The Billionaire Mindset

First published in 2013 by

The Rich Investor Ltd

c/o Invest Realty Group, 23 Berkeley Square, Mayfair
London, England W1J 6HE
[email protected]
www.richinvestor.co.uk

ISBN 978-0-9576448-1-6

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

The right of Peng Kiong Chou to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.

This book is available online and at all good book stores globally.

© 2013 Peng Kiong Chou

 INTRODUCTION
In this book I will give you the key to the mindset of billionaires. This book
is based on a year of desk study and field research into the mindset of my
billionaire connections and other global billionaires. Stories quoted in this
book are based on true stories.

I urge you to put into practice what you learn here even if you do not aspire
to be a billionaire. By doing so, I can guarantee you will have an even more
successful and fulfilled life. It is also important, though, that you maintain a
balanced wheel of life. So please don’t neglect your family during your
quest or on your journey to being fabulously successful.

In 2013, according to Forbes Magazine, there are 1,426 billionaires

globally. Who are these billionaires? Are they aliens? What are their
secrets?

This book reveals the multitude of factors that contribute to their ultimate
success. They are at the pinnacle of their success because they are
determined to be there, no matter what it takes nor how long it takes. They
are inspired by a legacy, something greater than themselves, be it to make a
difference to society or to innovate for the greater good of humanity. You
have probably already known or come across some of the factors I will be
revealing here. However, have you already mastered and implemented
them? Billionaires master them to perfection.

Success is in your mindset. You will be who you want to be when you want
it badly enough and are willing to sacrifice enough to get there.

I hope you enjoy reading this book. To show my gratitude for your
purchase, I have a gift for you at the end of the book.

Before we begin our journey together, I would like to express my sincere

gratitude to those who are dear to me; to remember my roots and my late
grandparents. This book is dedicated to my two late grandmas.
So, be enlightened, be successful and be healthy. See you at the pinnacle of
your achievement!

Peng Kiong Chou FRSA FRGS

 THANK YOU
Deep gratitude and thank you to my Mum and Dad for the love, sacrifice
and education you have given me.

To my brother, sisters, brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, thank you for your

love to your youngest brother.

To my nieces and nephews (current and future), your Uncle loves you all.
Study hard and grow up to be beautiful, handsome and successful. This
book will guide you through your life’s journey now and in future.

A sincere thank you to my royalty friends, VVIP and VIP friends, business
partners, business associates, uncles and aunts, relatives, neighbours, close
friends and true friends (past, present and future) for the mentoring,
guidance, advice, business partnerships, companionship and friendship.

Without you all, I would not be where I am today.

With my Mum Wong Yiik Yuen and my Dad Chua Hock Joo.
 DEDICATION & REMEMBRANCE
This book is dedicated to my paternal grandma Kueh Geok Lian and my
maternal grandma Hu Soi Ing.

Thank you for your love and words of wisdom during your living years. I
treasure them. I miss you. Rest in peace and may our Lord bless your soul.

I also would like to take this opportunity to remember my paternal and

maternal grandpas. Though you passed on when I was little, I do remember
some of the time we spent together.

To my paternal grandpa, international merchant businessman Chou Bun

Khuan; stories about you inspire and mould my life’s journey.
With my maternal grandma during Chinese New Year, 2011.
My paternal grandma in 1992.
My wealthy paternal grandpa in 1962 at his warehouse. He had security
guards and armed bodyguards for his international merchant business.
“When you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, then you will
be successful.”
(Eric Thomas)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
THANK YOU
DEDICATION & REMEMBRANCE
SECRET 1 THE BILLIONAIRE MINDSET
1.1 Be open-minded
1.2 Have faith in yourself
1.3 Be passionate about what you do
1.4 Get outside your comfort zone
1.5 Take that gigantic action
1.6 Just do it
1.7 Lifelong learning
SECRET 2 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS
2.1 Business know-how
2.2 Be a business owner, not a business operator
2.3 Add value
2.4 Build a good reputation
2.5 Build a brand
2.6 Use leverage
2.7 Grow your company
SECRET 3 UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF
3.1 Who are you?
 3.2 Align to your strengths
3.3 Hire to compensate for your weakness
SECRET 4 UNDERSTANDING CASH
4.1 Play the cash game to win
4.2 Rule cash, don’t let cash rule you
4.3 Invest for passive income

SECRET 5 THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL

5.1 Be with the right people

5.2 Look for positive energy and people

SECRET 6 THE POWER OF ORATORY & LEADERSHIP

6.1 Motivate, don’t criticise

6.2 Influence and negotiate

SECRET 7 IT IS ABOUT THE END NOT THE BEGINNING

7.1 Persevere and be persistent

7.2 Never give up
SECRET 8 PHILANTHROPY
8.1 Karma
8.2 Your life’s legacy
CONCLUSION
CHARITIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SECRET 1 THE BILLIONAIRE
MINDSET
1.1 Be open-minded

1.1.1 Delete your baggage of negative stories

As you experience more in life, your mind gradually gets clogged up with
stories. Some are good, positive stories, some are bad and negative. These
negative stories are closing down your mind, restricting you and making
your life miserable and stressed. Your closed mind is then making you
sceptical and negative about any potential opportunities.

Delete all that negative baggage and open your mind again. Face every
situation and opportunity with a fresh clean slate, free from any negative
pollution, prejudgement or preconception.

Begin your journey by reading this book and develop your billionaire
mindset by committing to this first important step.

Welcome to a new realm of possibilities and this new world of an open

mind! It is a place of new opportunities and new enlightenment.

As you are reading through this book I would urge you to immediately put
into practice every secret I reveal. If you can commit to this, by the end of
this book you will have experienced a real change and a shift in your life.

1.1.2 When you seek, you will find

With your open mind and having committed to the first step described in
the section above, start looking around. You will begin to see a new wealth
of opportunities that you never knew existed before.

Billionaires receive thousands of business proposals because they are

always looking for new opportunities and possibilities. Billionaires, such as
venture capital and private equity billionaires, are masters at seeking out the
opportunities with the highest potential of both success and profit.
So, keep an open mind and be receptive to any opportunities presented to
you. Don’t use words such as ‘scam’ or ‘impossible’ too readily. In fact
delete those two words from your vocabulary. Analyse carefully any
possible opportunities before jumping to any conclusion. To be a billionaire,
you need to develop the knack of finding potential in any challenge you are
facing. You need to develop the skill of turning that challenge to your
advantage.

Once you have analysed an opportunity and you believe it has potential,
follow it through with tenacity. Don’t quit too easily at the first stumbling
block – or at any subsequent hurdles.

Turn your previous obstacles and failures into opportunities. Billionaires

have an eye for detail and can distinguish possibilities where other people
see just problems and obstacles.

You need to embrace failure as part of the journey to success. The more you
fail, the closer you are to achievement, as you will by that time have learned
from your mistakes and will know how to manoeuvre your way towards the
gateway to success.

I personally have had my own fair share of failures. Did I give up? No, I
didn’t. Did I ever cry when I suffered a significant failure? I did cry but I
moved on with a stronger will and the zeal to succeed after I had wiped
away my tears. Successful people know that you learn more from mistakes
than from achievements.

Surround yourself with positive, supportive people who are also open-
minded and who will help you. Avoid people who want to keep you where
you are by constantly putting you down and dampening your enthusiasm
with negative comments.

1.1.3 Be a nonconformist; forgive and forget

Billionaires are independent and do not conform. They dare to be different.
They are the leader of a pack but are not, themselves, in a pack. A good
example is the late Steve Jobs who co-founded Apple.
Being someone who does not conform with everyone else can be lonely at
times. I am a nonconformist myself. You have to be ready to receive
criticism, jealousy and gossip from those who do conform. Be strong-
willed, otherwise you will be sucked back into the conventional herd. Your
support group is important here; you need to be with the right people. (See
section 5.1.)

Billionaires are generally confident people, who use their positive energy to
create wealth. Negative energy, in the shape of anger, resentment or hate
against people who have hurt you in the past, will cloud your judgement
and pollute your thinking, and this will ensure your unhappiness. The
exercise in section 1.1.1 above is to help you to eliminate this negative
energy. Along your journey as a nonconformist, however, do forgive, forget
and ignore any gossip or jealousy from others. Don’t take it personally.

Billionaires stay positive; they are motivated by a higher goal and do not let
anyone cloud their thoughts with negative emotions. The only way in which
you can set yourself free from these feelings, which may be holding you
back from realising your full potential, is by not holding a grudge against
anyone, and by releasing any anger you feel against someone and deciding
to forgive that person.

Make peace with the people in your life. When you are at peace with your
past and the people who have influenced you over the years, only then can
you create a clearing in your mind where your energy and ambitions can
flourish and you can become the person you never realised you could be.

The past has brought you to where you are now. The way you see yourself
has an impact on how you perform today. Learn from the past but plan for
the future by focusing solely on the present. Don’t keep looking back at the
past. You can’t change it nor can you teleport yourself back to the past –
yet.

1.1.4 Change your mindset

Billionaires are focused on the present. If you keep concentrating on the
past, there is a strong chance that you will miss what is in front of you. You
can’t drive a car safely by constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. People
who live in the past develop a mindset that assumes that yesterday’s
realities will predict the way the future will unfold. You may think that the
way you have lived your life up until now means that you will never be able
to do any better than you have always done. However, the truth is that we
grow as individuals and are fully capable of handling bigger, tougher
problems and challenges every day.

To realise your full potential, you need to look for not only different
answers but different questions as well. You need to imagine the possibility
of being, having or doing whatever it is you want to be, have or do and truly
believe and act as if you will get whatever it is you would like. You need to
tell yourself you can achieve whatever you want and get close to people
who believe you can achieve anything you want to. Have a positive mindset
and be optimistic. Changing your mindset can make a huge difference to
your life.

We attract into our lives people and things depending on our thinking and
mindset. This law is illustrated in the following way: if you focus on
noticing pink cars, then that is what you will see everywhere. Our brain gets
us to focus on certain external things that reflect our thoughts, and ‘deletes’
the non-relevant things from our focus. If you don’t think about ‘billion-
pound’ ideas, you will never come up with any. We attract the things we
resonate with, so change your vibration or resonance to change your
situation.

If you are satisfied with only a little money, you will not get any more. The
way to bring the right vibration into your life is to feel the experience of
getting that particular thing in your mind’s eye. If at all possible make
yourself feel as if you are already worth a billion dollars by occasionally
going to the best hotel in town, flying on a private jet, or visiting the
mansion you’d like to buy and then visualise, feel and experience how
happy you would be to own that mansion.

Don’t think about the things you don’t want or don’t wish to experience.
Don’t moan, complain or gossip like the majority of people. Refuse to be
friends with anyone who spreads gossip about other people. This is merely
a sign of their insecurity and emotional instability.
Think positive thoughts and you will attract the positive into your life. If
you decide to change your perception of the world, by single-mindedly
focusing on the things you want, rather than the things you don’t, you can
get better results on your path to success than if you were not to do that.

You have the ability to cultivate your willpower so that you cannot be
distracted from what you need to do by people, situations, and events. Your
ability to interpret certain things by using your intuition can also help
towards guiding your subconscious to create the life you want. Developing
your reason could be a great step towards improving your life. You need to
decide to eliminate all the rubbish that has been cluttering your life: in other
words your negativity. Thinking negative thoughts is like planting rubbish
and expecting to reap beautiful trees. Your body expresses what is
happening on the inside. There is a direct correlation between feelings
caused by your subconscious and the actions you take. If you want to get
better results, you need to change your behaviour. You can change your
behaviour when you change the thoughts you have in your conscious mind,
which in turn dictate how you feel, and therefore how you act.

Billionaires understand that anything they desire will require effort. Every
single thing you do needs time to come to fruition. What you need to realise
is that you must decide what you want, then identify the sacrifices you are
willing to pay for it, and then proceed to do the hard work. The law of
sowing and reaping and the law of cause and effect (Newton’s Third Law)
say that if you plant positive thoughts into your mind along with thoughts of
prosperity you will reap wealth. If you plant negative thoughts of poverty,
then that is what you will reap.
1.2 Have faith in yourself

1.2.1 Have great belief in your abilities

Billionaires have immense confidence in themselves and their abilities.
They are determined to achieve a clear and specific goal, and they will not
listen to anyone telling them otherwise, regardless of who that person is.

It is important to be determined, strong-willed, and to trust that you will

figure a way out of any problems. You should ask yourself not ‘if’ but
‘when’ you will succeed. Billionaires are often stubborn and persistent in
their vision which is inspirational and ‘out of the box’.

