"Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Proverbs 11:14

Sunday 6 October 2019

Communication Breakdown

It happens to the best of us. Communication is such a fickle thing, and the lines of communication can become blurred every so often, especially when love and feelings are involved. Even those who think that they are immune to the confusion of conflict can find themselves drawn into a communication breakdown when they least expect it, and chaos ensues.

Even those of us who are better equipped than many others are not immune. This happened to me on the weekend, and until to be quite honest, it took me by surprise. My spouse told me something that really hurt my feelings, and I automatically lashed back in defense.
It was a silly argument, over something as simple as a misplaced bottle of perfume. But to me, it represented something much deeper that had been simmering away for a couple of weeks. I get frustrated at having to search for something when it is not where I expect it to be, worse still when my partner has shifted it and I don't know the first place to begin searching.
Perfume, needles and thread, car keys, a Tupperware container to store my baking soda in, covers for our outdoor chairs, all were examples of instances where I had to turn the house upside-down. A simple answer from my spouse when these things were shifted would have saved me a lot of time and frustration. And the answer I got? "You need to open your eyes and organize yourself better"
I was gutted. When I come home from work I exercise the dog and cook dinner so that it is on the table by the time my partner gets home. The house is always spotless and warm, as I'm very conscious of coming home to a tidy environment.
I see this as a fundamental part of my role in coming home first, and it takes a lot of my time. To imply that I have the time to "organize yourself better" really hurt.
I don't expect praise, but I did hope that my efforts were recognized. I got told that "I don't expect you to cook my dinner every night." That was interpreted by me as ingratitude, and hurt me even more.
So where to from here? My spouse felt guilty at coming home every night to the perfect household, where I felt guilty if it wasn't perfect. It was never about me trying to make my spouse feel guilty, but it seems it did. And this is where the communication fell down. He misinterpreted my efforts, and I misinterpreted his response.
Communication, communication, communication. I needed my partner to keep me informed of where things move to. I need to be informed. I need to voice my frustration before it gets to boiling point. We both need to talk about our feelings more, and how each of our contributions to our home and our relationship make us feel, and how we interpret each others contributions.
Just because something isn't spoken about, doesn't mean it's not important. A relationship or marriage is not a competition, but for many couples it feels like it.
When people feel guilt or stress, it leads them to act funny ways. Often stress and guilt are barriers to communication. The key to overcoming them is to recognize what it is, and have the courage to talk about it. You might be able to do it as a couple, or you might want the help of a friend who can listen to the way you are communicating with each other and offer insights and advice.
We got it sorted out, and kissed and hugged. It wouldn't hurt so much if I didn't feel such love at the same time. But it served as a good reminder to me. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in your own emotions that you forget to think of the other person. You also need to entertain the possibility that you are misinterpreting each other. Talking about it is the way to expose the miscommunication and let the healing begin.
A good lesson to learn, even for the experts'
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Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Go Wireless: All the Basics You Need to Know

Wireless speakers and headphones are taking over the market and has become the quiet juggernaut of the audio industry. Since the time features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have become common, manufacturers are enabling us to be free from the chaos of wires. You do not have to worry about messy wires and ceiling speakers. The products are becoming better by the day. However, wired speakers and earphones still dominate, claiming that the difference of quality can never be closed.


