your dreams as well. From trying to succeed in life, other areas not related to your business plans also gets a boost. You become more disciplined, you sharpen the most important tool god has given you which is your brain. That alone will make you richer, much more than expected if you work on it long enough.
The reason some things are called “Lifeʼs Work” is because it takes your entire life to fully achieve it and thereʼs no running away from it. You stick with it till the day you leave it behind you in this world. Lifeʼs Work begins as you work on your plans, youʼll start putting together a mental picture. A picture of your plans becoming a reality. Youʼll see that in your new reality, you have more money, restored your self confidence, gained more respect, worked a lot harder than you do now, and those pictures gets clearer and clearer with every positive effort you make towards your goals.
“Failure will put you on the right track, only if you decide to stick to the path you choose.” “Failure is also capable of derailing you if you choose to believe that the problem is bigger than you are.” A year after getting myself injured in December 2009, I managed to work in two jobs as my health progressively improved. I was involved in two other unfortunate motorcycle related accidents in 2010 but I suffered minor injuries from both. Sprained left shoulder, sprained right wrist and wright ankle, minor nerve damage to my right arm and my never ending back aches. This keeps me back from fully enjoying simple pleasures like skating on a longboard.
No, I have not thought about wearing lucky charms if youʼre wondering. Quick reflexes and a cool head proved to be most useful in those occasions. (A cool head is something I am not born with) Anyway, while I was still employed, I started a new company and started growing it out of nothing more than just my own desire and passion. I didnʼt want to give up on my dreams and I didnʼt. (At least not yet) I started a new company, Break The Silence (BTS) Longboards on 5 January 2010. We spent the first year organizing events, established some dealerships with various suppliers worldwide and made new friends through Facebook. On 14 February 2011, we opened the doors to our first retail shop. Iʼm really excited to have come this far after my last failed business and after being seriously injured. I am focused to keep this shop going. To be honest, I still make some bad decisions as a person and itʼs seen when I do business. There are some areas in business that suffers a lot but at the same time, you discover areas where you have not planned in the past coming into the picture. In every new business, resources depletes very easily and almost too quickly. There are ways to get out from sticky situations but avoiding them from the start could have been a better option.
First lesson I learnt is always to be ready financially. You being caught off guard can really make you lose sleep. Trust me, I have lost plenty of it. While there are some supportive people who are there to lend you a hand, there are many others who also loves to see you fail. Theyʼll be the first to laugh at you, theyʼll be the first to say no I canʼt help you.
Having a good team working with you is very important. They help you with new ideas, point out the bad ones and they are the ones growing with you. Iʼm certainly happy that BTS Longboards has grown from a family business and now into a more public group of people. We had a dedicated team of young individuals who shared the same goal. To grow with the company and turn it into a successful business. The store we have now is still a secondary concern. Itʼs current location proves very challenging indeed. Initially when we started out, the shop provides a whole new dimension of creativity. We have enough space to do a lot more but as time moves on, that large space becomes a challenge on itʼs own.
Time is always an essence and time is always tied up with deadlines, due for rent, bills to pay, new stocks to replenish and that equates to having a good team, partners invested in your business and the right funding to keep it going. Funding is my struggle now, as it has been for years the number one killer of small businesses.
If it should be the cause of my failure one day, thatʼs life and the business entity, BTS Longboards will get affected but whatʼs important is not to be personally affected. At times when I think about it, I was once richer than Donald Trump. So were you. What he knew and what he did to recover from his mistakes made him who he is today. I read almost all his books. He was bold and showed courage when he face the creditors and the banks. He showed that inside him, behind his trademark suits and red tie was a responsible man. Right now only the people directly linked to his company could tell us what it must have been like in those troubled times. Since then, other major companies like Starbucks have also felt the winds of change. There is a book written about that recently and itʼs certainly in my list of books to read.
With this book, I wish to reach out to my friends, family and my readers to open your minds and look at your lifeʼs work. Itʼs not finished, mine isnʼt as well. Perhaps we now share a new insight on some ideas together. While writing this book, I started to think of my victories, defeats, memories and my sights on the future is all clear. If the writings in this book struck a nerve in your brain or your life, perhaps in a way that my ramblings may be worth something to another person, do tell them about it. Pass this book on, keep it in your personal library for years and read it again someday.
