Cliche for some, unnecessary for others & even, to some extent, it did sound arrogant to me. A quarter of a century old with barely 2 years of work experience and over 5 years of life changing experience, I realise that my time on Earth is constantly being challenged.

I came to start writing on this blog of mine pascal89.svbtle.com to learn to express my ideas as concisely as possible. At the same time, I wanted to experiment content marketing and web analytics.

Then came this new idea. To write a book

Writingcan be a therapy for your-self. It can be an intellectual and yet, emotionally intensive experience. Writing can be a game or a hobby. Writing can help you live forever and it can help you realise what is missing and is not missing in your life.

And a brief disclaimer: Even if you are bad a writing, which is fact for most of us, including myself, we live in a century where...

The 3 “Funds” that Every Young People “Must-Have”

This short article will capture the essence of my thoughts on each funds.

Retirement Fund

A retirement or pension fund is basically, in this article’s context, a lump sum which will come to maturity after a certain amount of years. Usually & ideally, it will come to maturity after months/years after you stop working.

It is important for many reasons and again, in this context is about having a fair amount of money for you to live on until your time is right. Obviously, you will sooner or later stop working and face a reduction/complete cut from a regular income. Plus, you can’t always rely on the government.

If you are still a university student or just graduating, it is NOW the best time to start putting money aside for your retirement.

Travel Fund

You may call it vacation fund or graduation trip fund or get-away fund...

A perspective on my valuable time on Earth, and is an interesting feedback loop mechanism for myself. I hope you will find it of interest to you.

Here is the visual framework and take it easy, it is not meant to be accessed academically.

Enthusiastic

A definition for enthusiastic is to be filled with an ardent motivation and interest for something.

What are you enthusiastic about?

Let me share a personal example as a case study.

Thrilled by Lean Start-Up, I read the book and read blog articles about it. Consciously as well as unconsciously, I have been putting into practice the Lean Start-Up methodology in a lot of aspects of my personal and professional life.

By the way, I will be mentoring at Lean Startup Machine Workshop in Lisbon in a couple of weeks.

The tough part is to explain WHY I am enthusiastic about the Lean Start-Up. In short and in my personal opinion, I...

3 Facts We All Know About

Life is non-linear, ups and downs.

Nothing comes easy, no pain no gain.

Everyone is unique, DNA proves it.

3 Key Lessons from My Personal Experience.

Lesson 1
If life is non-linear, it means each and every one of us can find an open door at any point in life.

Months ago, I was in a transition from developed to developing country. I just ended my contract in Hong Kong where it is believed that opportunities abound (true by the way). Landing at home in Mauritius, I faced a sudden reverse cultural shock which led to a “virtual paralysis” and prevented me from seeing the world clearly.

I’ve learnt to make peace with my environment. And it is a mind-game.

Lesson 2
No pain no gain.

In Malaysia, I spent countless hours working on leadership development. And always, starting with myself. From joining student organizations to volunteering as a campus...

2 Key Take-Aways from a TED Talk & 3 Questions to Ask Yourself

I recently watched a TED video featuring Stefan Sagmeister, a graphic designer from Austrian who closes his studio in New York every 7 years to take a sabbatical year. Watch the video here

To save you some time watching the 19 minutes video, I wrote two key take-aways from his talk and here they are,

Take-Away Number 1

Your job is what you do for money, from 9 to 5 (depends where you live & on your company’s policy) and eventually, you will be always awaiting for TGIF.

Your career is a step above a job where you seek advancement both personally and professionally through promotion or other means.

Your calling is what is intrinsically fulfilling and you would most likely do it without financial compensation or care whether it is Monday or Friday.

If you’re in a job and haven’t found your career or even, your...

Dedicated to all my lecturers who are truly passionate about knowledge transfer

Value starts with a goal

University is either about a single goal or multiple goals.

The most common reason to attend university is to graduate with a good degree in order to get a good job. I’ve used the word “good” twice in a sentence, that’s not good at all. It is a single goal.

Looking back in 2012 when I graduated from university, I sorted out what were my goals (1) before I joined university (2) during university (3) and right after I completed my degree.

At each stage, my goal had been different. In fact, I had multiple goals.

Skipping the goal (1) as its the most obvious guess. Moving on. During university, I had the most not-so-unique goal of “to just graduate” and to find a job as soon as possible. Something I achieved.

Yet, goal (3) is obviously a step above or, perhaps below. I...

This article came up after a brief discussion on Facebook and I believed I have some experiences worth sharing. I do believe the single most important aspect of the question can be answered in five words.

It Is Always About You.

Everything is relative. Fortunately or Unfortunately.
So,
If you are planning to move to a new country to start afresh,
If you are planning to move to a new country to start continue a career,
If you are planning to move to a new country because you want to.
Then,
Are you seeking a better life?

Define what is “a better life”…

However,

Here are 3 factors used to analyse each of my points.
(a) Time-horizon
(b) Professional & Personal Experiences (Always together!)

The top 3 points that I have in mind (right now),

Salary

If it is not the salary alone, it is probably because of the relative perception that your new salary will be in a higher valued...

You Gotta Start Somewhere

But where?

It has been a week now since I reached Porto. I flew all the way from Mauritius. And if you wanna know how far, click here. After a few hours of flight, including a brief stopover in Dubai, I reached Lisbon (the capital city of Portugal) and took a train straight to Porto where my new life journey really started in Europe.

Let me briefly share the challenges that I faced as well as the positive highlights.

Challenge 1

Meals are expensive in restaurant(s) and fast-food.
Therefore, Cook Your Own Meal.

(Btw, I’m an experimental entrepreneur who tries random stuffs when I have some free time.)

I experimented

Tasted good enough to live until today :)

** What’s next? **
Try roasting a whole chicken in a electric oven. Giving myself a long time (6 months) to give it a try.

Challenge 2

It is Spring in Portugal but, the average temperature...

In Part 1, I spoke about the personal challenges that I faced Find it [HERE](pascal89.svbtle.com/on-learning-a-new-language-1-of-3)

I strongly believe that English is and will remain the world’s most powerful and used lingua franca for business and for a vast majority of travelers, at least for the next century. Yet, we live in a world where people are now more conscious about discovering about themselves, connecting with other people and above all, be able to live life fully.

There are a few benefits to learning a new language. I love 3 of them and would share it with.

3 Personal Reasons Why Learning a New Language ROCK!

(1) ❝Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.❞ - Chinese Proverb

I interpret this proverb as a valuable asset which, unless you forget, should never lose its value. Whether it is on the job market or in your future adventures, a foreign...

A HEADACHE for SOME

It could be. I would not deny it.

Quick Background Info I’m Mauritian and my mother tongue is Mauritian Creole. I speak French and English at near native level, but this is changing. Learnt Mandarin Chinese for a few years, with several informal short-term immersions during my travels to the Mainland of China. Learnt Portuguese as well. So, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese are basics only. However, I am moving faster on Portuguese, which I chose over Mandarin Chinese, as my focus for the next 6 months. After which, I will review and make a decision whether to persist with Portuguese or to focus on Mandarin Chinese.

3 Key Personal Challenges

(1) Practicing

This is a definite common problem. Whether it is to speak or to write, we need to practice. As a long-time language learner, I am guilty of not regularly practicing the language which I am “aiming” to get...