Pros and Cons of Wireless systems - When should you be buying them? 
Why are they so good?
Bluetooth speakers have become very common and it would be a good idea to stay away from all the debate about sound quality. Let us look at the advantages and the disadvantages of the wireless speakers. Let us look at when you should be getting one. The main advantage is the absence of wires. You would just need to plug in the speaker and connect it to a wall charger if it runs on power. If it runs on battery, you might need to charge it but otherwise, it would be devoid of any wires. After that, you would need to connect to a sound source like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and that is it.
Bluetooth wireless headphones make everything so unbelievably easy and that is why you should own a wireless speaker. The other advantage is that these wireless systems can be really versatile. You could be having either a mono or stereo all around the house. You have to use the potent software innovations to get an effect that is possible only with the wired speakers. You can use even various combo of speakers on a single system but there could be some issues of sound mismatch. 
What is the main problem?
The main problem with the speakers is that there would be no control over conversion and amplification. Once you have committed to a wireless speaker, it might be very difficult to connect external add-ons to this system though not totally impossible. However, there are many manufacturers who are offering some basic audio controlling app, which is largely dispelling the disadvantage. However, the quality of the external amplifiers is much better than the ones that are used in the wireless speakers. 
What should you choose between Bluetooth and WiFi systems?
There is also the brawl about whether you should be using wireless headphones and speakers with Bluetooth or WiFi. The most simple answer seems to be going for WiFi. The wireless signals would be transmitting data at higher speeds and thus there would be better audio quality. But times are changing continuously and Bluetooth technology is being developed continuously. The new technologies like aptX have reduced the bit rate on the Bluetooth signals and there has been no serious effect on the quality. Thus a there has been a real difference in audio fidelity.
On top of that, technologies like Bluetooth 5 are now in the market. These can offer speeds up to 2 MB/s and the range has increased as well. Thus, things would be getting better and better. As it stands now, there is really little difference between the two technologies. It would now depend on personal choices and gadgets. If you already have too many devices that are connected to the Internet, you should probably leave the WiFi only speakers. Otherwise, you can get spoiled WiFi speaker to handle the audio. There would be effective multi-room setups as well where you would be able to play different speakers. 
So when should be buying a wireless speaker or headphone? If you need an easy and efficient sound system that would fit into the gadget ecosystem in your house without the need for additional equipment, you should go for them. They could be ideal for multiple rooms.

10 Healthy Benefits of Playing Musical Instruments

There are many healthy benefits for you as a music lover and musical instruments players. Want to know briefly about them, then keep on reading this article.


No matter which age group or skill level you are, playing a musical instrument will definitely help both your physical and mental grades. If you are concerned about general wellness and want to promote it through some fun hobby, then a musical instrument is worth giving a shot.
Here we are going to mention some mental strengths you gain while having a musical instrument in your life.
Good Coordination
The very first thing you will be having in your list is better coordination. While playing a musical instrument, different part of your body like finger, hand, feet, mouth and arms are used in a synchronized way to produce beautiful sounds.
Mood Regulation
It’s of no doubt that nature and music change your mood. Various research over music has determined that while listening and playing some musical instrument, people have felt a dramatic change in their mood. And no doubt, a good mood outputs good results in the end.
Some researchers even showed that people who are engaged in music listening or playing, have a more tendency towards smiling and being happier.
Improves Reading Skills
While playing some musical instruments, you are reading music notes as well. This ensures a better reading skills. This is because music and reading are related via common neural and cognitive mechanisms.
Improves Listening Skills
As a good musical instrument player, you must have to be a good listener. You have to listen and hit the right notes to produce a remarkable sound, which is not only good in hearing to you but to your audience as well. While on other hand a better listening power also helps in better social relationships.
Reduces Stress and Depression
Music therapy is known to everyone, and it has been years since it was introduced to mankind. A recent study showed that musical therapy has a great tendency towards reducing the anxiety.
Helps in Boosting Concentration
When you are playing some musical instrument, you take a great care of beat, rhythm, texture, and so on. And when you are playing in a group, you have to become more concentrating on the sounds. This helps in a better concentration level boost.
Improves Breath Control
While playing musical instruments like clarinet, flute, or any other wind instrument, one of the best thing you get for your body is proper breathing. Since everyone is aware of how important is breathing for us, and when you are doing it at some optimal level, your body, lungs, and respiratory system is going to love that.
Enhanced Physical Strengths
Playing musical instrument will definitely be increasing your physical activity. Whether you are playing a guitar, a piano, any stringed instrument, or wind instrument, you are helping your arm and back muscles by holding and playing. And playing percussion like drum can lead you to do some cardio as well.
Sitting in proper posture is of a great importance to remain at a distance from pain. Playing a musical instrument also helps you to sit in proper alignment. This will surely reduce your back and neck pain issues.
Creative Self Expression & Achievement
While playing some music you are expressing yourself in variety of new ways. You often become more creative and chose your own style and genre. There is nothing more than mastering your favorite song on your musical instrument. While you were setting this goal and finally achieving that in the end, will be increasing your sense of achievement, finally improving your confidence as well.
Some Social Benefits
There are very few chances that a person playing a musical instrument is having no audience. So, you are always at the edge of finding new friends and people who may inspire your efforts. Even while playing is some band or orchestra, you have other fellows around you expressing their own skills. So music is a great way of finding new friends and inspirations.

