HOW I MADE MILLIONS BY APPLYING

LESSONS LEARNT FROM TUN DAIM

Azizi Ali
MBA ChFC
HOW I MADE MILLIONS BY APPLYING LESSONS
LEARNT FROM TUN DAIM

Published by TrueWealth Sdn Bhd

Tel: 03-7880 1051
Fax: 03-7880 8051
E-mail: info@MillionairesPlanet.com
website: www.MillionairesPlanet.com

Copyright © 2008 by Azizi Ali

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means,
electronics or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage or
retrieval system, whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher.

First Edition Nov 2008

This book is for educational purpose only. The strategies outlined may not be suitable for every individual and are
not guaranteed or warranted, whether express or implied, to produce any particular results. The advice, ideas and
suggestions are written as a general guide, and under the assunmption that specific professional advice may be
necessary.

No warranty (whether express or implied) is made with respect to the accuracy, adequacy, reliability, suitability,
applicability or completeness of the information contained herein, and both the author and publisher specifically
disclaim any responsibility or liability for any damages, lost profits, losses or risks, whether personal or otherwise,
which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, for the use and application of any of the contents of this
book.
 CONTENTS

____________________________________________________________________

Page

Introduction 4

1. Focus on your dream 6

2. Get into business to build wealth 7
3. Set goals and targets 8
4. You need two capitals 9
5. Spend less than what you earn 11
6. Reinvest your profits 14
7. Continue your learning 15
8. Don’t borrow to speculate 17
9. Choose profession wisely 19
10. Manage your time well 21
11. Share 23

Final words 26
Introduction

We all have heroes.

I had many heroes along the way. When I was a young boy, my heroes included movie stars and
sport stars. As I grew up and circumstances in my life changed, the heroes also changed. On
the most parts, I admired people who stood for their rights, who braved onslaughts, and came
through victorious in the end. So yes, I have a soft spot for the underdogs.

I could relate to underdogs. I came from a small kampung in Perlis and went to an equally small
school in Kangar. I am short, not too good looking, not too talented, not blessed with any special
traits. Just about the only thing I had was my dream to make something out of my life. I wanted
to see the world, meet different people, marry a beautiful girl, have bright happy children, make
a difference to the world, become rich and live my life to the fullest. Admittedly, these lofty
dreams must have seemed light years away from the little boy playing in the paddy fields at the
back of his grandmother’s house.

Of course, dreaming is easy. Further, dreams are free. Making the dreams come true is another
matter altogether. They seemed so sky high and so overwhelming. Even if I wanted to try to
achieve some of those dreams, I didn’t know what to do to achieve them. There were many gaps
– huge gaps – in the picture. Taking one example: becoming a millionaire. Man, I have never
even heard of a Malay who is a millionaire!

And then I read the news about the new Finance Minister of Malaysia in 1984.

And the more I read about him, the more enthralled I became. He came from Kedah, which
neighbours Perlis; he was a lawyer before going into business, and lo and behold, he was a mil-
lionaire. And I hope he will forgive me for writing this, he is as tall as me, which as you know,
not very tall! Now this is someone I could certainly relate to!

Obviously there were many rich Malays even back then but that was the first time I heard of a
Malay who is a millionaire. Until that time, I never even equated the two words – Malay and
millionaire – together. Millionaires were white men from distant shores and Chinese towkays in
their gleaming Mercedes.

But here was a guy who did it.

And because he did it, it meant that others could do it as well. The mould had been broken and
the floodgates were now opened. There is a way. All I needed to do was follow in the footsteps
and the gold will be mine too.

Coming back to our main story, I started to read his writings, the books others had written about
him and followed his moves closely. A couple of years ago, I finally got to meet my hero. To say
that I was happy would be an understatement. The icing on the cake was when he agreed to give
a talk on money to our M-Club (graduates of the Millionaires School).

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So these are the lessons that I had learnt from him – directly and indirectly. Many of the lessons
were from the talk that he gave that night.

Table of Content 5
The lessons

1. Focus on your dream

Tun Daim had one aim in his life – to build wealth. He was clear about this and he was totally
focused on this one dream. While I’m sure that he had other hopes and dreams as well, this one
dream burnt brighter than others. So everything he did was in line to help him achieve this aim.
All the steps were geared to help him achieve his dream.

Application:

I am totally focused on my goal of becoming a deca-millionaire. I have identified the steps that
will bring me to my goal, and then I just work the plan. Of course, I correct and fine tune the plan
as I go along. Things change so I have to adapt my plans accordingly. But the main thing is that I
just do things that are on the plan: write, speak and run my business. By the way, and to preempt
adverse comments from the critics that I don’t know how to enjoy life, I love doing all that. I love
to write, and think nothing of spending hours writing. Now I do realize that most people hate
to write and believe it as a punishment for misdeeds committed in a previous life, but writing is
pure pleasure to me. I could spend days and nights just writing – it is heaven to me. I also love to
speak. To see eyes light up, to see heads nodding and to observe whole groups being transformed
right before my eyes, man, life doesn’t get any better! And running a business has got to be the
most exciting sport of them all. Anything goes! You make your own rules, you do what you want,
you change when you want. If you do it right, just like the athletes at the Olympics, you get your
medal. And the medal here is the profit from the business.

