05.15.08
I MET RON PAUL!
05.14.08
Time to Dream. Time to Become.
Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that don’t have brains enough to be honest.
May 14th 2008. One third of our federal revenue comes from individual income taxes.
The elimination of this one third of our income base would reduce federal spending to a level of $1.8 trillion dollars. (A sum greater than the budget just 8 years ago in 2000)
Eliminate the income tax. Period. Our founding fathers never intended for us to live in a nation where nearly have of everything we earn goes to the government. Don’t increase taxes. Reduce them.
The government shouldn’t have to take care of us from cradle to grave. We become adults. We can take care of ourselves, our family, and the ones we love. I want to take care of everybody. That is my choice as was meant by us founding a free nation, a free economy, and a society without oppression just as all are free to make their choice.
It isn’t hard to eliminate the income tax. Got entitlement mentality? Start working because in our county, you can achieve anything as long as you are willing to work. Think you just deserve everything? See ya on the breadlines.
If we cannot define our enemy, than the cost of the fight is endless. If you can define your enemy….your goal…your dream…your aspiration. You can become.
How much money are you prepared to spend? Don’t know? Well you better find out.
How many of your civil liberties are you prepared to sacrafice to get there. Because I can get you anywhere if you want to do exactally what I say when I say it and don’t ask questions…but it isn’t about the destination….it is about the journey. The journey is where the most fun is!!!
I hope I get to meet him!!
We dream. We plan. We become.
05.07.08
NO DAY BUT TODAY - GRADUATION!
TIME TO SET THE THEME!
WOOT! Sister’s graduation this weekend!
I’m so proud of you Jennifer!
We’re going out!
When we get away from the doorman, do you know how lucky we’ll be? DOUBLE TWIN TROUBLE!
You have learned more in the past few years than any human existing 100 years ago could have hoped to learn in a lifetime. You have unlimited capacity and the choice of how far to take your chosen course in life is yours and yours alone.
The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?
NO DAY BUT TODAY!
Who do you think you are? You can become whoever you want to become.
Forget regret or life is yours to miss. The heart may freeze or it can burn. The pain will ease, if we can learn. There is no future, there is no past. We live these moments as the last.
There’s only this only us. There is only this or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today. Choose to become. Chose life. Choose greatness.
You want to prove us wrong? Come back another day. Worst case. You learn something. Interested?
There’s only yes. Only now. We must let go to know what’s right. No other course, no other way. No day but today.
Question every premise. Questions every thought. Make your own decisions. NEVER CEASE TO LEARN.
We can’t control our destiny. You must trust your soul. Your goal must be to become. To exist. Give into love or live in fear. Become great or choose not greatness. Choose. Control your temper. Foster the growth of your ideas. NEVER STOP.
Take your powder; take your candle
Take your brown eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette
Another time, another place
Another rhyme, a warm embrace
Another dance, another way
Another chance, another day?
There is only today.
I love you Jennifer!
I invite you to walk the path of true freedom
Freedom of thought
Freedom of mind.
Freedom of body
Freedom of spirit.
The following are things I know to be true.
Down to business.
The One-Year $1 Million Challenge
5 frugality tips for college grads
Ten Financial Tips For June’s College Grads
Five Smart Money Moves for New College Graduates
Financial Tips for 20-Somethings
How to Become Wealthy
The Absolute Best Way to Become Wealthy
Favorite Quotes
Quotes are always something that I have enjoyed looking at. You can never read too many quotes, I have read over two billion, three hundred and forty six million, two hundred and seventy six thousand, and eight quotes.* Some people look to a Bible for wisdom, and while I’m not religious in the traditional sense, I can certainly agree with the power that wise words have. Perhaps that is why the Bible has been so effective in…influencing…today’s society. Anyhow, here are some of my favorite quotes that I’ve found over the years.
