Newspapers

I have been reading the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and The Times for the past 2 weeks and have been impressed with the high level of journalism. The papers do not subscribe to their government and I’m glad for that as the papers will lose their credibility if they did so. I’m particularly impressed with NY Times columnists who offer an insightful opinion on the issues that they write. They have Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize winner, Thomas Friedman, the author of The World is Flat and even the Libyan leader, Gaddafi as their guest columnist.

I was very intrigued by the article written by Gaddafi which touches on the Israel Palestinian issue. He will employ a systematic approach in his article highlighting the problems faced by both sides and will propose a solution which makes perfect sense. This solution will not be accepted by both sides as it seems ridiculous but in my opinion, it is the most logical answer to the Palestinian issue. I shall not reveal the answer on the blog as I will rather want the reader to view the article at NY Times. You will not be disappointed for sure.

Investing

I had the good fortune of being recommended Rich Dad Poor Dad by a friend and I took to the book immediately. The book was written in an informative and simple manner. It discusses the reasons why the Rich gets Richer and the poor gets poorer. Although the book did not give outright tips on how to invest, it did awaken the sleeping ‘investment’ giant within me as I realized that I have simply wasted too much time doing useless things.

Investing takes obscene amounts of patience, intelligence and guts. These qualities are repeated throughout most investment books and it’s not easy to possess all 3 qualities considering the environment that the people are brought up.

It made me realize that I do have a passion for Business and Finance which I silently kept it under wraps as I was lazy to bring it out of the open. I aim to read a few investment books and get a basic understanding of the market in a few months before I begin my investment education proper.

Reflection

The start of 2009 has been pretty good as I’m getting into the flow of good habits which I told myself I should cultivate and continue. I have met with average success on the goals that I set out to achieve as I lost the drive and discipline to continue certain habits like waking up at 7a.m which I did for 1 week before I became lazy(the magic word).I will have to continue working towards to improve on my old and new goals and not slacken on them.

Job Search

It is very depressing not to know the direction that you will be taking after 4 years of university. I thought I will have a better idea when I came into university and told myself that I will eventually find my passion and the job that I will love to work in. I did not spend enough time finding my passion and instead whiled my time.

I have started to give my career a serious thought this semester and told myself not to even think of teaching as it robs my prime years of life. Moreover, I will not enjoy the work after I leave NIE. Although the money is certainly tempting, I shall not give in as learning on the first job is very important and do not want to make the same mistake as I did with CEE. I shall continue the search.