Source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/author/Umer+Prince.html

Gospel Enemy 2



There are many times when we fail to lean the books of our lives—our spiritual and temporal activities—on the first bookend of Christ’s righteousness and instead trust in our own righteousness. Our books may start tipping over whenever we look in the mirror and wonder, “How well am I doing at personal obedience?” When we respond by resting in the assurance that we’re successful enough, we harbor self-righteousness, which is Gospel Enemy #1. And when we respond with anxiety over the inadequacy of our performance, we harbor persistent guilt, Gospel Enemy #2.

Self-righteousness is an ugly word. It’s associated with snobbery, conceit, and a holier-than-thou attitude. We find such behavior repulsive, and we should. Yet when we assess self-righteousness at this level, we’re considering it merely in terms of human relationships. The self-righteousness we refer to in this book goes deeper; it’s a self-righteousness toward God. It’s as if we tell him, “I’m doing so well; surely I deserve your blessing. You owe it to me.” 

Most of us would not actually venture to say something as presumptuous as that to God. But we essentially make this very statement whenever we depend on our own performance to merit any or all of the following six “A”-mazing blessings of God:
·         Approval by God—his favor;
·         Access to his holy presence—his fellowship;
·         Acceptance into his family—his community;
·         Admittance into heaven—his eternal life;
·         Appropriation of our daily provisions—his earthly sustenance;
·         Ability to live the Christian life—his strength.
Striving to merit these blessings may seem innocuous enough, but such an approach to God is downright dangerous. Paul says this kind of self-righteousness actually nullifies God’s grace: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21). What’s being nullified here is our ability to experience God’s grace—the assurance that, based on the gospel alone, we receive all the above-mentioned blessings rather than the curse we justly deserve for our sin. Grace changes everything—now and forever! Its cost to God was infinite; its value to us is incalculable. So the thought that we could somehow forfeit the experience of that grace should make us shudder.
Paul implies that we nullify grace whenever we’re self-righteous toward God. Who needs the cross if we can justify ourselves before God and earn his blessings by obeying the law? Do you see how this approach treats Christ as if he died for no purpose? Self-righteousness is a gospel enemy because it disregards, devalues, and discredits the gospel provision of the righteousness of Christ—the sinless life he lived for us and the sin-bearing death he died for us. Self-righteousness turns grace on its head because it views the sinner as deserving God’s blessings rather than as undeserving.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians displays how vital it is that we understand this. After a brief greeting, he gets right to the point:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6–8)
The next verse is essentially a carbon copy, deliberately restated for emphasis: “I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” If you think this is strong language, Paul later states, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:12). Not a pretty word picture.
But this is in the Bible for a good reason. The “different gospel” Paul referred to was a doctrine of self-righteousness— a man-centered, performance-based, legalistic approach to making oneself acceptable to God by following religious rules. It was anti-gospel, a dangerous doctrine of self-justification. No wonder Paul is so adamant. Yet this approach to God is as prevalent in our day as it was in Paul’s.
Here’s a classic example. Picture yourself stopping a hundred people in the mall to ask the proverbial question, “If you died today and God asked you why he should let you into his heaven, what would you say?” You already know the prevailing answers: “Because I’m a pretty good person.” “My good deeds outweigh my bad deeds.” “I’m better than most people.” People readily acknowledge they’ve sinned. After all, “I’m only human; nobody’s perfect; everyone makes mistakes.” But look carefully. What is the object of their dependence? It’s their own relative righteousness (goodness), not the absolute righteousness of Christ alone. All these people are spiritually self-righteous. They see Christ’s righteousness as irrelevant, if they see it at all. And even though they may be comparatively “pretty good” people—they nullify grace.
We’ve been discussing nonbelievers, but a similar question may be asked of us: suppose you have an urgent prayer request and God were to ask, “Why should I answer your prayer?” How would you answer? Would you immediately begin adding up your recent merit and demerit points?
