DISC Personality Test

I first heard about this test from WL. I like befriending him, and I think that WL, SK, BH and I are of the same type, like motivational and personal review stuff. The only difference we have is that they puts them into action and use. Go for the free test here. This is what I knew after trying the test.

The highest percentage is likely to be your most dominant personality factor, the second highest your next most dominant personality factor and so on. As such for you the DISC factors are ordered as: Dominance, Steadiness, Influence, Compliance.

DISC Personality Model

Dominance

- Describes the way you deal with problems, assert yourself and control situations.

Influence    

- Describes the way you deal with people, the way you communicate and relate to others.

Steadiness 

- Describes your temperament - patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness.

Compliance

- Describes how you approach and organize your activity, procedures and responsibilities.

DISC Personality Profile

15 DISC Patterns or Profiles:

Achiever, Coach, Evaluator, Counselor, Creative, Individualist, Inspirational, Investigator, Objective Thinker, Perfectionist, Persuader, Practitioner, Enthusiast, Results-Oriented or Specialist.

Here are descriptions given for people who score comparatively high and comparatively low on each of the four DISC dimensions.

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High Dominance:

They are usually direct and positive with people, enjoying being the centre of attraction and may take it for granted that people will think highly of them. They may have a tendency to be rather critical of others. Consequently, other people may tend to see them as being rather domineering and overpowering.-enjoy competition and challenges.

-are goal orientated and want to be recognised for their efforts.

-aim high, want authority and are generally resourceful and adaptable.

-are usually self-sufficient and individualistic.

-may lose interest in projects once the challenge has gone and they tend to be impatient and dissatisfied with minor detail.

Low Dominance:
They are generally well liked because of their mild and gentle nature. Other people will tend to see them as being patient, calm, thoughtful and a good listener.

-tend to want peace and harmony.

-prefer to let others initiate action and resolve problems.

-are quiet and indirect in their approach to most situations.

-are usually cautious and calculate risks carefully before acting.

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High Influence:

Sometimes their concern for people and people's feelings may make them reluctant to disturb a favourable situation or relationship.

-are strongly interested in meeting and being with people.

-are generally optimistic, outgoing, and socially skilled.

-are quick at establishing relationships.

Low Influence:
They may well have learned and developed good social skills but they only bring these into play when logic dictates such tactics.

-are usually socially passive.

-quite frequently have an affinity for things, machinery and equipment.

-are generally comfortable working alone.

-frequently have a tendency to be analytical and once they have sorted the facts out they communicate them in a straightforward direct way.

-tend to take little at face value.

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High Steadiness:

Generally they have the ability to deal with the task in hand and to do routine work with patience and care.

 

-are usually patient, calm and controlled.

-have a high willingness to help others particularly those they consider as friends.

Low Steadiness:
They enjoy stretching themselves intellectually and physically.

-tend to enjoy change and variety in their work and non-work life.

-are expansive by nature and tend not to like routine and repetitive work/activities.

 

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High Compliance:

They prefer sticking to methods that have proved successful in the past. They have a high acceptance of rules and regulations.

-are usually peaceful and adaptable.

-tend not to be aggressive.

-tend to be cautious rather than impulsive.

-avoid risk-taking.

-act in a tactful, diplomatic way and strive for a stable, ordered life.

-are comfortable following procedures in both their personal and business life.

Low Compliance:

Free in thought, word and deed, they long for freedom and go to great lengths to achieve it.

They feel that repetitive detail and routine work is best "delegated" or avoided.

 

-are independent and uninhibited.

-resent rules and restrictions.

-prefer to be measured by results and are always willing to try the untried.

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Well, I am of the HIGH DOMINANCE type.  What's yours? Here is mine:

"You are responsive to challenges in a practical, realistic and enthusiastic manner. You are a fact orientated person capable of providing help based on solid information. You are assertive, self-sufficient and individualistic. People are likely to perceive you as being rational and creative at the same time."

 

Private Retirement Scheme (PRS)

Attended a talk on Private Investment Scheme (PRS) upon invitation from SK. It was quite interesting as I suddenly realised that 'Hey, retirement is no joke!'. As the name suggests, PRS is similar to EPF (Employee Provident Fund) except that PRS is voluntary while EPF is mandatory. But then for private sector employees, I think it's good to complement your EPF with this PRS.

