January 2020 – Meanith Notes

BooK: The $100 Startup | Final Thoughts

Well as I mentioned in my previous post that I would update once I finished the book, here is my final thoughts.

This book provided me with a lot of ideas on how impactful a small business could be. Chris Guillebeau, the author, has changed my perspective towards business almost completely. I used to think that without a huge amount of money, I would never be able to run any kind of business; therefore, rarely had I thought about owning one. However, in this book, he repeatedly mentioned the possibilty and managed to inspire me to rethink.

Yes, you need a lot of money to run a business, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t run a small local business with just $100 or even less. You can also turn your passion into business with profit. More importantly, one must remember the purpose of running the business: if you don’t make money, you are not doing it right.

Don’t just follow your passion, think if it pays the bills and lets you live the life you want.

If you don’t know what to start with, think about what you help others. People are willing to pay you if you have them get things done. Use you skills.

And one last thing, in my previous post, I mentioned that most of the ideas in the book were all about western countries and America. Let me correct myself. At the end of the book, he actually mentioned some people he had met in Asia including Ridth, a tuk tuk driver, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

However, I still think that the book gives inspiration and acts a model that we all can learn from even if we decide not to fully follow what is mentioned. I also leave a link to the book in Amazon store in case you need it for yourselves.

Get your The $100 Startup: https://amzn.to/2RAygCR

Book: The $100 Startup (Half way)

Some books are just more addicted to than others, and it is normal. Sometimes you can’t put a book down until you finish it, or until you eyes can’t do you a favor any longer; you get to go to bed. To those who love reading, books are valuable regardless of the contents they hold. I always keep that idea in mind that no matter how good or bad the books are written, there are always lessons to learn from and worth every second reading. The fact that I only read when I feel like doing so makes it easier for me to read with my own pace. Some might need to do intensive reading to complete some tasks, which is not what I am talking about here in this draft.

I am more than half way through a business related book called The $100 Startup by Chris Guilebeau. I became more interested in reading this kind of books when I started thinking about what I could do to improve my income, and so I came across this title while surfing the internet. I gave it a try like I had always done—picking up a book and read without thinking about whether the contents are good or bad, for who knows?

Throughout the book, Chris the author has a great many ways in delivering his ideas. The storytelling is just good. However, to be complete honest with you, I do skip some parts where I feel I’ve already had a good idea about or I think that the information is kinda redundant and overstated. I have heard so many good stories from so many individuals all around the world through his book, and I haven’t even finished the book just yet.

This book inspires me to think differently and to start believing that I can do something that I have never ever thought I could. There are some practical stories that I can also relate, but I have to take action to see whether or not they are applicable in my area. Since the book is written based in America and any other western countries, things might turn out differently here in Cambodia where I live.

I am inspired to start planning a small business on my own. I have been looking for a great opportunity to hit the market. I am looking for a place now; however, I have not been lucky yet.

If you want to know more about all the successful stories well told in the book, you can follow this LINK to purchase a copy of an e-book or a paperback for your own.

I am sure to post an update when I finish the whole book to give more thoughts about it.

Have a nice day, everyone.

Cheers!

7 easy tips to learn English fast

So you want to be able to speak English well, don’t you?

I have been learning English for years, yet I am not able to speak English fluently. What to do?
I have just started learning English. However, I find it hard to remember the words and grammar rules; especially, the pronunciation is extremely hard for me to get it right.

If you have been searching for the answers to the above-mentioned questions, you have come to the right place.

#1 Constantly check the dictionary

If you haven’t acquired a habit of checking the dictionary constantly, do it already, won’t you? It is one of the greatest ways to learn new languages, especially English. With a dictionary, preferably in English, you can learn the meaning, pronunciation and also the colocation of each word, which in turn helps you master the language much more easily. But it is hard to bring a bulky dictionary with me all the time, you might say. Wait! Haven’t you heard of the electronic dictionary? You can have it on your smartphone, assuming everyone has one? With this new, modern technology, you can also play the sound of each word to learn the sounds by repeating to improve your pronunciation.