“The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”
Thomas Edison
“One quality of leaders and high achievers in every area seems to be a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development.” -Brian Tracy
“I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you’re never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.” -Zig Ziglar
“Burn to be great, Pay not thy praise to lofty things alone. The plains are everlasting as the hills, The bard cannot have two pursuits; aught else Comes on the mind with the like shock as though Two worlds had gone to war, and met in air.” -Philip James Bailey
Belief:
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” -Buddah
Character:
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting.” - E. E. Cummings
“Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.” -Greta Garbo
“A man’s reputation is what other people think of him; his character is what he really is.” -Unknown
“I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.” -Walter Anderson
Change:
“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” -Benjamin Franklin
“If you want to truly understand something, try to change it.” -Kurt Lewin
“The key to change… is to let go of fear.” -Rosanne Cash
“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.” -Robert C. Gallagher
“We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.” -Sonia Johnson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” -Pericles
“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.” -Unknown
Decision:
“Your decision to be, have and do something out of ordinary entails facing difficulties that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.” -Brian Tracy
“Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.” -Charles Hole
“I just decided I wanted to become someone else… So I became someone else.” -Dusty Springfield
“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” -Flora Whittemore
“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” -H.L. Hunt
“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” -Keri Russell
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Defeat:
‘What is in defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better” -Wendell Phillips
Dreams:
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” -Albert Einstein
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems.” -Authur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy
“To dream anything that you want to dream. That’s the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.” -Bernard Edmonds
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” -George Bernard Shaw
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favour in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” -Henry David Thoreau
“The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don’t know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” -Unknown
“The impossible - what nobody can do until somebody does” -Unknown
Education:
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” -Albert Einstein
“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people” -Chinese Proverb
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” -Chinese Proverb
“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” -Sarah Caldwell
Entrepreneurs:
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” -Mark Victor Hansen
“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.” -Niccolo Machiavelli
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” -Steve Jobs
“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” -Unknown
“So many fail because they don’t get started - they don’t go. They don’t overcome inertia. They don’t begin.” -W. Clement Stone
Intelligence:
“I’ve always felt that a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic.” -Abigail Adams
Life:
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh” -A.A. Milne
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln
“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” -Buddha
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.” -Charles R. Swindoll
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” -Helen Keller
“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure” -Peter Marshall
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” -Rosalia de Castro
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.” -Unknown
Math:
“Mathematics allows for no hypocrisy and no vagueness.” -Stendhal
Miscellaneous:
“I reject your reality and substitute it for my own.” -Adam Savage
“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices” - Benjamin Franklin
“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.” -Dalai Lama
“One day soon the Gillette company will announce the development of a razor that, thanks to a computer microchip, can actually travel ahead in time and shave beard hairs that don’t even exist yet” -Dave Barry
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian” -Dennis Whorley
“Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can” -John Wesley
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” -Galileo Galilei
“Set your expectations high; find men and women whose integrity and values you respect; get their agreement on a course of action; and give them your ultimate trust.” -John Akers
“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” -Peter F. Drucker
“Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy. Without risk, nothing new ever happens. Without trust, fear creeps in. Without serendipity, there are no surprises.” -Rita Golden Gelman
“The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there” -Robert M. Pirsig
“Good habits, once established are just as hard to break as are bad habits” -Robert Puller
“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness” -Sigmund Freud
“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” -Sven Goran Eriksson
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” -Unknown
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” -Unknown
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” -Unknown
“Everything in life is connected somehow. You may have to dig deep to find it but its there. Everything is the same even though its different. Somehow everything connects back with your life. The faces in certain places may be different, but the situation is the same. Irony is a hidden factor that creeps around us in life, letting its presence felt only after it has left. Picture back to a year ago and the situation you were in. Look at how things are different yet somehow everything it still in someway cognate. Everything connects together to form the balance of life, to maintain structure. Change is and always will be inevitable, but everything is relative, and all the moments and times in your life will come back around again, you just might find yourself on the other side of the coin. Things are always changing, as fast as everything stays the same.” - Unknown
“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” -Voltaire
Mistakes:
“Making a wrong decision is understandable. Refusing to search continually for learning is not.” -Philip Crosby
Opportunity:
“An obstacle is often an unrecognized opportunity” -Unknown
Persistence:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” -Calvin Coolidge
Quotes:
“To quote copiously and well requires taste, judgment and erudition, a feeling for the beautiful, an appreciation of the noble, and a sense of the profound” -Christian Nevell Bovee
“Quotations help us remember the simple yet profound truths that give life perspective and meaning. When it comes to life’s most important lessons, we can all use gentle reminders.” -Chriswell Freeman
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself.” -Marlene Dietrich
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. The quotations, when engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.” -Winston Churchill
Regret:
“I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I’d just been myself.” -Brittany Renée
Success:
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” -Swami Vivekananda
* - Actual number is subject to change and reliablity of quoted figure is ~0.0001% correct. Always read the fine print!