So basically I do the things that will bring me to that goal. Things that are not in the plan and
things that do not point me towards my goal – I don’t do. This means that there are many things
I do NOT do: spend hours reading the newspapers, watch TV four hours a day (I watch TV only
90 minutes a week), listen to the radio, surf the Internet, gossip, attend meetings that last more
than one hour, do anything that takes too much time and cost a lot of money (like puffing cigars
and playing golf). While I am certainly not saying that these things are negative in any way, the
fact remains that they do not help me get to where I want to go.

And although I say it as a joke, it is not far from the truth: I will only go out from my house for
two reasons. One: to make money. Two: to save money.

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2. Get into business to build wealth

It is no secret that if you want to build serious wealth, there is only one way to do it – get into
business. While it is true that you can be financially free even as an employee but if you want to
be seriously rich, you must be in business.

This is because the return in business is simply out of this world – if you make it.

For an employee to get a ten percent yearly increase in salary would be considered very good in
this day and age. However, one can get a significantly higher increase, exceeding hundreds or
even thousands of percent from business! While this is not common but it can be done and more
importantly, it has been done.

That was why Tun Daim left the Civil Service and went into business. The point that a lot people
missed was that he was already successful before he started his business. He was a magistrate,
then a public prosecutor, and then worked as a lawyer in his own firm Daim and Gamany. Back
in the 1970s, there were only a handful of Malay lawyers. So he did not have to do anything else
to become ‘successful’ because he was already successful. But ‘success’ or comfortable were not
what he was after; his goal was to become seriously rich. As that picture did not fit in his dream,
he was willing to walk away and enter the turbulent world of business.

This is the equivalent of leaving a beauty queen for a wild hippie.

Application:

While I am still an employed as a pilot, I am also a business owner. In case anyone is wondering
why I still fly, the answer is simple: because I love to fly. And because I get paid half a million
a year to do what I love to do!

But I must add that the money from the business is more than my income as a pilot. Further, there
is no cap on the business income. The harder I work, the more is the income from the business.
Based on the current rate of growth, the company can reach the RM10 million mark in the not
too distant future. Further, I do not even have to be around for the money to come in. TrueWealth
has been systemised so that it continues to work regardless of my presence.

On top of the unlimited income potential, being in business also allows for many wonderful tax
breaks. For starters, I do not own a car. All my vehicles are owned by the company, which allows
us some wonderful tax breaks. Next, my wife and I have personal assistants who do most of the
nitty gritty work, leaving our time free for our business and ourselves, which is certainly very
nice. I highly recommend it to anyone!

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3. Set goals and targets

If you do not have a goal, then you will be meandering all over the place. Going left, right, front,
back and perhaps even staying still. The good thing is that anywhere is already a success! The
tragic thing is that you could be thinking that you are doing fine. When you have nowhere to go,
anywhere is fine. Even getting next door is already a success. So while meandering is a wonder-
ful thing for Feng Shui, it is a different ball of wax when it comes to life and business. You must
set your goals and targets. If nothing else, the exercise will focus your attention, and in turn, your
effort. This will make you more effective and in time, more efficient. Even if you missed the
target, you will still be better off than without it.

Application:

My personal target is to be a deca-millionaire by June 2017. When I made that goal some years
ago, it seemed out of reach, almost a pie-in-the-sky thing. But because I have set that as my goal,
my attention was focused to achieving it. In fact, the focus is so precise that I see nothing but
that one dream. My effort is geared towards that one goal. And the universe is a wonderful place.
If you are clear about what you want, and do not send conflicting messages, it will bend over
backwards to help you get it. It will help you, point the way, light the tunnel, and even create
miracles for you. I know this to be true because I have received help from many sources, even
from totally unexpected sources and events.

Of course, this does not mean that everything went according to plans and things went like clock-
work. Some actions took me south of where I wanted to go. Some things did distract me. But
every time I raised my head, I would see that deca-millionaire star in the sky, shining as brightly
as ever for me, reminding me of the goal and my dreams. I would refocus my attention, refine
my efforts and continue to sail on towards that dreams.

I have no doubt whatsoever that I will achieve my dreams.

If you want to know more about the incredible power of goal setting, check out my Handbook
‘The Most Powerful Tool’. You can practically guarantee yourself of achieving all your goals if
you apply the techniques shared in the book.

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4. You need two capitals

Of course, saying ‘go into business to build wealth’ is easy but to actually do it is another. It
is hard to be successful in business and even harder to remain successful. As most people are
aware, Tun Daim failed in his first two attempts at business: a salt-making venture and a plastic
factory. So he can certainly vouch that it is not easy to make it big in business. (If it is easy, then
everyone will become multi-millionaires!)

