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04 MuSCat daily WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009

A MuscAt DAily cOluMNist

ReSultS in life - Sales plummet as

ChOiCe OR luCk?
Kevin Abdulrahman
Kevin Abdulrahman is an in-demand leadership development and performance acceleration speaker
and trainer
i have had so many people tell me that they want
achieve great things in life. the only problem is
that the tasks they have to do to accomplish get-
ting there are things they dislike doing.
i usually say one of two things:
1) tough. if you really want something, then
you will do whatever needs to be done to get
there.
2) Reassess what you want. the chances are
it’s not something you really, really, really want.
Because if it was, you would not put so much
weight on the task, but more on the end reward.
i will suggest the same for you. take your
pick from the above two choices, but before you
do, let me share something with you.
Winners dislike the very tasks that you do
too. they simply have more pleasure associ-
ated with their end reward than the pain of
doing the tasks. they see
themselves living their dreams START LIKING THE
and reaching their goals, so taSkS yOu diSlike time they don’t feel like doing
everything else in between is
simply a process that they understand must be
done. they don’t put a negative emotional
weight on what needs to be done.
i remember talking with a friend who was
sleep just as much as you do, and a few years
back, you would have never seen me get up any
earlier than 7am. But my dream is to get to the
Olympics and i will do whatever i need to do to
get there. When i hear the alarm at 4:50am, i
hear the sound of me getting one day closer to
living my dream. i see myself in the Beijing
Olympic stadium. that’s how i get out of bed
without thinking twice about it.”
Winners love to do what you do and dislike
the tasks you dislike too. But if there is a goal to
achieve within a time frame, winners will do
whatever it takes to get there.
Winners practice and develop a much higher
association of pleasure to achieving their goals
compared to the pain of doing the tasks. they
have learned to pick things that ignite them so
that they can go through the things they dislike
along the way.
Winners know that every
what must be done, they
remind themselves of the reasons as to why
they are doing it.
if you cannot find strong enough reasons for
what you are doing and it will not ultimately
gold prices soar
Traders estimate sales of gold have decreased by 30-50 per cent
M Najmuz Zafar
Muscat
This Eid and Christmas, gold
sales look bleak with the rates
touching an all-time high of
RO14.53 per gram (24 carat) on
Tuesday.
The rapidly climbing price of
gold has put sales down by about
50 per cent, say industry insid-
ers. They also believe the trend
will continue and gold prices
could well go beyond RO20 per
gram by March next year.
Loui Terrance, regional man-
ager, Atlas Jewellery, said that
there was a huge difference be-
tween the last quarter of 2008
and that of 2009 in terms of
sales and gold rates. “Currently
we have seen a drop in sales of
50 per cent and above. Visit any
store and you will see the market
mood. There used to be around
60-70 customers hovering

training for the Olympics. He would get up at
5am and go running in the cold weather as part
of his preparation to ensure he was extremely
fit for the big day. i asked him how he got him-
self out of bed in the cold to go running with
such ease.
What he said stayed with me as a great re-
minder whenever i am staring down the barrel
of challenges to get to any goal i set. i hope it
does the same for you too.
He said, “Kevin, you are not alone. i love my
You can e-mail him on kevin.abdulrahman@apexstuff.com
give you the pleasure on the inside, then do
something about it.
Find something that will ignite you to do the
same.
understand that all good things require work,
just as implementing any other winning truths i
share in my books.
you are not alone, winners get the things that
needs to be done out of the way, whether they
like it or not.
Have a winning week.
around every store on any given
day, but today there are hardly 15
to 20 customers,” he said,
adding that the gold rate is not
likely to come down but it should
remain steady so that there is
some positive response in the
market.
With the dollar weakening,
gold prices are increasing, mean-
ing sales are likely to come down
further, said Iqbal Jaffar of Al
Hasina Jewellers. “
At the current rate, people are
selling rather than buying, which
has led to a 50 per cent drop in
sales.”
diamond jewellery and keep the
chunky gold items under wraps.
People are thinking that this is
the highest gold will climb, so
they are holding back. But we
know that it will touch RO20 by
the end of the financial year in
March 2010.”
He added that with Eid com-
ing, there might be some upturn
in sales and to attract customers
for Christmas, they are already
planning promotions.
With gold crossing all previ-
ous price barriers, people are
increasingly selling gold.
According to Rajesh Govin-
{
first two quarters, the third
looked a little better, but the
fourth is ending on a low note.
With Eid and Christmas coming,
People are things might brighten up a little,
thinking that this is but gold prices will continue to
the highest gold go up, forcing people to reserve
will climb, so they rather than splurge.”
Gold demand in the Middle
are holding back. East dropped by 34 per cent for
But we know that it the third quarter of 2009, due to
will touch RO20 by an exceptionally strong third
the end of the quarter in 2008, the World Gold
Council (WGC) said.
financial year in The total identifiable gold
March 2010 demand for the third quarter was
800.3 tonnes in volume terms or

Send your comments to Said Jose K F, regional man-

ager, Joy Alukkas, “Compared to
dan, country manager, Damas
Jewellery, if this trend continues,
US$24.7bn in value terms, WGC
said in a statement. Identifiable

muscatdaily@apexstuff.com
this time last year, sales are
down by 30 per cent. We plan
to focus on light weight gold and
{
there may be a drop of 30 per demand comprises jewellery,
cent in sales. industrial and investment de-
“Business was down in the mand for gold.

International chic comes to Muscat

Muscat's first international fashion show features home-grown talent
International designers including
Nina Ricci and Vivienne West-
wood featured alongside Omani
designers Dibaj in Muscat's first
international runway show held
on Monday.
Organised and produced by
Nada Ali Redha al Lawati,
founder of Designer General
Trading based in Dubai, the show
was held at The Chedi, Muscat
and was, according to a press
statement, “attended by Mus-
cat’s most influential women.”
The show was followed by a one-
to-one meeting opportunity and
a sales event.
Among the international de-
signers were Muscat-based
Dibaj, in addition to Mahari and
Bling Chi fine jewellers, who are
based in Dubai. This year marks
the first time they have exhibited
their collections in an interna-
tional fashion show.
Dibaj is the creation of sisters
Aida and Afaf al Farsi. The state-
ment said that their designs are
“traditional jalabiyas with a mod-
ern twist and sophisticated
evening gowns. Dibaj’s vision is
to dress women in fashionable
couture pieces that are elegantly
and comfortably worn anywhere
by anyone.”
“It has been a long awaited
ambition to bring a show of this
calibre to Oman which caters to
a niche and untapped market of
Arab women who appreciate
luxury, impeccable design and
tailoring,” said Nada. “I hope this
will be the beginning of many
more inspiring fashion events in
Muscat, not only to showcase
emerging talent from the region,
but also internationally renowned
labels to add a high degree of
credibility and quality.” The invi-
tation-only event titled Fashion
Mischief showcased clothes
ranging from kaftans and abayas
with a modern twist to ready-to-
wear pieces and cocktail dresses.