September 9, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

http://www.businessinsider.com/concept-flow-help-get-in-zone-work-brad-stulberg-2017-9

Performance expert and coauthor of  “Peak Performance: Elevate your Game, Avoid Burnout and Thrive with the New Science of Success,” Brad Stulberg explains how the psychological concept of “flow” can help you get in the zone at work. Following is a transcript of the video.

“Flow” is a term introduced in the early ’90s by a psychologist named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. And the easiest way to describe “flow” is it’s being in the zone. So, it’s when you are completely present with what you’re doing, and it’s like the outside world disappears. So, your perception of time might change, your perception of space might change, you’re just completely latched on to what you’re doing. It’s a wonderful feeling. Although there’s no recipe for entering a “flow” state, there are a few things that can help elicit this beautiful feeling of being in the zone. First and foremost is to try to pursue activities that are ever so slightly outside of your comfort level. So, I like to think of it as if you have a skill set, and then a challenge. And you want the challenge to just be ever so slightly above the skill.

Let’s say that you have very high skill. Well, if the challenge is low, you might be bored or apathetic. If you have low skill, but the challenge is high, you’re going to be overwhelmed, maybe anxious, you won’t be able to do it. But if you have a high amount of skill for something, and the challenge is really high, that is a really important criteria for being able to get into the zone.

I think a second foundational element is just trying to be fully present and focused with what you’re doing. And, that helps if the challenge and the skills are both high because you almost have no choice but to be present.

So, to recap, it’s activities that put you ever so slightly outside of your comfort zone, but that you’re still quite skilled for, and a type of full focus and presence where you really bring your all to that activity. If you’ve ever played any type of sport, the flow or zone can be described as a slowing down of the things around you. Some believe that in these moments, the brain is processing information and reacting at such a faster rate that it seems like everything is slower. In my opinion this natural state can be obtained through mindfulness and meditation. The importance of achieving this state is to increase your productivity and efficiency in work and life.

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-08-15/the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-internet-billionaire

A dozen years ago, the largest internet company in China wasn’t Alibaba or Tencent, but game developer Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. Its founder was a young man named Chen Tianqiao, who had become a billionaire at 30. Chen was more prominent than Alibaba’s Jack Ma for much of the last decade — then he disappeared. He left China, dropping out of public view almost completely. He took his Nasdaq-listed company private in 2012. Chen is finally ready to talk publicly again. Now 44, he’s living in Singapore with plans for his next act. During a visit to his office there, he explained what led him to give up his life’s work and cede the market to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., whose founders are now the country’s two richest men. It started with panic attacks in his 30s, then escalated amid the rising stress of competition and government regulations. He eventually decided he had to salvage his own health. His mental struggles and Buddhist beliefs lead him down a new path, which was research on the human brain. He set aside $1 billion to start the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience. The concept for the school is unusual to say the least: It will bring together academics in everything from neuroscience, biology and psychiatry to philosophy and divinity studies, and encourage them to work together. Chen thinks it’s time to focus on improving humans’ emotional well-being after centuries of effort to increase living standards. “This will be a university whose mission is to try to answer who we are and where we come from,” he said. “For thousands of years, we improved our happiness through changing the physical world. We now have to solve this problem by exploring inward.” Chen was born in 1973, and started Shanda in 1999 not long after meeting his wife Chrissy while working at a securities firm. Chen and his wife made their own way through creating an online gaming company. His company saw success over the years at the consequence of his health via panic attacks. A devout Buddhist who studied ways to transcend suffering, Chen decided to change course for good: The family relocated to Singapore in 2010 and began to withdraw from the business. In 2011, they offered to take Shanda Interactive private for $2.3 billion. They later sold off their stock in Shanda Games and Chen resigned from its board.  For three years, Chen and Chrissy considered what their next step would be, which ultimately lead to the brain. The couple sees enormous business opportunities in understanding the brain, especially in the areas of researching debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s. His Singapore based investment firm has invested in 100 advanced technology ventures throughout the world. Chen sees virtual reality as the best form of technology to connect with neuroscience. He has used his assets to make investments well beyond the cerebral. He is the largest shareholder in peer-to-peer giant LendingClub Corp. and in the rural U.S. hospital chain Community Health Systems Inc. He also holds chunky stakes in Legg Mason Inc. and KKR & Co. He’s even bought up more than 700,000 acres of timberland in the U.S. and Canada. Chen’s influence in China endures. Several of his lieutenants have gone on to become stars in their own right, including Daniel Zhang, who was Shanda’s former chief finance officer and is now Alibaba’s chief executive officer. Even though he is no longer the person he was, Chen accepts his current reality with little regrets and seeks to move forward to a new future. Growing up in a Buddhist home, I learned many of the principles of Buddhism and in some ways, I look at life through a middle way lens without attachment. In my mind, it’s important to continue to move forward to make a lasting difference for the future and eternity. If a billionaire can make a conscious choice to change direction in his life, then I believe anyone can change the course of his or her life.

