Everyday, there are a million things that could kill you. Some immediate, others terminal. However, usually the sensationalized are the ones you worry about, and not knowing much about it, you resort to the “experts” (doctors) or marketing (MLM based health products) as an attempt to prevent dying a horrible death.
(Note: I have nothing against doctors but i believe that most of them are excellent in what they are trained at, curing sickness and not maintaining health)
I believe though, most of the sensationalized health issues today are caused by modernization itself and fueled by the greed of capitalism. Due to the convenience of processed foods and soda, people have now resorted to living on “fast” food and is slowly killing themselves with additives, preservatives and sugar.
Then, without complete understanding of health but using flawed inference, pharmaceuticals sensationalize heart disease, stroke, diabetes to sell a constant supply cholesterol, blood sugar, hypertension meds which most probably some of you take daily.
(Note : I’m not saying that meds are bad, but what we’re doing is like constantly putting band-aid on while cutting yourself. You have to identify the root of the problem not manage the symptoms)
I myself would have been on Statin for 10 years because of an LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) level of 6.2 mmol/L. I would have shocked any doctor now because i’m living so “recklessly” as any LDL level above 3.0 mmol/L would put me in high risk of cardiovascular disease and warrant medication. Now, new findings say that LDL has subpatterns and usually the smaller denser particles (Pattern B) are the main cause of heart disease. Triglyceride/HDL ratio is now a better predictor because its too expensive to perform a full spectrum cholesterol test.
This video was an eye opener for me. It’s long but I believe everyone should watch it.
Modernization is killing you.
There’s no simple solution to our complex and difficult world. But there is hope if you can start living by these simple rules
Watch this video to see how Jamie Oliver is so passionate about saving peoples lives just by simply teaching proper nutrition.
Lessons learned from watching A.J. Jacobs’ year of living biblically.
1) Just Do It
He said that when he pretended to be a better person, he eventually became a bit of a better person. Its insightful to know that if you just try doing it, it’ll rub off on you and you’ll even change the way you are in the process
2) Always be thankful
Most probably taken from Philippians 4:6-7, its something we forget to do everyday. Instead of focusing on the many things in life that’s good, we nitpick on the small things to ruin our day and affect the people around us. So, don’t grumble about the inconvenient rain, or the person who took your parking space. Be thankful that you’re healthy, not lacking any essentials, and have at least 1 person in the world that loves you.
Starting tomorrow, i’ll try to be awesome, celebrate small victories and be thankful I had one more day to live.
You can watch this video for yourself and see what you think..
The Problem:
I used my phone to use Digi’s 3G Broadband for 3 days to test their RM5/day unlimited promo based on some adverts i saw on the road. Alas it seems it was for PREPAID customers only so I was rewarded with a huge fat bill. So I ranted about it on my blog
The Verdict:
For 3 days worth of internet access (1st,2nd & 12th Feb) I am now paying RM200 after the discount given by Digi. My billing cycle was in between that so its RM149(minus 30%) + RM100 for 12th Feb.
First i would like to commend the social marketing / social customer service people for being absolutely fantastic. They escalated the issue to billing and checked back from time to time to ensure i was a totally satisfied customer. I believe they are on the way to being the Zappos of Malaysia.
However, the experience was completely ruined when the result was like adding insult to the injury. I believe that there are really great people working in Digi with genuine concern for the customers but most probably hampered by bad internal policies. They could learn a thing or two from Zappos
A few mistakes made would be:
1) Don’t make your customer feel like an idiot
Why introduce totally rip-off rates to discourage users to you your service? Are we still living during the cold war? 10c/10kb is costs more than using my 14.4 modem to connect to a BBS, 17 years ago. Compared to your current RM58/month, of course your customers are going to feel ripped off. I was given a 30% discount off GPRS the first bill with the explanation its still cheaper than RM5/day. That would be true if i used it daily but a quick check would reveal that I only used 3 days. Obviously, your customers would feel like an idiot for even trying.