Unsuccessful people underestimate themselves and their capabilities, and

therefore block their own path to success. Most people underestimate
themselves, even if they appear to be self-confident. Those who know deep
down inside themselves that they are truly precious are rare.

You are worth infinitely more than you believe you are. If there are people
around you who have succeeded more than you, it is their self-image that
has determined their goals, which in turn has determined their lifestyle.

You need to be open-minded and accept that your past conditioning limits
your growth as an individual. You need to accept that you are not your past,
and that your future is limited only by your imagination. The present
represents the results of the past. The future, however, is not your past,
although a lot of the time you assume it is. Just because you have never met
a billionaire or do not come from a rich background, this doesn’t mean you
cannot become as rich as you want to be, as long as you follow the rules of
wealth and success as explained in this book. Do not sabotage yourself with
self-doubt.

The perception that you are excellent makes the difference between
successful people and those who aren’t successful. A positive expectation
about results increases the chance of you becoming successful. Have
confidence in yourself. You have got to believe in yourself and love
yourself. Believe that you can be successful.

Whatever you believe with great self-conviction will become your reality.
The more you believe in yourself, the more you are turning your beliefs into
reality. This can work both ways, though. If you believe that you are really
bad at something, by saying it to yourself you are reinforcing the belief and
making it real for yourself.

Believe that you can be a billionaire. If you don’t, you are effectively
putting up blocks in your own mind and you will not achieve your goal and
dream. I believe I will be a billionaire by the age of 60, if not earlier, and I
am currently working towards this goal and dream. Believe you are a loser
and you will be a loser. Billionaires believe in themselves and their abilities.
If you plan and prepare and have a strong will, your chances of succeeding
will be high.

1.2.2 Have immense energy

There is an important difference between those who fail and those who
succeed. Those who succeed have immense energy in addition to a huge
belief in themselves. They invest a vast amount of energy (both physical
and mental) to achieve their goal and their dream that they believe they will
achieve.

Low vitality breeds low motivation. This can create its own vicious circle.
All it takes is a tiny spark to reignite your dormant energy. The amount of
energy you use up while doing activities you enjoy is considerably smaller
than the amount you use while doing activities you hate. This is why it is so
important to be passionate about what you do. If your work is your passion,
it will inspire you and give you more energy, rather than dragging you
down.

Billionaires have enormous energy and contagious enthusiasm, due to their

inner drive for success. They are motivated by the endless possibilities and
opportunities that are open to them. They are inspired by an unbelievable
confidence in themselves and by a need to make a difference. They take
continuous and gigantic actions.
The more actions you take, the more people you meet, the more
opportunities will appear along the way. The opposite is also true. The less
action you take, the more you will settle into your comfort zone, the fewer
opportunities for investment, personal growth and achievements will be
presented to you, and the poorer you will become. Build your reserves of
energy by keeping healthy; be sporty and think positively.

1.2.3 Trust your gut feeling

In neurolinguistic programming, and in martial arts, I am taught to be
sensitive and aware of my surroundings even when my eyes are closed.
This helps to build sensitivity, awareness, intuition and gut feeling.

In business, it is important to take time out regularly to listen to the answers

you find within yourself, which may come in the form of words, images or
feelings. Find out what you love to do and you will be successful at it.

You need to be able to find opportunities where others find only difficulties
in order to succeed. Billionaires do so all the time and they also trust their
gut feeling when making their decision.

Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Sir Tiong Hiew King ventured into Papua
New Guinea in the early 1980s when other people were afraid to do so
because of the country’s cannibal tribes. Tan Sri Sir Tiong became one of
the world’s top 500 richest billionaires through this venture and his other
activities globally.

Always be optimistic and listen to your instincts (no matter how hard things
get at times).

1.2.4 Be a worthy recipient

Billionaires feel worthy of receiving. They believe they are worth it and
have great respect for themselves and for their own values. They take pride
in their work, but they don’t let pride get in the way of making tough
decisions when it comes to business success.
You should believe you are worth the money you want to earn, and believe
that you can make that money. If you want to become successful, you need
to change your mindset. You will earn whatever you think you are worth.
Play the cash game to win (see section 4.1). If your goal is just to have
enough money to be comfortable, then that is what you will get. You need
to aim higher than your current goal.

Be committed to being rich. Eliminate your negative mindset. You have to

be clear about what it is you want. You may say you want to be rich, but
your mind has to be clear, aligned, focused and in harmony with that belief.
Then you will get what you want.

Conflicting beliefs will stop you. If you think that being rich would be
great, but you also think that being rich would mean having to work all
hours of the day to achieve it, or that you would have to sacrifice time with
your family for it, then these conflicting beliefs will act as hurdles and
blockades on your path to success.

The motivation you have about making money and the ability to feel
worthy of receiving it are critical on your journey to become a billionaire.

1.2.5 Commit to being a billionaire

Commit to becoming a billionaire. Commit to making, keeping and
investing your money. Use your wealth wisely. Aim to increase your net
worth, not just your income. Your net worth is the difference between the
sum of your income, savings and investments, and your expenses and
whatever you owe. The simplest way to increase your net worth is to
simplify your lifestyle so that your expenses are as low as possible, and to
increase your working income, your passive income and your savings. Be
frugal in your spending habits. One of the richest billionaires in the world,
Warren Buffett, lives in the same house he has been living in since he was
27 years old. It is essential that you live within or below your means in
order to have money. It is, in fact, the difference between what you earn and
what you spend that shows what you are worth. If you earn a million
pounds a year and you are spending most of it on a lavish lifestyle, you are
not actually worth that much. No matter how much you earn, you must live
within your means and not overspend. Warren Buffett is said never to make
bets where he does not have a high chance of winning.

Billionaires are very good at handling losses. Donald Trump, the US

business magnate, for instance, lost almost a billion dollars at one time and
then was able to recuperate everything, and bounce back to success. Make
good choices in terms of how you spend your money: shop slowly,
eliminate junk and clutter in your life. Value your money. Keep control of
your credit and financial stability. Be petty about how you spend your
money. If you watch the pennies, the pounds, as they say, will look after
themselves. If you are careless with your money, then it will be much
harder to become a billionaire. Set a spending budget; get rid of debt; start
saving from a young age.

Billionaires don’t spend money before they have got it. The downside of
spending more than you earn is that future earnings may not materialise or
may be less than you expected. If you are always spending more than you
earn, the chances are that you will get caught out somewhere, at some stage.
1.3 Be passionate about what you do

1.3.1 Love your work

Get a passion, not a job. Steve Jobs was an advocate of being passionate
about the work you do. He was a great believer in getting satisfaction in
your life by doing the best work you could possibly be doing.

Your work can involve long hours, so you mustn’t feel you are just putting
in the hours without results. It has to be a passion for you. Passion gives
results. Billionaires might initially dislike what they do but they grow into
loving what they do.

Discover what you love and make it your vocation. Donald Trump
emphasised how important it is to love what you do, and to continually get
better at what you do. Devote your energy to your calling. The joy and
fulfilment you get from devoting yourself passionately to what you are
doing will generate even more energy. You need to work very, very hard.
Work as if you didn’t need the money. If people know you work because
you need the money, they have power over you, and that makes you
vulnerable and insecure, whereas if you work as if you don’t need the
money, they have no power and you have it instead.

If the work doesn’t feel like work, but like a passion, then the hours you are
putting in will no longer matter. Wealth is a by-product of following your
passion. When we work because that is our passion, we are working at the
highest level of service for ourselves, those around us, and the planet Earth.
Luck may have a role to play, but that is because luck occurs when
preparation meets opportunity. Also, the ones who keep an open mind are
more likely to notice opportunities, so they are more likely to be ‘luckier’.

Donald Trump said that it is important to have a fun job or business in order
to be successful. Steve Jobs emphasised the importance of every single day
in your life.
“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked
myself: if today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am
about to do today? And whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many
days in a row, I know I need to change something.” (Steve Jobs, address at
Stanford University, 2005)

I fully agree with what Steve Jobs says and I have been practising it.
Moreover he started practising it when I was born 33 years ago. Whenever
my answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I plan my gigantic
action and get outside my comfort zone (see sections 1.4 and 1.5). You
need to play and align to your strengths (see section 3.2).

What can you do best? What is the one thing that comes easily to you but is
hard for others? Are you gifted with any particular skill that people are
dying to pay money to learn?

1.3.2 Inspired by a great mission and vision

When you love what you do, deep down within you, you are actually also
inspired by a great mission. Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has always
been inspired by several concerns: running railways, building a spaceship,
helping to fight against HIV. Be inspired by something greater than
yourself.

Billionaires are motivated by an almost unrealistic hope and enthusiasm.

They love to achieve and they don’t let the size of their dreams limit them.
Billionaire Mark Cuban thinks it is essential that you must not be inspired
by money alone. Also enjoy every moment. Billionaires are inspired
because of something greater than themselves and they love to create. They
are creators. They love creating things to change the world. Sir Richard
Branson was apparently never interested in being ‘in business’, but he was
motivated by the ability to create things.

Billionaires are also visionaries. They have such confidence in their vision
that they manipulate the universe around them to help them achieve that
vision. Steve Jobs had such confidence in his vision that he was able to
overcome any objections and bring the products he envisioned into the
future. He was dedicated to achieving that, almost as if it was a religion. He
was a creator of the future and problems ceased to exist around him. He was
the ultimate solution finder, and he was an amazing leader, being able to
transform people and products through his passion. He was an avid
consumer of the products he created himself, and for that reason he was
able to revolutionise the world with innovation.

You must articulate your own vision of the future. Make it powerful enough
to inspire people. The vision must always be just beyond reach but not an
impossible dream. You must communicate the vision in a way that it
generates enthusiasm. Use vision to drive change.

1.3.3 Over-deliver and have integrity

Billionaires always under-sell and over-deliver. Sir Richard Branson says
that the delivery of the product or service you are offering is vital. You need
to under-sell and then over-deliver. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

Establish your credibility and integrity in the marketplace by keeping your

promise. This is a factor of your success in business. Do what you do, but
do it better than everyone else.

Most billionaires copy other people’s ideas, but they know how to make
money out of them. They take other people’s ideas and deliver them in a
much better way than any other person. Exceed people’s expectations.

The wonderful thing about learning how to make money is that once you
know how to make money, you can always make money. Nobody can take
that away from you. Once you acquire the billionaire mindset, you will
never be hungry ever again.

However, you can be the wealthiest person in the world and still not have
integrity. People want to do business with people of integrity, and they want
to have friends with integrity.

You should always conduct yourself with integrity. If you promise to

deliver something, do everything in your power to do just that. If you say
you are going to pay someone, do that.
It is best to under-sell what you are going to deliver and then to over-deliver
instead of the other way around. Your integrity is part of your branding. The
way you are perceived affects whether you can make a lot of money or not.
Sir Richard Branson recommends staying on top of your business at all
times.
1.4 Get outside your comfort zone

1.4.1 Challenge yourself and don’t procrastinate

Billionaires always challenge themselves to do something they are afraid of.

So to acquire a billionaire mindset, you should do something you have

never done before. Something new and challenging. Try to do this every
day. You cannot expect to have brilliant results when you have been doing
the same thing for years. If you want different results, you must do
something different from what you have always done.

You can achieve the unachievable. Challenge yourself to achieve the

unachievable. Without challenge, your comfort zone won’t grow and you
won’t be successful. When I go to the gym, to build up my muscles, I need
to constantly increase the weight I am lifting. To expand your comfort zone,
you need to do the same and keep taking on new challenges.

Aim beyond what you think you are capable of. Get out of your comfort
zone and try something you think you cannot do. You must develop a
complete disregard for where your abilities end. Try to do the things that
you think you are incapable of.

If you think you are unable to work for the best company in its field, make
it your target to work there. If you think you are incapable of running a
company, make that your aim. If you think you are unable to be on the
cover of Times Magazine, make it your aim to be there. Create a vision of
what it is you want to turn into a reality. Nothing is impossible. The biggest
pleasure in life is doing what people say you can’t do.

Start taking actions and implement what you are learning in this book as
you read through it. By the end of this book, you will have taken a gigantic
step and your life will be on course for a permanent change for the good,
forever. Your initial steps do not have to be perfect. You can always refine
them later on. Everything starts from that commitment to making the first
step. Don’t wait for the ideal time to do something. This is probably just
your excuse for not doing it now.

I urge you to start now!