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included The most motivational video Ever! 2018 will not be the same after watching this from the Video Advice YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

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September 2, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

https://www.inc.com/peter-kozodoy/the-1-mental-exercise-you-must-do-to-achieve-your-.html

There’s a funny truth in the business world: hard work does not equate to success. If you’ve believed in this supposed connection for any length of time, you may find it unbelievable that there is in fact no direct cause-and-effect relationship between those two things. So, if you can’t draw a straight line between working hard and achieving your goals, then what else is there? To help answer this conundrum, I turned to my consulting coach, J.V. Crum III — an author, keynote speaker, and serial entrepreneur who made his millions by the ripe old age of 25. Now, he shows other business coaches and consultants how to go from six to seven figures and beyond in their businesses, and teaches high net worth business founders how to move from making a tiny ripple to making a tidal wave of impact with both their passions and their profits. When I asked him about how to systematically set goals and rapidly achieve them, he told me the one reason why most people never come close to achieving their biggest goals. He pointed to his head, and said, “anything you achieve in life, you have to achieve it in here, first.” In his book, Conscious Millionaire: Grow Your Business by Making a Difference, he goes in-depth on what he calls “Conscious Millionaire Visualization,” which is a high-level form of goal visualization. It not only empowers you past the point of most visualization approaches, but it also gives you permission to live at your highest potential. Visualization is powerful technique in the sports realm, but Crum argues it’s essential to achieving your financial goals. It’s important to put yourself into the mental state of success vs. simply wanting to be in that state. Those that are successful already feel like they’ve achieved it. Your mindset, as I’ve personally learned, is everything. What I’ve also learned is that the power of visualization does not come through voodoo or magical energy (though I’m willing to be debated on either). Instead, I have found that visualization works, in part, because we tend to make different micro-decisions based on our state of mind. In other words, we make tiny, seemingly insignificant variations in our daily habits that, over time, add up to wildly divergent outcomes. The author suggests that you close your eyes and envision achieving everything you’ve ever wanted and more. Can you imagine what this moment would be like, and while in this state, can you see yourself taking these steps, and when you open your eyes make a conscious decision to stay in that state.  Our words have power. What you think and say to yourself can create a reality in your mind. Constantly push your limits whether its financially, physically or mentally. Be the greatest version of you there is to make a difference in the world around you.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stop-feeling-exhausted-work-every-day-2017-8