2) Random X% discount
Since they’ve already done so well in customer service, why not end it with a great bang? The experience was totally destroyed when they suggested a random percentage (30%) of discount to the GPRS charges. Imagine if u were swindled and he suddenly decided to give u back 30% of what he cheated from you, would u commend him for his kind soul? Being reminded once and again that this is a “one off thing because i’m a loyal digi customer”, I don’t think it’ll hurt your huge profits or subject it to abuse if you have done a full waiver or converted me to the RM58/month unlimited package. That way at least i wont feel ripped off, and stay a happy customer.
In the end, i think we all can learn this as a business owner,
Be genuine to your genuine customers
If the customer isn’t one that abuses the system (eg. a person who goes to the restaurant everyday for the free coffee), be genuine in addressing their frustrations and be generous to them. Its most probably going to be the defining moment in securing a loyal customer for life.
I got cheated burned recently by my favorite yellow man telco, Digi. Seeing a slew of advertising on the road about Digi’s RM5/day 3g plan, I decided to test it out for a few days to gauge the speed and coverage. I was absolutely delighted to find out that there’s no sign up process, its totally automatic. Boy, I was in for a shocker when my bill read RM543.40 for GPRS usage. Sure, they made sure that the maximum I need to pay for GPRS usage is RM149 (which i think its some elaborate thought out plan because I’m definitely not going to pay my bill if its RM500+) which i still think its daylight robbery.
Later, i learned that the Internet Unlimited Max5 is only available for Digi Prepaid customers only. Sure, you can laugh at me for not reading the fine print but in the end, you’ll end up with a pissed off and dissatisfied customer. At least celcom doesn’t discriminate in their RM6/day plan
If you wanted higher adoption rates for your 3g service, why not cap the usage to RM58 instead of RM149 like your Digi Internet Unlimited Monthly 58 plan? That way, it totally breaks the psychological barrier of entry in signing up and committing to a monthly plan. You will most likely get higher adoption rates and save on the marketing work, roadshows, hiring promoters to get people to sign up, and the total administration costs of having another registration process. More importantly, customers don’t have to struggle with internal conflict of committing to a monthly plan.
I don’t understand why telco’s need to confuse customers with dozens of plans with different call rates, sms and data options and then sugarcoat it as giving more choices to customers. Customers don’t need intra-telco choice, we need more telco’s to prevent monopoly and price fixing in this space. Its also irrationally annoying that Digi favors Prepaid way more than Postpaid. Why did I switch to Postpaid again?
Embrace simplicity and your customers will love you for it.
Ironically digi advertises itself as being “easy”
Lesson Learned : Anything “easy” without Sign-Up will most probably rip you off (telco wise)
I’ve been a super strong supporter of Digi, but now I have thoughts of switching away.
During idearum, the minimalistic ninja shared about simplicity and one of the methods of achieving it is breaking the goal into bite-sized chunks. I could never fully grasp such a concept because it contradicts my personality. This is how i described myself in Ravejoint’s about page.
Takes “look before you leap” to a whole new level. Obsessed with finding the optimal solution by researching and planning before any endeavor.
Basically, I would have thrown the idea out the window because it takes too much discipline and long-suffering commitment to achieve (and ironically it should give the opposite effect)
I do believe that discipline and consistent effort produces amazing results in the long run though. A common example would be in the area of personal finance.
Story of an average sabahan geek:
Just say you want a Canon EOS 7D but you don’t have enough money. If you decided 5 years ago to stop drinking mocha frap weekly or patronizing that fancy Japanese restaurant and kept RM100 monthly in fixed deposit, this is what you would get.
RM100 per month + 3% interest * 5 years = RM6,481
Just enough to buy the camera.
What happens if you decide to do it till you retire? (assuming age 22 to 65)
RM100 per month + 3% interest * 43 years = RM105,340
It should work for other stuff too. The only problem is maintaining the goal without losing sight of it.