PRS has similar fund allocation as EPF, i.e. the 70% and 30% allocation into Account 1 and Account 2. However, you can't withdraw any fund from PRS until you reach retirement age. Any earlier withdrawal is subject to 8% penalty. Good thing is that, since it's voluntary, you don't have to commit monthly, and the minimum required investment is only RM100 monthly (by Hwang). Some other fund house will require a minimum of RM1000 though. But then, since you already decide to build up on your retirement fund, might as well contribute regularly.

The downside is that, you will need to pray that the fund house which manages your PRS is competent enough as there is no guaranteed % of return. EPF on the other hand, has a guaranteed minimum return of 2.5% (still very low, even when compared with EPF, but then it's still better than nothing). But if you switch between funds from the same provider, there won't be any switching fee charged.

There are also 3 categories of investment fund for different appetite investors, i.e. growth, moderate and conservative. Do Google more on PRS if you are curious. You can also get some info on it from here. I am no expert so I apologise if there is any mistake in my clarifications above. To be safe, contact your financial adviser friends to find out and research it on line.

I wish to share what I knew from the sharing, to the best I could remember, of course. How many people dream of retiring early? I think if given the option, most of us would like to do it. But then, retirement means reduced income or no incoming income at all. So it is advisable to plan early to build up your retirement fund. Minus off those people who are good in investment etc, who won't need to worry about their retirement of course. We are talking about the majority of the crowd here.

When you retire, you will need these 8 elements to sustain your life, though some of it can still be omitted:

1) Food

That's the most basic necessity of life, can't be omitted. If you want to live, you got to eat, just a matter of what you eat. If you eat healthily, then you will live longer. Otherwise, unthinkable!

2) Festive Spending

As you get older, you tend to cling to faith more religiously. Especially for Chinese community when there are so just so many festivals, e.g. CNY, Mooncake, Dumpling, Winter Solstice, etc. Spending in this sector can be reduced but then, the elderly always get satisfaction from here since this is the time where everyone gathers and stay united.

3) Medical care

As your engine gets older, maintenance gets higher. No matter how fit you are, some aspects of your health will deteriorate somehow. If you have already bought sufficient medical insurance coverage, then it's fine, but hey, with the current inflation rate and the booming health tourism (especially in Penang), who knows how much will a simple blood check costs in the future?

4) Supplement

Required in order to complement the poorer nutrient absorption in the elderly and also to complement the basic function for our body. Better allocate some funds into this. Supplements nowadays are not cheap but then, so does medical bills! Still much better to invest in prevention rather than cure.

5) Social networking

You spend more time with friends or family as there wasn't much for you to do. Activities like mahjong, evening walk, tea session with friends, hiking, jogging etc somehow still needs some investment, be it on food or drinks or sports attire, equipments or shoes. Also can be limited.

6) Transport

The only transport which is free is your two pair of legs, but how much distance can you cover to get you from one destination to another? This can be minimised if you limit your travelling though.

7) Accommodation

Household expenses, appliances, maintenance, utilities, etc. is no cheap expenses, no joke. This is beyond control since you won't know which part of the house or appliance will fail you indefinitely.

8) Retreat

Once in a while, you still need to have relaxing trip or vacation, sort of treating yourself better. This can still be omitted though. I mean, if you mean it, just an evening stroll by the park can do wonder.

There are 5 accelerators (DOs) to building your retirement fund:

1) Buy house ASAP

Property prices almost doubles up for every 10 years period. And there was no telling when the bubble burst will happen. Even if it happens, property prices will not go too low anyhow. Property is probably the highest investment one makes in life. I dread thinking how to buy a house, and honestly it never came across my mind to save for one, not yet. I don't like being a slave to house.

2) Save ASAP

The sooner you save, the more returns you will get, the sooner you get to build up your desired retirement fund. Also don't forget to factor in the inflation rate, please. I will say a 5% inflation rate factor seems safe for the moment. And the sooner you save, the lesser monthly saving you need to commit to as you age. Especially when it is at that particular age where your commitments such as marriage, kids, households get higher.

3) Insurance to protect your retirement fund

Yup, if anything happens to you before retirement, your retirement fund building will be affected, especially if you can't contribute any income anymore. So buying an insurance does provide some assurance that your retirement fund plan is still intact. Hence, it pays to maintain your health well as you determine your own capability to generate revenue. 