The main drawback of doing business is that it requires two types of capital – money and knowl-
edge. To have one is already hard enough, but to have both require a lot of discipline, effort and
luck. The reality is that not many people have both.

One of the main reasons why there are not many Malay businessmen is that they lack the money
to start a business. And without the money, there is very little chance of them being able to start
a business. Even when they do have money, often time, the amount is too little, which means
they cannot sustain the cashflow. End result, they close down the business after just one or two
years of operation.

Now while money is important, it is not enough. You also need the knowledge to be successful in
business. This includes the operations, financial, human resources, selling and marketing skills.
Unfortunately, too many people concentrate on the operation part only. They open a restaurant
because they can cook or open a clinic because they are doctors. While being able to cook is
important, it is even more critical to manage the cashflow. It is more critical to market and sell
your products and services. The operations part is the easy stuff. What is hard is making a profit
and sustaining the cashflow. Unfortunately again, too many people lack these skills.

So to recap, you need to have both – money and knowledge – to be successful in business. You
need to save money to build up your capital and you also need to learn the skills to run a business
successfully. This may mean saving part of your income every month as you learn the trade in
your business. This may mean working in the trade where you want to start your business. This
may mean reading a lot of books to equip yourself with the knowledge required to give your
venture a fighting chance to become successful.

To illustrate my point: very few of us would dare venture into the rainforest without undergo-
ing jungle survival training and equipping ourselves with some support equipment, which may
include compass, GPS, knife, food, drinks, tent and an experienced guide. We know that our
chances of crossing the forest, even just to survive, would be very slim, if not none, without all
these support equipments.

Yet, tens of thousands think nothing of starting a business without having any knowledge on
business at all. Tens of thousands think nothing of starting a business with no ‘qualification’ ex-
cept for having a little bit of money to spare. What is even more astounding is that not only they
think they will survive but they expect the venture to be mega successful, and that they will soon
be rolling in the dough. Not surprisingly, the end result for most of these ventures is a fiery stop.
Store closing, money lost, money owed, broken hearts, broken friendships, family separating.

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Application:

I will vouch the truth in this lesson.

Firstly, let me talk about the money part. I was already a millionaire before I started TrueWealth.
So I had the money. Further, the company made money from day one so it was certainly a lot of
fun.

However, like any business, we had a serious downturn a couple of years ago. Our distributor
changed their book ordering system which effected our sales tremendously. To make matters
worse, we had to move office twice in the space of just seven months as the owner of the office
lot that we were renting did not pay the assessment tax which led the MPPJ people to hassle us
for the payment. (They still hassled us even after we told them that we were just renting there and
they were hassling the wrong people.) So despite spending over RM75,000 for the renovation,
we moved office again just seven months later, and therefore had to spend another RM75,000 to
do up the new office.

So for the first time in our history, we faced a cash crunch. Fortunately, I already had an overdraft
facility in place to cover any eventuality. I must admit that I never thought that I would ever need
that money. Remember that the company was printing money since I opened the doors. That
overdraft plus my own savings saved the day. And oh yes, I went to meet our suppliers and busi-
ness partners and explained to them the situation. I did not hide but told them of the actual situa-
tion. I requested for a little bit of time and some breathing space. All of them understood, and all
of them gave us that little bit that we needed. In time, we did come through. So now, everybody’s
happy again because everybody is back printing money again.

So yes, folks, you need money for business.

Now let’s talk about the knowledge part. I certainly did not have the knowledge required to be-
come a successful businessman when I started my first business – a music shop – eighteen years
ago. I did not come from a family of businessmen and worse, never ran a business all my life.
So despite the burning entrepreneurial dream, despite giving the venture my heart and soul, and
despite working very hard seven days a week, it was not too surprising when I had to close up
shop two years later, and lost over RM100,000.

The day I closed the shop, I wrote on a piece of paper the lessons I learnt from the venture. (I still
have that piece of paper with me.) Though there were many reasons for the failure, I knew why I
failed – my knowledge was insufficient. I vowed to do better the next time I started a business.

And I did. I read hundreds of books on money and business, went back to college to get my MBA
and asked for help from some successful businessmen. Seven hundred books later, I did make it
good. Today, many people consider me an authority on business and money matter.

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5. Spend less than what you earn

Needless to say, you must always ensure that you spend less than what you bring in. Always
ensure that the outgoing is less than the incoming cash.

While this applies all the time, it is very critical in the early days of the business. You must con-
serve as much cash as possible. Try to get as much credit as possible so you can conserve your
cash.

You must also have the discipline to give priority to the business. Too many people spend a lot
of money doing up the office, the shop, and ‘looking successful’. As soon as the business makes
money, they rush to buy a Mercedes. While there is certainly nothing wrong with the car, it is
wrong when you cannot afford it. In the early days of the business, each ringgit is very critical.
The business needs every single ringgit if it is to survive and thrive. So saving the money is cer-
tainly more critical than buying a new flashy.

