2-3-4 Friday: Sticking with simple ideas

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

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Lim Hock Chee used to grumble when his father sent him on errands, like going to the bank. “Why always me?”, he would ask, especially when he had 8 other siblings.

His other siblings seemed to do easy things. Like take care of the stall. Clean the home. 

And that may be you too. 

Your boss asks you to write the meeting minutes. Or meet the client no one else wants to meet. Or solve that sticky bug in the software. 

Later he learnt and shared, “Don't grumble. Whatever people tell you to do, just do it. Once you're done with the task, you stand to learn the most. It may not be in monetary terms, but you will learn many things.”

The simple things aren't easy to do, and there always is something to learn from them.

If we only bother looking at it in its true perspective.

Lim has certainly had his share of doing simple, and seemingly menial tasks. He worked at his father’s pig farm after finishing the mandatory 2-year National Service for all Singaporean men, before going on to run a stall selling pork at a supermarket.

Later, his father bought over the Savewell supermarket when its owner was going through financial trouble. And Lim gradually took over the business, expanding the network of stores.

Today, Lim is the CEO of Sheng Siong, which is the second-largest supermarket in Singapore. It’s not bad for someone who started selling pork.

When I was at Sheng Siong’s Annual General Meeting 2 weeks ago, I was interested to hear how he thought about his business, and what had led them to this amount of success.

服务，品格，价值。(Service, quality and value).

Those are the 3 tenets of what differentiates them from their competitors.

Look at them, and they don’t seem to believe in the conventional knowledge behind how you should grow your stock price. They don’t even speak English. Nor do they host big meetings where they invite analysts in.

All they gave at the meeting were humble packets of coffee from their own supermarket house brand, with a big boiler of water, and styrofoam cups for you to make your own coffee.

As I talked to the Chairman, he would laugh and place his arm around me, and remind me that yes, competition was tough, but they were still making enough money to ride the storm.

It was like being with family.

Why do I share this story?

Because in a world that’s uncertain, many of us may be worried about whether we would lose our jobs, whether we would be in a recession, how to deal with rising prices, and many other concerns.

But I think Lim shares an important lesson.

That in times of trouble, sometimes the simplest thing is not to overthink things, and to do what’s most prudent.

Often when we are in such complexities, the tendency is for us to take too many actions, or be so paralyzed by the many options that we end up not doing anything.

I confess that I’m the first to do so.

When I was finding a social work job, I would write cover letters, find the office address, send copies of my book through snail mail, and hope that someone would hire me.

I had 406 applications, and 41 interviews, but no one did bat an eyelid at the fact that I had written a book.

All they cared about was what my previous social work experience was, and whether I could do their job.

I overcomplicated things.

So if you do want to outperform in this period of volatility, and you’re tempted to do too much, let me offer some unsolicited advice. (Please don’t read on if you don’t want it.)

1. Stop reading the news.
2. Cut your spending by 50%.

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Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to do, but they are the most important to learn how to do.

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Curious why I’ve suggested those?

1. Stop reading the news.

As Rolf Dobelli argues in his great book, Stop Reading the News, the news is, unfortunately, quite irrelevant. Here’s a question he asks,

“Can you think of a single one that helped you make a better decision about your life, your family, your career, your well-being or your business? A decision you wouldn’t have made without the news?”

When I first read this, I was stunned. I realised that I couldn’t think of a single decision that I had made that came because of the news.

It had all come because of long-form books, and articles. None of it had come from the news.

I suggest this as a way for you to deal with the oncoming onslaught of volatility in the world because the news will be a cesspool of trash that you would need to wade through, to find insights that actually make you feel better, and help you make better decisions.

1. Cut your spending by 50%.

When I ended my first contract as a social worker in October 2021, I would toss eggs in rice, and eat them for dinner. They were the cheapest source of protein.

And as time went by, I slowly realised that the independence I got, was worth much more than the false sense of security I had from a $3690 salary as a social worker.

I assume you’re having a stable job now. Why not just try cutting your salary, so you can build greater independence?

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love