Don't lose money

Let’s say you have $1000 to invest.  Then you gain 20% in a year.  How much do you have?

Then you lose 20% of the total the next year.  How much do you have now?

Next example – You have $1000 to invest.  You lose 20% in a year.  How much do you have?

The next year you gain 20%.  How much do you have now?

Last example – You have $1000 to invest.  You gain 7% in a year and 6% the next year.  How much do you have?  (So what you’re bored!)

Learn anything?

Why worry?

The greatest majority of the things we worry about will never come true, and the rest we can’t do anything about.  

Worry is a misuse of our imagination.

Don’t worry!  Go forward!

Boomerang

Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later – with astounding accuracy.

What are you putting out there?

Screwed up childhood

My parents got divorced.  I had no father.  She left us.  He died.  I got beat up.  The accident happened.  We had no money…

What we need to know is that 85% of adults today had a less than ideal “screwed up childhood”.  We are no different.  You aren’t responsible for your childhood, but you are responsible for your adulthood.

What are you doing now that you are in charge?

Asking yourself questions

You could go on the way you are going for the rest of your life.  But asking and considering the big questions of yourself can be worth a lifetime of experience – and since you only have one life, it’s pretty important not to waste it.

What do I really want?  Do I like doing this?  Should I do something different?  Should I live somewhere else?   Why is my attitude like it is and am I happy with how I think about things?

What questions should you ask yourself?

The parasite that will kill it's host

There was a time when labor unions played a necessary role in protecting workers against monopolistic companies that had no competition and took advantage of their workers.  Those days are over as companies compete for the best employees. The unions demanded more and more costly benefits, and shareholders and company leadership resisted.  Many American companies were put out of business because they were not competitive as a result, and workers lost their jobs all together.

Then unions discovered a new home – public employees.  (Do public employees need protection from “oppressive” cities, states and the federal government?)  Instead of having to battle company executives who care about the future of their organizations and are negotiating with their own money, now they negotiate with politicians who are dealing with other people’s money, and only want to get re-elected – so they won’t fight.  

Now public sector workers can’t be fired if they perform poorly, so there is no incentive for workers to get better.  Workers can work for just 20 years, and taxpayers have to pay them for the rest of their lives.  Often worker A retires, worker B is hired and retires, and worker C is hired.  We are paying three workers to have one working.  Or worker A retires from one town and collects a full pension and health benefits while they get another job in another town, only to retire from the second town and get a second pension.

We have committed to paying trillions of dollars in pensions and benefits to public workers – and nobody knows where the money will come from.

If the parasite kills this host, it’s a very very big host, and we will all suffer greatly.

Friends who won't quit

Do the people around you settle when they face adversity or a challenge?  Or are you amongst a group who keep going for the win when things get tough?  Do your friends have high standards or low ones?  

What effect do they have on your thinking?  Can you find others who inspire you to succeed just by seeing what they are doing?

You – Cause and effect

When you look in the mirror, you don’t see who you are, you see who you were.  What you are today is the result of who you were yesterday – which caused your present condition.

Who will you be tomorrow?  It depends on what you are doing now.

What are you causing now?

You get what you tolerate

If you put up with bad treatment from someone or a group, you will keep getting it.

What are you putting up with that you shouldn’t because you do not like it?

All the things I didn't say…

If you want to say something smart, you had better not say everything that comes to your mind.

Be your own self screener; because we all think dumb, selfish, wrong, emotionally charged thoughts that are not useful to anyone, including ourselves.

Don’t let all your thoughts make the verbal cut.