What better way to spark a spirited classroom debate on ethics than by exploring the complex messages often found in fairy tales?

Children enjoy a cozy familiarity with fairy tales. By basing a discussion of ethics on fairy tales, you are launching from common ground. Children aged eight and older typically are ready for meatier ethical concepts, concepts that skirt into gray areas of lesser evils or relative priorities.

Following are a few suggestions drawn from the land of fairy tales to get your students’ thought wheels spinning.

PUSS IN BOOTS: WHEN IS TRICKERY JUSTIFIED?

In the classic French fairy tale “Puss in boots,” a clever cat engineers a succession of hoaxes and lies for the benefit of his master. As a result, his master eventually marries the king’s daughter and appoints Puss in Boots prime minister. All parties live happily ever after.

You can print a text version of Puss in Boots from the Internet. A well-illustrated version of the story is also available in The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, by Marie Ponsot (Golden Books).

The story begins with the introduction of a young man whose poor father has died and left him with nothing but a cat named Puss in Boots. The cat proves tireless in his devotion to his master and begins by delivering a sequence of gifts (rabbits, pheasants, and other game) to the king and queen. Each time, Puss in Boots announces that the gifts are from “the Marquis of Carabas.” Naturally, the king comes to believe the Marquis of Carabas is a person of great consequence.

Here, you might ask young readers, “Was Puss in Boots wrong to lie to the king and to deceive him?” The absolute quality of honesty can be leveled against the compelling urges of loyalty and friendship.

After several clever tricks, Puss in Boots leads the king and his lovely young daughter to a castle belonging to an ogre. Running ahead of the group, the frisky feline dares the ogre to transform himself into a mouse. When the ogre successfully transforms himself, Puss in Boots promptly pounces on the hapless creature and devours him. That enables his young master, who arrives moments later with the king and his entourage, to claim that the castle is his own. In so doing, the young man clinches his nuptial prospects with the king’s daughter.

Here, you can further challenge your students: “Was the cat wrong to trick the ogre and then kill him?” Youngsters who argued earlier that the king was in no way damaged by the verbal deceptions and exaggerations of Puss in Boots must reckon with an act leading to an untimely death.

Finally, pose this question: “Is trickery ever justified?” Challenge students to support their positions, whatever they may be, with cogent arguments.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK: WHAT IS STEALING?

This classic story offers a twist on the theme of honesty. We all know the story of young Jack, whose impoverished mother is left with nothing but the family cow. Jack is sent to market to trade the cow for as much money as he can. Jack is tricked into trading the cow for a handful of beans. In despair, his mother throws the worthless beans out the window.

Overnight, a giant beanstalk grows into the sky. When Jack climbs to the top of the beanstalk, he finds the home of a mean giant. Narrowly escaping from the giant with his life, Jack scampers down the beanstalk with two treasures stolen from the giant – a goose that lays golden eggs, and a magic harp. Thus, Jack happily secures the future for himself and his mother.

You might begin by reiterating that Jack faced imminent danger in the giant’s house (“Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!”). Ask: “Since the giant wanted to eat Jack, was it OK that Jack stole the giant’s goose and harp?”

Listen carefully to the arguments raised, pro and con. You might follow up with this remark: “Jack was an intruder in the giant’s house. Since Jack chose to enter the giant’s house, does that change your opinion?”

This exercise is also recommended: “Pretend you are the giant. Describe what happens when Jack arrives in your house and how you feel about it.”

In a 19th-century version of Jack and the Beanstalk, a fairy is introduced when Jack is climbing up the beanstalk. The fairy informs Jack that Jack’s father used to be a wealthy and prosperous landowner but a mean giant killed the father, stole everything his father owned, and reduced Jack’s mother and her infant son to poverty. That giant, according to the fairy, is the one who lives at the top of the beanstalk. By destroying the giant, Jack will restore his family wealth.

This version of the fairy tale opens another line of questioning: “In the story where the giant had stolen everything from Jack’s father, do you think it was OK for Jack to take it back?” Most youngsters will heartily agree.

Follow up with this question: “What if it had been the giant’s father who had stolen everything from Jack’s father; would it still be OK for Jack to take the treasures?” Then ask: “What if it had been the giant’s grandfather who had stolen everything from Jack’s grandfather?” And then ask: “What if it had been 100 years before that the giant’s ancestor had stolen everything? Do you think it would still be OK for Jack to take the treasures?” Try to find the amount of elapsed time necessary, according to students, to justify Jack’s taking the treasures. Challenge them to defend their point of view.

FROM THE ELEPHANT PIT: IS COMPASSION PRACTICAL?

