How to Quit Your Job in Style?

I finally did it.

After seven years of working in the same company, and nine years in the industry -- I officially left my job last week.

If you're contemplating quitting your job too -- here are some tips that will help you say goodbye with style.

I'm not saying I'm the most graceful person ever, but I've seen a lot of bad goodbyes. And if you've been somewhere for a long time, I'd hate to see you go out badly, after all that time you've put into work.

Now that you've finally decided to quit -- here's my take on how to quit. How do you make the absolute best of the situation?

1. Don't Resign -- Ask to be Laid Off 

Here's How To Make Your Own Luck In The Business World

Luck (noun): a combination of good circumstances and hard work. 

That's my personal definition of luck. Do I feel lucky on a daily basis? Absolutely. As the founder of a language services agency, the feeling of luck is with me always. Here's why. My chosen career is one where we impact someone in a critical way every single day. Communication is how we bridge culture gaps. My company bridges that gap with our translation and interpreting services.

I feel lucky when I see on a Sunday night that my interpreters are excited and happy to go to work on Monday morning. I feel lucky when my staff says how rewarding a career in language services is. They see the profound and direct impact they have on our clients. I feel lucky when we are able to take revenue and give to charities that help to make the world a better place. I feel lucky when I'm able to take people to events and places that bring them joy and wonder and the spirit of adventure. I feel lucky when I'm able to share what I've learned over the years and mentor someone starting out in the business world. I wake up every day engaged, excited and eager to see what awaits me. I am lucky.

How did I get so lucky? So often I have witnessed people excuse their own inadequacies by crediting the success of others to luck. Yes, being in the right place at the right time has something to do with it. But luck is derived from putting the seeds of hard work into place. Business owners I know disparage their more successful competitors as lucky. If those owners would make as many calls or work as many hours as their competitors, they would realize that their probability of success is fairly equal. 

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your First Business

Statistics from Bloomberg make poor reading for entrepreneurs. 8 out of 10 business owners will fail within 18 months. This goes for everyone starting a lemonade stand to those attempting to join the illustrious ranks of the unicorn company.

So how do you make sure that this doesn't happen to you?

The same mistakes crop up time and time again when it comes to starting your first business. This guide is going to show you the seven mistakes you need to avoid when starting up for the first time.

Quitting Your Day Job

If you are unemployed, this point doesn't apply to you. But in the excitement of getting started, you may be tempted to tell your boss where to stick it. This is a mistake because you are risking everything on your success. It may be brave and it may be bold, but when the numbers are already against you this is not an intelligent decision.

Doing Too Much Too Soon

Doing too much too soon is something many entrepreneurs suffer from. They get so excited to get started that they go forward with everything they have. But entrepreneurs commonly use up their mental resources too quickly and overextend. You have to pace yourself and be in this for the long-term.

Remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

11 Must-Read Biographies About Incredible Women

JENAVIEVE HATCH/HUFFINGTON POST/GETTY

Frida Kahlo, Audre Lorde and Eleanor Roosevelt

This Women's History Month, one of the greatest ways to honor those who came before us is to celebrate the extraordinary lives of some phenomenal ladies.

We've rounded up 11 biographies of 11 vastly different women, whose remarkable -- and often controversial -- journeys will inspire and educate.   

Cambodia: The hills are alive: Mondulkiri

Mondulkiri’s rolling green scenery marks it out as a special destination within Cambodia, but it is the province’s indigenous people and their rich culture that make it quite unlike anywhere else on earth

From Discover magazine

Photography by Lucas Veuve

Wow, it looks like the English countryside,” I exclaim, though Wales may have been a more apt comparison. “It’s like being back in Switzerland,” says our Swiss photographer. “No, no, no. This is Cambodia!” says Samnang, our guide, chuckling at the two Westerners trying to lay claim to the essence of his homeland.

View from the top: Mondulkiri’s verdant hills. Photo: Lucas Veuve

Before us, green hills dotted with clumps of acacia trees roll off literally as far as the eye can see. To the right, vast swathes of pine trees congregate, their pointed crowns lending a jagged edge to the horizon. Pine trees? In Cambodia? It is an incredible sight, even for someone who has lived in the Kingdom for more than half a decade. But this is Mondulkiri, and here, everything, from the people to the climate to the landscape, is different.