05.06.08
Keep an Open Mind
Because when you know how to play the piano. You can play.
Because when you work hard enough, you can also play upside down, with your feet, with your elbows, and with your head.
I may not jam on the ivory as well as Jon Schmidt…but when I play with my finances…I use my inner thought process to play with my elbows, with my head…and even upside down!
You just need to learn how to play. Then you need to practice. Never Stop learning.
Keep that momentum. Keep that faith. Never give up. Never surrender.
1. Look outward. List 10 ways you could expand market share
2. Build from within. Bring your “best and brightest together regularly to work on new ideas or existing problems,”
3. Know where to focus. The surest trends center on technology and demographics.
4. Win by losing. Sony (NYSE:SNE - News) learned this lesson with its [MD] game. Players created a virtual economy “via PayPal to buy and sell assets in the game’s alternative online world,” Sheahan noted. Sony told customers it wanted to control that income. “Customers said, ‘Back off. It’s our game now.’In the face of massive customer resentment, Sony had to back down. In doing so, it allowed [MD] to continue to grow and pour profits into its corporate coffers. Sony won loyalty and profits by losing control.”
Figure out how you can benefit by giving customers the reins.
I play video games that have virtual economies. Players make decisions. Players choose actions. Their actions create the game. Because the outcome is based on player choice, it is also based on real life economic issues. Because I understand real life economics, I understand how to prosper in a real economy and how to prosper in a virtual economy.
___
I choose to speak. I choose to share my knowledge.
Visa update : $87.53/share. That’s +$2.47/share (2.90%).
My profit? + $8,750.15 (49.98%) since 03/09/08.
___
Play what-if. Whether you’re the founder, CEO or divisional head, ask these questions: If you could rebuild the firm from the ground up, what would you do differently? If you could redesign your product line, what would it look like? Find new applications for key productsand put the plans into motion?
Get personal. “List three new technologies that could be valuable to help stay in touch with customers and staff,” Sheahan said. “Start with text messaging, blogs and podcasts.”
Another idea: Create your own intranet adaptation of MySpace and Facebook. Have workers and customers submit their best ideas to a virtual suggestion box.
Ratchet up. Ask this, Sheahan advised: “What do we currently do for customers as an added bonus that could become the ‘price of entry’ in the next few months or years?’
“Start thinking about how you can add new value to the same market.”
Build a bond. “To satisfy customers’ needs, remember that business is not business; business is personal,” he said. “One thing that hasn’t changed in a globalizing economy is that people want to do business with people they know, like and trust.”
04.29.08
Begin the Game! : STEP 1 - Be a Competitor
We think. We walk erect. We speak. We dream. But deep down, we’re all just rooting around in the world. Biting, clawing our way out an existence like the rest of the tree toads and slobs.
I didn’t invent the contest.
So, you might lose and you might have the bad instincts and every right to lose, you might feel like you need to give up. Or, you can learn and you can win. You can push harder…but you must choose a direction… you need to travel light…
The contest is a lion fight. When you win…chin up, put your shoulders back, and strut a little; don’t lick your wounds, celebrate them. The scars you bear are the signs of a competitor.
You are in a lion fight. Just because you haven’t won doesn’t mean you don’t know how to roar.
There’s a little animal in all of us and maybe that’s something to celebrate. Our animal instinct is what makes us seek comfort, warmth, a pack to run with. We may feel caged. We may feel trapped. But still, as humans, we can find ways to feel free.
Before you say anything. Before you have a thought. Just hear me out. I know it might not start as much but you can accomplish anything.
Goal. Dream. Create. Focus.
Milestones. Rules. Timeline. Plan.
Specifications. Glitches. Fixes. Become.
New Rules, new goals, new dreams. Create. BE!!!
Focus on what what’s good. Compound it. And never cease until you have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you will fail.
We are each others keepers. We are the guardians of our own humanity.
Even though there is a beast inside all of us. What sets us apart from the animals is that we can think, feel, dream, and love. Against all odds, against all instinct…we evolve
I think I better start talking now.
I will never cease in my relentless pursuit to help people.
I am here for you. David113@gmail.com All questions answered.
I understand the types of problems and I know how to save people that have the types of problems that you have. (I’m 100% free.)