One of us recently had such an experience. On the heels of asking God to meet a specific need, the thought occurred, “Lord, haven’t I been serving you day and night for weeks?” Then the words from an old hymn came to mind: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” It became a moment to repent from self-righteousness. Similarly, when we’re tempted to appeal to God by pointing out that we haven’t committed a particular kind of sin lately, we must remember: there’s no difference between trusting God for salvation and trusting him for answers to prayer; in both cases we’re dependent on Christ’s righteousness alone.
Many today are banking on the hope that a just God will consider their good deeds to have enough redeeming value to offset the guilt of their bad deeds. But people who think like this make two dangerous assumptions that are inconsistent with Scripture; they misjudge God’s justice, and they misconstrue the value of their own righteousness.
Jesus addressed these individuals in “a parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.” There he described a Pharisee and a tax collector praying in the temple (Luke 18:9–14). The Pharisee was a member of the religious elite. His dependence on his own righteousness is apparent: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortionist, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”
He assumed his standing before God was secure, based on his perceived superior obedience to the law compared to others. But instead of gaining God’s approval by his wide spectrum of religious activities and moral performance, the Son of God revealed his spiritual condition: “Not justified!” The gospel did not benefit the Pharisee; for him it was not good news.
We have a friend who looked back on the days before he trusted in Christ’s righteousness and remarked:
I was like a modern-day Pharisee. I went to church each week and sat there thinking how much better I was than my family members who slept in. I believed God accepted me because my sins were small compared to those of my friends. But once I understood the righteousness of Christ provided in the gospel, I realized I had been no more than a “good” unbeliever. I called myself a Christian, and sat alongside others who truly placed their faith in Christ’s sacrifice and righteousness, but at best I was a nominal Christian—a Christian by name only—not by genuine faith in the gospel.
Even longstanding believers can fall into a similar trap—not with regard to our salvation but with regard to our perception of our standing with God. Unless we’re vigilant about this, we’re unlikely to recognize the remnants of self-righteousness in our lives. At times our approach to God becomes like preparing a résumé for a job application—we carefully include all our accomplishments, anything that might present us in a good light and make us more acceptable. Gradually, before we know it, our Christian life consists of continually trying to update our spiritual résumé to remind God and others of what we’ve done and not done. But in reality, the whole of our résumé is either sin or filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). So every time we approach God in prayer, worship, or any other spiritual discipline, we must see our résumé only as he sees it—overlaid by Christ’s perfect résumé.
To do battle with Gospel Enemy #1, we must gain a practical understanding of how self-righteousness works in the lives of believers. There are two categories of self-righteous believers. The first is the self-disciplined moralistic believer who partially embraces the gospel but feels deserving of one or more of those six “A”-mazing blessings on the basis of his or her religious performance. There’s a fine line between such a person and the moralistic unbeliever; they look so much alike, we may not be able to distinguish between the two.
For believers in this category, much of their everyday faith and confidence resides in certain aspects of their own performance—their lack of scandalous sins, regular church attendance, serving others, Scripture memorization, daily devotions, tithing, or their sacrificial giving of time, talents, and material goods. Their dependence does not rest solely on the two-part atoning work of Christ—his perfect obedience in their place and his perfect sacrificial death in their place. Instead, Christ’s finished work of substitutionary atonement seems vaguely inadequate to them, as though it somehow lacked power and validity.
In holding this view, they unwittingly make a demeaning statement about the Son of God: “Christ’s righteousness alone isn’t enough to make me acceptable to God—he needs my help in order to completely justify me.” When we put it this way, we would all agree this is prideful: God can’t possibly get all the glory if an essential part of my acceptance depends on me. This approach falls short of the glory of God in a subtle yet significant way.
