3rd March 2010. That’s today.

It’s been five years since I first started my online business. And where did my broken computer and a teeeeerribly slow dial-up modem bring me to?

The steep learning curves I had to overcome.

The sleepless nights I went through, wondering whether I could pay my bills on time.

The very first online sale I made.

The great online friends I made, who would go on to make a positive impression on my business and my life.

Met some amazing people whom I am honored to meet in person… hopefully more to come!

The product launches I pulled off - some did good, some not so, but the few that did great made it all beyond worthwhile.

The rewards of time and financial freedom that finally came… which I had been fighting to get to since I was day dreaming about back in school.

The skills and lessons I had learned about myself and people around me.

Aah… What a journey it’s been!

I’m happy to belong to the 5% business that survives the first five years. Now the next mile stone: 2015 - being the top 5% business that is around for 10 years!

yay YAY yay!

I’m sure those who have followed the cartoon or comic will know easily why, even though Dragon Ball has been around for more than two decades.

Son Gokou’s character is an inspiration to kids in many ways, and even to me. Now I can see a lot clearly why and how, through his own journey, his character to can also relate to and teach about success in life.

This is why where you start doesn’t matter isn’t as important as where you finish, why you should always strive higher, and why you should never give up…

Son Gokou of Dragon Ball

Son Gokou is actually of alien origin called Saiyans, a race of gifted and skillful fighters. He was found on Earth because his home planet, Planet Vegeta, was destroyed by galactic ruler Frieza. His parent sent him to Earth by a space shuttle as a toddler before the destruction, partly also because his strength was tested to be largely inferior for a Saiyan.

On Earth is where Gokou grew up and spent most of his life. Unlike the typical Saiyan who is usually cocky and violent, Gokou was humble and even though his powers were superior to humans at a young age, he never abused his strength for evil.

His quest for the Dragon Balls met him with a lot of people, usually squaring as foes initially but would eventually become friends. Krillin, Yamcha, Ten Shin Han, Piccolo, and many more…

Gokou had always strive to be the best fighter ever, accepted every new challenge optimistically and positively, and his “I never give up” attitude was what attracted many people around him to look up to him, and this is also a big reason why many of them were converted from foes to friends.

When he met his brother, a Saiyan and also his first encounter with the extra-terrestrial from another planet, he was very intimidated at first. However this was temporary and after realizing that there are bigger forces outside Earth, Gokou became all the more determined to train harder. His horizons expanded, and continued to train hard… all the way up to eventually pitting against and finally defeating King Frieza, the very man who destroyed his people and home planet decades ago.

For many reasons, Gokou would have lost to Frieza. The gap in strength between them was huge, but Gokou had never once called in quits and believes in his friends and the importance of the mission at hand (quoting, he once said that if he “didn’t defeat Frieza now, the galaxy will never be at peace”).

After unlocking his inner strength as a Super Saiyan, though much to his surprise because he wasn’t even aware of it, he defeated Frieza on Planet Nameck and made it back to Earth before the planet was destroyed.

At this point, Gokou didn’t stop. He didn’t grow complacent and continued to train hard as wave of new challenges came. Even into the afterlife.

Where he previously came from Earth, now Gokou meet champions from other worlds and dimensions he had no knowledge of whatsoever. Even Ten Shin Han himself said that Gokou has “grown to become a totally different person. I was once fighting on par with him. Now he’s the strongest being in the universe.”

But I want to offer a different perspective here.

There are even more benefits to running an Internet-based business, and they go beyond monetary rewards. This is why I have not looked back since 2005 when I got started on a broken computer and dial-up modem.

Consider the following reasons to venture into online business for benefits beyond money:

1. More time to pursue other areas of life.

If you are spared from the drudgery of working for money, this leaves you with plenty of time to pursue other aspects of your life which you’ve been neglecting. It can be your social life. It can be your spiritual mission. It can be your relationships.

Ask yourself this: “If I don’t have to worry about money ever again, what will I do with the rest of my time and energy?” Imagine you don’t have to start a new project for financial reasons anymore. What will you do?

2. Meet new friends and awesome people from all around the world.

Internet Entrepreneurs meeting in Sydney, Australia (Feb 2009)

This is another unwritten benefit for starting an online business. I have had the privilege of connecting with new friends and met amazing people through this business, and beyond the computer screen and phone lines.

I got to shake hands with top marketing leaders I once thought was a far away imagination. I met underground marketers who were generous with their knowledge and I am honored to have learned from them.

If not for these amazing people, I doubt I would have been motivated to travel outside Malaysia. This, to me, is a priceless benefit.

3. Learn new skills.

This is another major take away in starting an online business. I learned more useful skills through building my own business than when I worked as an office boy for another company.