I know a way to save lives. I never stop learning. I can do all the research, I can I do need your help because you are the only one that knows your situation and the only one that can choose to empower yourself.
Rock star contest! Best contest ever! You should try living in the game for 2 weeks! Just because you aren’t playing yet doesn’t mean you can’t understand the rules to the game.
I feel juiced and alive and my brain is clicking and running. I’ve never been more on my game fighting, I’m learning. Kind of sad the contest ends. Too bad you’re never going to get it.
Unless…WANT TO PLAY A GAME?!
Want to play the game?! Because all this talk of recession has me worried…but that’s for everyone who doesn’t know how to play the game. I’ll be fine…I want you to be ok also.
Make it happen. Like this.
Today, I earned 6.94%…that’s $5.25 per share to 80.88 on VISA (300 shares) in my ROTH…in a single day…never paying taxes on that investment…ever…thanks Uncle Sam! (My Total Cost Average= $58.36/share..the big game players…they got it for $44/share…as many shares as they wanted…)
Have a Schwab checking account and get ready to work. (APPLY HERE NOW)
I promote Schwab because Schwab is the best. You don’t need any money to start it and there are NEVER any fees on the account. No ATM fees and you can use any ATM anywhere…free of charge. They also provide a high rate of interest. You have instant access to your money and you NEED to open a Charles Schwab Checking account.
You want to question my motives? Start bickering among yourselves because those who are listening to me are making bank and your fear to take any action is what is going to lead you to depend on someone other than yourself and your family.
Start moving your pieces into place. Build your defense, strengthen your attack. Become a lion. And focus.
You didn’t cause these problems, our educational system did. Start learning…before it is too late.
Thanks Grey!
04.25.08
I HAVE A DREAM -The Beginning of a Manifesto
Make a choice. Choose your video and begin to think.
For those who have not yet chosen greatness:
For those who are beginning to understand:
Usual deal. Play the video. Read the story. Multimedia learning rocks! 
Trying something new here. Enjoy! 
“When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it”
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
“What will you do without freedom? Will you fight? Fight and you may die; run, and you’ll live, at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, how many of you would be willing to trade all the days, from that one to this, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they’ll never take our freedom? ALBA GU BRA! (FREEDOM FOREVER)”
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self- preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property, and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.
The trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both.
FREEDOM IS NOT FOR THE TIMID.
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
One man with courage makes a majority.
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. The Romans used to say that courage is not the only virtue, but it’s the only one that makes the other virtues possible. How far will you take yourself? The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
A people may prefer a free government, but if, from indolence, or carelessness, or cowardice, or want of public spirit, they are unequal to the exertions necessary for preserving it; if they will not fight for it when it is directly attacked; if they can be deluded by the artifices used to cheat them out of it; if by momentary discouragement, or temporary panic, or a fit of enthusiasm for an individual, they can be induced to lay their liberties at the feet even of a great man, or trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions; in all these cases they are more or less unfit for liberty: and though it may be for their good to have had it even for a short time, they are unlikely long to enjoy it
Tolerating imperfections is the price of freedom. Private property is the most important guarantee of freedom. The man who produces while others dispose of his product is a slave, I own I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.
Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy. Without risk, nothing new ever happens. Without trust, fear creeps in. Without serendipity, there are no surprises. Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. Quotations help us remember the simple yet profound truths that give life perspective and meaning. When it comes to life’s most important lessons, we can all use gentle reminders.
When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult. Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil.
Some of us (perfectionists, especially) fuss so much over making the ‘right’ choice, but in life, all that’s really needed is to make any’ good’ choice, believe in it, go through with it, and accept the consequences.
The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey. I hope that the trip would be the best of all journeys: a journey into ourselves
Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future.
Summary:
I have a dream
America is to be a great nation this must become true
What will you do without freedom?
for one chance, just one chance
The laws of necessity, of self- preservation
The trade-off between freedom and security
FREEDOM IS NOT FOR THE TIMID
God grants to those who love it
This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one
Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena
They can be deluded by the artifices used to cheat them out of it
Tolerating imperfections is the price of freedom
Private property is the most important guarantee of freedom
The man who produces while others dispose of his product is a slave
Every man who values liberty of conscience for himself
Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy
Above all, be true to yourself
Oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure
Believe in it, go through with it, and accept the consequences
The trip would be the best of all journeys: a journey into ourselves
Do not brood over your past mistakes
Other Sources:
Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty
04.24.08
GO VISA!