Brad Stulberg, coauthor of “Peak Performance: Elevate your Game, Avoid Burnout and Thrive with the New Science of Success” shares how you can stop feeling exhausted after work every day. Following is a transcript of the video. Sleep is just so important so I’d start there, that to me is the lowest-hanging fruit. If you’re not getting between seven to nine hours of sleep, I’d really make that a priority.  Second to sleep, I think that particularly if the work that you do involves your mind, not your body, exercise is a wonderful tool. It allows you to get in touch with a more physical sense of yourself, which I think, in it of itself, is very powerful but there is also lots of research that shows that exercise helps with a lot of the things that are driving people crazy about work. So things like anxiety, things like willpower, those can all be boosted by regular exercise. Another thing that is very interesting to me is this notion of “social ties” and what I call “social recovery”. So just hanging out with a group of people that you enjoy spending time with, not necessarily talking about work and things that are stressing you out, that defeats the purpose, but hanging out, having a good time has actually been shown to change our biochemistry and give us those same hormones that again promote growth and promote recovery. Honoring the principle of rest in any form will allow your body to not just heal but to perform at a high level. If you imagine your body like a rubber band, the more you stretch it, the more elastic it will become. New limits will be put in place, but remember to rest, and surround yourself with others who can strengthen you too. Don’t do life alone, because we’re better together.

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included THE HERO IN YOU – BEST Motivational video for Success 2017 from the Mulligan Brothers YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

August 26, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-first-million-book-2017-8

 There isn’t one single path to wealth.  “I think it’s possible to have a million dollars in the bank even if you’re not an entrepreneur,” said billionaire “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban in a new interview with MONEY and Spanx founder Sara Blakely. “There are a lot of strategies for people who work their way up the corporate ladder, or even bounce from job to job.”  While there isn’t a singular job or investment that will guarantee wealth, Cuban says, there is one trait that will definitely help you get there: Discipline.  The Dallas Mavericks owner said the 1988 book “Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35” by Paul Terhorst helped him develop discipline around saving and spending money.  “The whole premise of the book was that if you could save up $1 million and live like a student, you could retire. But you would have to have the discipline of saving,” he said. In his book, Terhorst advises savers to dramatically reduce housing costs and forgo luxuries like fancy cars and vacations, even if you can technically afford it.  Cuban’s strategy for savings a lot of cash was through living frugally. Along with his discipline, he looked to take risks. “Part of the risk is maybe putting money into a low-cost mutual fund,” he said. “Or invest in your education — whatever it may be to help you get to the point where you can truly save money.”  Keep in mind that a get-rich formula, and luck will not lead to a seven-figure net worth or early retirement. The key strategy is living below your means, and having a strategy for the extra income. Some key points to remember is that Mark Cuban became a millionaire at 32 after selling his first company and became a billionaire with the selling of his second company in less than a decade later. If you want to attain that high net worth then consider building an asset high enough to sell it. Concentrate on keeping your job to pay your living expenses and consumer debt, and focus on building passive income generating assets.

https://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2017/08/facts-about-bitcoin.html

Since its advent in January 2009, Bitcoin’s presence in the world has increased quite dramatically. Conceived as a cryptocurrency and digital payment system, it is also beginning to take on a more physical form. The decentralized governance of Bitcoin is one the main attractions among people who are skeptical about the efficiency and fairness of a central bank. Now, with several thousands of merchants and vendors accepting payments in bitcoins and ATMs popping up, Bitcoin is quickly becoming an influencing economic force as well in various nations. So, here are some amazing facts about Bitcoin that we are sure you would enjoy reading about. The ten facts are:

The founder of Bitcoin is someone known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.” No one knows who he is, what his real name is, or where he lives. As of 2017, he owns up to one million bitcoins which have an estimated value of $2.7 billion

The first real-world transaction using Bitcoin was done to purchase two large, Papa John’s pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. As of August 2017, that amount is now worth $27 million.

Unlike what most people think, bitcoins are not unlimited. The number of bitcoins in circulation will never exceed 21 million

The global Bitcoin computing power is 256 times faster than that of top 500 supercomputers combined!

Bitcoin has been sent into outer space.

Bitcoin uses a public ledger called “block chain” for transactions. The invention of block chain made Bitcoin the first digital currency to solve the problem of double spending, an error in digital cash which allows the same token to be spent twice or more.