I always find it incredible when people claim that you need to have a flashy car in order to be-
come a successful businessman. I suppose this line had been repeated so often that a lot of people
(usually non-businessmen) actually believed it to be true. Well it may be true but not in my ex-
perience. In the last eight years since my name became known as a financial wizard, no one ever
asked me about the car I drove. I think no one cared. What everyone was interested in was how
I could help them make more money.

Tun Daim also laughs when people say that you have to play golf to become a successful busi-
nessman. The statement is certainly off the mark. (My guess is that line is promoted by the
people selling golf club memberships!) Tun Daim does not play golf. So it is certainly not true
that you have to play golf to become a successful businessman. He said if you don’t believe him,
ask the PM (Tun Dr Mahathir)!

Hey, if it applies to a billionaire and a former Prime Minister, it is certainly applies to the rest of
us!

Application:

This is perhaps my favourite lesson. It is my favourite because it is the easiest thing to do. Sav-
ing money comes easy to me. I don’t even have to think to do it. It is inbuilt into my brain and
so it becomes automatic already. The moment I get some money, I will automatically set aside a
certain percentage as my savings.

So this is why I find it funny that others find it sooo hard to save money. What is a simple and
natural step becomes a huge obstacle in their way. It is as if it is against their religion to save
money!

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The truth is savings is easy. Anytime you get some money, set aside a certain percentage as your
savings. Ten percent would be a good first step. As you get better in managing your money, you
should increase this percentage. Move up to 12, 15, 20 or even 30 percent. I can tell you that I
set aside 30 percent of each ringgit that come into my world. And then I live on that remaining
70 percent.

If you don’t do this, cannot do this or refuse to do this, you will NEVER be rich. Instead, you will
be facing a life full of unsolvable problems. Life will be a series of problems, arguments, long
hard nights and running away from creditors.

So let me stress that this is a critical step. You MUST save part of each ringgit that comes into
your world. It is this savings that will make you rich, not the income that you are earning.

This is why I worked from the house when I began my second business – to keep my costs down.
Obviously I did everything on my own then. I wrote the books, designed and maintained the
website, answered the e-mails and even went to the post office to mail out the orders. When cli-
ents wanted to hire me to speak, as it was not conducive for them to come to my house, I would
meet them at my ‘site’ office – the Starbucks at Amcorp Mall!

But as the business grew, the work got too overwhelming. I needed an assistant.

That was when I took up an office. Even then, I took up a small office and had spartan furniture
to keep the operating cost low. I recycled paper, used pencils instead of pen and to follow in the
footsteps of my hero – wrote notes on used envelopes! My wife worked as the Admin Manager,
Operations Manager, secretary, office boy and was paid a grand total of RM2,000 a month. Fur-
ther, I did not take a salary from True Wealth for over three years.

I must add a second application here.

Every time I talk about saving money and spending less than your earning, someone would al-
ways ask: “When do I get to enjoy the fruits of my labour?” “If all I do is save and sacrifice for
tomorrow, when do I get to enjoy life?”

My answer is this: you should do both – enjoy today and save for tomorrow. Where is it stated
that you cannot enjoy life if you save a little bit of your money? Where is it written that you can
only have fun by spending all your money? I’ll save you the time and trouble from searching the
answer – there is none.

So I’m telling you like I told everyone else: do both. Save a part of your income and enjoy the
benefits that money can buy today. Of course, this means that you will have to adjust your fi-
nances accordingly, particularly if you are just beginning to take control of your money. But I
can tell you from my own experience that it is not hard to do and certainly not impossible. Folks,
managing your money is no heart surgery. You can do it because all it takes is a little bit of tweak-
ing, and you’re in business. Just as important is the fact that it is a lot of fun! Taking control of

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anything is always fun, especially when that anything is money.

Next, you can still have fun even though you are not burning tons of money. Though it is a cli-
ché, it is true that the best things in life are free. Proof? Sunshine is free, oxygen is free, love is
free. And if that sounds too poetic, I can tell you that I get more pleasure picnicking in my garden
than going out shopping in downtown Manhattan.

As a guy who travels to London, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and New York on a monthly basis, I
can tell you that a local destination is just as much fun as any place overseas. It is what you make
of it. Further, I get a kick driving my Myvi as much as I enjoy flying the Boeing 747-400.

I have always done both. I save part of my money and use the balance to enjoy my life. Of
course, this did meant that I had to curtail my expenses some when I first started out. Instead of
buying things on the run (and on credit), I saved my money first and then buy the items later.
Instead of buying everything the moment I laid my eyes on them, I curtailed my initial desires.
Though it may sound boring to some people, I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the experi-
ence. After all, any fool can buy on impulse, and most fools do. It takes a big man to walk away,
especially knowing that you can afford the item. Further, where does it say that you can only
have fun by having everything today? Why do you have to have everything today? Why can’t it
wait a little? Next week, next month?

That discipline is already inbuilt in me today so I do not even have to curtail anything anymore.
I already have everything that I need so I see no reason why I must buy anything just to ‘enjoy
life’. I’m already enjoying life; why do I need to spend money to enjoy life?