Play Video and Read article. (If you are getting this via e-mail, you need to go to the site to see the video.)
Hope. Dream. Become.
It’s been a busy week.
The best experience any musician will ever face is performing their work in top form. To be so comfortable with the actions needed that it is literally habit.
Playing a musical instrument is just like playing your finances. You just need a little understanding of what keys create what effect. You need to keep the key you play in consistent and to always be thinking ahead of the next development.
Rather than being stuck in a 401K plan (still a great tool for long term financial security for the typical investor), I’ve been investing in my ROTH IRA and making my own choices. I’ve been playing my own tune. No more twinkle twinkle little small cap index fund…time to become.
-Cue drums at 1:03-
I stuck to the rules I created. Kept a tight 8% stop loss in tow for all my purchases and locked in all profits from the moment I hit 10% profit. (With a 5% stop loss)
I trailed the stop with the gains but gave it enough room to move.
Yes. I put my entire ROTH IRA account into VISA, opening day after the market orders processed. A simple limit order got me a good purchase price. And then I got to sit back, rock, keep my focus on the greater path. I violated diversification.
And I took control.
You just gotta follow the rules.
And that is why my Roth IRA has netted an additional 23.88% since March 19th, 2008.
And it has been a really fun ride!
There is nothing like having the knowledge to understand how to liquidate a portfolio in less than 5 minutes.
Having done so upon a plan of careful research and a lot of planning.
I liquidated my ROTH to all cash.
I placed a limit order for my first lot. Executed at $57.01.
I placed a limit order for my second lot. Executed at $58.00
I placed a limit order for my final lot. Executed at $59.78.
A stop loss was set at $55 for the entire amount to limit potential losses. (Total Cost Average= $58.36/share)
Today, my investment is worth $72.30/share. (That’s a profit of ~$14 for every $58 I put in.)
That’s a profit of $15.29/share for the first lot. $14.40/share for the second lot. And $14.52/share for the second lot. (If I sold today)
As gains were realized, I slid the stop loss in to a profit lock. I set a stop loss order to lock in profit at 5%, 10%, and now…at 15%.
This means that my gains are ‘locked in’ at 15% giving that 23.88% gain a little leeway.
The markets have been crazy recently and when the markets get volatile, you can either play a ‘tight game’ and trade for easy dough or give your long term investments a little more more room to run. If you try to keep a tight leash during a volatile market, you’re going to get your nerves tested. If you are entering the market for the first time…stick to the index funds. There will be plenty of more opportunities in the future for you to make money. Focus on building capital!
Knowledge really is power. Time to start learning how to play.
“500 fights, that’s the number I figured when I was a kid.
500 street fights and you could consider yourself a legitimate
tough guy. You need them for experience. To develop leather
skin. So I got started. Of course along the way you stop thinking
about being tough and all that. It stops being the point. You get
past the silliness of it all. But then, after, you realize that’s
what you are.” -Knockaround Guys
That’s honestly the only way that I can express it. As you follow the path towards something, you become something different. Your major goals will shift and you will awake your deeper meaning. You will become as you progress towards your goal. You may never reach your goal because your goal may change.
Taking control is a really scary task.
To understand that you can become responsible for your own progress is to admit that you might not be good enough. You may be afraid that you will lose the battle, you may ‘know’ that you will lose in your journey.
But when you realize that your capacity is unlimited. When you truly realize.
That what you sought to become and what you have chosen to become are different things. But you must choose to become before you can become.
P.S. My taxable account has an even lower basis for Visa than my ROTH IRA. 24.95% profit, locked in at 20%.
Song of the Week
The song of the week : Another MonsterPanda production: (Go to site to see video)
“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.” -E.Y. Harburg
Music speaks to you everyday, you just might not hear it because you might not be listening.
First frame gets going with a simple intro. (1. START SIMPLE)
Jumps into an upbeat light spirited tune which sets the tone for further camera angles and interlacing piano riffs. (2. Once you understand the basics, you can step it up a level and start to learn more)
Each riff has its part during the song to act as a supporting melody that is consistent in key but not consistent in the underlying emotions behind the song. (3. Keep a singular path but don’t be afraid to explore around)
Plus, that guy can JAM!