There’s a folktale from Tibet, “From the Elephant Pit,” that raises the question of whether compassion is always a good idea.

The story tells the tale of a hunter who dug pits to catch and trap wild elephants. One day, he comes to the pit and discovers that trapped inside the elephant pit were a man, a lion, a mouse, a snake, and a falcon. The lion warns the hunter not to rescue the human. Says the lion: “I and the other animals will prove grateful to you and will help you for your kindness to us, so rescue them. But please leave the man in the pit, for I warn you, he will forget your kindness and do you harm.” However, the hunter rescues all the animals and the man.

The other animals, indeed, later repay the kindness to the hunter. As the lion had foretold, the man betrays him. At the end of the story, the betrayal of the man is revealed, the hunter is appointed chief hunter to the king, and all ends well.

Children are asked this question: “Do you think the hunter was better off because he rescued the man from the pit? If you think yes, why? If you think no, why not?”

Following is a sampling of responses from youngsters who responded:

• “Yes, you should always save someone in need.” — Vance, age 10
• “No, because if he would have left him he wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble.” — Tara, age 11
• “No, because the man tricked the hunter and ruined his life.” — Newt, age 9
• “Yes, because he did something very kind, which is the best reward anyone could get.” — Laura, age 10
• “Yes, because he got to be the king’s top man.” –Shawn, age 7

TIPS FOR MANAGING A CLASSROOM DEBATE ON ETHICS

• Before you begin a lesson that will lead to a debate about ethical issues, let children know that you are going to read a story and then you will be asking some questions about the story.
• At the end of the story, allow children time to consider their personal responses to your questions, and ask each child to write down her or his response.
• Break the class into small groups for discussion. Then hold a general discussion. You might want to list the arguments cited, pro and con, on different sides of your chalkboard or whiteboard.
• Continue to look for opportunities in stories to raise questions for ethical debate. Your best source material will be stories that children already enjoy, such as fairytales and folk tales. However, modern stories and popular television shows and movies also provide opportunities for ethics duscussions.
• Here’s a final rule of thumb: If the children enjoy a story, consider it a candidate for an ethics debate! Over time, as long as you keep those discussions alive, the capacity for youngsters to understand the complexities of ethical issues will grow.

Have you ever finished listening to an explanation from a purported subject matter expert only to wonder what it was they just said? It has been my experience that the more vague, general or ambiguous an explanation, the less command of the subject matter the person doing the explaining reasonably possesses. It is one thing to toss around the latest buzz-words, but it is quite another thing to actually know what they mean and have the ability to correctly apply them. In today's blog post I'm going to reveal the tricks of those who practice what I call "the black art of confusion."

Those of you that know me have come to understand that I prefer to cut to the chase and get to the root of an issue as quickly as possible. While I appreciate the great oratory skills of those who communicate using wonderful word pictures or the academies that can wax eloquent always using the best form of prose, I prefer my business communication to be quick and dirty … In the immortal words of Jack Webb: "The facts ma'am..just the facts." Do not get me wrong, I'm not word bashing as I enjoy and appreciate anyone who has command of a great vocabulary (see an earlier post entitled "Vocabulary … It does Matter"), but I do not have time for a 30 minute explanation of something that could have been, and should have been communicated in 2 minutes … Ahh, the lost art of brevity, but I digress.

What all of us need to remain on guard against are the people (notice I did not say professionals) that always seem to speak at the 30,000 foot level … A high-level overview is fine as a summary, but certainly nothing beyond that. Vocabulary should be a tool for communicating expertise and not masking a lack of … Let's define what I call the black-art practices of confusion:

1. Job security by confusion : Have you ever had an employee in a particular business unit or practice area paint the picture that things are soooo complex that only they can solve your problem? Nothing is too complex to be explained or understood, and no single individual is invaluable …

2. Sales by confusion : Have you ever been party to a sales presentation that was so sophisticated and technical that you arrived at the conclusion that sure "these guys really know their stuff" and ended-up purchasing something that was not at all what you thought it would be? Remember, if someone can not tell explain the benefits to you in plain English the benefits probably do not exist.

3. Intimidation by confusion : We've probably all had someone attempt to steamroll us at some point in our careers … multi-syllable techno jargon used in circular conversational patterns with an authoritative posture does not mean someone knows what they're talking about, rather it usually means that they are trying to dazzle you with feigned brilliance in an attempt to intimidate.

So, what is the best way to deal with the black art of confusion? Force people to justify their positions by being specific … Make these wizards' of confusion give you examples of relevant experience or have them explain their business logic in understandable terms. Make sure that your client's, vendors, suppliers, partners, investors and employees all know that you value clear, concise, lucid and accurate communications.