If I lose my business today, the same skills I have developed - copywriting, selling, getting leads - can never be robbed away from me. I can use my skills to rebuild again and get my fortune back in a shorter time than I did when I first started out.

4. Be of more help to the society.

In the last few months, I have met people who are generous with their time and energy, helping out worthy causes and missions they believe in. What I find admirable is that they are passionate and still put in their efforts in spite of being busy with their full-time jobs.

Now if you have a hands-free Internet Business that runs autopilot or semi-autopilot, what will you do to contribute to the society? And what if you help these people to achieve the same state or lifestyle, so they can pursue their missions and causes?

The following is from Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen’s commencement address to Villanova University, Friday 23 June 2000:

It’s a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It’s an honor to follow my great-uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce.

I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage, talking to you today. I’m a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don’t ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.

Don’t ever forget what a friend once wrote Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator decided not to run for reelection because he’d been diagnosed with cancer: “No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time in the office.” Don’t ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: “If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.” Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your minds, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

People don’t talk about the soul very much anymore. It’s so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you’re sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you’ve gotten back the test results and they’re not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen, I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.

I would be rotten, or at best mediocre at my job, if those other things were not true. You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are.

So here is what I wanted to tell you today:

Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you’d care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a cheerio with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous.

Look around at the azaleas in the suburban neighborhood where you grew up; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black, black sky on a cold night.

And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Once in a while take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister.

All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of the azaleas, the sheen of the limestone on Fifth Avenue, the color of our kid’s eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live. I learned to live many years ago.

Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back because I believed in it completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this:

Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby’s ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived.

Well, you can learn all those things, out there, if you get a life, a full life, a professional life, yes, but another life, too, a life of love and laughs and a connection to other human beings. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Here you could learn in the classroom. There the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end. No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office. I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island maybe 15 years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless survive in the winter months.

He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule; panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amidst the Tilt a Whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides. But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them.

And I asked him why. Why didn’t he go to one of the shelters? Why didn’t he check himself into the hospital for detox? And he just stared out at the ocean and said, “Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view.”

And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. And that’s the last thing I have to tell you today, words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. You’ll never be disappointed.

(Got this from a friend on Facebook. Thanks Immi Yap!)

Then I invite you to join me and my group of traders at the next SRDC Forex Preview we’ll be having at these locations and time:

Jakarta, Indonesia

Date: 14th January 2010
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 PM
Venue: C2 Cafe, Citywalk
Admission: FREE
Who You Will Meet: Edmund Loh (me)

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Date: 15th January 2010
Time: 8:00 - 10:00 PM
Venue: Hilton PJ Hotel (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)
Admission: FREE
Who You Will Meet: Paul Wealth (Lead Malaysian Instructor), Victor-T (Malaysian Instructor), Marcus-C (Melbourne Instructor)

What You Will Learn:

-> BASICS of Forex trading for absolute beginners

-> THE TRUTH about the market (and why it’s predictable)

-> BONUS (2) FREE METHODS you can use to trade on Forex for 90% probability wins

-> INTRODUCTION to the SRDC Methods and the Team behind it

+MUCH MORE…

HOW TO REGISTER YOUR SEAT

Seats are limited. To confirm your attendance, send an email to me@edmundloh.com with:

Subject Line: SRDC Forex Preview
- Your Full Name
- Your Handphone No.
- No. of Guests you are bringing (if any)

I will then register your seat and let you know.

P.S. I should be back from Jakarta in time to see the Malaysian side preview, so I hope to see you there in person!

If you’re looking to make more money or compound your savings through Forex

- with the least effort possible

- profit from your trades consistently (making little to no losses)

- and do away with all the lame, complicated technical jargons

Then I have an invitation for you. Watch a personal video message from me here:

-> http://PIPsician.com/

There’s NOTHING to sell here. Because what I’m about to offer you is something beyond what a mere E-Book can deliver.

At this time of writing, this offer is limited to Malaysians only. My fellow SRDC Forex group have plans to expand internationally, but this is where the action starts: right here, in Malaysia.

So if you’re a Malaysian or reside in Malaysia, this is your awesome opportunity to join the ranks of highly profitable traders who are using the fool-proof SRDC methods to trade DIFFERENTLY, make PROFITABLY and win CONSISTENTLY on Forex.

Head over to my website and listen to my 13-minute video here:

-> http://PIPsician.com/

I can really, really say that I’ve never had so much fun in a long, long time. Or rather, in my life! The last 2 months have been sky high for me. And looking back, Year 2009 has been the greatest year for me to date.

It had been challenging. It had been exciting. And I gained a lot of new experience in so many things I would have never even thought of trying, or getting into.