#2 Learn to sing English songs

Don’t worry if you don’t know enough English to sing songs in English. Many of us don’t know all the words; we just sing. First of all, go to youtube.com and choose your favourite song(s). It can be an oldie or a new pop song from Ed Sheeran. Any songs that you feel comfortable to sing. Listen to the song for a few times to the rhythm right. Then you print out the lyrics of the song and start to sing along. After several attempts, you might be able to sing without lyrics. If you do this often, you will notice that your speaking starts to improve gradually.

#3 Texting your friends in English

When we text, we don’t normally mind our grammar. However, if you wish to improve or to learn English faster, be minded. Be aware of the grammatical mistakes when you type or before you send out. You might feel strange or uncomfortable at first, but as you keep going, you will feel better and see your acceleration in your learning.

#4 Change the language on all your gadgets to English

You will be surprised how effective it can be by the end of the day. You will get accustomed to the language quickly and that helps you with sighting words, the ability to recognize words immediately when you see them.

#5 Watch talk shows in English

Talking from experience, this is one of the best techniques to learn English rather quickly, and it requires minimum effort. You will be able to adapt some basic phrases and slangs, which helps you sound more natural when you speak.

#6 Befriended with native English speakers

If possible you should become friend with any native English speakers to help you learn better. Learning in class or school is probably account for only about 10% to 20% of all the language acquiring. There is more to do outside of the classroom, one of which is communicating with a real human who speaks perfect English. You will get the first-hand experience in real-life interaction, not just a roleplay you do in class. I have been learning English for more than 10 years myself, yet I still practice this technique any time I possibly can.

#7 Reading anything

The last tip can be a bit mainstream. However, I am sure not many of us do it even though we all know it pretty well. Try reading signs you come across at any traffic lights, it doesn’t require much effort. Read books or magazines even if you don’t understand completely. You are practising your reading. If you encounter any new words, go back to tip #1.

#Bonus tip

Follow my blog and read more of my posts. Don’t forget to leave a comment and let me know which tip you think is applicable for you. Have fun and enjoy your day. Thanks for reading.

Something I’ve just realised the moment I finished writing this post

Does it sound contradictory when you read the title? Go read it one more time, but remember to read it slowly. If you want to be able to read and speak English well, doesn’t that mean your English isn’t good, or slightly poor? Well, what do I expect for this article? If you could read and understand everything, why would you waste your time reading this? Well, it is okay. At least you are showing surport for me to keep writing more. Thanks.

My TOP 3 Obsessive Hobbies

Hobbies? Well, there are tons out there that people enjoy and get obsessed with. I have a few of which I want to share, and maybe you will be interested in them too, hopefully. The first hobby that I want to share is binge-watching my favourite shows on my laptop. Nothing is more comfortable than being a couch-potato sitting in front of a screen with a loudspeaker on while holding a bowl of popcorn on one hand and a cup of coke on the other. I used to finish three seasons of GAME OF THRONES, one of the most popular show back then, in just one single day. During the weekends, I used to spend all my free time watching dramas, series, and episodes after another. Even though I don’t have that kind of spare time I used to have before, I still manage to enjoy a movie or a half of it every week. I sometimes have to force myself to pause the movie and go to bed so that I can get up and go to work the next day. That sucks. Sadly, I can’t hop on a movie marathon like previously; however, movies are still the best thing I can’t live without. They help me in many ways, especially my mental exercise. I am starting the Witcher season 1 soon. Yeah!!!

The second hobby that I currently possess is BOOK LOVING. The reason why I don’t claim the be a bookworm is that I only love books. I am obsessed with them, but I don’t read that much. When it comes to reading, I tend to give myself too many excuses, one of which is having not enough free time. I have read many books so far, novel and non-fiction. I love owning them; it is cool and makes me excited. Rarely do I walk past a book store without checking it out. I don’t normally buy books, for they are so expensive. (I do buy some, though.) I sometimes just go window shopping in a book store and walk out empty-handed. Isn’t it sad for a book lover (not a reader to be exact) to have to think more than thrice to decide to buy a title of his favourite, yet ends up leaving the store without it?