4) Invest with 6-8% average annual return in the long run

You have to if the inflation rate is 5%. Fixed deposit is no longer an attractive option to build up your wealth since the interest rate is just around 3%. You are losing 2% if you do that.

5) Prepare 6 months emergency fund (of monthly commitment)

In case you lose your mean of income, either due to health or retrenchment or pure bad luck. Whatever happens, your commitment still stays. Any can happen, even to a healthy and happy family. One string of bad luck and there you goes. So saving for rainy days and preparing umbrella beforehand is definitely a wise move. I have yet to build up on that.

And there are 5 stops (DON'Ts) to building your retirement fund:

1) Clear debts (credit card, hire purchase, personal loan, mortgage)

Don't spend well ahead of your income. Financial discipline is very important. Those with weak determination should never ever use credit card. Any fixed liability should be settled first each month before treating yourself better with some form of entertainment.

2) Don't invest just because of high return

Need to check out whether the investment is being recognised by the Securities Commission, stable over long term or short term and whether it meets your investment appetite or not. Don't follow the crowd blindly without understanding your investment portfolio. A good example will be the Geneva gold investment scheme.

3) Stop wasting tax relief

Claim back any tax rebate or relief because it's your hard-earned money. If there is a way where you can claim tax relief and still build on your retirement fund, why not? Mind you, the average lifespan of a Malaysian has increased, so anything which can possibly build up the retirement fund, by all means, do it. Though I don't really have much idea on how to do that just yet. I was told that this PRS is subject to maximum RM3000 tax rebate.

4) Don't invest in investment plan that doesn't meet your retirement goal

If you have a big appetite for high return and is willing to take the risk, do it. But make sure it's calculated risk, something which you can take if things don't turn out the way you want it to be. Then probably equity and stocks serves you better. But you are a conventional type investor, then you might as well invest in those fund with guaranteed returns.

5) Don't spend beyond budget

Always live within your means. Using credit card to support your extravagant living just to look and feel good is a stupid act as you will suffer towards the end. Don't blindly go after the latest gadget or fashion, etc just for the sake to appear trendy. Spending ahead of your expected income is quite risky as well. There are so many youths declared bankrupt because of this. Expecting bonus to cover the advanced expenses, signing up for instalment payments etc, this are all a part of debt. I'd rather save up for the items I want and buy it at one go. Not that I spend much on all this anyway.

So do you think you are ready to build up your retirement fund now? If no, better do some planning. You don't have to start immediately, but at least, you must plan out when and how you want to do it because even researching takes quite some time, if you intend to do it seriously. I myself is still scratching my head over it.

Courage and Brave

Got this from Indika, a friend from my Bangkok cookie and cracker course. So good that everyone is still keeping in touch.

Scenario	(Me) I am…	(Boss) He is…
Taking a long time to finish	slow	thorough
Not doing it	lazy	busy
Doing something without being told	trying be smart	taking the initiative
Pleasing the boss	apple polishing	cooperating
Making a mistake	an idiot	only a human
Out of the office	wandering around	on business
On a day off sick	always sick	very ill
Applying for leave	going for an interview	being overworked

I should have laughed at this. Ever wonder why we always talk bad or think bad about our boss, no matter how good the boss is? I never did until I myself handle my staff. I realised that a boss needs to consider many aspects. They never want to be a mean boss, but circumstances force them to.

You need to be responsible and answerable to your staff's action. You need to consider budgetary constraint, human staffing issue, and technical issue while still maintaining your routine obligation at work. You need to ensure proper discipline at work and curb any problem from going out of control.

All this and you still need to focus on your own self-development. You need to consider your staff's self-development as well. When you yourself are demotivated, you still need to put up a tough front to motivate your staff. You dare not appear foolish since you do need to maintain your professionalism to garner some respect.

All these and lots more... how on earth do you expect a boss not to be mean at times? I myself is still finding my way in the dark, wanting to do some good to myself and to my staff, but honestly, we are all just humans. We fail at times. We lose respect at times.

I sometimes envy my staff because I yearned to be reprimanded and criticised for my shortfall. There wasn't much such thing around here. Sometimes when I met some resistance from my boss, I do feel like strangling him on the spot. Can't help, young blood boils up very fast.

But then, when I give myself some time to review the whole situation, I asked myself, if I put myself into my boss' shoe, how will I react? And that's when I realised that no one is at fault. We each value things differently so we interpret the situation differently. Factor in experience and technical knowledge, the gap is even bigger.