A quote from one of our favourite books provides insight for Christians who, in practice, live as if God’s love for them ebbs and flows according to their actions:
When we have our quiet times for the day, or when we have given a tithe, we are confident of God’s love toward us. But when our days become crowded and personal devotions end up neglected, we start to avoid God, sensing that we are under his wrath and anger. We imagine that God is waiting for us to get ourselves together before we again enter his presence. Such thinking betrays our failure to grasp the security of our union [with Christ] and the depth of God’s love and consequently disrupts our communion with him. Making God’s love contingent on our action is a sad but common misunderstanding in the church. Remember, a believer’s union is never in jeopardy. For God’s love is an eternal love that had no beginning, that shall have no ending; that cannot be heightened by any act of ours; that cannot be lessened by anything in us. While our sense of communion with God may fluctuate, his love does not grow and diminish. The wrath of God against the sin of saints was completely exhausted on the cross.
Do you sometimes feel as if God’s love for you ebbs and flows, depending on whether you’ve had a good quiet time? Do you know you’re saved by grace but live as if God’s day-to-day blessings are bestowed in accordance with your performance? Are you beginning to have doubts about the degree of freedom you actually have from the influence of self-righteousness?
Below is our list of probing questions designed to help you gain clarity. As you meditate on them, be brutally honest, for much is at stake. When you analyze your Christian walk:
1) Do you tend to live by a list of dos and don’ts?
2) Is it difficult for you to respect those whose standards aren’t as high as yours?
3) Do you assume that practicing spiritual disciplines should result in God’s blessing?
4) Do you feel you’re better than most other people?
5) Has it been a long time since you identified a sin and repented of it?
6) Do you resent it when others point out your “spiritual blind spots”?
7) Do you readily recognize the sins of others but not your own?
8) Do you have the sense that God owes you a good life?
9) Do you get angry when difficulties and suffering come into your life?
10) Do you seldom think of the cross?
If you found yourself answering yes to at least half these questions, it’s likely you’re living under a stronghold of self-righteousness toward God. You need to see this for what it really is—a hideous enemy disguised as a satisfying glory. It will let you down and leave you hanging. Its satisfaction is as short-lived as an ice cube in the blazing sun; its glory has all the appeal of a well-dressed corpse. And at the end of the day this fact remains: no amount of personal performance will ever gain the approval of a holy God.
There’s a second category of self-righteous believers. They also partially embrace the gospel, but they constantly live under a sense of guilt due to an acute awareness that the expectations they set for themselves are considerably under-fulfilled. They’re displeased with themselves and assume God is also displeased. Their attitude can be deceptive: outwardly it may look like humility. But persistent guilt is a child of self-righteousness toward God. It’s the belief that we should find our source of righteousness within ourselves, though we’re painfully aware of our shortfall, as if to say, “I can do better, and I should do better”—emphasis on I. Like moralistic believers, these also border on unbelief. Only God knows their heart and whether they truly place their faith in the righteousness of Christ.
Most believers, including the two of us, often vacillate between these two categories. One day we feel good about our performance, and we look to God with confidence, harboring a subtle, unspoken attitude that we’ve earned his favor and deserve his blessing. We imagine a scene where we approach God with our list of attributes and accomplishments. Just like the Pharisee, we compare ourselves to others in an attempt to feel “justified.” Although we primarily depend on the righteousness of Christ, we like to think we’ve added some of our own merit for good measure. But this is an insult to the gospel of the cross; we treat it as though our personal performance can add to its immeasurable and all-sufficient merit.
The next day we catch ourselves falling to temptation. Suddenly we are downcast and inwardly assume there is no way God is going to bless us until we straighten up. Instead of depending on the first bookend, we anxiously wait for our books to tip over and drop to the floor. This, too, is an insult to the gospel. We call it Gospel Enemy #2 because it treats Christ’s death as though it were inadequate.