The fundamental thing that ruins people’s lives is procrastination. Timing is

essential. An idea that might be a complete success today may be a
complete failure in a year’s time. All successful people have developed the
ability to make decisions and act quickly on those decisions. In times of
crisis, the question you should be asking yourself is what does the situation
need of me now, not what do I need now? Concentrate on one thing that
will manage the situation and do it well.

1.4.2 Continue to expand your comfort zone

Billionaires know real growth begins at the edge of their comfort zone. So
get out of your comfort zone and expand it. Do yourself a favour and do it
now. You don’t want to delay until you reach a mid-life crisis.

Take the first step now towards complete change and transformation before
it is all too late. It is all too late when you die.

Don’t be afraid of your ambitions. If you feel that other people can hold you
back then this means you don’t want your ambition badly enough. Other
people can’t stop you from dreaming. You are stopping yourself. You get in
your own way because you are afraid of what you might become, even if
that something is a wonderful thing.

If you have been doing the same thing for years and it has not been
working, then change your course of action. Get out of the routine. Even a
small change can lead to a spectacular result given time. Take time out to
figure out exactly what is not working, and then take a gigantic action. If
you feel scared about taking a big leap to change your situation, then take a
smaller step. You will be amazed at the power of taking just a little step.
1.5 Take that gigantic action

1.5.1 Be brave enough to move forward

Billionaires take gigantic actions. They understand that they need to excel.
In today’s competitive marketplace, where the customer has increased
expectations and needs everything ‘yesterday’, billionaires understand that
they need to take quick and prompt decisions. They understand failing is
part of the process and they do not get deterred. Unsuccessful people
prepare a long time and procrastinate until it is sometimes too late to do
anything.

Billionaires take decisions based on the limited information they have about
a project. They know hesitation is the killer of enthusiasm and wastes more
time and money than anything else. They are not deterred by their
inexperience. They know ‘the expert in anything was once a beginner’. The
pace at which you do things can be critical to your business success. Take a
gigantic action now for great changes in your life.

You may have all the best intentions, ideas and thoughts in the world, but if
they don’t get translated into actions, you will be in the same spot as you
were in yesterday. It is action that separates successful people from the
unsuccessful. So don’t procrastinate. Do it now. Timing is crucial.

Brian Tracy, the US motivational speaker and author, talks about the law of
incremental change, which refers to the role even a small continuous
change can have in altering your destiny. You will be surprised that even a
small action can lead to huge results. Billionaires do what they need to do,
whether they feel like it or not. Donald Trump has said how important it
was for him to respect his commitments and do what he needed to do,
regardless of the fact that he didn’t feel like it. Billionaires are so successful
because of their continuous actions. They are willing to work harder than
anyone else. They add value to their customers more quickly, in a better
way, more cheaply. They add huge value to the quality of life or work of
their customers, and that is why they accumulate wealth.
Billionaires are go-getters. What one action could you do to change
something in your business or your life today?

1.5.2 Create your own luck

Billionaires create their own luck and take responsibility for creating the
right business, the right demand for their services, at the right time, with
100% effort. Donald Trump says that one makes one’s own luck. Although,
admittedly, one has to have a bit of luck to be at the right time, and in the
right place, in order to take the right opportunity that will make money.

Create your own luck today.

1.5.3 Sacrifice, and possibly huge sacrifice

Taking a gigantic action to bring about change comes with sacrifice.
Billionaires make sacrifices, and at times, huge sacrifices. There is no gain
without pain. No success comes without sweat, tears and some kind of
sacrifice. Billionaires put in time, effort, passion, drive, hours and
determination.

Billionaires are hard-working. They sacrifice the time spent with their
family and friends and they often sacrifice their hobbies, and their time off.
They spend their time nurturing their business and they are highly driven.
Now you know why I am heavier (I’ve put on 10 kilos over the past five
years). I sacrificed my Aikido and Jitsu training to nurture and grow my
company.

Highly successful people learn what they need to know to do their job in an
excellent fashion. Olympic athletes are role models of enormous self-
discipline. Every day is the same for them. They practise repeatedly for
years, every single day, until they become as good as they can possibly be.
They ignore pain and distractions, and they single-mindedly focus on the
task in hand, to be even better than they were the day before.

Billionaires experience similar levels of failure as the rest of us do; they,

however, choose to feel the pain and do it anyway. Pain doesn’t tell you
when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to
hold you back because it knows if you continue, you will change.
Remember the personal trainer who always keeps pushing you when you
have almost given up during the last couple of weight lifting sessions at the
end of your training regime because it is this final few sessions that will
develop your muscles.

So don’t let any pain or failure stop you from being who you can be.
Success comes once you manage to master self-control, and with maturity. I
am not saying you will only suffer sacrifice and have no fun. Billionaires
work hard, and they play hard. Remember US billionaire Mark Cuban
mentions the importance of having fun, too.

Successful people work very hard, and persevere in times of struggle. They
have a higher motivation than the end task, generally something beyond
themselves. And they do reward themselves hugely. Because they feel they
deserve it and also because rewards are so much sweeter when they follow
huge struggle, obstacles or hard work.

1.5.4 Love risks – and take risks

Billionaires take risks. By that I mean calculated risks not blind risks.
Billionaire Donald Trump says he loves taking risks.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s first rule of business is to protect against

any downside. He emphasises how crucial it is to take risks in business. Pay
attention to detail. The greatest business delivery lies in the detail and
billionaires don’t put all their eggs in one basket.

Sir Richard Branson has built an empire of approximately 300 separate

limited companies, in order to restrict the risk of collapse. Billionaires
become so successful because they master the law of probability. Don’t
worry about what other people think of you and ignore any gossip.
Billionaire Mark Cuban suggests that courage is essential for business
success. Courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right
despite the sacrifice.

Billionaires are not afraid to fail and make mistakes. They feel the
discomfort and the fear, the pressure of not succeeding, yet they take the
risk. Temporary failure is part of making it big. The person who doesn’t
make mistakes is unlikely to make anything. Mistakes generally come from
a failure to plan, a failure to listen, or a failure to follow the correct process.
Failure and false starts are a precondition of success.
1.6 Just do it

1.6.1 Take decisions promptly

Billionaires take decisions promptly, follow through immediately and stick
to their decisions. Speed of implementation is the key to success.
Billionaires just do it.

Billionaires achieve things better and more quickly than anybody else. They
are quick thinkers and do not hesitate when it comes to implementation. No
ideas are of any value if they are not implemented. Unsuccessful people
hesitate for long periods of time, procrastinate and become perfectionists.
They want to try to figure everything out before they start. You may not
always find clear answers to every situation nor have at your command all
the data to make the perfect decision. If you wait for all the data, you may
be too late to act. Procrastination in the name of reducing risk is actually
increasing risk. You will have to learn to take each situation on a case-to-
case basis, make a judgement on the available facts and move forward.
Unsuccessful people may eventually lose their initial enthusiasm and
momentum because of waiting too long. Billionaires build on their
momentum by taking immediate little steps towards the goal. They get the
ball rolling quickly.

The more successful you become, the more effective and wealthier you
become. Billionaires can afford to delegate what needs to be done to those
who are the best in their field, so they can save their time and energy for
decision making and seizing opportunities for investing. Billionaires are
business owners (see section 2.2).

Grab opportunities. The only bad decision you can make is hesitating.
Either take the opportunity or leave it. Don’t dwell on it for too long.
Taking a small step now in the right direction is generally better than doing
nothing.

Billionaire Carlos Slim, the Mexican business magnate, and the richest man
in the world, remembered his father’s advice, of always keeping money on
the side to seize the right business opportunities. In 1990, he became head
of a telecommunications monopoly. He called his business empire Telmex.
He created a ‘Gillette Plan’ – the need for a service where there seemed to
be no demand, by marketing mobile phones for free. The profit then came
from the prepaid phone cards.

Indecision is a huge factor in not doing anything or not fully putting one’s
heart into it. Look for possibilities where others see only difficulties or
impossibilities. Look for the opportunity in every adversity.

If you believe that you are always learning something every time you get
into a difficult situation, you will make rapid progress on your journey to
success.

1.6.2 Clarity and knowing what you want

Billionaires know what they want. That brings clarity about which steps to
follow. They take decisions promptly, take action, and then take
responsibility. Unsuccessful people are undecided and change their minds
quickly. They suffer from the ‘shiny star syndrome’, forever chasing the
next good idea.

It is important that you prepare yourself as best you can for what you are
going to do, but then – just begin it. Just do it. You can always refine the
process later. Be clear about what exactly you want money for. That will
determine the direction you take in your life.

Billionaires set clear targets and clear deadlines for the completion of goals.
This moves them forward more quickly towards actually achieving them.
Turn your desires into intentions. Then take the first step towards turning
your intentions into reality. Determine exactly the level you are at and
where you want to be.

Visualise your success. You will then have a unique view of what success
means to you. Goals are always established in connection with your self-
image. When you change your self-image, goals change as well, and that
creates a whole new life. All successful billionaires pictured themselves as
successful before achieving their goals. Affirmations have to be brief and
positive, and there needs to be a strong emotion tied to the money that is
wanted. In some cases contradictions may be created in your mind because
of the difference between the real situation and the desired situation. Work
out a map of how you are going to do it and how you will measure the
success of your plan of action. Take the first step towards it. A huge
difference can be made with a tiny change. As the Chinese proverb says ‘a
journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.

You need to know exactly what you want. Billionaires always know exactly
what they want. You will then be on your way to success far more than
other people. There are several techniques you can use to bring what you
want closer to you. One of the techniques is to vividly visualise your
desired goals. First, you need to know exactly what you want. Imagine
exactly what you want and then go for it.

1.6.3 Take responsibility for your action

Billionaires are creators of their circumstances, not creatures of
circumstances. Take responsibility for your life. Take control of your life.
Life doesn’t just happen to you. Eliminate blaming, complaining and
justifying from your life. These negative attitudes attract more of the same
and multiply. The more you complain, the more problems you will attract in
your life. That will also push you into the stereotyped attitude of ‘a victim’.
That may be rewarded with the attention of others, but it will not make you
a billionaire. The minute you stop acting like a victim, you will bring clarity
and focus into your life. Do not complain. Take full responsibility for the
way your business is going. Remember, billionaires learn from their
mistakes.

1.6.4 Stick to your decision

Changing your mind too quickly and too often makes you look too volatile
to be credible. Yet you also need to know when to let go. One key to
success is finding the balance between persistence and flexibility. Agree
certain things in advance about the measures you will take and stick to your
decision.
1.6.5 Have direction in your life
You have to be sure of where you are going and what you are going to do
when you get there. You have to have passion, drive, ambition and
determination. Focus on what you want, but be rational. You should not be
comparing yourself with other people’s financial status and with what
others have bought. You must only buy what you can afford. There is a
major difference between the things you want and the things you need. Get
the best buy for your money. Do not buy anything to show off to your
friends and family. When you become a billionaire, then you can start to be
lavish.
1.7 Lifelong learning

1.7.1 Have a long-term strategy

Make your decisions based on ‘time perspective’. Time perspective means
having a long-term view when you make a decision in the present.
Billionaires are simply better at foregoing instant gratification in return for
their success. You will soon discover that managing yourself is harder than
managing money. Forego instant rewards for bigger payback in the long
term. Self-control and delayed gratification are key.

Don’t fiddle with money. Give it time to mature. Create short, medium and
long-term investments, but keep things in perspective. Make decisions
based on a long-term perspective.

1.7.2 Never stop learning

Billionaires know that there is no way out of continuous improvement and
continuous education to stay ahead of the competition. Work hard, be open
and persistent about learning every single day in your field.

Further your education by continuous learning in order to give you the

upper hand in a competitive marketplace. Billionaire Mark Cuban states
that it is essential to keep learning in order to keep changing and stay
flexible in your approach.

Read, at the very least, one book a week on business or ways to make
money to keep you miles ahead of the competition. Discipline yourself
always to improve in the areas that are holding you back or that are an
obstacle to you. If you can’t, find someone to complement your skills.

1.7.3 Be master of your field

Be an expert in your field. It apparently takes about 10,000 hours of
continuous study to get to an expert’s level (mastery). Be the best. If you
are the best in your field, you may pretty much name your fee. People will
come to you. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that
little extra.

Do what you need to do to be the best in your field. Being a reader and a
dreamer will never be enough to help you become a billionaire. You need to
become a doer in order to work physically as well as mentally.

Billionaire Mark Cuban emphasises the power of competence in order to

become highly successful. You can’t climb to the next level of the ladder
until you are excellent at what you do now.