P.S You can play with the compound interest calculator here
Great insights on the core metrics of business. Creating a business where your customers want your products so badly they are willing to pay premium for it is the way to go.
Eureka , a word you heard of but have no personal significance. Its meant to exclaim a moment of enlightening and self discovery. I had my moment recently while playing badminton (badly) for more than a year and suddenly was able to guess the direction of the shuttle right before it was hit. Such a basic yet significant ability did not come naturally and no one could really “teach” that even though they tried.
Sadly though, for many (including myself) this is something that doesn’t happen often enough.
Living in the information age does have its disadvantages. Having access to information on your fingertips forms a habit of expecting quick fixes to your problems. This creates an environment where you know you could always find the answer online and negates the feeling of success or the eureka moment. Lack of such reinforcement creates a complacency and lack of drive in pushing through the difficulties of the learning process.
As explained by The Black Swan, we are conditioned to seeing progress in proportion to the effort put in. A builder would be motivated throughout the process of construction because he can physically see progress as effort is being put in. A researcher searching for the cure of cancer on the other hand might have nothing to show after 20 years of research and suddenly “gets it” the next day. The problem is uncertainty causes a mental torture (compounded by the people around you) that would break you down eventually.
Now that you realize the dynamics of the problem, you can now prepare yourself mentally when taking such an endeavor. The rest is just knowing when to quit and when to stick and plain perseverance.
Have you had an eureka moment lately?
The thought of clocking 10,000 hours to master something has always been my greatest deterrent in learning something new. Imagining a kung fu master living a life of solitude to attain the highest level of mastery makes you evaluate if its worth the effort. Whether its picking up guitar or learning a new language, it sounds impossible to maintain the discipline required to last several years of learning.
What i learned from ChargeUp! 2010 is that passion is contagious. Being around passionate people will rub off on you. Just being near each other makes you forget the long journey ahead. Soon your passion will infect others as well.
Negativity is contagious as well. If you choose to surround yourself with negative people, it will drain you slowly regardless of how much willpower you have.
So before you start, find yourself a community that shares your passion and you will go a long way.
Why I Believe Printers Were Sent From Hell To Make Us Miserable - The Oatmeal -
I think everyone who has used a printer before will understand what i mean
Have you ever watched a movie and said “This sucks, the script is horrible, the story is weak and the sequence of the movie is all over the place. The director should be fired”? Most of the blame should fall on the screenwriter, the person who wrote the screenplay which determines the flow of the movie or the producer that approved it. (unless of course its the director that goes renegade)
The goal is to finally produce a screenplay the production crew and talent (actors) can visualize the entire move. Writing one is a little different from novels because it expresses in detail every scene that makes up the movie in order. It describes the location, mood, environment, objects, characters and interaction between the characters. Many times it also describes the transitioning between the scenes.
A good screenplay would allow you to visualize the entire movie just by reading it. You can check out one that has been analyzed and commented upon here
The key component of any movie should be a compelling story. Without getting lost in the technicalities, you can opt to write an early script (or adapt from a novel) to outline the overall story, explain the world as you see it, and properly build up the characters.
So what do you need for a good story?
Basically you just need conflict. A hero and a villian like Batman & The Joker or Best friends falling in love with the same girl.
Having a plot would help as well, a series of events to leads to a climax or ultimatum. It could be character development (from zero to hero), or revealing an unknown world and conquering it. The plot works to bring the most out of the protagonist and antagonist (hero and villian) and creates a greater emotional attachment and adds realism to their characters.
The final key is to give an insider view to the interactions of the characters and lay out elements of the plot so that your viewers will be able to deduce the general flow of the plot without being predictable. This allows your viewers to be more immersed with the growth of the story and deeper understanding of what drives the characters to make certain decisions.
Sprinkle on some love, war, unexpected loss and you’re on your way to a brilliant masterpiece.