Joo Kwang 裕光

Joo Kwang 裕光 Side Hustling with Faith for Beginners. Having faith does not mean smooth sailing.

In the course of life, many people will share their well intended advice.Thank them, for taking pause and coming into yo...
19/08/2025

In the course of life, many people will share their well intended advice.

Thank them, for taking pause and coming into your life.

However, discernment is your sole responsibility.

No one carries the dream you own.

And there is a saying by Dave Chappelle which I really love and it goes like this:

In your life, at any given moment, the strongest dream in that moment wins that moment.

Your dream within reasonable limits is between you and God, protect it and use it to fuel yourself to become a better version every day.

Do not let anyone destroy your dream by telling you it can't be done.It's cliche because we hear this every now and then...
16/08/2025

Do not let anyone destroy your dream by telling you it can't be done.

It's cliche because we hear this every now and then but life's hard knocks taught me 1 thing clearly.

If you believe in what others say about you, it becomes your destiny.

Those may be advice from your beloved family but apply first principle to your mindset. Is what they say the ABSOLUTE truth? If not, they meant well but it will harm you.

Your dream to succeed on your terms will only be broken by 2 things in life. First is your reluctance to leave your comfort zone. The second is your reliance on what others say.

Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. God has blessed you to succeed and you need to strive for it but don't let anyone else take it from you.

I say it to myself, and I say it to my children.

(Image sourced from The Context of Things)

If you are a business owner, it pays to understand that your employees or suppliers do not share your commitment to qual...
14/08/2025

If you are a business owner, it pays to understand that your employees or suppliers do not share your commitment to quality UNLESS you can create a situation where it benefits them to do so.

So if you are finding fault and nit picking on them for less than enthusiastic commitment, you are the one who's not in touch with reality.

Before you ask of others, ask what you can do to elevate their standings.

If you do that, you often find they will match you at their personal best.

Extract below from Gary Vee. I've been a boss and I've been an employee and I know this message is 100% true.

14/08/2025

A true leader stays exhausted, abhors arrogance and does not look down on the weakest link.

Uncommon standards.Life is full of commons and speckled with a few rare uncommons.It is in the latter that you find your...
11/08/2025

Uncommon standards.

Life is full of commons and speckled with a few rare uncommons.

It is in the latter that you find your breakthroughs.

But know this, it is never ending once you embark on the journey of becoming uncommon.

I wish you that because that's the way to live meaningfully and yes, you can have peace while on this continuous pursuit for setting new heights.

Why is this important for your side hustle?

Because everyone that follows a common path ends up in the same place (literally).

If you already know the endgame, would you still want to take the path of least resistance?

In case you still ponder if this is a viable way of living, consider reading Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins.

Your goal in life may not be about becoming the toughest Navy Seal but be UNbreakable in whatever you do.

Once you exit from the current domain of suffering, the ideal world dawns.

I believe in education but I don't buy the concept that you have to finish your education to start your business or work...
07/08/2025

I believe in education but I don't buy the concept that you have to finish your education to start your business or work.

A typical education takes 3 to 4 years and even short accredited courses take 6 to 9 months.

If you are going to pin your hope on being able to earn your first dollar after wrapping up the course, you are buying into the fallacy of "This course will prepare me for (that)".

Most courses will only prepare you to have the foundational understanding. It's an ignition to rev up your engine for deeper learning and no learning in theory or classroom can prove to the world that you can get things done.

So as you learn (whether traditional or decentralized), start putting into action. Write a post, create a website.

You will get knocked down by failures but that is how it triggers you to push the envelope, to do it differently until you get it.

Bottom line, don't hold onto the traditional thinking that you need to finish the course to be ready.

You won't be ready as long as you are not out there digging in the trenches. So start taking real action and putting what you learn to the test.

(Image: SkillsFuture)

Be careful of gurus who 'CRACKED THE CODE'.There is no one code that is permanently valid.Let me explain.Business is not...
05/08/2025

Be careful of gurus who 'CRACKED THE CODE'.

There is no one code that is permanently valid.

Let me explain.

Business is not static unless you are selling commodities that cannot be reduced further in simplicity. For example, a cup can't innovate further. You can create different shaped cups but it's not principally an innovation.

Thus, early movers or whoever that is able to produce cups at minimal cost is likely to stay at the top of that value chain.

Commodities as such are tough to survive. Usually they are just door openers to other items.

The cup example is a permanently CRACKED CODE because it is that simple and unchanging until humans develop a new and better way of consuming liquids en masse.

But...

businesses that deal in more complex products or services do not have a fixed code for cracking.

Market dynamics will keep pushing the waves of change and so if you are chasing a guru that tells you how to crack the code, chances are they already profited from that early mover advantage and now are pivoting to the "education" phase where they are going to earn from teaching you.

They succeed because they worked hard but working hard itself isn't enough. Working hard at the right timing is.

Gurus know that but you don't especially if you already habitualized chasing after shining objects.

Thus there is this same old question every guru encounters for those who are by nature skeptical - "Since you are successful at what you do, why do you bother to teach others your secrets?"

The only reasonable answer I can accept is : "Because I want to make more money from teaching and though they may work for you, it won't take my businesses away."

Authentic. That is how I feel because there is no dilemma. Your success can't be a conflict of interest to mine.

So...for me, almost every other righteous reason is shaky and more backfire-y.