If you had invested $100 in Bitcoin in 2010, you’d be worth $72 million now.

The largest transaction ever made on the network was for 194,993 bitcoins. That was more than $147 million according to the effective rate in November 2013. The transaction was tagged “Sh*t Load of Money!”

Every bitcoin transaction, no matter how small, uses at least enough electricity to power three average homes for an entire day.

The FBI has the world’s largest Bitcoin wallets consisting seized bitcoins, apart from Satoshi Nakamoto.

These facts are as of the writing of this article. Personally, I’ve started investing in cryptocurrencies. I believe that our world is shifting into a digital world, and the next shift is within currencies. Keep an eye on Ethereum and specifically the concept of smart contracts.

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GREATNESS – 2017 Motivational Video from the Basquiat Picasso YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

 

August 19, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

https://www.inc.com/benjamin-p-hardy/how-to-learn-in-2-days-what-normally-takes-6-month.html

Research has found that having clarity about your goals is essential to having motivation to achieve those goals. If you’re not clear on what you’re doing, it’s hard to be motivated. Which is why seemingly easy tasks, like sending a fax, could end up taking months. There’s a lack of clarity on how to do it, so you don’t – until either you have to or it’s too late. Can you relate? Unfortunately, having a lack of clarity is why so many people settle for less than their dreams. Said Robert Brault, author of Round Up the Usual Subjects, “We are kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.” You want clarity so bad that you’re willing to settle for lesser goals, simply because the path to getting your true goal is less obvious. The Mormon church has seen success in training young missionaries in speaking foreign languages efficiently. The MTC uses context-based learning.

The system is simple:

 

    Learn a concept

    Practice and use that concept in a real-world scenario

    Get coaching and feedback

    Repeat

    Get coaching and feedback

“If you want lasting change, you’ve got to give up this idea of ‘trying something.’ You’ve got to decide you’re going to commit-to-mastery. Most people dabble. They say, ‘I’d like to change my body,’ or ‘I’d like to make my relationship better.’ These people don’t have enough detail to follow-through.” – Tony Robbins. There are four important steps to applying context based learning: get a teacher, repetition until your learning becomes unconscious, set specific goals with a hard time line, and tracking and accountability. If you want to accelerate your ability to learn then take the time to read this article and apply its process. The author outlines step 2 with four important sub-steps:

  1. Repeated learning of a small set of information. If you’re playing basketball, for instance, that might mean shooting the same shot over and over. The key here is to go beyond the initial point of mastery.
  2. Make your training progressively more difficult. You want to make the task harder and harder until it’s too hard. Then you bring the difficulty back down slightly, in order to stay near the upper limit of your current ability.
  3. Add time constraints. For example, some math teachers ask students to work on difficult problems with increasingly shortened timelines. Adding the component of time challenges you in two ways. First, it forces you to work quickly, and second, it saps a portion of your working memory by forcing it to remain conscious of the ticking clock.
  4. Practice with increasing memory load – that is, trying to do a mental task with other things on your mind. Put simply, it’s purposefully adding distractions to your training regimen.

Essentially, you want your understanding of something to be fluid and flexible. You want to be able to apply your learning in different contexts and for different purposes. Thus, you learn your skill in-and-out. I’ve quoted heavily from this article because we live in the Information Age. We have access to too much information, and it takes wisdom to discern the valuable information from the garbage. As humans, we need to start unlocking the next portion of our mental capabilities. It may require proper diet and exercise. Ultimately it requires commitment. Personally, I blog to absorb new pieces of information and at the same time teach myself new habits not just for strengthening my mind, but for reaching more people. What is your lens that you’re using to live your life. Can you make a difference?

