Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group".
The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom". The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras. A "philosopher" was understood as a word which contrasted with "sophist". Traveling sophists or "wise men" were important in Classical Greece, often earning money as teachers, whereas philosophers are "lovers of wisdom" and were therefore not in it primarily for the money.
I never actually know how to write this essay properly. The topic is simply too big to be handled at one go.
Should one go for business or employment? I see great examples in people doing well in business, I also see examples in people doing just as superb if not better than those in business. So what's the defining moment?
Ultimately, I realized that I can only speak for myself. I can't speak for anyone else. To me, going into business is a long, long road to success. It takes a lot of effort and pain to arrive at a particular point. I think it is no less easy for the master employees. What excites me into business is the lure of creativity. In business, I am free to create anything of my choice, whereas in employment, I can only do someone else's calling. It may not be bad, but necessarily limiting. That being said, I also met many people who hit mid-career crises and deeply needed a way out of their current "boring" jobs. They felt that the job is so repetitive that they just wanted to change their environment. It is not because they are not good at what they are doing, in fact, they usually out-perform their current capacity. But, limiting them to go further are usually the artificial glass ceilings and limited coporate sizes.
In the end, I felt that moving along the business path is more fun for me.
In the business settings, I set targets that are not only 5 years from now, but 10 years from now and even 50 years from now. I may or may not be able to see the objectives so far ahead, but the chosen business types must reflect that thoroughness in the philosophy of things to come. Anything less exotic are removed or not considered to be taken up.
Take for example, wine making as a passion business. This project easily will last a lifetime of trial and error, simply because wine making is still essentially an art rather than a science. Because wine making itself is extremely sexy, no heir will reject its inheritance, unlike a chow-kueh-teow store. Given time, it is no surprise that it will fruit beyond its wildest dream.
Another bigger example, land acquisition and development, it also easily last more than 5 decades to a century to see some of the more decent infrastructures being built. Again, no heir will reject the ownership of land.
Farming is also another very interesting passion business. But, I will reserve its comments in another essay.
Anyway, I didn't do justice to this topic. Deep down, I know I have to think further than anyone else if I want my heir(s) to take over me. Deep down, I know I have to understand the issues of business beyond the current circumstance, otherwise, if the business ever change, my heir(s) will have to deal with greater unknowns.
The return to basics like the land investments is an important philosophy to take.
Sometimes I wonder how often people take long walks to ponder over the meaning of life? If you don't even stop and ponder what is life and what is living, then why bother to live in the first place?
Each philosophical thought may not add up to much. With practice, you will find it a lot easier to contemplate life's greatest mysteries, i.e., why you can beat the rest in wealth creation?
Well, some said life is not just about wealth-creation. I agreed. But, the finer things in life can only be experienced using wealth, such as flying in an aircraft to an exotic location like the Himalayas for a 3-month vacation or watch an important opening concert in London or laze around in a yacht or waste valuable time writing a blog. Of course, it costs you money and opportunity, but it also costs you time away from your job, which is a truer test of your actual wealth.
It is only through suitable wealth-creation that you can now play with your grand children with the peace of mind knowing that the stewardship of your enterprises are in safe and steady hands of your heir(s).
Take time off for long contemplation and seek the council of the strong. With long contemplation, you will become more philosophical. When you become more philosophical, you will make less mistakes.
My partner-in-crime always tell me, which I agreed, there is always a need to keep record of our ideas. Revisit them frequently. The germination will start soon enough.
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