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6. Reinvest your profits

It is also important to continually reinvest part of your profits back into the business.

Unfortunately, too many people were seduced by the initial success of their business. Once the
money started to come in, they rush to buy Mercedes Benzes and move to a bigger, flashier of-
fice. They cannot wait to look successful.

Sadly, they do this to the detrimental of the business. Both the car and the office cost a lot of
money. This expense eats the profits, drains the cashflow and affects the operation of the busi-
ness.

You must remember not to fall into this trap. Always reinvest a major portion of your profits
back into the business. It is this profit that would fund your expansion, advertising and marketing
plans. It is this reinvestment that would make you rich. By reinvesting your profits, you would
also minimize your borrowings, which would in turn reduce your interest payments.

Application:

I wrote that I did not take a salary from True Wealth for over three years. Further, we did not
pay any dividends to the directors. This meant that all the profits were reinvested back into the
business. Which goes a long way to explain why the company grew at an explosive rate in the
beginning years. We kept upgrading our equipments and raised the salaries and commissions to
our crew to ensure that they stayed with us, and motivated to perform at their best all the time.

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7. Continue your learning

Tun Daim has retired from politics and also from the government. But he has not retired from
work and business. When I first met him at his office, he was already sixty-six years old. Yet he
still goes to work every day. He told me that very often he goes home after seven or eight in the
evening.

He does this as it is important to keep his mind active.

Other than working, he also read a lot. He reads newspapers, magazines and books from all over
the world. This keeps his mind active on top of staying abreast of the world’s developments.

Perhaps the following table may help you.

Firstly, I must admit that I did not do any heavyweight research to prepare the table. The figures
are just my guess. But I believe that most people would not disagree with them. In fact, most
people would say that I’m being generous with the figures, and that it should be lower! However,
it should suffice to illustrate the point that I’m going to make here.

These are the average monthly income based on education level. For example, if you have a
basic degree, you can expect to earn RM4,000 a month, plus or minus a couple of hundred ring-
git. But if you continued your studies and obtained an MBA, you can expect to earn RM6,000 a
month. That figures rises to RM10,000 a month if you had a PhD. In summary, the higher your
education, the higher your average income. (Bear in mind that this is on top of working hard and
working smart.)

Now if you are happy with the figures, then life is fine. Stick with your education level and be
contented with the average income. But what if you want more than RM10,000 a month? What
if RM10,000 a month is just pocket change for you? What can you do when even the highest
education level can only make you RM10,000 a month?

Fortunately, there is an answer to this question. It is self-education. Self-education means you

continue your learning even after the formal education stops. This will include reading books
(obviously more than one), attending talks and seminars, going for training classes, and learning
from the experts. Further, the learning doesn’t stop. It goes on forever. If you do this, you will
ensure that your skills are always kept updated with the changing times.

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Needless to say, the reverse also applies. If you stop the learning process, do not expect to rub
shoulders with the big boys anytime soon. Instead be prepared to live an average life because
you will earn an average income.

Application:

I read some years ago that the future belongs not to the strongest, fastest, swiftest, richest or even
the smartest. The future belongs to the person who is capable of learning and relearning. Though
it does sound melodramatic, it is certainly the truth. In case you’re wondering why, the answer
is primarily because of technology. While our fathers and certainly grandfathers could get away
with knowing just one skill, the situation is very different today and certainly tomorrow. Ad-
vancement in technology was slow in the past. Equipments lasted thirty, forty years. That is why
our grandfathers could make a decent living knowing just one or two skills. They could live off
that one skill for thirty or forty years. But the rapid advancement of technology today meant
the situation is very different today. As an example, when jetliners first began, the flight crew
consisted of two pilots, one flight engineer and one navigator. This lasted for many years. Then
advancement in technology made the navigator redundant, leaving only the pilots and the flight
engineer. Twenty years ago, another advancement made the job of the flight engineer redundant.
So now we only have two pilots in charge of huge jetliners. What’s more, technology meant that
the two crew is more effective and efficient than when there were four!

I know what you are thinking: that there will come a time when pilots will not be required any-
more! And you are probably right. Why do you think that I continue to educate myself? Though
the situation of jetliners flying through the sky without pilots will probably not happen in my
lifetime, I’m as ready as anyone can ever be when it happens.

The rapid development in technology will mean that the average employee will have to learn and
master six or seven different skills in his working career. And perhaps even more. If he stops the
learning, by choice or otherwise, he will soon stop earning money. Who wants to hire the best
carburetor tuner today? The best typewriter repairer? The best black and white TV repairman?

I read (and reread) three books a week. Yes, you read that right – three books a week. Firstly, I
must tell you that I actually enjoy reading so reading three books a week is heaven to me! At the
same time, I must also admit that I sometimes do get tired from all that reading. So I do take time
off from reading a particular book. I relax by reading a different book!