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/102815/how-identify-mispriced-stocks.asp

Investors hoping to maximize their gains try to identify stocks that are mispriced, creating long opportunities for underpriced companies and short opportunities for overpriced shares. Not everyone believes a stock can be mispriced, particularly those who are proponents of the efficient markets hypothesis. Efficient markets theory assumes that market prices reflect all available information regarding a stock and this information is uniform. Such observers also contend that asset bubbles are driven by rapidly changing information and expectations rather than irrational or overly speculative behavior. Many investors believe markets are mostly efficient and some stocks are mispriced at various times. In some cases, the entire market can be pushed beyond reason in a bull or bear run, challenging investors to recognize the peaks and troughs in an economic cycle. Information on a company might be overlooked by the market. Small-cap stocks are especially prone to irregular information because there are fewer investors, analysts and media sources following these stories. In other cases, market participants may miscalculate the magnitude of news and temporarily distort a stock’s price. Relative and intrinsic valuation both focus on a company’s financial data and fundamentals. Technical analysis helps investors to identify mispriced stocks to identify future price movements by the behavior of participants in the market. In a relative valuation, the P/E ratio is used to take the earnings of a company to help determine the underlying value of a company. The price-to-book (P/B) ratio is used to show how much a company’s valuation is generated by its book value. P/B is important in the analysis of financial firms, and it is also useful for identifying the level of speculation present in a stock’s valuation. Relative valuation is useful for evaluating companies within the same industry. Intrinsic value doesn’t rely on future performance. Intrinsic value is calculated using financial data and may incorporate some assumptions about future returns. Discounted cash flow (DCF) is one of the most popular intrinsic valuation methods. DCF assumes a business is worth the cash it can produce, and that future cash must be discounted to present value to reflect the cost of capital. Another way to calculate intrinsic value is through residual income valuation. Technical analysis involves looking at the price charts and trading volume to identify mispriced stocks. It’s looking at current information and determine if supply and demand issues exist and taking advantage on those price discrepancies. One approach requires in depth analysis, and the other can be done through a daily surface level inspection. What is your strategy? What is your exit strategy? Why are you doing what you’re doing?

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included The Secret to Self-Motivation | One of the Best Speeches Ever from the Video Advice YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

 

August 12, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/080716/debt-avalanche-vs-debt-snowball-which-best-you.asp

Paying off debt is no easy task, but it will bring financial freedom. There are two distinct methods to pay off debt: the debt avalanche way and the debt snowball way. While both are useful strategies to get debt out of your life, one method might be easier for you to stick with and make a bigger impact on your debt repayment. Here’s how to find out which debt repayment method is best for you. The debt avalanche involves paying extra money towards the debt with the highest interest rate, and the debt snowball involves paying the smallest debt amount first and working your way up.

Using the debt avalanche to pay off debt will save you the most money in interest payments. For example, if you have $3,000 extra to devote to debt repayment each month, then the debt avalanche method will make your money go the furthest. Imagine that you have the following debts:

  • $10,000 credit card debt at 18.99%
  • $9,000 car loan at 3.00%
  • $15,000 student loan at 4.50%

In this scenario, the avalanche method would have you pay off your credit card debt first, then allow you to pay off your remaining debt in 11 months, paying a total of $1,011.60 in interest. The snowball method would have you tackle the car loan first, becoming debt-free in 11 months, but you would have paid $1,514.97 in interest. Just by switching the order of your debts, you can save hundreds of dollars in interest payments. For individuals with larger amounts of debt, the avalanche method can also reduce the time it takes to pay off the debt by a few months. The snowball method builds the motivation on your debt repayment. It’s important to remember that paying back debt is not exciting, and it can feel like a very long journey, so you can ask yourself which is the best method? If you are serious about tackling your debt, then pick which method is best for your own situation and personality. The best method is the one that you stick to. If you are a person that needs more motivation to pay off debt, then stick with the debt snowball method. Find or create the best method for you, but even more importantly commit to getting out of this consumer debt. When you complete this journey, you will essence give yourself a raise. Also, as you’re getting out of debt go ahead and take the extra money and grow your assets.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/marcus-lemonis-the-2-essential-reasons-you-should-buy-a-home.html

