New website ready to go - finally

Looking back at this blog site, it seems I retired from the blog the same time Kobe retired from NBA. I can not believe it has been five months since my last update.

Anyways, today I promise myself to write more blogs and frequently as well.

I have something to share with the world today. My first website regarding solar power is up and running. The website is http://solarwisely.com.au.

The website you see on that link is likely the 4th version. Over the past three months, I have build up the site only to tear it down. And I did that three times. Let's just say that it was hard for me to figure out what would work and what wouldn't - in terms of the concept for my business.

At first, I built the site offering only a commercial solar consulting, offering small businesses a paid consulting service. Then, in the second version, I decided to add residential sector and developed content for residential prospects as well.

One day, I sent out emails to my "old" commercial solar leads that I had saved from previous job as a salesman. Sixteen of them. I explained what I did and offered them my service at a discounted price because we had met before. I typed an email between 450-500 words and sent the same email to all of them.

Response? Zero, nada, nothing, zilch.

Would you be frustrated with that kind of result? I did. But I didn't give up.

May be they were just not interested in the product (solar) or my service. May be the email went to their spam folder. May be they have saved the email for future. Whatever it may be, I had to move on because it didn't work.

I stripped down the website and all it's content and decided to build a blogging site instead. Since my site http://solarwisely.com.au was a wordpress site, that was pretty easy. The hard part was generating the contents. But I had to do it. So, I set my mind to it.

As a first time blogger, I know I have a lot to learn about writing and blogging in general. The learning curve can be pretty steep but I am hoping it won't be that difficult.

The latest version of http://solarwisely.com.au has both the concepts implemented - blogging and consulting.

I realized if I am already blogging and trying to rank my website in search engine, why not have consultation service as well. People visiting my site to read my blog will already have some interest in solar and if they see that I offer consulting service, some might be interested as well.

There you have it. My final business model. Now, the only thing standing between me and the success is a really good blogging habit. I have to develop that habit, one day at a time.

Until next time...

Kobe Bryant's retirement

After two decades of spectacular professional career in NBA, Kobe is playing his last game tomorrow Wednesday April 13th @ 12:30pm tip off Melbourne time. Lakers are hosting Utah Jazz at Staples Center, Los Angeles. I never admitted I was a hard core Kobe fan but I would probably not miss a game when he is on television. I watched his 81 points game live against Toronto 10+ years ago. ESPN went nuts with the highlights for the next week, even went as far as "Kobe alert" next few games that Kobe played following Toronto game. Everybody was probably thinking Kobe is on a roll and may score 100. The Black mamba was my inspiration at one point in life and especially when I started to play 3-on-3 basketball game with the boys, I wanted to score like him.

Me in the center in one of those 3-on-3 games

I have watched his game since 2001, my first year in US. His partnership with Shaq, Lakers mini-rivalry games against Houston Rockets when Yao Ming was playing. Then the championships. First time, 3 in a row and second time 2 in a row. 

My only visit to his Home Court, Staples Center, in 2009

This was Kobe's career and his achievements with Lakers in 2 decades. I am probably the same age as Kobe with half as much time spent in pro career as him. I have considered Solar the 2nd phase of my career (just like Kobe's after Shaq's departure); the phase that will make me more mature, outspoken, and eventually grow old. Sales was the last thing in my mind before I took this job 2 months ago. Talking to strangers everyday and selling them stuff is no easy feat and equally terrifying. If you fear something, attack it. Scared of heights, go skydiving. Scared of water, learn to swim. Scared of talking to a stranger, be a salesman. That's been the philosophy of my life. 

Yahvie's 5th Birthday

Yahvie just turned 5. She is taller, weightier and smarter than ever before. Because we have a grand celebration each year, we decided this year would be no different. Yahvie had invited 4 of her classmates from school, then her aunties/uncles and a cousin brother Brijen. The stage was set. I decided to make momos for the guests. It turned out to be a pretty good idea because it's always less work then trying to cook 5 different curries and pickles.

Yahvie received a lots of gift from her friends and family. I and mummy gifted her a bicycle, which she already loves. Yahvie also has the next 3 weeks off from her school. We are still finalizing on how to take care of her while both of us work on our newly appointed jobs.

Solar Plus Storage training and Salesmanship

My first blog for the month. It's been a very busy month so far. First week and half I trained with the Sales guys from my new company. I have an official business card as "Commercial Solar Specialist" and I feel good about that. Training went really well as I was mostly training with my boss (aka owner) of the company. He's one of the smartest man I have met who seems to work 15 hours a day, non stop. During these times, I have drove around 1000+ KMs in the city. If there was one thing I underestimated about this job was the driving part. But I have no issues however. 

Then, came my  solar plus storage training. Today, I returned from that 4-days training course in the Moora Co-operative Community, about 2 hours drive from where I live now. Beautiful and quiet place, totally off-grid, relying on mostly solar, micro hydro and back up generator. Lots of information download in my "human system". Glen had nicely designed the course that included lots of theory and lots of practical work. Stayed in the lodge the whole time. I feel like I can now be a sales man that can truly tell the customers what they are getting into when they sign up for solar. I will only make those sales that make sense to the business owners from every aspects. Because end of the day, there is no point making money ripping someone off or telling a lie. That's just not me. I would rather die starving than live a crook salesmans' life. 

My boss/owner Joe called me while I was in training to let me know that he was organizing team building event this Sunday that he didn't want me to miss. I told him I was going. It gives me an opportunity to hang out with my colleagues and shoot some paintballs to my boss (if we are in a different team).