Last but not least and unarguably my top favourite, I keep pet fish. There are aquariums in my room and on my balcony. Actually, I used to keep betta fish when I was a young boy. My friends and I would come together after school and enjoy our fish show. We would exchange some of ours and breed them. Soon when the interest wore out, we abandoned our pets. Fast forward to the present time, it was about 3 years ago when I started to keep fish again. A man offered me 7 of red fish that I couldn’t identify. I took them, however. When I got home, I began to realise that I was about to get into it again. It excited me for a few weeks. I kept them in a bucket. I was so busy, so I didn’t have time to go to the market and buy the container for them. My sister bought them a bowl. Soon I decided to buy a glass tank to house them. Then before I knew it, I own more than 10 fish. I have been in this hobby for three years now. It is a fun hobby, but when you are in it, there is no way out. And that concludes my TOP 3 hobbies that I acquire.

Do we have some common hobbies? Do you have any other more fun hobbies you want me to try? Leave your thoughts below.

Movie: The grudge 2020

Nothing is worse than scaring ourselves in the beginning of 2020, but we all like it; we like the idea of paying the money to get scared. Well my freinds and I have just seen The grudge 2020, and we almost shitted ourselves.

I had not been a fan of horror movies, but I kept on going to the cinema to see them. I don’t think it really matters. The thing is I wasn’t extremely interested in seeing that movie we just saw this evening. I used to hear a lot about that particular movie, which is originated from Japan. The original title is Ju-on: the grudge. There are a few sequels. Today we saw the fourth.

I thought I had seen worse. I have all the Conjurings and other horror movies. I mentioned the Conjurings just to make a comparison. Since it’s the first movie I have seen so far this year (today is January 2nd, 2020), I would like to share with everyone my thoughts.

First off, the movie is worth spending time and money if you seek to be scared. I would say it was terrifying. Most of the audience were screaming and shutting their eyes. It was funny to me, though. Yeah, I did a few times, too. The storyline seems to be great and the cast did a very good job in portraying each character. I felt like I was there too. I was trying to predict what was going to happen. Isn’t it what we do when we are in the theatre watching ghost movies? I was lucky enough to get some plots and scenes right. However, the director did an excellent job. He actually scared me.

I had seen its trailer a few times to get some ideas about what was going on. And that helped me a lot to figure out the story and understand the plots.

Something about the visual effects is on point. The dirtiness and creepiness are kinda disgustingly great. The scenes and sounds work together pretty well, which makes other things coherent.

If you watch close enough, you will see some numbers shown a few, if not many, times: 14 and 44. Number 4 is considered death in Asian culture, at least in Japan’s. Meaning that the director and the screenplay writer were trying to connect us to another reality of cinematic world.

The only thing I don’t like about the movie is something that makes the movie great. I hate how disturbing the graphic is. Every scene that involves the ghost or spirit or death or kills, the parts look too badly good that I was hoping to not remember any of them.

In my opinion, I was not completely terrified by the movie itself. I felt just terrible about a friend of my whom I still regret not having enough time with. Triggered. It reminded me of him. Like a lot. I wasn’t scared as expected, for I kinda understand the fact that it was just a movie. Despite my abovementioned ideas, The grudge is a go-to movie for 2020 in the horror catagory.

2019 was just yesterday

It is always a good idea to sit down and reflect on what has happened. Tons of good and bad things happened whether we want them to or not. We can’t change what already occurred, so we at least acknowledge it and move onwards. 2019 was a long year to me. So many things came into my life, successes and failures. Here are some of my throwbacks.

First of all, I learnt that working hard doesn’t always pay you off. Sometimes you have to be more selective, when to work and when to rest. The unsung-hero idea sounds great, but it doesn’t pay the bills. Some of us are born good people; we work hard and hope one day we will be noticed and recognized; however, reality doesn’t always do you justice. You are only acknowledged for your work on a rare occasion; the rest is just false hopes and dreams. BE SELECTIVE. I mean know when you should show off your skills; don’t just waste them on something that might not be seen or heard. By saying this, I am intended to provoke anyone to drop their work and be slagging. On the contrary, proform your work above the bar, but don’t let yourself be a slave.