Is there a method to the madness? Only if you are looking for the pattern or have a thought process in mind.
A beginning, a goal, balance, consistency, creativity, spontaneity, passion, practice, the ability to flow through your mistakes, learning, and enjoyment of what you do.
These are traits that can create a great musician and skills that anyone can use in their quest for greatness regardless of arena.
Do the things you experience convey a message? Are you listening for the message? Do you even want to hear the message?
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
“Your decision to be, have and do something out of ordinary entails facing difficulties that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.” -Brian Tracy
“Making a wrong decision is understandable. Refusing to search continually for learning is not.” -Philip Crosby
04.18.08
Sometimes the Story Finds the Storyteller
It might begin like this : You might be an ordinary person, you might live with ordinary parents in an ordinary town, what you’ll never know is how unordinary you might become.
You have heard of others, their fearlessness, their selfless acts of bravery and courage, and you know deep in your heart that you have the ability to become. You can restore yourself to the kingdom that has been abandoned.
Nothing can prepare you for what is to come, for what you could become.
You should always search for something better. That is how you succeed in
- LIFE.
Your life is a story. Sometimes you write it and sometimes it writes you.
Stories are living things, given to the unpredictable.
Will you choose to write your story or will you choose to be a character in the story? Will you seek greatness or simplicity? Hatred or love? Ultimate success or utter failure? Will you live the prophecy or destroy destiny?
You must choose. Nothing you are told will mean
- ‘ANYTHING’
unless you can apply it to your experiences.
If I could just explain. That it isn’t always going to be there for you. I want to tell you that everything will be there for you, that it will always be there for you. But it won’t. But it is there now. In the world, in its events, in its past, and in its history.
If you don’t take action, all you can say is that it
- Never Was.
1
All that you must know, all that is worth a damn is in the pages, if you know where to look…if you can know how to find it…what the world is saying…what the world knows…what I know is that sometimes the story finds the storyteller, not the other way around.
With a little abstract thought, any man can find greatness.
You can never know what life will bring to you, and that is why life is an adventure…an adventure that you can bring you untold dreams or limitless nightmares. If you know where to look.
I wish you great health and that your kingdom is in safe hands.
If you have not a kingdom:
Your kingdom awaits and your citizens remain in wait of orders. You must use action to dictate change!
When will you begin? When will you start? When will you harness the true power that lies within?
Will you ever choose a path that says that you should be ashamed of who you have become? Or will you choose the path of dreams, where you chose to become?
What will you do when you realize that you can no longer fight this battle?
When you are emptied, when the black hole that you have lived in for so long grows darker even as your love for life grows deeper? What will you do when you no longer have the will to fight for that which you hold dear?
Maybe something has been done to you, maybe you have had a spell cast upon your thoughts.
How can this impossible human paradox exist?
Why must we be challenged?
Why must we strive for the greatness within?
This is the human paradox. There is an answer for all questions and this is the hardest. At the core of your being, you hold a premise, each premise plays towards all beliefs: Do you believe that freedom allows a greater chance for your success? Do you believe that the freedom to have power should be a choice? 2
The man more learned, they shall win! Victory shall be a plenty and life will be…just plain Sweet. Shall you join the side of greatness? Will you pursue the path of choice or will you falter in wake of the gap of the unknown.
Then evil shall win. You will be banned from your world and mine…or will you survive upon their wake? You will exist because you dream. Until you dream no more.
Most people don’t look. Many don’t even know that they should be looking. This makes not a life without adventure but lends aid to a life without control. To gain control, you must seize adventure; to control, you must understand; to understand, you must learn; and to learn, all you must do is to think and to pay attention.
You can have an amazing life!
You can have anything you desire!
Your kingdom can become truly powerful!
But you must work!
You cannot know a story unless you live it. The more experiences that contribute towards your knowledge, the more application it will have in your thoughts. Unless you choose to find an answer, you will find now answer. Unless you search for the question, you can find no response.
It never was, or I chose to become? I choose life. I choose to open my eyes. I choose adventure. And I choose to write my own story.
1 Will you chose never was or will you chose to become?
2 Religion
(credit for idea given to Neverwas : 1:12:30)
04.17.08
Want $1 Million by Retirement? It only takes ONE Year!!!!!