To own or not to own? For lots of Americans, that is the question. Homeownership can be a tricky subject. Some experts argue it’s the expense that never stops taking, while others venture that not owning a home is “the single biggest mistake” young Americans are making. Serial entrepreneur and host of CNBC’s “The Profit” Marcus Lemonis comes down in favor of owning, or taking steps towards owning, the place you called home. Lemonis says that planning to own a home is beneficial even before you’re in the position to buy, because it forces individuals to think hard about saving for the future and presents a crystal clear goal. Though he notes that real estate prices in some markets make homeownership out of the question for some who might like to buy, he says there are two key reasons to consider planning to purchase property: The two key reasons are attention to budgeting and the sense of accomplishment. “In order to buy a home,” Lemonis tells CNBC Make It, “you need to have a down payment, in order to have a down payment you need to budget properly, in order to budget properly you have to buy one pair of shoes and not three pairs of shoes. It teaches you a form of moderation.” That outlook on moderation, Lemonis argues, can be applied to purchases of any size in any phase of life. To save for a down payment, you need to have a budget, and more importantly a level of self-control when it comes to your spending. I suggest having an accountability person, who you give permission to help increase your ability to save. Studies show that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Contact me and I’ll show you my process of how to accelerate your savings and at the same time budget. “I remember going into my home the first night,” he says. “It had no furniture in it, and I didn’t care. The sense of pride and accomplishment that I had about saving $23,600 was a big deal.” The financial lessons learned from homeownership, combined with the self-esteem earned through saving a down payment and the sense of security that comes from owning the place where you live, Lemonis argues, is a powerful combination. “Where we lay our heads down at night,” he says, “is important.” Owning a home will cause a lot of unexpected expenses so it’s important to properly manage your finances to both increase your income and lower your expenses for paying down or off your mortgage. Remember that real estate has value. There is only so much earth so even if the house loses value, the real estate underneath it may still hold value. As you increase your income and lower expenses, look to create income producing assets that will pay the mortgage for you. Create a system to follow and even more importantly commit to doing it.

 

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included Watch this WHEN YOU FEEL LAZY – Intense Motivation for Ending Laziness from the Video Advice YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

August 5, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/mind-blowing-podcasts-learn-something-new-30-minutes-or-less.html

The average morning commute in the US is just shy of 30 minutes. That’s no fun if you spend it in rush-hour traffic, but it’s a good time to try out a new podcast, especially one that upends the way you see and think about the world. From business to history to psychology, here are some of the most mind-expanding podcasts that you can gobble up in a half-hour or less. The nine podcasts are hidden brain, happier with Gretchen Rubin, Arming the Donkeys, 99% invisible, Planet Money, No Such Thing as a Fish, Revisionist History, Success! How I Did it, and the Food Chain. Personally, I didn’t start seriously listening to podcasts until earlier this year, so I’m learning more and more about the content available. There’s literally thousands of podcasts on just about any topic you can imagine. Unless you have an unlimited data plan, I suggest downloading an episode to your media device and playing it through either Bluetooth or USB. In my work place, some of my co-workers have said that their car is their office. I suggest instead of just listening to music, strengthen your mind by listening to a podcast on a topic you enjoy. I’ve selected a few highlights from the article, but be sure to read the article. In Hidden Brain, host Shankar Vedantam guides listeners through their own cognitive missteps, biases, and blind spots. He reveals the many hard-to-see ways our decision making and judgment are influenced by various forces, such as our built-in fear of losing money and our tendency to romanticize the past. There’s a lot we don’t know about the human brain, but Vedantam illuminates the fascinating things we do know — but probably don’t notice. Finance can be a snooze to most people, but Planet Money takes a sideways look at the world of cash and business. The podcast explains complex topics in easy-to-understand terms. Past episodes have delved into the complex world of aquarium bartering and free-money programs in Kenya. Listening regularly might help you get a firmer grasp on 401(k) programs or hedge funds, but that knowledge will probably come through strange, funny stories. Put on by the BBC, The Food Chain explores the food industry from all angles, including the science of food production, the business of moving food from farms to supermarkets, and the latest health trends. The series also examines the cultural significance of certain foods, taking an anthropological approach to the topic. Recent episodes question whether foods need added doses of micro-nutrients (such as iodine in table salt), and what the diets of people who live to be older than 100 have in common.