Italian-born, American-raised Mario Andretti's motorsport dream began at the 1954 Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monza. The 14-year-old Andretti, along with his twin brother, watched in amazement as the Ferrari of his first racing idol and hometown hero Alberto Ascari sped around the track, not knowing then that this cherished childhood moment would also be skilled defending for him .

Monza holds a special place in Andretti's heart and he decreles he could not have written a better script: in 1978 he secured the Formula 1 World Championship there, twenty-four years after attending his first race. That fateful weekend in 1954 set in motion a series of events which would very well lead to an outstanding career spanning five decades, 879 races and 111 wins across various classes of motorsport.

I sat down with the racing icon to discuss his remarkable career, his thoughts on Formula 1 today, taking a trip down memory lane back to where it all began.

EH: Let's start with Monza, and what it meant to you as a 14-year-old seeing your first big race there.

MA: Well Monza. I could say that it was probably the true beginning of my dream to be a racing driver, and I could not have written a better script because this was in 1954 and in 1978 that's where I clinched the [Formula 1] World Championship. To me it was amazing of course winning the race, I won the race the year before. I won that year [1978] too but I was penalized along with Gilles Villeneuve for allegedly jumping the start which I think was debatable, I just reacted to Gilles that he took off; I reacted and I stopped and I went. But anyway that's another story. And the reason I did not protest was because my teammate Ronnie Petersen was killed that day, so I did not have the energy to go and continue a protest. But just to repeat what I said about how important that particular day was or that weekend in 1954 at age 14, that's what started it all. Not only just for myself, but I also have a twin brother [Aldo] and we both had the same dream and that's what we pursued.

EH: And then a year later your family moved to Nazareth and you and Aldo discovered a race track nearby.

MA: We had no idea what to expect when we moved to the States but we soon found out, three days after arriving here, that there was a race track nearby. We had no idea about oval racing, you know the American type racing, but the sound was good and it looked like a lot of action and at the same time to me it looked very doable at that level. As you can imagine when we saw Monza, the Grand Prix cars [of] Mercedes, Ferrari, Maserati all that seemed so far away, so unachievable, that when we saw these cars on a local level racing they looked real brute like. But again it looked doable, looked like something we could build. In fact that's what we started, two years later at age 17, that's when we started building a racing car and we started driving two years later.

EH: How did you go with that car?

MA: We were winning actually. That was really a great launching pad for us because it was one car, two drivers. Obviously Aldo and I had to share but he started first, he won the toss and it's a matter of record, he won the very first race. The following weekend I did. But we won races. That year we crashed and did all of the good things that are normal for young racing drivers. That was a very auspicious start for us as you could imagine, and encouraged us along the way. We had a very good season except that at the end of that season, my brother was seriously injured in that car on the very last race of the season, which pretty much determined his career at that point. He raced for ten more years but then he had another very big accident which actually retired him. But for me it was an early stepping stone to launch me to the next level and I continued on and was much more fortunate. I started my career in 1959 and my last race was Le Mans in 2000, so basically I had a 41 year career.

EH: In 1969 you won the Indianapolis 500, what did that win mean to you?

MA: Well it's one of the ambitious goals that you set for yourself, to win the classics. And if you're racing in America, the classic event which is known throughout the globe is the Indianapolis 500. I felt very comfortable from the beginning there, which was in 1965 and I was Rookie of the Year, I finished third and I continued on and I won the National Championship as well, and I was the youngest driver to do so at that point. And then to win it four years later was something that was huge for my career and opened so many doors. But two years earlier I won the Daytona 500 which is the big shining event for stock cars which is so very popular here. And two weeks after winning Daytona I won my first 12 Hours of Sebring with Bruce McLaren as my teammate, so my career was shaping up quite nicely. But as you can imagine to win the best known events around the world is the most important part, that's what really can be life changing which it was in so many ways for me.

EH: In 1991 in Milwaukee we saw the Andretti Podium, which must have been a really proud moment for you sharing that with your family.

MA: Yes it was indeed. And that's pride with a capital "P" actually, because as you can imagine having my own son Michael and my nephew John, Aldo's son, and myself on the same podium. Then later on Michael became my teammate actually. He and I shared the front row many times qualifying and also we've been on pole position I think 12 times together. And we were first and second like eight times in IndyCar. You can imagine how sweet that is for a family to be able to share those moments, you can never even technically plan for it, it's just going to happen or not. And I had so much satisfaction through the years from that point to see the family continue. Both my sons are in racing and just like my brother, my second son Jeffrey was not as worthy as his brother or myself. He had a devastating injury in 1992 in Indianapolis which almost cost him both his legs and that determined his career. But then something like this puts perspective on things, like how fortunate, how lucky Michael and I have been in the sport. And it's not a given, you know, because both my brother and my other son paid dearly for what they tried to do and we know how much we can appreciate the luck that we've had on our side through our careers.