Of course, that one year’s worth of efforts will have to be great…
It will also need to take place when you are under the age of 26.
The One-Year $1 Million Challenge
Max out your 401(k) contributions for one year,
Max out your IRA for that same year, and
Merely meet the market’s historical 10% annual returns
… you’ll wind up a millionaire by the time you hit retirement.
In order for most 26-year-olds to save $20,500 in a single year, they’d either need to find a fabulously high-paying job or a rent-free room in their parents’ basement. Either way, they’d probably be living on a strict diet of ramen noodles.
___
Yes. But if you start at the age of 24, you only need to save $6,500/year.
And that…is a piece of cake.
If you are a recent college grad that gets a decent job making just $45,000 and are an employee of a company that matched 6%…you will save $5,400 at a cost of only 6% of your salary. Save 9% of your salary from the age of 24 until the age of 26 and you’ll have a million at retirement. The best part? You never need to save another dime if you don’t want to.
Of course, while your retirement is assured from JUST TWO YEARS of work at an early age, if you keep saving, it isn’t a question of if you can retire, it is a question of when.
If you can’t manage to save 10% of your income…it is more than likely that you don’t have a budget and that you don’t know where your money is going. If you don’t know where you money is going…how can you expect to become wealthy?
A $20,000 investment that turns into a $1 million portfolio is a 5,000% rate of return. Wow.
Getting the money really isn’t the hard part once you figure out how to budget and how to control your finances. The hard part is figuring out where to put it.
The plain and simple fact is that if you are starting under 30…you can almost put your money wherever you want and you’ll be ok. In order to make sure that you have the option to retire as soon as possible, you want to diversify enough that you can have continuous portfolio growth while maximizing your returns.
Stage 1 )Aim for the index fund first. Sock away as much money as you can into an index fund. Not a target date retirement fund. An index fund.
Stage 2 ) Once you have $2,000 or so in the account…continue to direct money towards the index fund but start putting 50% of your contributions towards dividend funds. Dividend paying stocks have had the greatest 20 year performance throughout any time period of our modern markets. Aim to get ~$4,000 in your index fund and $2,000 into your dividend fund.
Stage 3) You now have $6,000 producing dividend income which is being reinvested. It is time to get into the foreign markets!!! Keep 25% of your contributions going to your index fund. Keep 50% going towards your dividend fund and put 25% into a diversified foreign index. The growth in emerging markets exceeds that of Domestic stocks and their long term potential is greater. Since we have our base covered, we can move into a higher risk and higher long term reward industry. Aim to have ~$5,000 in your index fund, $4,000 in your dividend fund, and $2,000 in your foreign fund before moving to stage 4.
Stage 4) You now have ~$11,000 in your account! You are half way there! Don’t lose focus!!!
Time to get some more diversification. Put 10% of your contributions into a utility fund. Put 10% of your contributions into a real estate fund. Keep the remaining contributions equally split between your index fund, your dividend fund, and your foreign fund. You’re going to be grinding your way from here until you hit an account value of $20,000. You might need to balance your investments along the way but once you hit $20,000, your portfolio should look somewhere along the lines of: ~$7,000 in your index fund, ~$7,000 in your dividend fund, ~$4,000 in your foreign fund and ~$1,000 in both your utility and real estate funds. You are now set.
Stage 5) You will get an idea of which investments you like more as you progress. While you may have some great ‘ideas’ before you start, your thoughts will change over time. Once you have $20,000 with a decent range of diversification, put your money wherever you want based on your experience so far. Want to direct some funds towards a Latin American Fund? Want to start picking up some fixed income? I’d recommend AGAINST fixed income in your retirement account if you are under 50 but its your money…you can do what you want.
Once you hit stage 5, you are set. You should make sure you have a decent emergency fund stashed away so you won’t get deterred by bumps in the road. If you can reach stage 5 before you are 30…welcome to the party friend, the fun is just getting started.
I’ve been proudly saving in my retirement account for years. I have worked hard and saved my money. I’ve reached stage 5 when I was 24. Now my financial life is just one big party. And everyone knows that you have more fun at the party than preparing for the party!
This party is just getting started, and it only takes a little work to join…but it isn’t going to be a presidential candidate or other individual making that effort for you…it is your decision!!!
Come to the party! Please?! It is going to be a lot of fun friend, I promise!
Don’t want to party? Cool…good luck with that.