1.7.4 Continue to re-invent yourself. Be agile

Be agile and be flexible. Continuously re-invent yourself but stay true to
who you are. You need to stay true to your values and be authentic. You
have to keep learning, be open to new ideas and keep an open mind about
new developments in your field.

Things in every field become obsolete very quickly because of new

developments. The only way in which you can succeed is by staying ahead
of the curve and one page ahead, by being a leader in your field.
SECRET 2 UNDERSTANDING
BUSINESS
“You have to stand back and think ‘What is a business?’ A business is
simply making other people’s lives better and if you have an idea where you
think you can make other people’s lives better, you have a business. If you
have that idea then you should just get on and try to get it going and you
may fall flat on your face and, if you do, pick yourself up and try again until
you succeed.”
(Sir Richard Branson)
2.1 Business know-how

2.1.1 Be an entrepreneur
The only way to be a billionaire is by becoming an entrepreneur. An
entrepreneur is a person who solves problems for people at a profit. What
matters is not what you do for a living, but how much money you make and
how much you spend that makes the difference between billionaires and
people who do not manage to go beyond their monthly salary.

Billionaires are entrepreneurs and business owners, not business operators.

As a business operator, you will need to look after and be with your
business all the time. As a business owner you can leave your business for a
few months at a time and it will still continue to grow while you are away.

To grow your business towards your becoming a business owner and not a
business operator, you will need to understand the life cycle of business and
the different challenges along the cycle. Dr Ichak Adizes, one of the world’s
leading experts in improving business performance, explains the life stages
of a business. There are 10 stages in any business life cycle: courtship,
infancy, go-go, adolescence, prime, stability, aristocracy, early bureaucracy,
bureaucracy, death. More of this will be explained in section 2.2.

Don’t surrender equity (shares or a stake in your business). If you do need

to surrender equity, then swap it for business acumen and skills, hands-on
directorship or a freedom-from-hassle agreement so you can run the
business the way you want, but keep the swap at a realistic percentage so
you don’t give away too much. Consider, even, introducing a buy-back
clause so you can buy back the equity for cash at a later stage when you are
cash-rich.

Never give voting shares away to anyone. Only take money into your
business from people who have experience of your business and understand
its ebbs and flows.
2.1.2 Be on top of your game
Billionaires thrive under pressure. You have to have the ability to handle
pressure well and to thrive under it. Billionaires are open to change and
capitalise on the law of momentum. That is how they are successful.
Billionaires refuse to let themselves get stuck with how things used to be or
were in the past. They are drivers of change and they love the thrill of
growing through change.

So be open to change and be willing to implement new things. Be agile, be

flexible and be willing to evolve so as to survive and thrive. Also be highly
motivated to win the game of business.

2.1.3 Keep an eye on the bottom line

Billionaires keep their eye on the bottom line. They make their decisions
based on the bottom line. Sometimes tough decisions need to be made,
since small cash flow problems can turn into a major crisis. So keep an eye
on the bottom line. Don’t let anything persuade you into spending more
than you are comfortable with spending.

Don’t make decisions on any other basis than their financial aspect. If you
are going to get financial advice, pay for it. Bear profit in mind when you
manage your business. Billionaire Sir Richard Branson points out that
turnover can be huge, but it is the profit margin that matters.

2.1.4 Assess business regularly

Billionaires assess their business regularly and accurately. They need to stay
on top of everything that is going on. They need to do a reality check in
order to make sure that the business is healthy and its business account is
accurately reported. They need to continuously find new ways to improve
the services provided and to create lower costs, higher efficiency and better
value solutions for consumers.

2.1.5 Focus on simplicity

Billionaires typically specialise in one thing, but do it really, really well.
Keep your business simple.

Billionaire Mark Cuban emphasises the need to concentrate. The ability to

focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it’s done takes
more character than anything else.
2.2 Be a business owner, not a business operator

2.2.1 Owner or operator?

To be a billionaire and to create the possibility of becoming a billionaire,
you do need to understand business. To succeed in business and to graduate
from being a business operator to being a business owner, you need to
understand the life cycle of a business and the different stages of it. The life
cycle of a business is not very different from the life cycle of a human. Like
bringing up a child, where you will be encountering different challenges at
different stages of the child’s life, you will also be encountering different
problems at different stages of your business’s life. By understanding this,
you will be better at tackling your business challenges when you meet them.

This section will touch on the research and findings of the world-renowned
business expert and ‘guru’, Dr Ichak Adizes. Due to copyright, I can’t go
into details of Dr Ichak’s findings. I do, however, encourage you to read his
books and the results of his research.

According to Dr Adizes, there are 10 stages to a business life cycle -

Courtship, Infancy, Go-Go, Adolescence, Prime, Stable, Aristocracy, Early
Bureaucracy, Bureaucracy and Death.

Understanding the life cycle of a business is a huge area of learning. I do

recommend that you do further studies into mastering this subject. Just
google ‘Dr Ichak Adizes’ and you will find a wealth of information out
there about his research and findings on the business life cycle. To create
the possibility that you will become a billionaire, you do need to build your
business on a solid foundation of understanding business and its life cycle.

At the end of this section, I will explain at which stage of the business life
cycle you will graduate from being a business operator to being a business
owner. Also which stage is the best time to sell your company or to acquire
a company.
Stage 1 Courtship
Before a child is conceived, everything begins with a courtship. Either you
are courting a lady or a man is courting you. The two of you soon decide to
be together and a relationship is born. With the relationship blossoming, in
time a baby is conceived.

Business is the same. A business is started the moment you take on the
significant personal risk to create it.
Stage 2 Infancy
Now a baby is born. Some 95% of businesses collapse within the first five
years of existence. So at this stage your business is entering a race to
survive. Your goal is to survive and grow.
Stage 3 Go-Go
At this stage, your business starts to walk (initially unsteadily) and talk
(initially mumbling and speaking a few words) on its own. Just like a
toddler.

And as a toddler is curious and will walk everywhere and touch and grab
everything along his or her path, at this stage of your business you will have
others who can make decisions and create problems.
Stage 4 Adolescence
Your child is now a teenager. Teenagers are often over-confident and take
crazy risks at times, such as swimming in rivers, riding motorbikes illegally,
driving cars illegally, smoking and excessive underage drinking. Death is a
word unknown to them.

Funnily enough, your business will behave the same way at this stage.
Stage 5 Prime
At this stage, your business is like a young adult just graduated from
university. This young adult is beginning to anticipate the future and make
more educated and committed choices. S/he begins to settle down and get
serious.

You as father/mother of this business, no longer need to look after him/her

as intensively as during the teenager stage.
Stage 6 Stable
At this stage, your business is like a young university graduate with a few
years of working experience. Your duty to him/her is now done and you are
enjoying your new freedom and waiting to be a grandparent. S/he is now
also enjoying his/her freedom.
Stage 7 Aristocracy
At this stage, your business is like your child in his/her 50s. S/he is starting
to suffer from illnesses and contemplating plastic surgery to make
him/herself look younger.
Stage 8 Early Bureaucracy
At this stage, your business is like your child in his/her late 70s. S/he is
starting to suffer from more severe illnesses.
Stage 9 Bureaucracy
At this stage, your business is like your child in his/her 80s. S/he is often
suffering from severe illnesses and getting bedridden more often.
Stage 10 Death
At this stage, your business is gone, like your child returning to God.

With the above explanation, I hope you can now visualise and have a better
understanding of business. Do further develop and widen your knowledge
and understanding about the business life cycle beyond the explanation
above which only scratches the surface.

From the above explanation, you can see that your business starts to age
after ‘Stage 6 Stable’. Should you be thinking of acquiring a business, the
best time to do so is at ‘Stage 7 Aristocracy’. You can negotiate a better
acquisition price at that stage. If you are thinking of selling a business, the
best time to dispose of it is at either ‘Stage 5 Prime’ or at ‘Stage 6 Stable’.
You will be able to sell at the highest value at either of these two stages. So
do you now know when you graduate from being a business operator to
being a business owner? Have a guess!

You are moving towards becoming a business owner at ‘Stage 4

Adolescence’ and will be a proper business owner at ‘Stage 5 Prime’. As
you know, when your child is a teenager, you no longer need to be with
him/her all the time. S/he can clothe him/herself and can eat and look after
him/herself without needing you to be there round the clock. Is all this
making sense? Understanding business is great fun and yet it’s really crucial
if you are to succeed in it.
2.3 Add value

2.3.1 Adding value

Billionaires usually get control of an asset and then increase its perceived
value to its customers by adding additional benefits. Sir Richard Branson’s
mission is to make customers happier by giving them value for money. Gain
control of an asset and increase its value. Billionaires are known to take
other people’s ideas, add value and then sell them at a huge profit. Try to do
this for your customers.

The only way you are going to be worth more than anyone else in a
business that doesn’t belong to you is by bringing cash flow into the
company, i.e. helping that business to generate more revenue. You will then
get back what you have put in, so if you want quality, give quality. If you
want a good payment for a job, do a good job equal to that payment. You
need to be unselfish and sacrifice your time and energy toward this.

Billionaire Mark Cuban recommends building trust and goodwill with

people in order to build a network of clients. Billionaires know people don’t
care about you, they care about themselves. So make your business be all
about them. What can you offer them? You may have a passion for
something - but do your customers like it? What’s in it for the people who
want to do business with you? You need to be highly passionate about the
product or the service you are offering.

2.3.2 Solution finders

Steve Jobs expressed the need to be inspired by an idea, or a problem, or a
wrong that you want to right, as otherwise you will never make it in
business. Focus on finding solutions, not problems. Focus on what you
want, not on what you don’t want. You get more of what you focus on in
life. If you keep your concentration on one thing and only one thing at a
time then you will eventually achieve it. Dr Mark McKergow, who heads up
the Centre for Solutions Focus at Work, explains the difference between
focusing on solutions and focusing on problems. They both yield different
results. Generally, focusing on the problem, rather than the solution,
generates bigger problems. Focusing on the positive changes you can make
puts perspective on things. The better the solution you offer, the more
unique the situation, the larger the population you are solving the problem
for, the more fees you can command – and demand – for solving it.
Billionaires focus on potential growth and rewards, whereas others focus on
risks and losses. Billionaires succeed because they will do whatever it takes
to succeed; failure is not an option. When things go wrong, and of course
they do go wrong, they find another way to make things work. Other people
just give up. The higher the rewards, the higher the risk. Billionaires have
confidence in their ability to retrieve the money in case they do lose it. So
be a solution finder.

2.3.3 Never compromise on values

The success of billionaires is partly attributed to their ability to stick to their
guns when the going gets tough. They have good values, including
integrity.

Sir Richard Branson recommends that you should stand up for your values.
Billionaires understand that it is important to have good values, such as
leadership, keeping commitments, doing what you believe to be right in
life. You may be committed to doing something but you need to listen to
your gut feeling as well. It is very important to stay true to your integrity
and honesty in business in order to be successful.
2.4 Build a good reputation

2.4.1 Build credibility

Billionaires build credibility and keep to their commitments. Billionaires
know that in order to build a successful business they must keep to their
commitments. They put their customers first. This is how Steve Jobs
created the strength of user-friendly Apple Mac.

If you want your business to be highly profitable, your customers must trust
you. The first step to profitability is an evaluation of the current state of
your business. You need to determine your current reputation and your
quality ranking today. Once you have established that, analyse what your
ideal future state would be. If your business were to be profitable how
would you achieve that? What would you need to do differently to get to
that level? The perception of the customer and how the customer perceives
you is influenced by the way you see yourself. Focus on your customers;
they must always come first. By increasing the value you are offering to
your customers, money is going to be attracted to you like a magnet. Listen
attentively to your customers. Listen carefully to what people want and
need.
2.5 Build a brand

2.5.1 Build a consistent brand

Be consistent. Do what you say you will do. It is all about the promises you
make and keep. If you are always late, that is your brand. Branding makes
you trustworthy and known; it differentiates you from the others and it
makes you worthy of more money. Branding yourself properly will help in
pre-selling your product.

Your brand awareness happens and is achieved when people start to become
aware of your existence as a company or person. After people are aware of
your brand, you then progress to be a preferred brand and subsequently an
insisted brand. Examples of insisted brands are Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
Insisted brand status is achieved when your brand is perceived as
exceptional in the market place and this leads to incredible levels of loyalty.