No right or wrong but there is a truth to the old adage... Great title comes with great responsibility. When you are the leader, you need to consider many factors in order to maintain the balance between productivity and expenditure. You need to plan for the overall improvement and fight the war with unforeseen circumstances.

Hence, I always believe that if your subordinates are better than  you in certain area, by all means, go ahead and develop them. Subordinates and boss should always complement each others strength and weakness. So the next time before you criticise your boss out of anger, do sit back and rethink, whether it's really his fault or it's purely due to different outlook on work.

Finally, we always heard people say this about our boss:
When I do good, he never remembers. When I do wrong, he never forgets.

I have to admit that I myself am like that. I always tell my staff, if you don't receive compliment when you do good, that is because you are hired to do good. But once you made a mistake, people will remember forever because of the trouble you had caused and because you are not hired to do wrong. So never made too rash decision as mistakes will cost you your credibility score.

This is definitely old school way of thinking but there is truth. I am not going to pretend that I am a modern in thinking. I do admit that I still work the old school way...

Never, Ever Be Late

A priest was being honoured at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner.

However, he was delayed, so the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited:

"I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss' wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to his sister. I was appalled. But as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people..."

Just as the Priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk:

"I'll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived.," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession."

Oppsss... moral of the story: never, ever be late!

Positive Family

Saw this in FB,

Nice light-hearted humor yet cute enough to lighten up my day,

Nice illustration to bring out the message as well,

I like this family a lot, but hey, no joke, I don't think you want to name your kids this way...

My PBIM Ranking

18.11.12 was the last Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) to be held on the 1st Penang Bridge this year. Next year onwards, it will be held on the 2nd Penang Bridge instead. So how can I miss it this round? I had to miss it last year due to SP's wedding. So there is no way I am going to miss it this year. In fact, I had to skip a university-mate's wedding luncheon for it.

I don't have much confidence to complete the allocated 90 min for 10km open category but thankfully I still managed to finish within the time limit nonetheless. I registered only for 10km because I know running is not my forte and just in case I have no time to train I know I can still complete 10km without killing or dragging myself through it.

Why not join fun run then? It's still the same 10km distance. Ah-ha! The difference lies in the medal and the running vest. I want the dry-fit running vest instead of the cotton t-shirt and it feels meaningful when you have a goal to aim for. If I join fun run, most likely I won't bother too much to finish within the stipulated time.

I walked more than run this year. And when I saw that there wasn't much time left, I made the finishing dash towards the ending point. Then I realised that actually I do have the stamina. What I don't have is the mental strength and determination. So I believe that those who run marathon have very strong mental strength and determination. If you ever find one when you conduct an interview, by all means, grab the candidate, can't go too wrong with that!

Thank you to BH for forwarding me the link to check my timing and ranking for the PBIM run. I thought I would have to wait until they deliver the certificate to my house. Thanks to the advancement in technology. In fact, if you register on the PBIM page in FB, you can track your own progress, live! How cool was that? And here goes my result...

Name	:	TAN KWENG PHEO
Status	:	Active
Collect Method	:	Queensbay Mall (10th to 11th Nov 2012 10am to 9pm )
Category	:	10K Open Women
Bib No	:	K21318
Event Results
5KM Split	:	00:40:03.16
ChipTime	:	01:26:16.63
GunTime	:	01:28:48.94
Ranking	:	1027/5209

Not bad huh? Calculating by percentage, I am at the front 20% pack, though I have seen that those who won the 10km open category women actually did it within 40min. I wouldn't want to compete with that though, definitely not my forte. But it does feel good to sweat everything out.

And oh, take note of my bib number: K21318. If you read it in Cantonese, it's very auspicious. Pronounce it as "yi yat sang yat fat" which translates into 'forever getting rich easily'. And I take the 'K' as signifying 'OK'. Haha, I just like this bib number, enough to know that I am keeping this bib...

I like this round of PBIM: I got a good bib number, I got a finisher medal, and I got a very good sweating session out of it. Maybe next year I will still join it, but definitely it will still be a 10km category. Nothing more, nothing less.

What's better to end this post than my reaped fruit of labour?

What Is The Fastest Thing You Know?