People of the land: Mondulkiri is largely inhabited by the indigenous Bunong minority, who make use of many of the area’s natural resources to support their traditional lifestyle. Photo: Lucas Veuve

The exceptional state of National Highway 76 means that this eastern province is now a five-hour taxi ride from Phnom Penh, making it a viable weekend break destination. And once the rather enjoyable journey is complete, there is little doubt about Mondulkiri’s crown tourism jewel either.

The 30km drive from Sen Monorom, the provincial capital, to Bou Sraa waterfall is a pick’n’mix of potholes, red dust and perfectly maintained tarmac. After parking under a dense forest canopy, the rush of the falls is apparent immediately. Vendors line the long, stepped path down to the water, selling standard tourist fare and more exotic treats, such as fresh honey in reused water bottles and small furry creatures splayed and spread-eagled on sticks. Sokram trees, native only to this part of the world and with leaves used to treat wounds in elephants, provide welcome shelter from the sun.

A clearing. Suddenly the hiss becomes a crash as a wall of white-brown water crashes down from above. Voices need to be raised to counteract the water’s frenetic fizz, and a light spray flutters across everyone and everything. The falls, which are the subject of numerous traditional songs pronouncing their splendour, are truly spectacular. With the four or five tourists present easily outnumbered by electric blue dragonflies, it is easy to while away a couple of hours with little else for company except Bou Sraa’s glorious rush. The falls’ second drop is accessible via a wooden bridge and another round of steps. At 25 metres, it is higher than the first drop and equally impressive. The route necessitates crossing the top of the falls, where hardy souls can wander right to the water’s edge and look down – a dizzying perspective to truly appreciate Bou Sraa’s natural power.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty: Phnom Penh pampering

Pampering treatments are a perfect indulgence to break up a hectic Phnom Penh sightseeing schedule

From Discover magazine

Bumping along Phnom Penh’s Mao Tse Toung Boulevard in the back of a tuk tuk after a sweaty morning spent haggling over souvenirs at Russian Market, it dawns on many a weary traveller that they must – simply must – be pampered. Right. This. Instant.

Grazing past rickety market tables stacked with warm bunches of bananas and even warmer cuts of unidentified meat can leave one’s skin feeling slightly icky. Combined with the pulsing heat of the city, this situation can only be remedied with the crème de la crème of body scrubs. Slide out of your tuk tuk at the heavenly Bodia Spa, located just off the riverside, ascend a flight of wooden stairs and be immersed in a lemongrass- and sandalwood-scented oasis where your every relaxation whim will be catered to with ease.

To cool down, de-grime and leave with skin that is soft, smooth and smells sublime, opt for the Natural Jasmine Rice Scrub. Jasmine rice, turmeric, tamarind seed and jasmine oil are combined in a delicious concoction to exfoliate, before ylang ylang oil hits all the right spots to improve circulation, ease aches and pains and relax you from head to toe.

Cambodia: Phnom Tamao: bear keeper for a day

Cambodia is home to many rare and exotic animal species. Get to know its lovable Sun and Moon bears by spending a day with these mischievous critters

By Jemma Galvin

Locked up in a cage at a garment factory, where more than a thousand well-intentioned workers would feed him snacks dripping in condensed milk, he eventually got so fat that he was unable to move as nature had intended. Simply reaching, let alone jumping or running, was way out of his realm of ability.

Poll position: sun bears are the smallest of all the bears and it’s the marking on their chest that gives them their name. Photo: Free the Bears/Peter Yuen

Clocking in at a whopping 144kg, or more than double his ideal weight, Hefty, as he came to be known, is a sun bear who was rescued from his cramped, calorie-soaked conditions at a garment factory in 2013.