Beyond insisted brand is when your customers are so passionate about your
product that they are starting to share their experience of using your product
with their family and friends. They are now your free advocates, becoming
your ‘salary-less’ sales people and are big fans of your product. You are
now gaining free advertising and publicity from them. This level of brand
credibility can’t be bought and their friends and family are now your pre-
sold prospective customers. Your profits will increase exponentially at this
level.

2.5.2 Image
Billionaires know their image represents power. So they go about creating a
certain image that is consistent with their brand. They tend to stick to this
image, even though they may often re-invent themselves.

If you look like someone who works in a supermarket, then it is unlikely

people will treat you any better. You need to look confident and powerful.
That image has to be paired with the right clothes that inspire power and
confidence. Your image needs to inspire good quality.
It also needs to represent trust and organisation, cleanliness,
professionalism. Dress like a billionaire to be treated like one. Look weak
and needy and you will be treated that way. The image people form about
you is made up of several things including your personality, your manner,
your attitude, punctuality, integrity, communication skills and level of
organisation. People do judge a book by its cover. Having the right image is
all part of your brand. You need to be aware of what impression you are
giving people without realising it. If you have an arrogant attitude, that is
also part of your brand. You need to choose to have a good attitude, no
matter what. You don’t need to show the whole story about yourself, just
aspects that are relevant and that will contribute to your image/brand.

Billionaires are aware of the power of association; people like to be

associated with expensive, exclusive and good quality things. Once you
have gained wealth, don’t flaunt it – no bling, flash cars, impulse spending,
private jets, huge diamonds. That will only attract robbers and thieves. And
it will also create a false image – an image of excess. Be a discreet, refined,
cultured, less-is-more kind of billionaire, someone who inspires people.
Flaunting your wealth creates envy, jealousy, criticism, snobbery,
condemnation and censure. Discretion encourages respect, admiration and
emulation. Don’t ever mention how much wealth you have got, how much
you earn or what you are worth.

2.5.3 Reputation
Billionaires fiercely defend their good reputation. Be careful of your
reputation and the image you are portraying to other people.

Your brand’s reputation affects the way customers perceive your business
and in turn the overall success of your business. You need to create a brand
based on good values such as credibility, integrity and trust and one which
offers something that adds value to the customer.

Sir Richard Branson’s motto is never to do anything that keeps you from
sleeping at night. By that he means never do anything illegal, no matter how
good it sounds. He also recommends getting your contracts watertight from
the beginning and always being prepared to defend your company and its
reputation. When drawing up a contract, always think about the worst case
scenario. The secret of success in any sector that is new to you is to be
watchful and usually to be watchful for many years.

2.5.4 Market yourself well

Billionaires market themselves well. They realise the importance of
creating a good reputation and a good image. This needs to be followed by
good marketing and public relations to establish your credibility which you
must do to gain people’s trust and to convince them of your abilities. You
need to create a name for yourself, and be associated with a good quality
lifestyle. You are in the business of selling regardless of what you do for a
living. Billionaires know that they are in the sales business no matter what
they do.

You should master the art of selling yourself – your skills, your brand and
your ideas. Selling skill is vital for success. Promote yourself and your
values. Billionaires are not afraid to promote themselves on a big scale;
they take huge risks by making themselves vulnerable in the marketplace.
2.6 Use leverage

2.6.1 Leverage
Billionaires understand and use leverage better than anyone else.

The factors to consider in the marketplace are supply, demand, quantity and
quality. Become a resource for other people. The bigger the problem you
can solve for other people, the bigger will be the returns. The greater the
value you add to other people, the higher the fee you can command for your
services.

You need to start thinking about how you can help millions of people. Then
you will become a billionaire. You will get the satisfaction of having helped
those millions of people and the financial rewards that come with it.
Thinking small and taking small actions will just keep you where you are
now. Leverage the strengths you have by increasing the value you are
offering to people, at a higher scale. What kinds of problems could you
solve for people? Is there anything you haven’t yet considered?

Billionaires think big. They use their financial capital, expertise and
strength in the market to buy underperforming companies at a low
acquisition cost, turning these companies around and then selling them off.
This is what venture capital billionaires are typically doing. Always think of
adding value to your customer and you will win in business.

Warren Buffett uses the strategy of monopolies of scale to buy large enough
shares to influence a business and then make a huge profit. You should
know the difference between price and value (something is only worth what
others are willing to pay for it).

Billionaires use monopolies to get competitive advantage. When trying to

make your dreams come true it is important that you are using leverage as
leverage equals speed. To make your goals come true, you must master the
power of leverage, namely to use other people’s skills, talents and
understanding to help you achieve your goal. Learn how to use other
people’s talents to reach your goals. You’ll find that your goals will start to
appear in your life a lot faster if you use leverage. The longer a lever is, the
greater is the impact. Think of lifting a heavy stone with a long piece of
wood as a lever. The leverage makes lifting the heavy stone much easier to
accomplish.

Everyone knows that speed is the new ‘want’ of life. So the more resources
you use, the easier and faster things are done. Masters of leverage use other
people’s money, experience, ideas, time and work.

Billionaires are constantly looking for leverage, asking themselves how to

leverage a situation, an opportunity or an idea. So to become a billionaire,
you need to constantly ask yourself how to leverage an opportunity.

Billionaires think big and have high levels of ambition. If you want to reach
a high level of wealth, be ambitious and apply leverage. But don’t sacrifice
either your health or your marriage for money. Start by thinking big.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson says we should think big but build small. If
you have a fantastic idea but the market isn’t ideal, then don’t kill your idea
or enthusiasm. Start small and your idea will grow over time.
2.7 Grow your company

2.7.1 Speed of implementation

Billionaires know that a fantastic strategy without execution equals zero.
All great ideas are meaningless if they are not implemented rapidly and
efficiently. Big commitments are just a series of small commitments and if
one gets into the habit of meeting small commitments, there is a good
chance that the larger vision will be achieved. Billionaires are so successful
because they have information at their fingertips, and they use whatever
technology they have at their disposal so that they can organise themselves
to operate at lightning speed. Speed of implementation is the key to success.

Billionaires are highly efficient. They know that 20% of effort generates
80% of the profits. Therefore focusing on the core tasks of your business
and on the customers that are providing the most value to your company
will increase the efficiency and profitability of your business. Billionaires
also put a high value on their time. Nothing is more valuable than time –
not even money.

Value your time. If you don’t, who will? Become excellent at time
management. In the world of today, it is impossible to be very successful
unless you are on top of everything that happens to you. The speed of
implementing your tasks is a way of wowing customers about your
business’s effectiveness. Get someone else to do the menial tasks anyone
can do, and keep your precious time for high value tasks that only you can
do. Billionaires are able to set priorities and respect them.

Never put a cap on your own earnings. Be paid according to results, not the
hours you work. Billionaires choose to take risks by preferring to be paid
according to results rather than time. That may mean choosing stock
options or profit sharing instead of a salary. Your time is limited, therefore
by getting paid according to the time you put in, you limit your chances of
making more money.
Billionaires delegate effectively. They realise that they cannot do everything
and they cannot find solutions for everybody because of lack of time. So
they train and empower their management to think on its own without
needing to keep consulting them.

In addition to the speed of implementation, billionaires also master detail.

Speed of implementation never means the billionaires are losing sight of the
details and neglecting them. They comb through the small print, as those
details can potentially cost them dearly. You need to create the habit of
constantly checking the small print and ensuring that it covers what you
want. Check that there are no hidden clauses that will distort the basic
meaning of the contract. Check the penalties for late or non-payment. Be
organised and be sharp. The god is in the detail.

Sir Richard Branson says that attention to detail defines great business
delivery. Billionaires know how to manage their egos. Ego is the single
worst enemy of any person who wants to become a billionaire. Donald
Trump suggests that it is generally better to stick to what you know.

2.7.2 Evangelise your business

Have faith in yourself and your business. You have to trust in something:
your gut, destiny or karma. Eleanor Roosevelt highlighted the importance
of keeping faith with what you do. Expect to succeed; have a child-like
expectation that you will succeed and people will feel inspired to help you
achieve that. Have faith in what you believe in as that encourages everyone
to be the best they can possibly be.

Have high expectations of yourself and do your best. Successful people use
a synergy of energies in order to achieve success. These energies come from
their faith, energy, passion and focus.

Following your passion or doing something you are passionate about is a

great way to make sure that the money will come. This is because when
you’re passionate about something you never give up, you are doing it for
the love rather than the money and so work becomes easier and you end up
doing better. People who do what they are passionate about are happier, live
happier lives and have greater productivity.
Your passion may also inspire others to follow their passion. So be inspired
and know that there are people out there who are doing what they love
every day. All they have to do is make the decision to follow their dream
and the rest is history. You need to realise that your actions have
consequences for the people around you, whether you like it or not. Even
though you are not aware of it, you influence the people around you in a
positive or negative way. If you decide to become a person who follows his
or her passion then you will make a difference to the people around you and
their lives. If you are going to live anyway and work hard anyway, you
might as well make the best of it and live a passionate life. You might as
well make a difference to the world and be remembered for the difference
you made in the world when you are gone.

2.7.3 A daily small change leads to exponential growth

Billionaires use the power of incremental transformation. Brian Tracy
advises disciplining yourself to follow the simple principle of improving
1/1000 per cent every day. That’s not asking a lot, is it? This tiny change
actually translates into improving 26 per cent every year. So the
transformation is eventually huge just by taking tiny little steps, like reading
something relevant to your field for just 30 minutes every day.

Aim to be better and to improve every single day. The only person you
should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.

Your health, wealth, weight and other factors are the results of certain
causes. In order to achieve better results, you need to change the root causes
– in this instance your mindset. Your outer world is a reflection of your
inner world. Reading this book and taking the suggested actions in it is your
first step to re-programming your mindset into that of a billionaire.

Aim to grow continuously as a person. Your outer environment is an

expression of your personal growth. If you are not where you want to be,
that is because you have not taken the time to become the best at what you
do.
SECRET 3 UNDERSTANDING
YOURSELF
3.1 Who are you?

3.1.1 Knowing your self-worth

Billionaires are aware of their value in the marketplace. They are aware of
their strengths and weaknesses, they know what they are worth – financially
and spiritually. They have high self-esteem and they make continuous
efforts to improve their personal worth and growth. They have huge belief
in their abilities but they also make a huge effort to improve their worth by
taking gigantic actions, albeit through calculated risk taking.

3.1.2 Be authentic
Billionaires know exactly what they are good at, their strengths and
weaknesses. You can always improve yourself. That is part of your
greatness as a human.

You need to use your unique selling point so as to succeed in your business.
This means using exactly what you are offering to the market that is
different or better or unique in comparison to what is already in the market.
This will offer you a competitive advantage over other people or businesses.
Be authentic and be yourself.

Pretentiousness isn’t going to help you in any way. Sir Richard Branson
thinks it is important to get the brand right from the start, by being honest
with yourself about what it is you are offering. He says that a brand always
means something and you can control the meaning of your brand only
through what you deliver to your customer. Whatever your brand stands for,
you have to deliver on the promise.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver, and deliver everything you promise.
If you don’t define what your brand is, your competitor will. Sir Richard
Branson says the thing that gets him up in the morning is the challenge and
the brand.
3.1.3 Know your strengths
Do you like to create or do you like to manage and lead? To perform at your
highest potential, you do need to know who you really are deep inside
yourself. You can be both a good creator and a good manager but deep
inside you, you are stronger at being one of them. Only one.

To reach your highest potential, you need to fully align with your real
strengths and be either a creator or a manager but not, I’m afraid, both.

A creator is someone who is very artistic, creative and likes to create and
invent. For example, an inventor, a fashion designer, painter, barrister, artist
or engineer.

A manager/leader, on the other hand, is someone who has good

management, leadership and interpersonal skills. They like to deal with
people. They are people’s people.

Although I am good at management and leadership and I am also good at

creating, deep inside myself I am actually an artist. I love to create new
business opportunities, new investment opportunities and new buildings.
3.2 Align to your strengths

3.2.1 Commitment to excellence

Billionaires are very dedicated to their work and make a huge commitment
to their own success; they don’t just try to do it. They have confidence they
will do it, no matter what, and would prefer to die trying than give up. They
will make no excuses. Unsuccessful people settle for less than they are
capable of. Billionaires will find a way to amaze with their level of service
and that is why they are able to demand huge fees for their time and effort.
They get paid on results rather than time. Be associated with quality and be
a leader in your field not a follower. Quality represents adding value to your
customer.

A lot of people have amazing ideas but what is stopping them is that they
are happy with being good enough rather than being brilliant. Billionaires
are motivated by the ideal of offering value to customers. In the case of Sir
Richard Branson, it’s finding new ways to give people a good time.
Billionaires understand that when they are in business, whatever it is they
are selling, what matters most is not the product but the needs of the user.