Your brain is one of the most important muscles in your human body. Constant exercise and proper rest will help you unlock new ways of thinking, and problem solving, that can help make a difference in your life, but in other people’s lives too. I’m going to subscribe to Planet Money to listen to a few episodes. I already subscribe to: TEDTalks, the Time Ferris Show, ARC, the Tony Robbins Podcast, John Maxwell, Gateway Church Audio Podcast, Jentezen Franklin, and the Rich Dad Radio Show. If you’ve got the long drive to work then consider adding podcasts into your routine.

http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-independence-simple-2017-7

I’m playing Jenga because that’s what my nephews always want to play when I’m around. But then we move on to Xbox because kids get bored quickly, so we have to change from one thing to another.  So why when we grow up do we have to play the same game over and over again for the rest of our lives? I mean, as soon as you discover what you’re good at you have to do that for your career.  And then because you can earn more money in that field than any other field you’re forced to do it forever. You never get to say, “I’m bored and I hate my job and I want to play something else.” You might know how this feels because 70% of people hate their job and The 4-Hour Workweek spent more than four years on The New York Times bestseller list.  Most people tell themselves, “Well, that’s just the way life is.” I know, because that’s what I used to say until I discovered financial independence.  And I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about how to become financially independent in just one sentence. Are you ready? Spend less than you earn and invest the difference.  The reason it is often hard for people to obtain financial independence is the endowment effect. It’s putting more value on what we have vs. what we don’t have. Financial independence requires hard work and discipline. Mark Cuban said time is your most valuable asset: “You can’t buy it, you can’t find it, you can’t store it, you can’t trade it.” What he’s saying is if you’re not doing what you want to be doing with your time you’re wasting it, because you can’t get any more of it. When you become financially independent you get your time back because now you control it, and that’s what financial independence is really about. Freedom is something that can be obtained in this lifetime if you’re willing to examine yourself and determine what makes you happy. Personally, I’m focused on legacy and eternity. I want to have a family of my own children and have enough passive income producing assets that can pay more than our monthly expenses, so I can work at my job in freedom and not dependent upon a paycheck. With every penny, I’m also focused on giving to my church, Church of the Highlands. As a part of the Legacy team, I give to the Capital Buildings, Highlands College, Local, National and Global Missions Lanes. I have faith that each contribution will make a difference in someone else’s life. I also trust that my family will one day follow my vision.

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included THIS IS YOUR MOMENT – MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO [GYM MOTIVATION] from the Mulligan Brothers YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG

July 26, 2017

Items in italics are direct quotes from the articles below

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/floyd-mayweathers-tax-strategy-would-knock-out-your-finances-2017-07-19

You don’t have to be Floyd “Money” Mayweather to find yourself in significant tax trouble thanks to self-employment income or a one-time windfall.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather’s upcoming bout against UFC mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, who is making his boxing debut, stands to make Mayweather a minimum of $100 million, according to Boxing Scene writer Keith Idec. However, if he meets several of the clauses in his contract, that figure could swell to nearly $400 million.