“Whatever your memory retains, it will keep providing you with fruits of your labor”
“Whatever you read, see, hear or experience that is not committed to memory will become worthless events in our life.�
Chapter 6 I learnt from international bestselling author Robin Sharma one very important lesson. In his book “The Leader Who Had No Title,” success in life resolves around these five elements. Innovation | Mastery | Authenticity | Guts | Ethics When I came to know about these five elements, it made complete sense and the winds of change blew through the walls of my bedroom as I sat there in bed reading. They were solutions which I was looking for.
For my company, I needed innovation. New products that added value to peopleʼs lives. To achieve that purpose, mastery was needed. I needed to learn new information about the business, I needed to learn how to do it better and mastery takes years so I knew then that if I failed today, the only doors closing will be the doors of my shop. not my life and in my efforts to be a master of my trade, in the years invested to improve, BTS Longboards will be a success again someday. Being Authentic as a person is important. There are people in your lives who wants you to live by their rules, changing the industry with their influence, telling us all whatʼs cool and whatʼs not.
Unknowingly, we all fell into their spell and perhaps in a small and simple way we carry on doing the same to others. We tell others who to be and what to believe. Authenticity is simply being yourself. Doing what you love, dreaming and striving for your own goals.
Guts.
A strong four lettered word which means personal courage
and determination; toughness of character. We all know what it is yet I know so well, there are many people who shows that they don始t have the guts to learn new things. They don始t have the guts to step up to the challenge. They don始t have the guts to help their own friends because they are too comfortable in their own comfort zones and sadly they don始t have the guts to choose a new path in life. A new path often is challenging and tough. You have to create new roads to reach your destination. That means you have to leave the roads you knew before. The new path is always a lonely path and the inner demons screams out to you to go back every day.
Last night, some members of my team and I explored new roads together. All in good fun but at the end of the night, we developed a bond. For me, I regained some confidence. We all didnʼt know what was ahead of us but we stuck together, we didnʼt look back and we learnt that the dark and scary road is actually fun when we go through it together.
Ethics. (Some people simply don’t have it.) Ethics exists when you stop thinking about yourself and start giving a damn about others. Ethics is simply a set of moral principles, often relating to a specified group, field, or form of conduct. - A behavior. Let me be the first to say that without moral principals, you are no more than an unscrupulous person. Unscrupulous simply means having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair. If you donʼt have good business and personal ethics, the ones who knows you best are just being nice to you because they are indeed nice people.
Deep down, they know you cannot be trusted because you are dishonest and unfair. A person will only develop this trait if the only person who matters in his or her life are themselves. A selďŹ sh individual who looks after his or her own gains. With this said, I thank Robin Sharma for sharing his ideas with me in his books. If youĘźd like to know more about his books and teachings, pick up his books and start reading.
Make Time To Smell The Roses In our constant pursuit of happiness, we should always take some time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. A great meal with our families, A quiet moment with our partner, A good game along with our favorite beverages, A warm family gathering during festive holidays, A fun road trip with our best friends... ...and lots more. Traveling is truly refreshing. Exploring the world, learning new cultures, tasting new food, more impulse shopping and weʼll feel rejuvenated. Getting back the momentum after taking a break can be a challenge as well. Getting back to the heat of the battle is always frightening. In my life, my momentum was lost but in that loss, I learnt more about myself, and came across new opportunities. Setbacks are a part of everyoneʼs lives. We all suffer losses of wealth, health, love, family members, careers and businesses but we all can come back and regain our glorious ways if we keep believing in ourselves.
“When you have reached the top of the mountain, youʼll realize that youʼll need to climb back down to start climbing a new mountain (or to get home)”
ACTION PLAN: Try o accomplish this goal in one year afer reading this book. Work hard, apply the lessons that you find useful o you in your life and sep ino that fancy resaurant you’ve always dreamed of and order anything you want for a good meal without ever looking at the price of those iems you’ve ordered. The challenge is: Order anything from the menu without looking at the price. If you can afford the meal and leave the resaurant without any problems, soak in that feeling. You’ve really done well for yourself! It’s that easy.
Ultimately, feel good everyday and start enjoying life. Thank you all and I look forward o completing my life’s work. Do recommend others o pick up this quick read book if you feel it’s worth their time and if by sharing, it will benefit others. Sincerely, I do hope that you’ll be happy creating yours as well. Your friend, Your brother, Your Father, Mohd Salihin