Today, Hefty calls the world’s biggest sun bear sanctuary home and has shed more than 60kg from his now-sleek frame. At the sanctuary, located at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre – just outside the capital and founded by the Forestry Administration back in 1995 – he has some 130 sun and moon bear buddies to share his days with. Fresh bananas and afternoons spent roughhousing with his pals have replaced twice-fried doughnuts and countless hours spent gazing through rusty metal bars.

Phnom Tamao is a weekend favourite for local families looking to escape the city. The centre consists of 2,500 hectares of protected forest and is home to many rescued victims of the illegal wildlife trade, such as clouded leopards, the Indochinese tiger, Asian elephants, pileated gibbons, Siamese crocodiles, the slow loris and the Sunda pangolin.The sanctuary’s bears though – some of whom have been brought back from the brink and saved from bile farms, and others who were left orphaned after their parents were killed by poachers – are the headline act in the wonderful Bear Keeper for a Day programme. The sanctuary and this special initiative are supported by Free the Bears, a registered charity founded by Australian woman Mary Hutton and dedicated to protecting, preserving and enriching the lives of bears throughout the world.

Cambodia’s got talent: top chefs

We asked some of the country’s finest Cambodian chefs to prepare their favourite dishes and share their stories. The results were never anything less than scorching

From Discover magazine. Photography by Sam Jam

Pisith Theam, head chef, Park Hyatt Siem Reap. Dish: Charcoal grilled meat platter – “I’ve known how to cook since I was a young boy. My father was a chef at the Hotel de la Paix [Siem Reap’s iconic hotel that became the Park Hyatt in 2013] in the early 1960s, but he stopped working as a chef during the Khmer Rouge years. After the war he opened a small stall selling noodle soup, and I helped him out in the mornings before going to school, but he never told me about his past as one of Cambodia’s finest chefs until many years later, once I had already started working in kitchens. It was my father who taught me about the charcoal grill –he always used to say it is the only way to cook meat.”

Lao Tola (top), Phan Kosal (left) and Bonna Srey, chefs de partie, The Common Tiger . Dish 1: Sea bass with yellow kreung and spinach purée. Phan Kosal “There’s something amazing about being able to come to work each day, be happy and do what you love. This sea bass dish is one of my favourites and has a wonderful mix of sweet, salty and sour flavours.” Dish 2: Dark chocolate variation with pineapple and coffee. Lao Tola “I get enormous satisfaction out of my work. I started my career in Siem Reap province and, in 2013, I was invited to work at Nihiwatu Resort on Sumba Island in Indonesia. I moved back to Cambodia soon after to continue my career.” Dish 3:Tiger prawn sous vide with a smoked tomato panna cotta. Bonna Srey “Working as a steward at Song Saa Private Island, I would often look at the food on the table and wonder how it was created. One day, the chef asked if I would be interested in helping in the kitchen. Today, I love being able to cook for people, to make them happy and see them enjoying the meal. My dish is very special because of the way the prawn is slow cooked. It’s not an easy dish to master.”

Moung Vuthy, head chef, The Lost Room. Dish: Moroccan spicy duck with a chickpea stew. “I started out looking after the customers’ motorbikes at the famous Phnom Penh bar called Talkin’ to a Stranger. Then my boss, who is a chef, opened The Lost Room and I joined him as a kitchen hand. Within a year or so I moved up to second in command and then he said that I was able to do it all myself, so he let me take over the kitchen. I have two people working under me now and I’ve started adapting some of the Lost Room’s classic dishes and giving them my own twist. The Moroccan spicy duck is served with a chickpea stew, and the duck itself has wonderful flavours such as cinnamon, ginger, garlic, coriander and many others. It is a real favourite among our customers.”

Keep reading:

“Do it yourself” – Led by one of Cambodia’s finest homegrown chefs, the Shinta Mani Club’s cooking class provides all the excitement of the kitchen minus the hard work and sweaty brows

By Dene Mullen, Southeast Asia Globe, October 28, 2016

Park living in central Phnom Penh: 352 Platinum

A new high-end development with an emphasis on style and comfort is coming to the capital’s sought-after expat district

Phnom Penh is undergoing a transformation. A once low-rise city is rapidly rising upward, with a host of multi-storey office and apartment blocks shooting up across the urban heart of the capital.