Wifey is starting a new job from Monday. 2 hours of commute to and from work each day. I will be dropping Yahvie off to school at 9am, go to my appointments all day, be back to pick her up before 5pm, feed her dinner, by the time mummy gets home from work. The whole routine is about to start in just 2 days and I am a bit worried about it. I will do my best to stay on top of things for sure. 

Regarding my Coursera classes, everything went out of order once I started my job. I am 50% through all my classes and I really don't know when I will be able to finish the rest. I really hope I can before the "window" expires. But my days are getting even tighter starting next week. 

Pictures are from the solar training course. My team designed and built a PV connected battery storage system for low power applications. We worked on the project for 3 days, 2 hours each. 

Autobiography of a Yogi; Meditation; Remembering Steve Jobs

Few quotes from Autobiography of Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

"One's values are profoundly changed when he or she is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture and that not in it, but beyond it, lies his own reality."

"Nature herself is maya. Natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity."

"The science of Yoga is more vital than any other material advances to man's happiness and to a nation's longevity."

"The Karmic law requires every human wish find ultimate fulfillment. Desire is thus the chain which binds man to the reincarnational wheel."


"Receive your initiation ion the kingdom of god through Kriya Yoga."

"Liberation is dependent on inner, rather than outer renunciations."




Steven Jobs quotes:

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me."

Scott Harris and The Entrepreneurs Club Melbourne

As I was surfing the net for information in the afternoon this last Tuesday, I came across a local entrepreneurs club from Melbourne in meetup. Soon I found out they were organizing an event featuring business coach Scott Harris in just few hours in Dockland. I had never heard of the guy before, nor did I know how to get to the venue (thanks google maps). I looked up Scott Harris quickly and found out he was indeed a great guy, with the likes of Sir. Richard Branson, Donald Trump and Anthony Robbins as his disciples. I had to go. The event started at 6:30pm. I RSVP'd online via meet up.

I left the State Library around 4:45pm. Stopped by at the Myer to get a pair of formal shirts and a tie for my interview the next day. Then, I stopped by at Meccas to grab a chicken burger and headed straight to Dockland. I must say the event was REAL. I am so glad I went. Below is the note I was able to take during Scotts' 2 hours long presentation.

The topic was How to Make Effective Decisions as an Entrepreneur

1. Rules are made to be followed. Examples: Relationship rules, health rules, wealth rules. Whose rules? Go figure.
2. You can't do everything in life but you can do anything.
3. Learn to take notes, it's good for brain growth. (Guess what?, I was taking notes of what he was saying when he said this)
4. Play full out:: Life is short, live it with kids, wife, family, friends everyone.
5. F.U.N. ::: Fully Utilize "NOW" Live in the present. Don't delay life, no "if-thens". Enjoy the splendors of this life to the fullest.
6. Your destiny is chosen the moment you take your decision.
7. Human beings are designed to survive, not thrive.


If you are serious about success and achievements in life, you gotta have your own core values of life set and figured out. Then, you need to ask yourself the following 3 questions:

1. Time::: where is my time going to go today?
2. $$$ ::: where is my $$ going to go today?
3. Focus/energy ::: where is my focus going to go today?

If you have too many choices to decide on where to spend your time/$$/energy, use the "core values" as your guiding principles.  Hope you don't have a bucket full of core values. Ideally, you want to limit your core values between 3-7 in total.

Now, in order to become a high achieving, high efficient, successful person that you always wanted to be in your life, do the following 3 things:

1. Planning: Once a week, take time off to plan your next week. For each day of the week, decide where you are going to invest your time/$$/energy. Make sure to pass everything through the filter of "core values" of your life. Planning, to paraphrase Scott, "gets more things done quicker". So, do this each week.

2. Scheduling: Once a month, take time off to schedule your weeks. Each of the weeks, focus on different things if that becomes a need. The point is not to miss anything that are important in the long run.

3. Designing: Also known as "Life Designing". Every 3 months, take time off to reflect on what you have achieved, what is lacking, and where you want to go? If you feel you are in the right track, keep moving. If you need to change course, shuffle priorities and re-adjust your speed and direction. Because life happens too quickly to lose track of things.

The whole point of doing this is to bring consciousness in your life. Use the best times of your day for the most important things. With higher and sharper consciousness, you can learn to live a meaningful and productive life. And when you are ready, seek help from the coaching gurus who can guide us to reach our destiny quicker, safer and with high certainty.

I am officially a Solar Sales man!!

In my post exactly a week ago, I had expressed a bit of frustration on my job search. Today, a week later, I accepted a job. What a difference a week can make? Amazingly beautiful.. And it couldn't have happened with a better company and a better boss. His name is Joe and owns a sales division of Chinese Solar manufacturer SSE. Joe has been in his business for about 3 years and has been installing solar domestically and internationally up to 1MW. He has years of Sales experience and is known to build successful sales team in multiple companies. As I have never done a "real" sales job before, except selling momos (dumplings) at a farmers market, I am really looking forward to getting trained from Joe and his team. Thank you Joe!!

I had two rounds of interviews for this job. I don't know how hard it is to get a sales job in solar, or in any industries for that matter, but this one is special for me. More than the earning prospects, I am excited to learn the basics ins and out in solar industry as much as possible. Working closely with an experienced team, I am sure I can learn a lot. I am also taking 4-day technical training in solar next month and then plan on taking technical sales class online after that. I had already planned for those classes before, in hopes to land a job in solar industry. Now that I already have a "job" in the industry, my goal is to have my first sales when I go for the 4-day training. I would love to share the story with everyone.

I feel well ahead of the schedule and it feels really good!!! Bring it on Australia!!!