Now I cannot guarantee that I will be able to inherit the future but I can tell you this much – I will
be ready as a human being can be. If the past is any guide, then I will have little problem taking
over tomorrow. See folks, the Azizi Ali that you know now is not the same Azizi ten years ago.
Likewise, the Azizi ten years from now will not be the same Azizi writing these words now. He
will be better, faster, stronger, smarter, wiser.

If you read just half the books that I have read, you too will be able to dictate your future.

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8. Don’t borrow to speculate

Tun Daim told us a story during his talk. During the pre-1997 glory days, a friend of his was
being pursued constantly by the banks. This chap seemed to have the Midas touch – everything
he touched turned to gold, or in his case, bundles of ringgit. So all the banks wanted to loan him
money so he can conjure even more money.

After the 1997 crash, the same thing happened – banks were still after him. Except that now they
were chasing him to repay their loans!

Tun Daim said the lesson here is not to speculate with borrowed money. Borrow only for valid
investments, and even then only up to a sane level, where you can make the repayments on a
consistent basis without having to cut back anywhere. If you cannot do this, then life is very
simple – don’t borrow!

If a multi-millionaire can get into trouble speculating with borrowed money, imagine the trouble
mere mortals will face doing the same thing?

The truth is that it is easy to borrow money. In fact, almost anyone – any Tom, Dick and their
Elvis impersonating neighbours – can borrow money today. It is easy because there are many
people, companies and institutions that will be happy to lend you money. Often time, it does not
even take much to convince others to lend you money. All it takes is a credit card.

But another truth is that no one lends money without wanting their money back, plus interest.
This is a point a lot of people seemed to forget. When you borrow money, you have to pay them
back, plus interest. (PS. There is no other answer.)

And yet another truth is that it is not so easy to generate more money with the borrowed money.
You need brains, skills, hard work and perhaps a little bit of luck. Not too many people have all
that lined up and in place.

This being the case, do not add to your troubles by borrowing money if you do not know how to
generate more money from it.

I suppose borrowing money can be likened to making a living from snake charming. People
will pay you money to see you charm a snake. But before you do so, make sure you can actually
charm the snake. The alternative is too painful to even write!

Application:

While I have lost money in my younger days, I’m glad to tell you that none ever involved specu-
lation. And I certainly never borrowed money to speculate.

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While I have a lot of debt, all of them are for property investments and for business use only. As
a matter of fact, I do not have a single bad debt. In other words, I do not borrow money to buy
things that do not go up in value or worse, go down in value.

I am perfectly happy to operate this way. If others want to take the short cut by speculating, then
good luck to them. I wish them all the best.

Why not? See folks, while you can certainly make a lot of money in a short time by speculating,
the strategy is no different than gambling. You can win big, and you can also lose big. And if you
use borrowed money, the losses can be absolutely horrendous. It can multiply in a hurry. If that
ever happens, not only you can throw away your dreams of becoming a millionaire; you should
consider yourself lucky not be a pauper!

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9. Choose profession wisely

It is critical that you choose your profession wisely. Many professions will not make you rich. At
best you can have a comfortable life. Now this is alright if ‘comfortable’ is what you want. But
if you want to have money coming out of your ears, then make sure that the profession that you
choose can make you seriously rich.

There are obvious professions that will never make you rich in a thousand years. Doing manual
labour such as sweeping the floor, washing plates, cutting grass and sending out mails will never
make you rich.

On the other hand, there are professions that encourage the accumulation of wealth. These would
include the finance industry, entertainment and sports.

So a good strategy here would be to first identify the industry that holds the most promise and
then zero in to the actual profession that takes in the lion’s share of the money. This is important
because if you choose the wrong industry, it will be difficult if not impossible for you to make
money. See, no matter how smart and hard working you are, the amount of money you can earn
will be dependent on the amount of money your employer or business makes. If there is very
little money in the business, it is obvious that your business/employer will not be able to pay you
a lot. On the other hand, if the business is raking in the money, then making money becomes a
matter of course. For example, there are tons of money to be made in the finance industry. Even
an average worker makes a decent amount of money here. Obviously again, the stars draw in the
mega-bucks. Ditto applies to the entertainment industry.

However, you must step carefully because it does not mean that you will be printing money
just because you are in the right industry. You must still identify the profession that rakes in the
money even if you are already in the right industry. For example, there’s only two people who
makes money in a TV show – the star of the show and the producer. The rest – floor manager,
cameraman, light operator, audio engineer, etc. – will make just enough money to be comfort-
able. But since ‘comfortable’ is not what you want, this means that you must be ready to step up
and run with the ball. Be the star of the show or the producer, or even better, both, if you want
to rake in the big money.

Application:

I have to admit that I was lucky when I chose to become a pilot. It was not because I foresaw any
big money in it or because of a flash of brilliance on my part. It was simply because it was the
first job I applied and I got it! Fortunately for me, the job turned out to be simply spectacular. It
allowed me to reach many of my initial dreams: travel the world and have a comfortable life. So
yes, if you cannot be the Managing Director of an airline, become a pilot instead.