EH: How do you handle the competitiveness and tensions that arise between teams when that team is your son?

MA: Well the competitive juices were there. I was not about to give an inch to him or receive an inch. But the one that was really on pins and needles as you could imagine was my wife because she was on the sidelines watching us duke it out, and many times actually we were touching wheels and things. Not too hard, she wanted to be sure that we would look after one another and we were not doing anything stupid to put my son in danger or him put me in danger, but we were not giving anything. Actually the first pass, the first overtake that my son did to me competitively for the lead, we touched wheels all the way through the corner and it was very forceful. But at the end of the day there was a lot of satisfaction. When he went by I'm thinking "how dare you Michael!" and then as he's gone into the sunset I'm thinking "that's my boy". It's a double-edged sword. You know that we had the closest finish in IndyCar in 1986 at the Grand Prix in Portland.

EH: Yes, Father's Day. I bet your wife's heart was racing watching that one at the finish line.

MA: Yeah, indeed. Here's the thing though. He actually definitely deserved to win that because he had something of a lead on me as we were coming down to the end of the race. It was about three laps to go and my engineer's shouting in my ears that Michael's having some fuel pick-up problems. At that point I had settled for second and I knew I could not catch him. And I really stood on my seat, and here he was coming closer and closer. The last lap we basically had a drag race onto the finish line and I just, just nipped him by an inch. And he was so upset. When we were on the podium then he realized it was Father's Day and he says, well Happy Father's Day Dad [laughs]. He probably thought I could give him a break and let him win, but no way!

EH: You have race practically everything there is to race on four wheels, so of all the classes of motorsport you have competed in which is your favorite?

MA: It has to be Formula 1, mainly because that's where my love for the sport really began. And of course the opportunity to enter the sport came in America, so I had a very satisfying complete career here in the United States with IndyCar then stock cars and so forth. But if somebody would say you can only choose one discipline, then I would choose Formula 1. It's that simple.

EH: After three decades of racing in Formula 1 and now today as a spectator, how do you see the evolution of the sport?

MA: Well changes are expected, and they're subtly changes if you will. If you're in the sport as close as I am the changes are almost natural, they are not a big thing. The thing that allows me to understand things quite well is that I've gone through the decades and I've seen huge changes material, but it was gradual and it's the same thing now. The thing that I understand, that I'm quite happy about, is that I drive into the computer era which is now. We started computer instruments in the car [in IndyCar] back in the middle of the '80s, so I drve into the so-called computer modern era right through the mid' 90s. And I'm staying on it, I'm still driving a two-seater car which is the same as a proper racing car only it's expanded for another passenger, but all the technology and everything is the same. So the fact that I'm up to date with things makes it easier to accept and understand. I love progress and I love technology, and I like the way the sport is today. Obviously it's much more regulated because there's so much knowledge out there that you can make the cars undriveable, but there's a human element so it has to be regulated which is fair enough. In fact in the IndyCar we were achieving the urges, the records that were set back in the mid 90s when I was still driving are still standing, they had to slow the cars down for the safety standpoint so as you can see I have driven faster than what they are doing today. I'm not antiquated by any means.

EH: Which is your favorite track that you've raced on?

MA: Any track that I will [laughs]. That's the only way I can answer that. The other question is, what's your favorite racing car? Every racing car that I won a race with. So it's as simple as that. I do not know how else to put it because it's a fact.

EH: And which of your 111 career wins is the most memorable?

MA: The most memorable would have to be probably winning Indianapolis because of what it really meant career wise. But from personal satisfaction it had to be winning the Grand Prix in Monza in 1977. In 1974 I won the Monza 1000 Kilometers for Alfa Romeo with Arturo Merzario which was really my first victory in Monza. But winning the race, the Grand Prix in '77, that was huge for me because of what Monza stand for as far as my life. I do not think I could have derived more satisfaction than that. I count my blessings every day. I think I will have more races than I deserved and I am thankful for that every day so I take nothing for granted. My life in motor racing has been absolutely complete.

All of us know about Amazon. This is one of the biggest online stores in the world. Another name in the category of online stores is Alibaba, owned by a Chinese, Jack Ma. Most of the time we see these two names in search results when we look for a consumer product on the internet. Gone are the days when we had to go out for shopping. Now almost all types of consumer products are available online, that too on a global level. People can have their required things while sitting at home or office.