We succumb to it when we fail to rely on the fact that the righteousness of Christ is never even slightly changed or diminished by our sin. Christ’s work in the gospel is a finished work; its result is permanent. Even on our worst days we’re to stand in the present reality of our justification in him.
Regardless of which of these two categories we lean toward, all of us are inclined at times to handle our books in ways that disregard the first bookend. We would even go so far as to say every believer has a built-in tendency to do this on a regular basis. You may find that statement alarming, but isn’t it true we feel better about ourselves and our relationship to God when we’re obedient compared to when we’re disobedient? We must continually battle these two gospel enemies, self-righteousness and persistent guilt. They represent a form of unbelief that may not send us to hell but will rob us of fruitfulness, joy, and the assurance that God is for us and not against us, both now and forevermore.
Both enemies surrender to the same God-given, strategic weapon—the righteousness of Christ, the first bookend. We’ll show how to apply this in chapter 5. But before we do, let’s take some time to get to know Gospel Enemy #2 in more detail.

Chapter 3 from The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges & Bob Bevington

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Overcame His 7 Biggest Failures to Become on of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs : Jack Ma

It takes a rare person to accumulate a total net worth over $20 billion through a devoted work ethic while maintaining a sense of perspective. Jack Ma is one of those people. The founder and CEO of Alibaba, one of the world’s leading e-commerce web portals, is one of the world’s richest men, but he has not let success cloud his vision for the future or his acknowledgement of where he came from. Jack Ma’s keys to success are true and inspiring for everyone from aspiring billionaires to owners of the smallest businesses.

His achievements are practically unbelievable considering his meager, humble beginnings. Along the way, he failed more times (and more spectacularly) than most of us could stomach in a lifetime.

Here are seven ways Ma experienced soul-crushing failure, but managed to keep his optimism, just like his hero, Forrest Gump. He...

1. Didn’t give up after failing many exams at school.

Ma was not a good student. In fact, he almost didn’t get into middle school.
"I failed a key primary school test two times, I failed the middle school test three times, I failed the college entrance exam two times…” Ouch. These are things most of us are lucky enough to have never said to our parents.
But surprisingly, Ma’s not alone. There’s a tradition of other great minds, including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Abraham Lincoln (along with Forrest Gump) struggled early in life with academics but going on to do great things.

2. Scored 1 out of 120 points on the math portion of his college entrance exam.

Failing is one thing. Getting a score of less than 1 percent on your college entrance exam is something else completely. And it wasn’t because he didn’t have time to prepare. To this day, Ma struggles with mathematicsdespite the fact that Alibaba is a tech company.
To quote Ma: “I am not good at math, have never studied management, and still cannot read accounting reports."
But as it turns out, he never needed to be good at math to become a billionaire. Perhaps even more impressive is that he never heard the word “computer” in his childhood.

3. Wasn’t deterred after being rejected from Harvard 10 times.

It’s not so much that being rejected from Harvard 10 times is surprising, it’s that he bothered applying that many times in the first place. What this shows us is that Ma is the paradigm of persistence. “The very important thing you should have is patience.”
He also went to the aptly named Hangzhou Normal University, where he went on to become an English major.

4. Stayed optimistic after being turned down for 30 jobs.

After graduating from college, he applied to 30 different jobs and was subsequently rejected by all of them.
He even applied to be a police officer. But they didn’t even give him the time of day, rejecting him with three simple words: “You’re no good.”
Fortunately, just like his favorite movie hero, Forrest Gump, Ma kept on running. "Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueler. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful."

5. Was the only interviewee (out of 24) rejected by KFC.

Out of 24 KFC applicants in his pool, 23 were hired. Ma was the only one to be rejected. He attributes this largely to his lack of good looks and short stature.
His wife, Zhang Ying (who married him before he became wealthy), doesn’t mind his appearance. “Ma Yun is not a handsome man, but I fell for him because he can do a lot of things handsome men cannot do.

6. Couldn’t convince Silicon Valley to fund Alibaba.

Even after he started Alibaba, he suffered multiple failures. It wasn’t profitable the first three years. In the beginning, they expanded too fast and almost imploded when the dot-com bubble burst.  At one point, Alibaba was just 18 months away from bankruptcy.
As Ma humbly notes: “I call Alibaba ‘1,001 mistakes.’”

7. Told his 18 Alibaba partners that none of them could be execs.

In one of the worst financial and motivational decisions a CEO can make, Ma told the 18 partners (contributing capital for a total of $60,000 USD), that none could rise higher than the rank of manager. His plan was to instead hire outside managers.
This, he notes, was his biggest mistake ever. “The lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you've got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision.”

If at first you don’t succeed...

Jack Ma is a classic rags-to-riches story, but even more impressive than his fabulous wealth is his uncanny level of persistence. He is proof that no series of failures (despite how cripplingly depressing) can keep someone from achieving their dreams.
As Ma says: “If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure.”