At the same time, it dawned on me that as good as it was, my income as a pilot would be limited.
For starters, I cannot fly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And eventually I would have to retire
from flying one day. This meant that I had to develop other sources of income to supplement the

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money from flying. The more sources of income I had, the faster I would reach my goal. This is
why I started to develop multiple sources of income, many of which do not require my presence
for the money to come rolling in. These include royalties from my writings, rental from my prop-
erties and fingers crossed, licensing from selected products in the near future. The beautiful thing
is that I can be sleeping and still have the money coming in. Further, many of those incomes will
continue coming in long after I have retired from flying, and will continue to flow to my benefi-
ciaries even when I’m playing the harp on a different planet!

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10. Manage your time well

Learning to manage the financial part is critical. There is no other answer if you have desires of
building wealth and becoming rich.

Also, you must manage your time well. The reality is that we all have the same 24 hours as ev-
eryone else. So to become successful entrepreneurs, we must learn to manage this time well.

Among others, this will mean spending more time on the critical parts of your business. You
must spend more time on productive matters and less on trivial items. This will mean that you
have to spend less time partying, watching TV and playing golf. A single minute that you spend
on non-productive thing – such as smoking cigars – will mean one less minute spent on things
that will help you build wealth.

It is easy to get drowned by tasks. To get a job done, and certainly to run a business, there are of-
ten many tasks that must be completed. And they all seemed important. The trick here is to iden-
tify the CSF – the critical success factors, the things that must be done – of the venture, and then
to concentrate on those factors. As an example, there are three critical success factors of running
a business – any business. One: watch the cashflow; two: increase the sales; and three: improve
the systems. Of course, there may be a couple of additional CSFs depending on the business. But
the main point is that you concentrate on the CSFs, and leave the rest to your crew.

Application:

A lot of people have told me that they admired me for being able to juggle so many things at the
same time. I fly, write, speak and run a business at the same time. “How do I manage all that?”
they often ask.

The first answer is that I love doing all that. And because I love doing them, I will always have
time to do them. I will make time for them.

The second answer is that I have learnt to manage my time. As Tun Daim said, we all have the
same 24 hours as everyone else. Because I wanted more, it is obvious that I have to get more out
of that same 24 hours. More here means that I concentrated on the critical bits and parts of the
business, and leave the supporting tasks to others. For example, I concentrate on increasing the
sales and improving the systems at True Wealth. I leave tasks such as replying inquiries, mailing
the orders and meeting with clients to my crew.

I must admit that it can be hard to let go because I enjoy doing many things. For example, I love
books. So I wanted to be involved in the production of books. This will include meeting the
authors, giving tips and pointers to them to improve their writing, doing the layout, designing
the covers, etc., etc. But the reality is that each minute I spend doing those tasks, as much as I
enjoy doing them, will take me away from the primary tasks of increasing our sales. So I had to
let go.

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This is where the crew and other experts come into the picture. Nirmitha is my Publishing Man-
ager, and she and her team is doing a fabulous job of doing all the tasks related to publishing.
Much better than I ever could.

Anytime I require some expertise, I hire experts to do them instead of trying to do them myself.
For example: to save cost, I designed and maintained the website myself when I decided to have
an online presence eight years ago. Naturally (and not surprisingly), the design of the website
was pretty basic. When I decided to have a more professional look, I did not try to do it myself.
I simply hired a webmaster and paid him to do the job for me. I reckon that he did a pretty good
job.

So I suppose I got it down pat on this point. I want to build wealth; therefore I do the things
that will help me build wealth. Things that do not result in building wealth – either directly or
indirectly – I do not do. I have identified the things that will build wealth – write, speak, run my
business, read, staying healthy. So I do these things, and let others do the rest.

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11. Share

Last but certainly not least, remember to share your wealth. Firstly, if you have partners, ensure
that they get something for their time and effort. If not a lot, a little. Remember that these people
have trusted you with their money, so always reward them as soon as you can. This will result
in two things: one – your partners will be happy to continue with the arrangement and continue
working with you; two – word will spread out that you are a person who is willing to share the
wealth, which will attract even more partners in the future. In a world where most people are do-
ing all they can to hoard all the wealth for themselves, you will shine like a beacon just because
you are willing to share.

And as you grow wealthier, help those who are less fortunate than you. Help them get back on
their feet, help them get better and help them to help themselves. You can do this by straight cash
donation. Or you can also help them by spending your time and effort instead of money.

But any which way you do it, just remember to help. Wealth is meant to be shared.

Tun Daim has certainly helped many others to become rich. Some of the more prominent names
include Tan Sri Halim Saad, Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli and Tan Sri Wan Azmi. There were many
others that are not so well known. These included some Chinese businessmen as well.

Application:

Share the wealth, share the wealth, share the wealth.