The concept of online stores started from the West and now is a growing trend in Asian countries. Seeing their popularity, many brands, and businesses got online. All big corporate names have an online presence now. Social media has played a great role in it. Brands and individuals own online stores also. Individuals along with their teams or families are also inclined toward opening online stores with a wide range of products. It includes books and magazines, garments, furniture, cosmetics and handbags, herbal products and medicines, construction material, electronic, and jewelry, etc. The sole purpose of opening an online store is to expand the outreach and tap in the maximum number of potential customers. An online store can give us a huge fortune as a long-term business even if it started on a small or medium scale.

Let’s have a look at how an online store is different from physical shops and what benefits are there for you that are not available otherwise.

No requirement of physical space:

Your presence will be web-based so you don’t need to worry about hiring or purchasing a physical space, buying bulk/huge consignments of items or goods at once, and their storage. However, you have to pay for a domain name and relevant charges.

No middleman hassles:

You can pick up the items/goods direct from a factory or manufacturer and transport it to the customer at retail price. Your profit ratio will also be high because of no middleman. A very useful tip for small and medium-sized industries and home-based handicrafts is that they can reach out to potential customers and get orders directly. But for this, they will have to spend reasonably on advertising.

Work according to the capacity and resources:

Are you to manage the store on your own or is a team or family there to help you? Make a work plan accordingly. If you are the sole manager, you can do it as part-time along with your job. You can expand it according to the available resources and when it begins to give you a reasonable monthly or annual income, you can quit your job or other work.

Manage it while on the go:

You can manage your online store while travelling with the help of a tab, laptop, or smart phone. No hassle of being bound to sit in a place.

Long-term benefits and safe investment:

You invest a small or reasonable amount according to the circumstances in an online store at first. So, the investment is safer than other businesses. First, it is slow but with the passage of time, it starts gaining customers and huge benefits. It will fetch long-term benefits if you keep on working ‘slow and steady’.

Product-wise distribution of work:

If a team or family is helping you out in managing and maintaining the online store, you can distribute work product-wise. Like, females can handle cosmetics, handbags, ladies’ garments etc., while males can take care of technical and electronic items. This work distribution can make things easy.

Now have a look at a few requirements also for maintaining a great online store and reaping the benefits.

Attention-grabbing and user-friendly design:

Hire the designers and inventory experts for designing the store who are already experienced in this field. For multiple types of items in the store, you will have to make sections. Links, buttons for easy navigation, ordering and cart, newsletter sign-up, and other necessary things must be there. Keep on reviewing the design every two years or so.

Advertisement and social media presence:

All of us use social media these days so it is a great way to catch up with the customers and market. Make social media pages/profiles of your online store and available products, and rightly advertise it to the specific audience.

High quality products and customer service:

Make no compromise on quality and customer service! Sometimes, customers complain that they get a different item from the one they ordered or selected. This puts a bad impression on customers and the repute of online store suffers. Give customers what you claim to give. Only good customer service can earn you a great name. The better the customer service, the more positive the outcome.

On time response and delivery:

Check out the orders regularly and deliver the items on time. Set a specific period for delivery like 24 hours for local orders and 48 or 72 hours for out of the city and away places. Delay in response and delivery is going to hurt your business and reputation. Arrange for a live chat with customers as well.

Product description and charges clearly specified:

Specify the charges including product price and shipment fee clearly with each product. There must not a confusion between the price mentioned online and the price demanded at the time of delivery or purchase.

Wise spending:

Hire a financial consultant who can guide you concerning how to spend money and on which things. Do research and study about the operations and running of online stores. Your financial consultant must be knowledgeable and expert in online store management as well as inventory.

Storage space for expansion:

If and when you need a new space for storage, you will have to arrange for it as soon as possible. The internet is the greatest source of having knowledge concerning online store management, inventory, and storage. Study the way it works. You may need to do things like that in future for your own store. Keep a keen eye on everything going on and be ready to act according to the new situations.

Hard work for reputation:

You have to spare a reasonable amount of time for making your online store a success. First, you may not need to give long hours but once your store start running successfully, you will have to give full-time and attention to it.

With dedication and hard work, you will surely get the result of your efforts.

The internet began in the 1980s and became mainstream by the 1990s when the likes of Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, and Google jumpstarted their empires. By the middle of the 2000s when YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter opened their doors for the masses to jump in, the world had become a huge flattened global village. Today we are the citizens of the world. George Orwell’s nineteen eighty-four, first written in 1949, is here but unlike the dire prediction of 1984, the internet has democratized communication and commerce and nothing can stop its onward march.