The central Boeung Keng Kang 1 (BKK1) district is a hive of construction activity. It has long been a popular area among wealthy Cambodians and expatriates, with high-end restaurants, stylish boutiques and leafy side streets making it a highly sought-after neighbourhood for those seeking

a sophisticated lifestyle.

Among the most anticipated of these developments is the 352 Platinum condominium project, situated on 1,130 square metres of land in BKK1’s central Street 352. With an ultra-modern and appealing design, the City Park Development project is due to be completed at the end of 2017.

Sales director Ting Hsu said: “This project will be a new landmark in Phnom Penh. The design of this complex is innovative among all the property projects in the city.”

The freehold development includes 130 apartments ranging in size from one to three bedrooms, each with generous 3.6-metre-high ceilings and spacious 8- to 11-metre balconies that will afford residents ample light-filled areas for living. Every element of the design has been carefully considered by a team of expert interior designers, with refined décor and luxurious furnishings included in each residence. In addition, all electrical wiring is being installed underground.

High above the city, chic communal areas will incorporate entertainment rooms, a 20-metre infinity pool and even a sky bar, with views from atop the 25-storey building stretching out across the metropolis – not to mention the spa, lush garden and all-important gym. With its location on a sizeable plot set back from the road and plans for extensive bamboo gardens, this project promises to offer a tranquil counterpoint to the buzzing energy of Phnom Penh.

With the 352 Platinum, City Park Development is creating a pioneering apartment complex. It will be the first residential development to feature a large front driveway (34 metres long and 6.2 metres wide) for occupants to enter and exit with ease, a highly appealing attribute in a city with parking issues. On arrival, residents and guests will be whisked into one of Phnom Penh’s finest reception areas, with a grand entrance and lobby featuring sweeping high ceilings.

For ease of living, a wide variety of property management services are available, such as 24-hour security, a concierge service, housekeeping, a real estate brokerage service and wireless internet access. The project’s progress is being tracked and updated on Facebook daily, and prospective tenants are welcome to visit the site at any time.

By Southeast Asia Globe, March 7, 2016

Cambodia: Raising the bar: The Peak

The latest project from Oxley-Worldbridge Cambodia will set new standards in Phnom Penh

With luxury properties blossoming throughout the Cambodian capital at an impressive pace, Phnom Penh could be on course to reclaim its former title as the ‘Pearl of Asia’. Yet such progress has left many people asking: what will be the peak of Phnom Penh developments? The answer might lie in an aptly named project: the Peak.

“The Peak will change Phnom Penh. It will be iconic for the city,” said Rithy Sear, the chairman of WorldBridge Group, which, along with Singapore-based Oxley Holdings, co-founded Oxley-WorldBridge Cambodia, the luxury project’s developers.

The Peak will be located in the centre of the Cambodian capital, overlooking the serpentine Mekong River and in the vicinity of the voguish Aeon shopping mall, the feverish NagaWorld casino and fun-filled Diamond Island.

Clad in an elegant hue of bronze, the paragon-shaped, 55-storey twin towers of the Peak will boast 1,014 condominium units, each furnished with the apogee of sophistication,

a voluminous shopping mall and ample office space. In what could be its pièce de résistance, a third, adjacent tower will be home to the Shangri-La hotel.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is Asia-Pacific’s leading luxury hotel group, and Sear believes its addition will fundamentally change the tourism landscape of Cambodia.

“When one flies to a country, the first question one asks is about the hotel. For high-end clients, if you ask them to stay in a local five-star hotel, they don’t feel so comfortable,” said Sear. “But when one sees a hotel like Shangri-La in Phnom Penh it can change the mindset of the tourist.”

The Peak will be Oxley-WorldBridge Cambodia’s second venture in Phnom Penh. Work is currently underway on the Bridge, a twin-towered, 45-storey complex located a short distance from the Peak, which will bring a new standard of luxury to the city’s condominium market.

It is also the first project to introduce the Cambodian capital to the concept of SoHos – ‘small office, home office’, which can allow one to work and reside in one unit by adding a mezzanine platform. Although the Bridge does not open for another year, all condominiums have already been sold, as have 74% of the SoHos.