An Office Manager at Wal-Mart was given the task of hiring an individual to fill a job opening. After sorting through a stack of resumes he found four people who were equally qualified - an American, a Russian, an Australian and  Gujarati from India.

He decided to call the four in and ask them only one question. Their answer would determine which of them would get the job. The day came and as the four sat around the conference room table the interviewer asked, "What is the fastest thing you know?"

Dave, the American, replied, "A THOUGHT. It just pops into your head. There's no warning that it's on the way; it's just there. A thought is the fastest thing I know of."

"That's very good!" replied the interviewer. "And now you sir?" he asked Vladimir, the Russian.

"Hmm... let me see. A BLINK. It comes and goes and you don't know that it ever happened. A BLINK is the fastest thing I know."

"Excellent!" said the interviewer. "The blink of an eye, that's a very popular cliche for speed." He then turned to George, the Australian who was contemplating his reply.

"Well, out at my dad's ranch, you step out of the house and on the wall there's a light switch. When you flip that switch, way out across the pasture the light in the barn comes on. Yep, Turning on a LIGHT is the fastest thing I can think of."

The interviewer was very impressed with the third answer and thought he had found his man. "It's hard to beat the speed of light," he said. Turning to Patel, the chap from India, the fourth and final man, the interviewer posed the same question.

Patel replied, (in his Gujju accent): "Apter herring da 3 prebius ansers sir, et's obius to me dat the fastest thing is DIARRHOEA."

"WHAT!?" said the interviewer, stunned by the response. The others were already giggling in their seats...

"Oh, I can expleyn sir," said Patel. "You see, sir, da ader day my tummy was pheeling bad and so I ran so fast to the baatrum, but before I could THINK, BLINK, or turn on the LIGHT, I alredi done it!"

Enough said, Patel is now the new "Office Manager" at Wal-Mart in Washington.

The World In The Cow Sense

This is an interesting light reading. It is highlighting the real situation out there for each country despite its light-hearted description. You do need some knowledge of what's happening out there in other countries and also perhaps slight appreciation for the Hokkien dialect in order to understand all this. And oh, history too...

The world explained in simple COW SENSE...

SOCIALISM

 - You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM

 - You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM

 - The state takes both and sells you some milk.

BUREAUCRATISM

 - You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

 - You have 2 cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

VENTURE CAPITALISM

 - You have 2 cows. You sell 3 of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt / equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all 4 cows back, with a tax exemption for 5 cows. The milk rights of the 6 cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all 7 cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns 8 cows, with an option on 1 more.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

 - You have 2 cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of 4 cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has died.

A FRENCH CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION

- You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim employment and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION

- Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. Nobody believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows but at least you now have Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

A GREEK CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows borrowed from French and German banks. You eat both. The banks call to collect their milk, but you cannot deliver so you call the IMF. The IMF loans you two cows. You eat both of them too. The banks and the IMF call to collect their cows / milk. You are out getting a haircut.

MALAYSIAN CORPORATION

- You have 2 cows. They both live in condos in Bangsar.

SINGAPORE

- Cow- peh cow-bu.

The Story Of A Bear And A Rabbit

A Bear and a Rabbit didn't like each other very much but were casual friends. One day, they met a talking frog in a divine pond. The kind frog offered them each three wishes for being his guests.

The Bear immediately wished that all the other bears in the forest were females. The frog granted his wish.

The Rabbit, after thinking for a while, wished for a crash helmet. One appeared immediately, and he placed it on his head.

The Bear was amazed at Rabbit's wish, but carried on with his second wish. He wished that all the bears in the neighbouring forests were females as well, and the frog granted his wish.

The Rabbit then wished for a motorcycle. It appeared before him, and he climbed on board and started revving the engine.

The Bear could not believe it and complained that Rabbit had wasted two wishes that he could have had for himself. Shaking his head, Bear made his final wish, that all the other bears in the world were females as well, leaving him as the only make bear in the world.

The frog replied that it had been done, and they both turned to Rabbit for his last wish. The Rabbit revved the engine, thought for a second, then said, "I wish that this Bear was gay!" and rode off as fast as he could!

Moral of the story: It is always more advantageous to have friends than foes...I simply couldn't stop but smiling at the mischief brought out by this story...

Before You Do Anything...

Before you talk,

LISTEN.

Before you react,

THINK.

Before you criticize,

WAIT.

Before you pray,

FORGIVE.

Before you quit,

TRY.