According to the folks at Law 360, however, at least a portion of that will go toward paying for back taxes. Despite making $700 million during his career, Mayweather has asked for “a short-term installment agreement of under three months” to pay an amount that the Associated Press has pegged at $22,238,255. Reporter Oskar Garcia even posted the Internal Revenue Service lien against Mayweather on Twitter for context: (see article). Back in 2015, Mayweather had earned $250 million in his fight against Manny Pacquiao. Shomari Hearn points out that there are several factors that can make a tax lien that large: “Owing more than $22 million for the 2015 tax year means that the amount that’s on the tax lien includes a bunch of penalties and interest charges as well,” he says. “If you underpay your tax liability for self-employment income, you need to cover at least 100% of the expected tax liability for that year or 110% of the previous year’s liability to avoid penalties and interest.”

Hearn notes that self-employed workers or people who come into a windfall (lottery winnings, sale of a business, etc.) typically run afoul of tax issues similar to those Mayweather is facing. If they’re unaware that a percentage needs to be withheld for tax purposes, or are used to any employer or human relations department walking them through tax withholdings, they could find themselves staring down a tax assessment and lien of their own. It’s important to do tax projections to see how much you could potentially pay in taxes, and begin setting aside a portion of your income. If you know funds are going to be coming in then act. If you find yourself in Mayweather’s position then consider these three actions. “First, keep all correspondence you receive from the IRS about how much you owe. Second, hold on to a copy of the tax return from the year or years in question and see what you reported and/or what you’re underreporting. Finally, figure out how much is due and a way to pay that balance off that’s within your budget. Also, if possible, have a plan in place for the current year so your earnings aren’t in similar peril around the same time next year.”  Whether you agree with our current tax system or not, it’s important to pay your taxes and avoid unnecessary penalties and the stress of the IRS. Consider consulting with a tax attorney for relief, and at the same time get with a qualified accountant or tax specialist to see if there’s any way to take advantage of the tax incentives that are built into the law. Personally, I examine at least 50 tax returns per year when I’m analyzing credit. The consistent theme I see is that the truly rich limit their tax liability, and yet still have plenty of income.

https://www.inc.com/heather-r-morgan/5-writing-tricks-that-will-help-you-appeal-to-short-attention-spans.html

Ask any copywriter to name their biggest challenge today, and ten to one will tell you it’s writing for the ever-shrinking attention span. Whether we really do have shorter attention spans than goldfish, as the news tells us, or we’re just lazier, there’s no denying our tolerance for lengthy, complicated text has nosedived in recent years. For those in the business of writing cold emails every day, this is a constant source of frustration. It’s hard enough to get a potential buyer past the subject line of a message, so it’s downright disheartening to know that when you do, there’s no guarantee someone will read to the end. How many of us simply glance at a long email and quickly move on, or sometimes need a dictionary to understand a pitch? Have you ever received an email that felt more appropriate for a creative-writing class than a business relationship? These mistakes aren’t exclusive to sales, but they’ll sabotage a cold email in mere seconds. To keep your potential customers reading and your chances of closing a deal higher, follow these five easy copywriting strategies: Assume  your reader is lazy, keep sentences short, use simple words, tear down walls of text, and write to a mobile audience. As the world transitions to a more visual form of communication, writing will still have value, but writers will need to be able to be more clear and effective with the words they use. In helping a friend design her blog, I even suggested that she simply type a sentence, and include a video link at the bottom. You should understand that because your audience is more mobile, the attention span will be shorter, and you must account for other business owners wanting to make their presence seen in the global marketplace. In your communication keep it short and effective but know your audience. Remember that your words have power, but your reputation does too. The stronger your relationship is with the audience, or your recipient, the more likely the person is to read your words.

 

Going forward, the weekly blog will be posted on Saturdays. I’m currently writing and reading new articles so thank you for your patience.

If you are interested in creating a budget, then contact me for a financial checkup in the contact me section. Also, learn more about the self-lending principle in the mustard seed section.

This week, I’ve included RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN – Best Motivational Video for Success in Life & Study 2017 from the Be Inspired YouTube channel.

“If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.”

Proverbs 28:26 MSG