Construction on the Peak is expected to commence early this year and be completed by 2020. Once erect, it will become Phnom Penh’s tallest building, peering down on the Vattanac Tower, which currently holds that accolade. At a cost of $580m, it will also be Phnom Penh’s most expensive residential development to date.

Malay Nop, manager of CBRE Cambodia, says that “developments such as the Peak demonstrate that Phnom Penh is well placed to not only compete with but, in terms of return on investment, surpass both Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok”.

By Southeast Asia Globe editorial, March 7, 2016

Cambodia: A clearer picture for lenders

Pascal Ly, CEO of the Credit Bureau Cambodia, talks to the Post from his office in Phnom Penh last week. Pha Lina

The double-digit growth of consumer lending in Cambodia has created a need for a comprehensive and centralised database of individual credit histories. The Post’s Cam McGrath sat down with Pascal Ly, CEO of the Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC), to discuss the role of the Kingdom’s only credit bureau and how it is helping lending institutions manage risk.

What is the role of the credit bureau and how has it performed?

The credit bureau, or CBC, has been around since March 2012, so now we’re already getting into our fifth year of operations. The feedback we’ve received so far is that the credit bureau is crucial in that it helps to manage risk in the banking sector and reduce the number of multiple loans in the market.

Is borrowing from multiple lenders a serious problem in Cambodia?

Ticket sales for Angkor Wat to go online

Tourists listen to a guide in front of a temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap. Hong Menea

A new online ticketing system for the Kingdom’s biggest tourist draw, Angkor Wat, will be introduced to provide faster and convenient service to tourists, while increasing the transparency and clarity of ticket sales revenues.

Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth announced plans for the new e-ticketing platform on Monday during the unveiling of the new state-run Angkor Institution that will manage ticket sales for the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap.

“I think the existing IT system should be reworked and renovated,” he told reporters. “Currently, there is no proper server, registry account and the ticket data system is not homogeneous.”

The proposed e-ticketing system will allow overseas visitors to upload their photos – a requirement for each ticket – and pick up their personalised tickets before reaching the Angkor Wat site, Pornmoniroth said.

“Payment can be done by credit card, and they just send their picture and we prepare the ticket for them,” he said. “No need to wait in long lines.”

The current ticketing system which dates back to 1999 is very slow, Pornmoniroth said, and the new system will be linked to a website that will be used to promote the Angkorian temples.

“If our service is good, then these visitors can become our ambassadors and tell their relatives and friends to come to Cambodia,” he added.

Chao Sunkeriya, spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority, which runs Angkor Wat, said yesterday that the tourism and economy ministries were in charge of the proposed system and the introduction of online ticketing would bring Angkor Wat to internationally set expectations.

“E-ticket systems are used internationally. If other countries can do it, we can also do it, but we must ensure that it is a good system,” she said.

Ho Vandy, an adviser to the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said an online system can be an efficient addition to the temple site’s offerings, but it was critical to ensure that it was glitch-free.

“If the system is not good and errors occur then people will get angry and create a bad reputation among visitors,” he said. “There should be a refund policy and solutions if the system fails.”

By Sor Chandara, the Phnom Penh Post, March 4, 2016

Cambodia: Air service agreement inked with Mongolia

Cambodia has signed a bilateral air service agreement with Mongolia that could pave the way for direct flights and increased tourist traffic between the two Asian countries, and open opportunities for investment, a government official said on Thursday.

Sinn Chanserey Vutha, spokesman for the State Civil Aviation Secretariat, said the agreement was an international obligation for bilateral air service and creates more opportunity for investors and tourists.

“If an investor sees this as a potential investment on both sides, they can take advantage of it,” Vutha said. “The agreement would also attract more Mongolian tourists to visit Angkor Wat and our beaches, as Mongolia has no coastline.”

The number of Mongolians visiting Cambodia remains extremely low, with less than 500 visiting the Kingdom last year, according to Tourism Ministry statistics.

By Sor Chandara, the Phnom Penh Post, March 5, 2016