It’s easy to understand why when I review and reflect again.

January 2009: Trip Around the Country!

Spent the first month of the year going around states in the country!

Went to Genting Highlands (again!). Went to Desaru. Started my first life-changing Forex journey with Orange Roshan and the SRDC’ians in KL. Relatives came over to visit us in Johor Bahru. We also paid our Singaporean relatives a visit during Chinese New Year.

February 2009: Visit Sydney, Australia!

Met up with my online marketing friend Aurelius Tjin. Attended the Sydney online entrepreneurs gathering. Climbed the Harbour Bridge. Visited the Three Sisters. And did a whole lot more fun stuff while I was here for one whole week!

March - April 2009: Gadget Pimping and GIS Penang

This was probably the most challenging time for me. Broke up with my ex-girlfriend and as it is my first relationship, well, I took it rather badly and bitterly. Got back in… and got a strike-out again! Sucks to the max.

I was still primarily based in Johor Bahru at this point, and I wanted to start anew. Figured being busy with something else would keep me occupied from heartache so I went on a personal ‘make over’. Hmm… found out shopping isn’t such a bad thing either.

Pimped myself up with new gadgets – Playstation 3, new custom suit, got my own car (and gave the Myvi to my mom). Plans were underway to move to PJ to start anew.

Right about the same time, I was invited as a main speaker to speak for the Global Internet Summit event in Penang.

May 2009: Mega Red Packet and Moving to PJ

Pulled off the mega product launch finally, after six months of working on the Mega Red Packet project! More than $300,000 in total sales in 10 days! It was exhaustive, but I had to move on to the next phase of life: moving to PJ on my own.

Settled in, bought new furniture and had a house warming party to celebrate with friends a bit.

Wild Goose Chase!

Hah! This is another interesting, HUGE highlight of 2009. From the time I met Elle Wong, it’s been a wild goose chase for riches! It almost felt as if we were casted into a movie of our own, like the Indiana Jones version for racing to make lots of moo-lah!

Am I making this up? You decide.

Started off with attending the Millionaire Mind Intensive 3-day seminar in The Mines, KL…

The very next day after the seminar, we pulled off Brand Dynamics PLR launch together – making this the first Private Label Rights product to have both male and female voice over.

Hey, we didn’t stop here though. We hosted the IM Weekend Workshop next. My first time hosting a workshop of my own. I’m so used to working from home.

We didn’t stop here either. NEXT… (how many times did I use that word? LOL)

We went to Singapore to attend a follow-up seminar on MMI called Guerrilla Business Intensive by T Harv Eker.

Oh, not forgetting we met up with Calvin Woon, Patricia Lin and Maritius buddy Jonathan Teng. Jhong Ren tagged along too.

THEN… we pulled off a bigger launch than Brand Dynamics – called the 7-Day PLR Sale. Did above $50,000 in sales in 7 days in November. Woo Hoo! $ $ $ $ $

I’ve done better launches but for the work we put in, it was well worth it. Not to mention I was pulling off my ‘last minute king’ here.

WE DIDN’T STOP HERE… early this month we went to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to attend the Orange Roshan SRDC Bootcamp!

WOOOOO HOOOOOOO…!

July 2009: Bought My First House!

Lakeview house for Mom and Ashley in Johor. We never had a property of our own before. Where my father had failed to do so for my family, I’m glad I’m able to provide!

Right about the same time, I also formed my own company in Malaysia called AMLOH CORPORATION SDN. BHD. Hey, paperwork is insane and I nearly went crazy when I first started it out. The procedures to set up, pay taxes and handling the legalities were highly frustrating and later got the hang out of it.

Oh hey, also visited Bangkok, Thailand

December 2009: Orang Asli Trip, Ex-DJian Gathering and RYM Xmas Party

The best month was saved for the last of the year! Rejoined the church I used to go to when I was a teenager, I went on a trip to the Orang Asli settlement in Kuantan, Pahang.

Also reunited with old school friends from SMKDJ…

Okay I know this isn’t the most suitable pic to describe the gathering in one picture (haven’t got hold on more pics from the gathering yet!). But hey, I’m not complaining.

Also the RYM Xmas Party towards the near end of the year…

All in all… it’s been amazing for me. I hope it’s been for you too this year. And I know 2010 holds much more in store for all of us.

Happy New Year 2010!

Visualization is powerful. Many of the world’s wonderful inventions, ideas, and dreams that come true were, once upon a time, just sketched on paper!

Here are 10 of my tips in getting started on your very own Dream Board…

1. Spend some time dreaming about what you WANT to be, do and have in the near future. “Some time” can be subjective. It may take hours. It may take days. Heck, maybe longer. But this is YOUR dream so you decide how you want your lifestyle to be in the near future. As I’ve said before, it costs nothing to dream.