While it took many global brands hundreds of years to acquire the status MNC (Multi-National Corporation) the internet is producing globe-spanning companies and billionaires at a rate and speed never seen or heard in history. While before the internet boom, there was only one documented employee who later became a billionaire, in the person of the late Roberto Goizueta, the former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of one of theglobal brands, the likes of Steve Ballmer, Tim Cook, and Meg Whitman, to mention three, became billionaires while directors and employees of Microsoft, Apple and eBay respectively.

Needless saying the founders of the global e-commerce giants like Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jack Ma, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, to mention the topmost echelons are billionaires many times over. By 2018, Jeff Bezos had become not only the richest man in the world but the richest in all of modern history, with his net worth topping $104billion, barely 23 years after founding Amazon.

From publicly available information, the top 5% to 10% of employees in most of the global internet giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Ali Baba are multiple millionaires. The internet, of course, has also aided other global giants like Berkshire Hathaway, Apple, Microsoft, HP, and GE, to explode further also making a bigger percentage of their employees millionaires like never before.

While you needed millions in capital and thousands of employees pre-internet to scale your business operations to make it to the big league, today you can become a millionaire with just your laptop and internet connectivity. Indeed, today the extent and how fast you can grow to millionaire status is limited only by your imagination.

To show how imagination triumphs online, let’s take the founder of CD Baby, Derek Sivers, as an extreme example. An introvert, looking for a cure he joined a circus and became a clown; perfected his guitar playing skills; started producing songs; and became a musician and an artist. Long story short, he produced a music CD, which shops around his neighborhood would not stock. To solve his problem, he set up a website, CD Baby, in 1998 and started selling his music there and also invited other musicians to join. Just ten years later, he sold CD Baby for $22million in 2008.

Expectedly Americans, people from Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel dominate the internet but anybody from any part of the globe can jump in. As someone who has studied the internet phenomenon for a while, these are the top seven mistakes that newbies to the internet make from my own opinion. Read and learn how to zigzag your way to internet success.

1. Hanging out solely with the internet ‘gurus’: Beware of gurus. They are in a class of their own. While the majority of them have made a further fortune online, the majority of the more familiar names made theirs before the advent of the internet. Why follow the gurus when you’re not in the same league with them? It’s like learning to run 100 meters dash and heading to the Olympic to compete with the likes of Usain Bolt, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Magic “Bullet” Johnson, and the like. You’ll only end up in frustration. The solution, look for someone who is three to five steps ahead of you and learn from her.

2. Trying to do many things at the same time: Doing this is going to be your fastest road to failure because you’re going to be a jack of all trades and master of none. Do you want to set up e-commerce, a market place, membership website, or do you want to learn HTML, how to code, develop software, or do you want to learn search engine optimization, develop eproducts, or apps? Decide and focus single-mindedly until you prevail in one area before you jump to another.

3. Not putting in enough effort: It’s easy to be misled into thinking that making millions is a walk through the park and anybody can do it. Thanks to motivational speakers, you’re made to believe anything you can visualize and believe in, you can achieve. Beware, if it were that easy, we’d all be millionaires. True, it’s easier to succeed online than offline because of the ease with which you can scale, however, you still need to burn the proverbial midnight oil, put in the hours, toil and sweat, put in sufficient capital investment and learning before you start seeing the needle moving in your favour.

4. Lacking Skills or relying on shallow skills: When people read books and watch YouTube videos with headlines such as, How I Made My First $1million Online, How I Sold 1million eBooks Online and Set It All Up And Go Have Fun And See The Millions Roll In, they take in what they hear hook, nail, and sinker.” Again if it were that easy everybody would be a millionaire. As Tony Robbins consistently says, “It’s not what you know it’s what you consistently do” that matters. Though thousands are making it online, the technology for spectacular success is quite formidable and beyond the grasp of the majority of people. So be prepared to learn new skills like making videos, writing copies, scripting, podcasting, webcasting, doing webinars and so on. Though you can outsource things that are beyond you, you still need to know who you can outsource to and even what to outsource.

5. Not developing online assets early enough: Online assets such as websites, blogs, YouTube channels, vlogs, eproducts, to mention a few, enable you to scale fast and monetize early. The mistake most newbies do is to wait until they are perfect. You don’t need to be perfect to get your first website up and running. Sometimes newbies think the website is about beauty. It’s not. It’s about functionality. Though aesthetics has its place, what is paramount is functionality. Can people interact easily with you and your website or blog? Without online assets it’s difficult for people to know you, meet you and enter into dialogue with you. So tomorrow get someone to design a website for you. If you have nothing to put there, just put your picture and say hello, my name is Internet Newbie. You may say I’m on Facebook; just know they serve different purposes.