The essential thing you must remember is that you don’t have to have an
original idea. Choose what works and do it better. Work smarter and harder
than everyone else and be willing to never give up in the face of adversity.
Multi-task and be the best that you can possibly be. Challenge the limits of
your comfort zone and go beyond what you think you can do. It is essential
that you focus. Don’t try to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
Specialise in something and commit to being excellent in that area. Be
extremely specific in your specialisation and brand yourself as such. There
is no point in spreading your energy too thinly in too many directions. That
leads to confusing messages about who you really are. People like to hire
experts to solve their problems. Your credibility is based on your
competence, integrity, trust, mastery of a particular field and your ability to
deliver more than people expect of you.
3.2.2 Master of self-discipline
Gain control of your habits. Be a master of self-discipline. Decide what
exactly you would like to change and then find people who can help you,
including people who are not in your existing clique or peer group. Take
their advice and structure strategies to discipline yourself. You can even
start creating new good habits. Apparently a new good habit can be created
if you practise and stick to it for 21 days in succession. Let’s start the fun
and create new good habits in your life every 21 days! Take this challenge.

Discipline yourself to follow a routine for success. Start the journey to

mastery with a single first step. Remember the expert in anything was once
a beginner. You need to start the journey of mastery by setting realistic
goals for your life. Setting more than two goals for each area of your life
can lead to distraction and being overwhelmed. Working on goals that
belong to several areas of your life such as home, fitness or improved
relationships is advantageous. An improvement in one area of your life can
bring about improvements in the other areas of your life. To be a billionaire,
you need to have yin and yang and harmony in every aspect of your life.
Otherwise you will be a cash-rich but soul-poor billionaire.

When a farmer plants seeds, some seeds die and some others will grow.
And those seeds that are growing, need to be watered, tended and pruned
before the plants will start to bear fruit. The same applies to you.
Effectively not all your efforts will succeed and those that do succeed need
time to come to fruition. You need to put in a lot of energy, time, and effort
to turn your goals and dreams into reality but you also need to allow them
time to grow and you need to nurture them before you can reap the rewards.

You need to start your dream by taking action, then put in a lot of energy,
passion and effort and then give it time before you can reap the rewards.
The only way something will grow is if you plant it with energy. If you give
up too quickly you will fail. You need to understand that you must pay the
price in advance for what you want, and results will come with time.

Billionaires are highly organised and master every detail. They tend to set
up certain parts of their life so that they are almost automatic. The god,
again, is in the detail, and billionaires take responsibility for every aspect of
their business. Sir Richard Branson advocates a culture of discipline.

Eliminate procrastination. Cultivate persistence and do what you need to do

now; you can refine it later. Persistence and determination can be tough on
you and your family, but it is the only way in which you can have a
different life. If you always do what you have always done, you will only
get the same results. Discipline yourself to become a person of action.

3.2.3 Be authentic about what you do best

Do what you are really good at and leave the rest for someone else, even if
that means hiring someone to do your less important tasks or tasks that you
aren’t sure how to accomplish. Allow yourself to concentrate on high value
tasks and challenges which only you can accomplish. Knowing exactly who
you are and what you stand for is one of the critical factors for establishing
your success.
3.3 Hire to compensate for your weakness

3.3.1 Use the secret power of mentors

If you are to be successful it is important that you have at least one mentor.
Every successful person has mentors for their different needs. A mentor is a
shortcut to success with less pain and failure. Mentoring is a powerful form
of leverage. Drawing from your mentor’s experience is the quickest, safest,
and least painful way to become a billionaire.

Mentors are everywhere. Each person you meet can ‘accidentally’ teach
you something to help advance your cause. It is important to learn to listen.
I learnt a lot by listening. Mentors don’t need to be people. Anything that
causes you to change the course of your life – a life-threatening disease,
losing a job, reading a book, or an encounter with an animal can serve as a
mentor.

Constantly seek mentors. When you find yourself lacking in anything – an

attitude, an awareness, a skill, a habit, a technique, or a strategy – seek a
mentor to show you the way and the path to follow.

Set yourself a challenge to arrange to meet one multi-millionaire or

billionaire a month for the next 12 months. Pick his/her brain and ask
him/her to be your mentor. S/he could potentially agree to your request.
Billionaires copy their mentors. They are aware of the fact that you
gradually grow to become like your mentors. You become your
environment. If you hang out with high net worth people, you will start
thinking like them, acting like them, and eventually be one of them.

3.3.2 Employ and surround yourself with people smarter than you are
Billionaires are comfortable about hiring people who are smarter, more
talented and better than they are in their areas of weakness. They hire for
attitude and train for skills. Billionaire Donald Trump recommends hiring
the best people and trusting them with their given roles though you still
need to be watchful of everyone you hire.
Leave your ego aside and you will advance higher and faster with the help
of your employees. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than
you are. If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong
room. If you want to be successful, you need to have an eye for details but
also be great at seeing the big picture. If you have a weakness in any area,
have the best people to compensate for it. Learn something from every
person you meet. Associate with people who are better than you are.
SECRET 4 UNDERSTANDING
CASH
“Rule number 1: Never lose money! Rule number 2: Never forget Rule
number 1.”
(Warren Buffett)
4.1 Play the cash game to win

4.1.1 Play to win

Billionaires play the cash game to win. On your quest and during your
journey to be a billionaire, make sure you invest in financial education.
Always seek more and more financial knowledge and experience. Be a
winner; never quit.

Billionaire Donald Trump states that in order to succeed in business, you

have to have a continuous drive to succeed. You can’t succeed if you are a
quitter. You need to have a ‘warrior spirit’ aiming for victory. By combining
this warrior spirit with financial education, you will be reaching new
heights. You have got to be as positive as a warrior and believe you really
can succeed. Don’t give up too quickly. Most people falter because they
give up too quickly, after only one or two failures. Successful people keep
going, regardless of how many times they fail. (See chapter 7.) Billionaires
have no hesitation, no doubt and no fear – like a samurai. Be a warrior and
fight to succeed.

Playing to win is one of the finest things you can do. Playing to win will
stretch you and everyone around you. It gives you a new sense of direction
and energy. Ultimately, your only competitor is yourself. Playing to win,
however, does not mean playing dirty. If you cut corners along the way, you
will miss out on the personal satisfaction of winning because winning
means reaching the extent of your own potential and using it to the fullest.
Playing to win today means becoming better than you were yesterday.

Billionaire Mark Cuban says you should act as if you are competing with
the very best. If you are ready to compete with the best, you are ready to
compete with anyone else.

4.1.2 Make cash work for you

Billionaires make cash work for them; they are financially savvy. They
make money while they sleep. They create various streams of income,
invest in various businesses and leverage the resources offered to them.
They create their own opportunities through solving other people’s
problems. You can’t be everywhere at the same time, so find a way to make
money while you sleep.

There are powerful online and offline ways in which you can make money.
The goal is always to be thinking about multiple sources of income. If you
do this, then when one source dries up you still have other sources of
income to fall back on. Remember during your journey to be a billionaire,
you will encounter failure; I don’t want you to be wiped out completely and
unable to make a comeback at that point.

4.1.3 Find ways to make cash

Be clever. Go for the easy wins. You don’t need to make your own life
difficult by assuming you need to climb mountains. Pick the low hanging
fruits first. The best first step to being a billionaire, however, is to have your
own business. So start planning how to work for yourself.

4.1.4 Turn problems into cash

Billionaires welcome problems because they know that wherever people
have a big problem, there will be a huge opportunity to make cash. They
know that their ability to find solutions for other people’s problems is the
key to becoming extremely wealthy.

They know that their personal growth will reflect their money growth. The
stronger you become as a person, the bigger problems you are able to solve,
the more money you will make. Brian Tracy talks about the law of
correspondence which means that you are ‘all around yourself’ – your
environment is an expression of your thinking. The bigger the problems you
can handle, the greater the monetary satisfaction and the greater your
growth as a person.

Billionaires use the yin and yang principles. They know that there are two
sides to every challenge – a positive side and a negative side. Persevere
until you find opportunity in every situation. Every huge problem has a
positive side to it and potentially a hidden opportunity. Billionaires are great
at solving other people’s problems. The bigger and the more specific a
problem is, the more you can charge for it. Try to get used to finding
solutions to problems.
4.2 Rule cash, don’t let cash rule you

4.2.1 Create a system to manage cash

I know cash is king but don’t let cash control or rule you. Don’t be too
possessed by money; don’t be a slave to it. Money is just a tool to achieve
your goals and dreams. Be bigger than money; control it and you are on the
road to being a billionaire.

Billionaires create various income streams and then create systems to

manage them. So set up a system suitable for you. If you want to progress
quickly during your journey to become a billionaire, you should start trying
to save 50% of your monthly income and put that aside to create a business
– a vehicle for your ultimate success. Also start putting your finances in
order so that you can focus solely on your bigger dream, your journey and
your goal to become a billionaire.
4.3 Invest for passive income

4.3.1 Passive income

Billionaires hedge their investments by having a good spread of them. They
tend to have various sources of income, including various sources of
‘passive income’, that is income they get regularly with little effort on their
behalf such as rent for property or royalties for patents. Billionaires make
money while they sleep; they carry out financial health checks regularly.
They have money mentors.

Passive income is one of your fall-back positions if the core business you
create suffers failure or is in such severe difficulty that you are unable to
derive income from it. In addition to passive income, I also strongly advise
you to build up a professional skill at the beginning of your journey to
become a billionaire. Two good examples are Malaysian billionaires Tan Sri
A. P. Arumugam and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes CBE. Tan Sri Arumugam is a
Chartered Engineer with a long list of letters after his name. Tan Sri Tony
Fernandes is a Chartered Accountant.

Your professional skill is your fall-back position in addition to your passive

income should you suffer ‘hiccups’ along your journey to become a
billionaire, which you definitely will do. You don’t want to lose everything
at that point, or become depressed and unable, ever, to make a comeback.

Imagine your worst scenario, where your whole core business has
collapsed. Disaster. But with your professional skill, all your business
contacts that you have acquired and your business experience, you have
attractive capabilities and are well-qualified to join someone else’s
company as a Director or a Business Development Director. With this new
job and your passive income behind you, any impact, on you and your
family, from the failure of your core business will be limited. While you are
in this new job, you can carry out a post-mortem and analyse the reasons for
the failure of your business and then plan to make a comeback, restarting a
new company a year or so later.
Thinking about passive income, you should understand how money is
invested or delegate that to someone trustworthy who does understand it.
Take steps to improve your financial education and your understanding of
investment. Learn how to invest in land, property, shares, etc. You need to
understand your relationship with money and where your money comes
from. Nothing will change unless you do. You should spend less than what
you earn, but also reward yourself with whatever makes you happy from
time to time. Don’t borrow money unless you really, really have to.
Understand the difference between good and bad debts. Pay off your debts
and loans as a priority.

You need to understand about your return on investment, equity and energy,
your net and gross margins. Your return on investment refers to the money
you will make from your investment. The return on equity is the money you
will make from your business when you put in your personal money. You
need to remember that whenever you put in your own money and time, you
must keep track of the time you spend on it, because your time has a value.
The way to measure this value is to think that, if you were not putting your
time into this business of yours, you could be using this time doing
something else, or being employed by somebody else and so making a
certain amount of money. Your return on energy refers to the personal
energy you put into your business. That is very important, because all the
money in the world cannot buy satisfaction and happiness.

At this point let me move away slightly from the subject of passive income
to emphasise the importance of having balance in your life in order to be
happy. It is essential to have work/life balance to become fully functional.
Taking time out for your family and friends, and to relax, is highly
important to maximise your output in business. Our world of 24-hour non-
stop communication nowadays can become a barrier to spending quality
time with your family. All the money in the world isn’t going to make you
happy unless your home is safe, loving and free from abuse. Feel good
about yourself at home. You need to have good relationships with people if
you wish to be a billionaire; there’s no point in being a lonely billionaire.
You need to be respectful to everybody, from your home help or cleaner, to
wealthy and powerful CEOs. You never know when you will need these
people. Also, if you treat everyone well, people will feel inspired by you
and they will be more likely to help you.