I must admit that it took me some time to learn this lesson. I know it is natural instinct to keep
all the wealth for yourself. It appears to make sense: the more you keep, the more you have. But
this is where wisdom wins over education. If you keep everything for yourself, yes, you will
make money. But only for the short term. After all, who wants to work with someone who keeps
all the profits to himself? Who wants to work with someone who is just looking out for his own
interest all the time? Nobody.

So learn to share. By sharing, you will make less now but a lot more in the long run.

The moment I learnt to share, a whole new world opened up for me.

As an example, when I first started speaking professionally, I had a partner. The arrangement
was that I would speak while he would provide the backroom support. When we first sat down
to work out the financial arrangements, he proposed that we share the profit 50:50. I told him no.
I said I will take 40 percent and asked him to take 60 percent. He was surprised at the offer but
was only too happy to take it up.

Now let’s look at it at the big picture.

23
Yes, I made less money this way. But it ensured that he will continue to want to work with me
again and again. And why not? He made money and more importantly, he knows that I have both
our interests at heart. I had proven that by giving him 60 percent instead of the 50 that he asked
for.

And because the strategy worked (no surprise there), I repeated the offer time and time again. All
the people who worked with and for me will always get a share of the spoils, regardless if they
asked for it or not. Even if they initially volunteered to do it for free, I would insist on paying
them for their time and effort.

The truth is that anyone, including your worst enemy, would want to work with someone who is
willing to share.

Even today, I pay people 10 percent of the fee received if they recommend me to speak at any
organization. There is no agreement or anything. All I need to hear is that they recommended me
to speak, and I will pay them the 10 percent once I received full payment from the organizer. For
example, one of my friends received a cheque for RM3,200 from me a couple of years ago. He
recommended my name to the company, they hired me to conduct some training, and paid me
RM32,000. I think it is perhaps the easiest RM3,200 my friend ever made!

I certainly received help from others as I grew my business. The help came from all races – Ma-
lay, Chinese, Indians and others. In fact, I received much help from Chinese businessmen, which
destroys the perception that the Chinese do not want Malays to become successful businessmen.
I believe that if you are a genuine businessman, and honor your words, most people would bend
over backwards to help you.

To return the favour, I am always happy to help others. Tens of thousands have benefitted from
my writings and seminars. But there are a few who received more direct help. These included
Irfan Khairi and Dr Christopher Lim.

Of course, there are others who received help in the form of money.

After I was born, my parents sent me to stay with my grandmother and two aunties. I stayed with
them until I was six years old. So for the past twenty over years, I have been giving them money
on a monthly basis. My grandmother and one auntie have since passed away but one auntie is
still getting money every month. And I will continue to do so until she goes. By the way, they
never asked – I gave. While I’m sure they are happy to get a little bit of money, I can tell you that
I am happier because I am able to return the favour.

I have donated money to my old school, which makes me feel like a super rich tycoon. Of course,
my wife and I have given money many times to the school where our daughters are studying.
I remember sponsoring the jersey of the school teachers’ football team. The back of the jersey
reads – Azizi Ali, Millionaires Coach! Hmm, perhaps one day I should buy over an English
football team!

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Final words

So there you have it: the eleven lessons that I have learnt from Tun Daim Zainuddin. I had the
time of my life applying the lessons and just as important, have made millions from them. You
could have even more spectacular results if you start applying them.

Godspeed.

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About The Author

Azizi Ali does two things – writes about money and solves
financial problems.

He is the author of 32 best-selling books on personal finance

which includes Millionaires are from a different Planet!, The
Millionaire in Me and Jutawan dari Planet Jupiter! All his
books have taken Malaysia by storm. His latest book is entitled
ScamBuster!

Speaking Credits
Azizi Ali has conducted workshops at Securities Commission, EPF, IRB, PNB Investment
Institute, Malaysia Airlines, Petronas, Takaful Nasional, Public Mutual, Am Assurance, Prudential
Assurance, Maxis, UIA, UTM, MIEA, FIABCI, ISM, PUJB, Brunei, Singapore and has spoken
before a crowd of 12,000 participants at BITEC Hall in Bangkok, Thailand – all on the subject
of money and finance. His fun and electrifying talks filled with simple but solid solutions has
helped thousands take better control of their finances.

He has been running public seminars since 2000.

Writing Credits
He has written numerous articles for the New Straits Times and Personal Money magazine on
top of having his own website www.MillionairesPlanet.com, which deals exclusively in money
and personal finance. He is also now a popular columnist for Malaysian Business magazine.

Media Appearances
He has appeared regularly on TV3, RTM, Astro Ria, 8TV, NTV7 and has also made guest
appearances on BFM Radio, Radio KL, Radio Era, Radio 24, News Radio in Singapore and also
RTB (Radio TV Brunei).

Qualifications
He holds an MBA from the University of Bath, UK and also holds the Chartered Financial
Consultant (ChFC) designation from the American College.

Contact
If you’d like Azizi to help solve your problems, please log on to www.MillionairesPlanet.com or
e-mail at info@MillionairesPlanet.com. Alternatively, call him at 03-7880 1051.

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