2. Going through the process, you might recall some discouraging words. It could be from your parents, your friends, your relatives, etc. telling you “it’s ridiculous” “it’s impossible” or anything else along those lines. That was exactly what everyone said when the Wright brothers attempted to build the first manned aircraft. They said that “humans can never fly”. Remember, no one but yourself can give you permission to encourage or discourage yourself.

3. Make the Dream Board visual. This is going to be the most exciting process. Put your dream on board by printing out and pasting pictures you found online. Alternatively, you can buy today’s newspaper and cut out images to paste on your Dream Board.

4. The more precise you are with details, the better. There is power in clarity. For example: you don’t just want ‘a new car’. Get down to the finer detail - what brand? What model? If you’re not clear yet or haven’t done enough research at this stage, you can always update your Dream Board later on. Don’t worry about being too perfect

5. Since you’re going to dream - and it costs nothing to do that - you might as well dream BIG. It must be something intimidating and challenging. If it’s something too easy or you can actually do it today, then that’s not a dream. The purpose of doing your Dream Board is so you have a grand goal to focus your passion, energies and motives to so you can achieve your desired lifestyle.

6. Don’t be paralyzed by the possibilities of failure or doubting whether you can get there or not; if you feel afraid or intimidated by the magnitude of the goal then it’s natural. This means you’re growing. And it’s a goal worth pursuing!

7. Paste the Dream Board at a place you spend most of your time in the day. If you work from home then it makes sense to paste it near your workstation. If you’re working for someone else and for any reason you cannot put your Dream Board at your workplace, put it up in a place where you go to often at home e.g. near the dressing mirror, on the fridge door, etc.

8. Use colors. Keep the Dream Board interesting - don’t just stick to two colors!

9. If you want some ideas on how to begin, explore the following questions: “Where do I want to go?” “What do I want to be?” “What do I want to have?”

10. Your dreams don’t have to be money-oriented or necessarily materialistic. It can be a skill you want to acquire, someone you want to be, a mission you want to uphold.

You Can Do It… And Remember, Don’t Let Other People Snatch Your Dreams Away!

P.S. Happy New Year in advance btw

One more week before the year ends! This is the best time to reflect, count your blessings, recall your bittersweet memories, meditate, and recharge. Because Year 2010 is going to bring new challenges the world is especially looking forward to.

Why I think Year 2010 is going to be *extra special*:

We are exactly 10 years into the 21st century!

It is the year of the Tiger! Those who believe in the Chinese zodiacs know what I’m talking about. And yes, I’m born in the year of the Tiger.

Last but not least, it is also time to update THE DREAM BOARD. If you haven’t got one yet, I highly recommend you start having your own Dream Board. Just having New Year resolutions isn’t enough; we know what happens to them - or rather, what DOESN’T happen.

But when you have your dreams and goals clarified clearly on paper, it becomes a DECLARATION.

It’s visual when it’s something you can SEE.

It’s powerful when it’s something you BELIEVE in.

The best part is dreaming doesn’t cost anything, and you can make do with any available stationary you have at home or your office.

When you spend a little bit of your time and effort into making your Dream Board, your mind starts to work and you will have greater clarity in what you want to set out and achieve.

It’s like having the final picture to constantly refer to while working on the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. It would be hard to put the pieces together without referring to the complete picture. Can you imagine how hard it would be working on your business or career without having a goal or dream to achieve?

This is my latest Dream Board. The last one I did was about the same time last year. Things have changed since. Some goals were met; some underway. Regardless, to me it’s important to always set new goals and chase bigger dreams after a previous one is met.

Here’s to an exciting 2010 for everyone!

And if I asked myself exactly one year ago, I would have never thought I would be branching out to this part of wealth creation. I have an interesting story to share on how I came across the SRDC methods of trading on Forex, taught by Orange Roshan. I will share more about this exclusively in another blog post.

I was in ‘learning mode’ for one full year and along the way, I grew my account profitably and also started a small group of my own traders, mostly my own friends from the Internet Marketing line. And now, I’m ready to expand my insider group further.

This is what PIPSICIAN.com is all about.

Because if you want to learn how to grow your money that you have earned and saved, and turn it into a bigger roll-over, I am looking for serious traders and traders-in-the-making to be part of my trading team.

More details will be revealed soon through this website, and if you’re in Malaysia all the more this is good news to you.

The PIPSICIAN.com site will be launched in January 2010 (tentative date will be announced later) and in my video I will share my personal learning experience in Forex and SRDC throughout the year.