To return to the subject of passive income, billionaires are aware of the

power of having savings and a good credit score. A lot of them start small
by using their savings or credit cards and then re-invest in their business
until the business grows to become successful. Having a good credit score
is critical to your business and for building up passive income. It is difficult
to get a mortgage for property investment if you have a bad credit score and
credit history. You can’t expand your business unless you have access to a
lot of capital. Building a good credit score takes time and patience. This
step is, however, unavoidable as it is key to business success. I am HSBC
Premier customer and I have high credit score.

All the above, when implemented successfully, represents the beginning of

your journey to becoming a billionaire. It will build you a good solid
financial foundation. On this foundation, you can build, with confidence,
your business empire that will propel you onto the rich list and ultimately
onto the Forbes billionaire list.
SECRET 5 THE POWER OF
RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL
5.1 Be with the right people

5.1.1 Benchmark with other wealthy people

Associate with powerful, wealthy people and you will get there too. Learn
from them. Listen to what they say. Disassociate from people who sap your
energy with endless moaning and complaining.

If I know who the members of your ‘clique’ are, I can make a good guess at
how much you are earning. You’re probably earning approximately the
average of your clique’s combined salaries. Make a plan to meet wealthy
and successful people. Join exclusive members’ clubs, such as The Rich
Investor Club and hang out with the wealthy people you meet through these
networks. If you can’t afford to do that, then hang out occasionally at the
best hotel or the best restaurant in town and get comfortable with that
atmosphere. You could one day be earning the kind of money to afford
eating there all the time. How do you feel thinking about that?

5.1.2 Create a mastermind group

Mastermind groups are groups of people with similar objectives, goals and
dreams in mind, who plan to meet on a weekly, monthly or other regular
basis to help achieve the objectives of every member of the group, using the
synergy of energies of everyone in the group.

The reason this is important is because, once you are a member of a

mastermind group, the energy of everyone in the group increases and ideas
start to flow, which stimulates innovation, creativity and solution finding.

You need a mastermind group to realise your dreams because two minds
always work better than one. You must look for the hidden talents within
your mastermind group because it’s the little things that will make a
difference. The more talent you can find, the less you will have to do alone.

Make sure you establish the values of your mastermind group at the outset.
These values will help to guide you in times of crisis or when there are
conflicting opinions. Determine the strengths and weaknesses of your
mastermind group. Ensure you have the right person filling the right role.
Always be on the lookout for a new member who may be a better match for
your dream and vision of an ideal mastermind group. Ensure you set team
goals and know where every member stands with regard to the goals that
are set.

Billionaires are often members of highly exclusive and prestigious clubs.

These offer them a platform on which to network and close big deals at a
higher level. In London, there are exclusive business clubs commanding
annual membership fees ranging from £3,000 to £18,000. As my gift to you
for purchasing this book, I would like to offer you a one-year
complimentary Tier 1 membership of The Rich Investor Club. More details
about this are at the back of the book.

Billionaires are very efficient at networking, being able to create networks

of high net worth individuals or of people with similar objectives in mind.
The ability to network and build alliances is vital to your success. If you are
lacking certain strengths you should use your mastermind group to
compensate for your weaknesses.

5.1.3 Use an infinite network

Sometimes it’s not just what you know that is important, but also who you
know and who knows you. You need to think carefully about what you
stand for. The answer to that question will affect who you associate with.

Be clear about the skills, contacts, resources, advice and talent you need and
be methodical about finding these. Your network can help you here.
Arrange meetings with these people and make it happen. You can do that
through such things as attending their seminars, contacting them directly, or
supporting their charities.

Create a list of people you want to engage with and make efforts to meet
them and tap into their wealth of experience. You could, potentially, learn
more in a year from them and their experiences than it would take you a
lifetime to learn by yourself.
Billionaires are extremely busy people but some could be willing to share
their experiences. If you never ask you will never know. Prepare thoroughly
before meeting them. Billionaires like to do business with people they like
and admire so convince them that you are a billionaire in the making.

5.1.4 Create a support network

Billionaires create a support network and environment around themselves.
They come from diverse backgrounds. Some become fabulously successful
because of their immensely strong will to prove themselves to their family,
friends and even school teachers. One thing for certain is that whatever their
circumstances, they learn to overcome any difficulties and take their fate
into their own hands.

Billionaires take responsibility for creating a network of supportive people

around them. It is very hard to be successful in anything if your family is
not behind you. Support from your spouse and loved ones is vital. Not
having this can drag you down and cause you to fail.

Don’t marry for money; marry for true love. Money will not make you
happy. It is merely a tool for success.

5.1.5 Your money mentor

Billionaires are extremely successful because they make a conscious effort
to meet and maintain good relationships with their money mentors. These
money mentors may be people, but they could also be books, seminars or
audio books written by successful individuals. The secret is to copy your
mentors and become as good as, if not better, than them. Copy your
mentors’ behaviour with regard to money and embrace their systems and
thoughts about money.
5.2 Look for positive energy and people

5.2.1 Positive energy and positive people

Attract and be like a magnet to positive people. Like attracts like. Wealthy
people who are open-minded and have a positive mindset tend to attract the
same kind of people and this will help them in their quest to become a
billionaire.

Billionaires are well aware of the law of attraction: you attract the things
and people you need to succeed if you are focused on something specific.
You get more of what you are focusing on. You can turn your current
financial situation into one of prosperity by focusing on being grateful for
certain things you can be thankful for in your life, such as being healthy.
Your focus needs to be directed to the success you want to experience, the
places you would like to go to, the things you would like to buy, the house
you would like to live in and the money you would like to give to others.
Once you start focusing on prosperity rather than the lack of it, you will
begin to change from the inside out, and then the favourable opportunities,
people and circumstances will begin to flow into your life. That will enable
you to create in reality the life that you are dreaming of. You will also
attract a group of positive people into your circle.

5.2.2 Negative energy and people

Stay away from and shun negative energy and negative people. Avoid
people who like to argue, who pick a fight, are aggressive, become angry
too easily, who gossip, backstab, create conflicts and division in order to
rule. Stay away from ‘two-faced’ people.

I don’t want to ‘pollute’ your beautiful mindset with any negativity so I am

keeping this section short. The key is to avoid negative people and negative
energy. Life is too short to waste time on them.
 SECRET 6 THE POWER OF
ORATORY AND LEADERSHIP
6.1 Motivate, don’t criticise

6.1.1 Be a good leader

Billionaires are good leaders. They master the art of eliciting extraordinary
performance from ordinary people. Be a leader by becoming a role model.
The best leaders lead by example and are flexible. They are able to
empower others and they are committed to an inspiring vision.

There is a direct correlation between the confidence of a leader and his/her

competence. Billionaires make sure they are leaders in their field by being
the most competent, the most knowledgeable in their field. They are the
people to go to in their field and that is why they succeed.

Dale Carnegie, the US author of How to win friends and influence people,
gives some insights into the qualities of a good leader. Leaders can change
people through simple techniques such as starting a conversation with
honest praise and appreciation, mentioning people’s mistakes indirectly or
talking about your own mistakes before criticising the other person. They
ask questions rather than giving orders, give continuous praise for the
slightest improvement, encourage other people to be happy about doing the
things they’ve suggested and give the person something inspirational to live
up to. Good leaders have a good memory and great attention to detail. They
are great role models of balance in mind, body and spirit.

Leaders know that they need to praise people and treat them well in order to
empower them. Be their cheer leader. Use humour in order to inspire people
to work for you. Encourage people around you to fulfil their potential and
they will help you in your vision.

Learn and master the ideas above.

6.1.2 Have a great attitude

Billionaires are aware of the power of their attitude. Dale Carnegie
recommends that you should do more than expected of you and have a
pleasing personality. Knowing how to treat people can do more for you than
anything else in life. Dale Carnegie also recommends three rules which are
don’t criticise, condemn or complain. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Billionaires know how to connect easily with people. They can create
lasting relationships through the power of their attitude. They know how to
become good conversationalists. Dale Carnegie suggests some techniques
for creating a great bond with people by being a good listener, by
encouraging other people to talk about themselves in relation to their
interests, and making the other person feel important in a sincere way.

6.1.3 Treat your employees well

The way that you treat your employees is the same way they will treat your
customers. Hire for attitude and train for skill.

Sir Richard Branson emphasises the need to get managers who are able to
liaise with everyone in a friendly manner. The culture of his company is a
fun one where people feel inspired to work, where a manager is basically a
considerate person who is as interested in the switchboard operator and the
person who cleans the lavatories as he or she is in his/her fellow managers.
It is important to treat people well as there is no point in having people
working under unmanageable stress.

6.1.4 Acknowledge people

Billionaires acknowledge people. Give credit to people for their work and
outstanding performance. That will serve you well in the long term because
they will feel inspired and even more passionate about their work.

Remember people’s names. A person’s own name is the most important

sound in the universe. So treat that person as such. On this note, I am
impressed by my good friend The Honourable Dr William F. Shija. I first
met Dr Shija in 2007 at the Locarno Suite in the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) a month after he arrived in London. Dr Shija
greets his office’s police security and canteen ladies all by their first names.
He is currently serving his second term as the Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). He is the first African
holding the position and he was a former presidential candidate of Tanzania.

When speaking to someone, give that person your full attention. You really
have to make an effort to be there – and really be there, heart and soul. Our
world of instant communication puts pressure on all of us to respond within
seconds of receiving an email or text message. Don’t let these distract you
from focusing on your conversation with someone at that moment in time.

6.1.5 Be the leader in your field

Billionaires are leaders in their field. Focus on one thing but do that very,
very well. A lot of bright business people have brilliant ideas but sometimes
they lack focus. Having too many businesses at the same time can make the
difference between success and failure. Having read chapter 2, you now
understand the difference between a business owner and a business
operator. You can be an investor and business owner of various businesses
at the same time but you can only be a business operator of one business at
any point in time. Spreading your passion too thinly can distract your focus
and cause failure. Planting too many young trees in the same space and not
taking the time to nurture them and thin out the weak ones can be a big
mistake as that will also confuse people about who you really are. Focus on
a niche.

Billionaire Mark Cuban emphasises the need to be truthful to yourself about

where your business stands at any one time. Be honest with yourself.
Always ask yourself how someone could pre-empt your products or
services. How could they put you out of business? Is it price? Is it service?
Is it ease of use? No product is perfect and there are always good
competitors out there in your market and they will always figure out how to
put you out of business. It’s always better if you are honest with yourself
and anticipate where the problems might come from. Eighty percent of
success comes from being clear about who you are, what you believe in and
what you want.
6.2 Influence and negotiate

6.2.1 Be a good negotiator

Billionaires master the art of negotiating – they seek to find a win-win
situation so that you feel you are getting as much as they are. They tend to
focus on repeat business, a good reputation and a continuous partnership.

Learn and master neurolinguistic programming (NLP). To fully connect

with the person you are negotiating with, you need to communicate in the
same way as they like to communicate.

Learn public speaking and join Toastmasters International. Research has

proved that the greater your vocabulary, the higher are your earnings.

6.2.2 Be a master influencer

Billionaires have the power to influence other people in their favour. Dale
Carnegie emphasises the importance of giving people a good lasting
impression. He recommends doing that by becoming genuinely interested in
other people, smiling often and remembering people’s names. He also
suggests avoiding arguments, letting people save face by not telling them
they are wrong, showing respect for people’s opinions and admitting
quickly whenever you are wrong. He also advocates influencing the other
person to say ‘yes’ immediately, letting them do most of the talking and not
imposing your ideas on other people but giving them an idea and letting
them think it is really their idea.

Consider other people’s point of view. Be understanding towards other

people’s desires and ideas. Master the above and you will be a successful
influencer.

6.2.3 Be a good deal-maker

Billionaires are comfortable with deal making on a high scale. What do you
have that others might want? This could be skills, time, abilities or talents.
Who might want these and what might you be able to ask for in return?

To be a good deal-maker, you need to learn never to say you have nothing
to trade; you need to be open to opportunities, agile and flexible, have a
goal and work diligently; create a large network of contacts and be good at
promoting yourself.
SECRET 7 IT IS ABOUT THE END,
NOT THE BEGINNING
“It is not about how you start. It is about how you end.”
(Nick Vujicic)
7.1 Persevere and be persistent

7.1.1 Persevere in spite of failure

Billionaires persevere in the face of adversity. You need to find the strength
inside yourself to carry on despite mistakes and failures. The more you fail,
the more you will succeed. Failure is just a temporary defeat. Deciding to
quit is a true failure. Keeping going is a true measure of your success. Sheer
persistence is the difference between failure and success.

Be determined to succeed. You must want something badly enough to

overcome the inertia of resistance. Persistence should not be confused with
stubbornness. Being agile, evolving and being flexible in your approach is
having the quality of a billionaire. You need to focus.