6. Not Getting A Coach Early Enough: Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard, has the following quote attributed to him, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” The biggest mistake you will make while trying to carve out a piece of the internet cake for yourself is to go it alone. You can, but beware, you may spend years trying to figure things out what to do while what you already knew or was in vogue is already obsolete. Sure, you can learn literally anything through Google and YouTube, smart newbies get coaches and mentors to show them the way around the web. Some newbies think they cannot afford a coach or coaches because they erroneously believe coaches are for elites tennis players like Serena Williams, elite boxers like Floyd Mayweather, and elite golfers like Tiger Woods. Nothing can be further from the truth. Anybody can afford a coach. It all depends on where you’re looking. Go out and look for a coach and you would have surmounted all the other mistakes in one fell swoop.

7. Lacking Mental Toughness: This is the toughness mistake to overcome. Newbies who lack mental toughness get easily discouraged and give up too soon. If you’ve not read the book, Acres of Diamond, borrow a copy from your local library and devour. Mental toughness means believing in your vision, mission, and goal. It’s noteworthy to say that Amazon lost money for 58 quarters (about 14 years) before it became stupendously profitable. If you lack all the other ingredients but develop mental toughness, you will prevail.

I have arranged these mistakes in order, with the ones easy to discontinue or discard at the top and the more difficult ones at the bottom. Mindset cuts across all the other mistakes. Take care of your mindset and your mindset will take care of the other mistakes. Do not just believe in your vision, start doing, start implementing, start executing, start getting your hands dirty! You don’t’ need more knowledge. What you need is full belief in yourself, believe in what you already know, and an effective coach to show you the tweaks, bends and turns of the internet and before long you would have carved out a piece of the internet cake for yourself and loved ones.

What do Josef Fritzl, Ariel Castro, and Old Nick have in common? It is the fact that they all kidnapped young women, placed them in a room, imprisoned them there for a number of years, raped and starved them, but were eventually caught and convicted to life imprisonment. The only difference is that Fritzl and Castro are real people, while Old Nick is a fictional character from Emma Donoghue’s novel, Room, which was subsequently made into a film with the same title. Donoghue’s book was also inspired by the Fritzl case – he kept his own daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

Watching the film Room, one can’t help but recall the shocking stories of Fritzl and Castro, and the ordeal that the women they kidnapped had to go through.

Room introduces us to Ma (Brie Larson) and her son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), who just turned five years-old. The room is actually a shed on the backyard of Old Nick’s compound. We learn that Ma is actually Joy Newman who has been in that shed for seven years. When she was seventeen, she was tricked by Old Nick that his dog fell down somewhere and that it needed help. She helped him, but as a result she got trapped. She eventually got pregnant, but she decided to keep her child claiming later in an interview that her son is nobody’s but hers. She has developed a certain co-existence with her captor because he brings necessary items like food and clothes for survival, but for her son, Old Nick is someone you had better stay away from and avoid. Every night when Old Nick comes to sleep with her, she would place Jack in the wardrobe. When Old Nick showed an interest to Jack, she was very protective. They had managed to escape, but after seven years of being caged in a tiny windowless room, Joy found the world too much to take in.

This film does not show the harrowing details of being imprisoned in a room, since it is told from the point of view of a child. One can catch the fragmented cinematic movement in the film as Jack’s playfulness and imagination are emphasized. Proving to be resourceful, Ma used eggshells and tissue rolls as toys for Jack. Ma’s fierce love for her son, Jack allowed the boy to grow up with fondness for literature and much gumption. When Ma came up with a bold plan for escape, it was through Jack that it was materialized. When Ma decided to take an overdosage of pills, it was Jack who discovered her and called for help. That tie that connects the mother and son, akin to an umbilical cord is stressed without so much drama.

Larson and Tremblay gave such outstanding performances here. Tremblay’s acting is so innocent and raw that it feels like he is not acting at all. Joan Allen as Ma’s mother also gave brilliant supporting act by displaying a range of emotions from relief, anger, and guilt. If there is one downside to this film, it is casting William H. Macy as Ma’s Dad. He overplayed the part, and the script could have given him more speaking parts more than just his saying sorry over and over again.

Fritzl, Castro, and Old Nick also have another thing in common. The women they have kidnapped managed to successfully escape and lived to tell their tales. Room will give you a glimpse of what it means to be in their shoes.

Jack Ma, “How Can Life Be Fair? You are born in the village, Bill Gates’ Children are born in the Gates’ family.

How can you ever compete?

But one aspect is fair in Life. The Gates’ have 24 hours in a day. YOU have 24 hours in a day as well.”

How we all spend our 24 hours varies, but what we do with our individual 24 hours will determines the outcome of our tomorrow. We all know someone that is currently living a life that seems far more desirable than our current situation. They often take exotic holidays, frequent branded boutiques, eat out at the best places in town and never seems to run out of money.