By the time you read this, things may have changed with the adoption of AI and we probably will live in an era of AI agentic gurus that don't teach you what to do.

No, they do it for you so that you don't need to struggle with the start.

The point I am making here is not to downplay the gurus who were or are successful. They build their success by moving fast, and working hard.

Along the way, there were many failures before one of the ideas struck gold. You take a course, you learn the ropes but you are not spared from the rods that the market will flung at you.

When your expectation is in balance with the real reality, you can benefit better from such gurus. Most of them are not scammers but I just want to draw out their marketing pitch and caution you on adverts that promise "cracking of code".

Always DYOR and think critically for yourself. Does what they "sell" in their masterclass really apply to you NOW and are you able to forcefully re-create an almost similar environment for success?

Integrity - there is a serious lack of it and hence some companies are floundering due to their key stakeholders behavin...
04/08/2025

Integrity - there is a serious lack of it and hence some companies are floundering due to their key stakeholders behaving unprofessionally.

Here is a real story (involving a logistics MNC)

The hiring manager asked the candidate to wait for his reply after the candidate put in a lot of effort to produce a breakdown and justification for her salary expectation.

Hiring manager knew the budget and how much they can stretch. It is a 3 day decision (max) but he gave the excuse that he would get back after his many meetings which unreasonably extended over a month.

In short, it is not a budget issue. In fact, that's the trivial part. The major concern is that he doesn't know how to reject an application with proper honor and professionalism.

I don't think it is that difficult to reply with clarity that the expectation hits above their budget. Not only is this professional, it helps in your reputation as well (as someone who is decisive and respectful of other people's time)

Why keep the candidate waiting for over a month while covetly hiring another person?

This kind of ghosting behavior is among what the market is upset by. There are many such incidents out there and grievances pipe up.

A simple tip. Think of how you would feel if you reverse the roles and never say never. Life has its tides, and we just don't know when it will turn against us. Our sandbank is the ethical decisions we make when things are good.

To those who were ghosted in any way, stay hard and don't let the emotion ruin your next decision. You deserve better and it WILL come.

Don't game the system. If you win now, you lose later for sure.No permanent transformation or desirable outcome is achie...
03/08/2025

Don't game the system. If you win now, you lose later for sure.

No permanent transformation or desirable outcome is achievable without going through tribulation.

I get it why people try to shortcut their way to success. Life is tough and who doesn't want success.
However, God has predestined success for those who work diligently, faithfully and without yielding to hardships.

It is also from such efforts that true success emerges on earth and in heaven and there is no other way.

Be bold before and during tribulations. The Chinese have a saying that one goes through tribulations to get them ready for big missions.

天将降大任于斯人也,必先苦其心志,劳其筋骨,饿其体肤。

This, was exactly what Jesus went through and also the man of mission of the time period.

02/08/2025

Living without credit cards was awkward at first but after 12 months of credit free life, it turns out to be enjoyable and I probably save some money.

The same is true with your business.

Avoid chalking up credit debts.

Especially when you only have an idea, not a proven revenue stream yet.

Banks charge you 18-25% for lending you money and it is just their natural interest to encourage you to borrow.

Don't fall for that.

The only exception is when your product is proven to sell and you need money to scale and even then banks are still not your preferred partners.

Instead consider working out a deal with the manufacturer of your product or businessmen with cash to invest in your business.

Business begets business.

Banks just want to lend you money. That's how they make money.

Learn programming.Not because it is the "Job of the AI Era" but also because it allows you to appreciate and relate to w...
31/07/2025

Learn programming.

Not because it is the "Job of the AI Era" but also because it allows you to appreciate and relate to what is going on around.

The conversations around AI - you can't go deeper into them if you are fearful of what you do not know and that for most people, is the high level language behind all the machine codes out there.

AI is a program and at the fundamental root of it is high level programming that converts it into machine code for the hardware.

You don't have to be a professional programmer to harness it unless your goal is to work as a developer. In either case, it starts with learning.

Coursera is a good resource and so is Skillup. Most of the courses are free, but if you want a certificate, you pay extra.

Learning programming is a skill I would encourage from young, because we are living in a world where everything is controlled or assisted by machines. How can you then not know how to talk to these machines at all?

Also, with AI, it's obvious these days that programmers are the ones who get jobs and even then, not all of them. Won't you want a career insurance?

Leverage.That's one of the first starting blocks for business.What I mean is this. When your business is your service, y...
30/07/2025

Leverage.

That's one of the first starting blocks for business.

What I mean is this. When your business is your service, your leverage is low.

You earn based on time spent. In short, you may be working harder than your ex- 9 to 5 but earning less.

What you want to study is the type of business that you can leverage profitably.

That is why you see many successful people doing, they sell services or products that either:

- Pay them more per unit of their time
- Are systemized so that they don't have to exchange more time for money (The system takes care of the sales.)

A great example is digital products and that is why most business owners do that.

Within this business model (i.e. digital products), the next most important block is market potential.

How BIG is the market for what you are selling.

If it is colossal, then it is more likely you can make good money even if you acquire only a small pie of it. The reverse is sadly true.

A small market no matter how deep the demand is, means you have to be EXCELLENT in order to acquire sufficient sales to make it.

Because an in-demand market will always have competitors. This is a given. The problem is not the competitors.

The issue is how much you make per unit, because this translates into how many units you need to survive, to thrive.

P.S. Leverage is important element that complements your hard work. Are you surviving, thriving or neither?

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