There is a big difference between talent and skill. Everyone has talent but
not everybody has skill. Skill requires endless hours of hard work, practice
and immense self-discipline. One main cause of failure for most people is
that they give up too quickly in the face of problems.

Billionaires have overcome difficult situations or family backgrounds and

managed to become highly successful because of an immense confidence in
themselves paired with consistency due to discipline.

7.1.2 Have high self-esteem instead of quitting

Billionaires have high self-esteem. People appreciate limited resources, so
be one yourself. Be really good at what you do, be in demand (or create
demand for yourself, your service and skill) and then you can name your
price. (It doesn’t have to be a specific skill, just one that people will pay
good money for). Think about your skills, talents, strengths and
weaknesses, and make a list of them. Who needs your skills and how could
you put them to greater use? How do you tell people that you have these
skills? What skill could you master that will meet a need that’s out there
just waiting to be met? Once you can do something that no one else can do,
you can pretty much name your price.
Billionaires have immense confidence in themselves. Having confidence in
yourself allows people to trust and respect you, as long as you deliver your
promises. Develop strong willpower inside yourself.

Have a warrior’s attitude to achieving and huge energy to excel. Focus

relentlessly on results. Have the guts and ultimate belief in yourself. Don’t
quit.
7.2 Never give up

7.2.1 Delete the word 'no' from your vocabulary

Billionaires don’t take ‘no’ as an answer. They defeat their fear of failure
and rejection. All billionaires have had many failures at certain stages of
their lives. Many people never reach success because they give up so easily
after one or two attempts. Fear of failure can be paralysing but you mustn’t
let this stop you from enjoying the ultimate fruit of your success. So stop
worrying and keep trying.

Fear may stop you from even trying. It is generally embedded within you
because of your past failures or a lack of confidence bred unknowingly by
your parents which is then enforced by society’s negative attitude. Fear of
failure keeps you from failing but it also stops you from succeeding.
Success only comes as a result of solid action to move forward with a
positive mindset. Billionaires keep going until they succeed.

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. Is there something you are afraid
to ask for that would make a difference to your life? The anxiety in your
mind always makes things seem bigger and more frightening than they
really are.

Nick Vujicic, touched my heart. He is a young man who was born without
arms or legs but with one foot. Yet he managed to graduate from university
by using his foot to write and type. He is nowadays a globally-known
motivational speaker and is a role model for anyone who thinks he or she
isn’t good enough in any respect. He is great proof of man’s ability to fight
back under severe circumstances.

You have arms and legs, unlike Nick. You, therefore, should be much better
than him. So never give up, and be persistent. Persistence is a refusal to
quit. It is looking into the face of adversity and saying “I like my odds”. It
is an unwillingness to move aside. It is believing in a cause and being
distracted by nothing.
7.2.2 Handle rejection well
Billionaires realise that rejection is part of business. It is essential for you to
keep going until you succeed as you may already be very close to success.
If you quit or back down, you will forever be a loser and a failure. The
bigger the rejection you are facing, the greater is your opportunity for
personal growth. Billionaire Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page,
approached Yahoo asking them for a merger. Yahoo refused and within five
years, Google had a market capitalisation of an estimated 20 billion US
dollars.

So don’t give up despite a rejection. A rejection can actually be a blessing

in disguise.

7.2.3 Look after your health

Along your journey of striving to become a billionaire, you must look after
your health. The journey towards becoming a billionaire will certainly be
bumpy and rocky. At times, you may feel very down and depressed.
Remember to look after your health during these difficult times. You don’t
want to be a successful, but sick, billionaire.

Billionaires know that in order to be successful, you have to invest in your

own health first. If you have stamina, you will be able to work much harder
than everyone else. Your good health can really make the difference
between just staying afloat and becoming a billionaire. Eat the right food
and exercise so that you can maintain your stamina. Make the decision to
take charge and be in control of your life by keeping your body and energy
in tip-top condition. You need to practise self-control in your eating habits.
You must realise that if you have to spend all of your time managing low
energy levels due to fatigue and lack of proper food and nutrients, you will
not feel inspired to create wealth. If you don’t look after your health, and
don’t exercise regularly, addictions or depression will kill your energy and
enthusiasm, and eventually make it impossible for you to be happy.

No money in the world can make you happy if you are not healthy and are
depressed or addicted to drugs.
You need be in good health to radiate enthusiasm for your business in order
to get other people to believe in it as well.
SECRET 8 PHILANTHROPY
8.1 Karma

8.1.1 Give back and contribute to society

Billionaires are committed to making a difference to society. They are
aware that there is a lot that they can do with their money to help less
fortunate people. Think of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There are
numerous great Foundations around the world set up by billionaires to do
great charitable works.

In the UK, there are 170,000 charities registered with the Charity
Commission. In addition there are between 600,000 and 800,000 non-
registered charities. One of the non-registered charities is The Chou
Foundation.

During the depth of the recession in 2009, when I was also severely affected
financially, for my 30th birthday, I set up The Chou Foundation for my
charitable work and it will be one of my life’s legacies. I believe in karma
and the power of giving when I was also feeling the pinch and feeling
inadequate. You feel more joy and satisfaction when you give than when
you receive.

You can do the same. You can either give time or money or both depending
on what you can afford. If you lack money, just give your time. If you are
extremely busy, just donate some money.

Help your community. Giving back to the world brings with it the
satisfaction of helping other people or causes that you believe in. Sir
Richard Branson emphasises the importance of being ethical in business, by
demonstrating corporate social responsibility and helping communities.
Helping other people will create good positive energy for your own
business and family, and is a creator of more wealth, not a way of wasting
it.

Billionaires share their wealth because they are inspired by their mission to
make a huge difference to the world. Billionaires also like leaving a legacy.
They would like to be remembered as a charitable and great person who has
made a difference to the world. Remember Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) the
founder of the Nobel Prize. He founded the Nobel Prize as he didn’t want to
be remembered just as the inventor of dynamite.

You need to know how to choose charities and good causes. Be a good role
model by setting a good example. If you want to change people’s attitude
towards poverty and giving to charities, be the role model and do the things
you expect other people to do. Act now instead of waiting until you become
a billionaire.

8.1.2 Be culturally aware

Getting involved in charity also works in different countries, say Africa or
Asia, and it is a good way to make you more culturally aware. You need to
be aware of different cultures, different etiquettes and customs in order to
succeed in a global business environment. Don’t be prejudiced. We are a
global business and a global social community. It is important to be aware
of and respectful of other cultures and traditions. Be tolerant and accepting
of different religions and sexual preferences.

Eliminate any pre-conceived prejudices you may have and start to think
globally. Remember to be open-minded. Getting involved in charity
overseas can be a good way of achieving this.

8.1.3 Have good values

Billionaires have good values. People buy from people they like. You need
to be the kind of person people want to buy from. Think hard about yourself
and how you come across. How do other people see you? Adapt this in
order to suit your line of business.

Cultivate humility. Don’t think you are always right or you can treat people
differently because of the wealth you have. Treat everyone well and be kind
as you never know when you will need them. You won’t always be strong
during your life. You, too, will have weak moments. Being involved in
charity will give you humility as you serve and help the poor and
underprivileged.
Have integrity. Establishing yourself as a person with integrity can do more
for your business than many other qualities. People like to do business with
people they trust, and respect, and whom they believe can deliver what they
need. Having credibility in business is essential for the success of your
business. It is vital that you build trust and goodwill with people. Working
for charity will again draw out good values from inside yourself – including
your integrity.
8.2 Your life’s legacy

8.2.1 How you will be remembered

How would you like to be remembered when you are gone? What will your
obituary say? Are you content with how you will be remembered?

If the answer is no, what is the gigantic action you need to take now? What
is stopping you?

Remember, it is not about how you start but about how you end. It is too
late when you are dead.
 CONCLUSION
Congratulations on finishing this book. I hope you have put into practice the
secrets and guidance as you were reading through. You now have the key to
the secret of how billionaires are so massively successful. Master that
secret.

I would like to say again that success is an attitude. It is a habit. Success is

easily available to everyone who wants it, believes that they can have it, and
puts their desires into action.

It is now easier than ever before to become a billionaire, due to the power
of technology and the internet, and the easy access to the global market.
Young entrepreneurs are revolutionising the world through innovative ideas
and businesses, with speed of implementation, and the power of leverage.

I don’t want our journey together to end here. As a thank you for
purchasing and reading this book, I have a gift for you. I would like to offer
you a one-year complimentary Tier 1 Standard Membership of The Rich
Investor Club valued at £1000. To redeem, please email:
[email protected] for an application form. The Rich Investor
Club organises quarterly power networking in London for Tier 1 members.

I would be delighted to hear your success stories as a result of

implementing what you have learned here. I can be reached at
[email protected].

Have you always dreamed of having your own book published? The Rich
Investor Ltd publishing company can make your dream into a reality for
just £9,999. Please contact:
[email protected].

This book has eight chapters instead of the normal ten chapters because I
am a nonconformist and number eight represents prosperity in Chinese. In
addition this book is 168 pages thick because 168 means ‘prosperity all the
way’ in Chinese.
I wish you prosperity, success and good health. Let’s keep in touch and God
bless.

Peng Kiong Chou FRSA FRGS

CHARITIES
The charities, Alzheimer’s Disease International and Tomorrow’s People,
are close to my heart.

My paternal grandma suffered from Parkinson’s disease in her final year.

I started doing working with charities at the age of 16 through Leos Club
(Lions’ youth). Tomorrow’s People focuses on building the confidence and
motivation of unemployed 16- to 24- year-olds and preparing them for work
or training.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peng Kiong Chou
FRSA FRGS MInstLM MCIPR MCIHT MIoD MIET MSc

Peng Kiong graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

with BEng (Hons) in Civil & Structural Engineering and MSc in Structural
Engineering. Upon his graduation in 2001, he joined the UK construction
industry. In the past 12 years, he has worked for major UK and US global
consultancies.

He has extensive knowledge and experience in the construction, real estate

investment and development sectors. He is currently a Director of the Invest
Realty Group (www.investrealty.co.uk). He is a Member of the Institute of
Leadership & Management (ILM), the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations (CIPR), the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation
(CIHT), the Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Institution of Engineering
& Technology (IET).

In 2011, he received the Freedom of the City of London. He is a Life

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Royal Geographical
Society (RGS). He is also a trustee of The Chou Foundation.
Receiving the Freedom of the City of London in 2011.
Invested a Life Member of the Guild of Freemen of the City of London in
2012.
 Organising Chairman for a luncheon in honour of the Prime Minister of
Malaysia, The Honourable Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, at
the House of Lords Terrace in May 2012. Looking on is mentor Tan Sri
Dato’ Dr Michael Yeoh.
With the UK Foreign Secretary & First Secretary of State The Right
Honourable William Hague MP.
With the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
Co-organiser with the UK Parliament for a speech by the longest-serving
former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad at the Grand
Committee Room, House of Commons in March 2011.
With business partner and close friend HRH Tengku Seri Panglima Raja
Terengganu Tengku Dato’ Seri Baderulzaman Ibni Almarhum Sultan
Mahmud al Muktafi Billah Shah, younger brother of the Sultan of
Terengganu, the immediate past King of Malaysia.
With Tun Abdullah Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Up the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2007 during its
construction.
With the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia Datin Seri Paduka Rosmah
Mansor.
With Secretary-General of the CPA The Honourable Dr William F. Shija.
 With the Prime Minister of Malaysia, The Honourable Dato’ Sri Mohd
Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, UK Minister of State for the Foreign Office
The Right Honourable Hugo Swire MP, Chairman of the APPG for
Malaysia Bill Cash MP and Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Michael Yeoh at the House of
Lords in July 2013.
Witnessing the construction of the Trump Tower, Chicago, in 2008.
Abseiling down the Battersea Power Station, London in 2012 in honour of
the Prime Minister of Malaysia and IM4U.
With Tan Sri Sir Tiong Hiew King, a 30-year-long-term good friend of my
Dad. Tan Sri Sir Tiong has been on the Forbes’ Billionaires List for the past
20 years and is nowadays an even greater multi-billionaire. He is my great
inspiration.
With The Right Hon. the Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, Justice of The
Supreme Court, at The Supreme Court.
With Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong (the High Commissioner of Malaysia to
the Court of St James), Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah (Deputy High
Commissioner of Malaysia in London) and Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala
(Minister without Portfolio in the Malaysia Prime Minister’s Department
and CEO of the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (Pemandu).