I did not only learn to work with passion, desire to be better, and target-based performance, but I also learnt that you had better be a lot more SELECTIVE with people around you. Being able to befriend with people who benefit your future goals is a life hack. I am not trying to make you start seeing your friends as some cookies you can take advantage of, yet I am telling you, from my experience, that you might regret later not having the right connection when you need it the most. (I’ll talk more on that in the next post.)

Besides working and friends, the next part is gonna sound controversial. Yes, money makes life way easier. I was too young to understand, or you can say I was naive when it came to being an adult. I looked at the world with an optimistic pair of eyes. I thought working hard, being honest and nice, and being respectful will help me achieve a life full of happiness, a true one. I was halfway right. 2019 had me invalidate that prior opinion. Everything mentioned above really does make life happy. However, believe me or not, with money or with little of it, you are just BEING POSITIVE about life, at least to the majority of us. We tend to conform to the environment. Say we don’t have enough money to enjoy a two-week trip in Hawai; we simply compromise it by claiming that we can also be happy at home chilling on our 5 years old sofa and watching our favourite shows which we downloaded from one of the torrent websites. Yes, life if simple that way, isn’t it? MINIMALISM, you might say, doesn’t bother me. In fact, I am one of the minimalists myself. Thinking from another perspective, if you are rich and have a lot of money, being minimalist is a choice, your healthy choice, not forcing yourself to sound like or become one. Living paycheck to paycheck isn’t healthy. I wake up every morning thinking about any ways possible to make money besides waiting for my paycheck. All in all, money equals choice; more money means more choices. Life is easier and happier when you can choose, not trying to lower your standard and compromising your dream.

Another lesson is that your friends may distance themselves while you forget that you have also been stretching away, too. You don’t really see your behaviour changing, but you are mostly aware of how others treat you. I came to realise that distancing is also a part of growing up. We all have an ideal perspective toward friendship. We all want to keep it as long as we possibly can. In contrast, we all are busy with our own lives, family and future. How about excepting that fact and be true to ourselves. We are not trying to run away from our friends, but give them and ourselves time to pursue our dreams, to stretch and to grow before coming back together. As being said, we should not abandon each other completely. Be less demanding and be more thoughtful.

When you grow up, having a partner is an unavoidable, unforeseen event. This might not be always true for some, but most of us. Be prepared. There will be almost always something to discuss. Sometimes you have to choose between the love of your life and your parents or siblings. It is a part of adult life. If you are able to balance it, you are safe, but if you aren’t able to, don’t panic. We all, at one time, experience that, so be calm and seek the light. There is always a way out. By having a partner, your life, your routines and the way you live, starts to change, more or less, better or worse. Every time you decide on something, you don’t only decide for yourself, you now have to think as two. That might bother you at first. Sooner or later, you will be accustomed to it. It is great to stay as you are, but from what I have learnt so far, it is called self-centred or you are just being selfish. You do it because you love it. Doesn’t it make you feel good? Yes, but you might fail to live as a couple. If you haven’t been able to accept the two-persons thinking or decision making yet, stay single. You don’t want to either hurt yourself or your partner.

The last great lesson from 2019 is PAYING ATTENTION TO PEOPLE AROUND BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Always keep in mind that everyone can leave any time, any moment. Only when we lost someone who we think is important to us, we regret how little attention we gave. Frankly, we seem to take people around us for granted because we feel comfortable to not care so much about others. This sounds contradictory to the idea I raised earlier, but you should always be aware. I know it since I have done it. I neglected my friendship, and it cost me a friend. I lost a friend, a great friend, a good listener, and an honor person in general. I lost him to the darkness, the saddest of all. 2019 left me with a black mark on my chest. Only when I learnt the news about him that I regretted not making enough time for my favourite people who always support me. Nothing changes now. He is gone and he left me a lot of memories and I have to carry to my own grave.

2019 feels like yesterday to me. It was a long year that slipped through in a blink of an eye before I even noticed it. Things have changed tremendously that I couldn’t comprehend. The only thing I can do for now is to start thinking about how to make 2020 a better year and live the life I always want. New projects coming up.

Happy New Year to everyone! May 2020 do you good.