Don’t blame others for being Rich, Don’t be jealous of others being Wealthy. Instead, focus on how can We Constantly improve and change ourselves, enriching ourselves by providing immense value to the society. Every time, we convince ourselves that this will be the time we eat healthier, work out more, and read more books but unfortunately, many of us fail to prepare adequately for these lifestyle changes, and wind up losing momentum in less than a month. Back to envying others.

Our attitude determines our behavioural outlook in turns, determines the present state of our life. Let’s face everything in Life with a strong positive attitude, and you might just start to find yourself prospering.

Here’s a few steps that I have learnt from my mentors that I applied and changed my life around and everyone can do it too.

Step 1: Be Uncomfortable. Step out of your Comfort zone. We stretch our own limits and unleash a little of our true potential every time we step out of our comfort zone and do things that we do not feel comfortable doing. How about starting from today, try to meet and know 2 more people every single day? You would have expand your circle of network by 60 people at the end of the month.

Step 2: Don’t go back into your Comfort Zone. It just warm and fuzzy to get back into bed. But remember, as you snooze in your comfort zone, there are friends, family members and strangers that are breaking their limits and using the same hours that you have, improving themselves, meeting new clients, coming up with new strategies. And when the New Year comes, will you be the one that is excited to meet everyone and share your new found lifestyle or the one that is silently thinking that another year have gone by and life still sucks?

Step 3: Be a little more Hardworking, a little more Objective Driven. That is your ONLY responsibility, do a little more than the person sitting next to you, and aim to hit more objectives than what your company sets for you. Your colleagues and peers will start to wonder why they can never seems to catch up to you.

Step 4: If you are unhappy with your job, you can always change your job. Stop working there. The more you work, the more you hate your work. Isn’t it pointless? Look for alternatives, what resonates with your core being? Creating Events? Having a cafe that serves quality health food? Educating? I personally enjoy helping businesses to improve their sales, helping individuals to succeed in life, showing them businesses that can improve their lifestyle. It provides me a sense of satisfaction when the people around succeed.

At this very minute, Think what you are going to do differently and Start doing it from today. I will be looking forward to hearing your results after 1 month.

There is a Bill Gates in Asia; he is Jack Ma. Jack Ma is the founder of Alibaba Group. Jack Ma at present is the richest person in China.

1. Our world is daily changing.

Jack Ma said, “Please tell your children that the world is changing every day and no one is going to wait for you in the past. When the lighter was invented, matches slowly disappeared. When the calculator was created, abacus faded away. When digital camera was designed, the market for negative films dwindled. When direct market selling/internet-based selling arose, traditional marketing declined. When Smartphone with 4G (wireless internet access) was introduced to the world, you no longer need to turn on your computer at home. When WeChat and WhatsApp (mobile text/voice/video messaging) were developed, traditional text messaging became less popular as before. Let’s not blame, ‘Who took over whose business.’ This happened only because people are more adjustable and adaptable to new ideas and changes in the world.”

The world keeps changing every day; I am inclined to believe that it is changing very fast in this generation that it did in the past. I looked up to the owner of a local buy and sell tabloid because he ingeniously conceived the idea of printing his tabloid and giving it away to any takers. He earns from the advertisements from companies and individuals who would like to get their products and services to the reading public.

Unfortunately, he did not respond to the threat of the internet. Instead of putting up a website to house the ads of his customers, he fought by discounting the cost of the advertisements. Soon, his business went into demise because people would rather go to the internet than read his paper. Enterprising businessmen reinvented his idea. Instead of a tabloid, they put up a website. This original buy and sell businessman could have survived the change if he transformed his idea and used a new platform. Instead of reacting and decreasing the cost of ad space, he could have transferred his business to the internet. He has already built the brand and has existing customers (advertisers and readers) while the new businessmen were just starting from scratch.

We must be sensitive to change and adapt to it very fast. Otherwise, we will find ourselves left out and our business will die.

2. Don’t just watch.

Someone asked Jack Ma, “What is your secret for success?” He said, “Really simple… I am doing (action) while you’re only watching.”Sometimes the best solution requires only a simple answer – do it; implement it.

Don’t just watch the successful people get more success; work to achieve your own success. As soon as you have figured out what needs to be done, implement it immediately. Otherwise, someone else will do it.

3. The most liked idea may not be a good idea.

I read that when Jack Ma does a brain storming session with his team, he does not get the idea that most of his team mates will vote on. He reasons that if most of the people want this idea then it is most likely that other businessmen are thinking of the same idea.

I hope these thoughts will help you as you evaluate your business and the challenges for 2016. Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.