No soundtrack this week.... BUT Here I am rocking out at the Blue Rodeo concert on Saturday... everybody rushed the stage once the concert started so we ended up being FRONT ROW! Fun times.
on to today's post,
After reading rich dad, poor dad I have been thinking a lot about investments these days
So I ask What do you think the best investment for money is these days? Stocks... bonds.. a new computer... a car...clothes, healthy food? what? and keep in mind you don't need $100,000 to be investing! For the purposes of this post think of whatever you spend most of your money on these days as being your biggest investment.
So stop and think about this for a second...what are YOU investing your money in these days? where is your money going, what are you spending most of it on these days? write it down quickly if you can so you can actually see.
Now what about your time, which is even MORE valuable than your money... What is the best investment for Time? education... a job... sports..... going downtown...reading, hiking, going to the gym, spending time with family, learning to cook What?
Again, just stop and think where you are spending/investing most of your time these days.. Write it down so you can actually see where it is going!
What did you come up with? what are you investing in? Did you think about what might be the best investments?
What is the best investment for our Money, what will give us the biggest gains over the long term? Is it to invest 10,000 into a stock which goes up 100% so we now have $20,000? that sounds pretty legit.
What about our time? What is the best investment for our time right now? playing Nintendo wii partying it up downtown, reading books at the library? What can get us the biggest gains later on down the road ?
Hold These thoughts.
This past week I have been really excited about the Power Within Seminar featuring Anthony Robbins. I've been talking about it non stop and encouraging everybody I know to get tickets and go! It's going to be deluxe
When talking to people to see what they thought and if they are going I have seen two totally different responses:
I'm totally down, I can't wait, I'm stoked see you there!!
or
Ya, that looks cool... those tickets are expensive though, I'm not going to spend that much money.
The tickets are expensive 169+tax a pop. So it made me think for a second why somebody would want to spend that much money on a conference... What type of people are attracted to an event like this that they would spend or should i say INVEST close to $200 of their money and INVEST a FULL DAY of their TIME to hear some somebody speak?
It's because they know the the ULTIMATE INVESTMENT is in THEMSELVES. that is worth saying again. THE ULTIMATE INVESTMENT IS IN YOURSELF.
I don't say this in a selfish way, you know what I mean! Just spend some time working on yourself
Anytime you can invest your time and money to get better, to learn new skills, to increase the value of your own stock you are are making a kick ass investment.
Reading a book on a new topic to expand your knowledge... Going to the gym and getting bigger faster and stronger... Going to any type of class to learn new skills: cooking class, Real estate seminar, Tony Robbins workshop, university.
whaaaatever you are into.
All these types of investments will make you more valuable and pay dividends over your entire lifetime.
That's me eating Swordfish in Cape Breton~! Back home now after an amazing but long tour on the road with work... I'm exhausted but just had an unreal time I'm so lucky... I just love what I do :)
I always find while traveling, It doesn't matter if it is international or just within the province I come back learning so much.... I find being away forces you out of your day to day normal routine so you are always learning new things, you get the opportunity to see different ways things are done, you meet new people, you have to adapt to things you're not use to, you get to try new things... It all adds up and when you finally make your glorious return home, you can't not be changed! I always love comming home and having that feeling!
anywaaaaay, This week comes with a rad soundtrack, check it.
I Posted this Track for a line she sings in the first verse...
"It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got"
Think about that for a sec, it's a very advanced idea....
It's pretty much human nature to want what you don't have right?
Maybe it's that new shirt or jeans you see at your favorite clothing store, the newest Ipod touch, a trip down south, a set of 6pack abs, a new car, a nicer leather sofa, whatever.
Have you ever noticed people always talk about the stuff they want, but don't have?
"I saw this shirt in the mall, it was pimped, I want it... " "I want to save up a bunch of money so I can buy a new sofa, a car, a big screen TV" "I want a better job so I can make more money " "I wish i had a girlfriend"
Have you ever thought like this? or said these type of statements to yourself?
Think about What this mode of thinking focuses on???? all the things YOU DESIRE, but DON'T HAVE...
Have you ever stopped to think, about what you have right now? it's hard when you are constantly spending all your time on the things you want... But In North American society, sadly that is exactly how we are programmed to think: Bigger, Better, Faster, Newer.. leading to never being happy and always wanting more.
That laptop you bought new a month ago... sucks. There is a newer faster better one out now,
that $200 pair of jeans you bought last year... they are old There are cooler, more stylish nicer ones out now.
This is the mentality in North American Society. So naturally it makes it hard sometimes to just sit back and be happy with what you do have.
Stop for a minute and think How often do you hear somebody say:
I might not be wearing Versace but I am happy to have clothes to wear everyday... You know what I don't have a 45inch plasma but I am so lucky I have a T.V that works It is such a luxury that I can take a warm shower everyday, Its amazing that I have fresh water to drink everyday, that I have access the the internet, that I have heat, and lights, etc... I might not have the nicest car, but I am so happy that I have a form of transportation.
Not often. We just expect those things.
Take a look at this pic:
If you lived here would you want that new car, that new sofa, a nice sweater from Abrocrombie and Fitch? or would you be happy just for some food and a place to sleep.?
This all hit me the other day while I was at the mall with my girfriend... there are ridiculous sales everywhere for winter clearance..so I saw this reaaaaaaaly nice sweater. It was marked down from 100+ dollars to $20. I was like 20 bucks? that's it..? man that is a no brainier, i have to get it, it's only 20$ whatever.
I was sold! and I almost bought it based on the great deal I was getting. Then I was like wait... what is going on here? who cares about the price of the sweater do I even need another sweater? I have tons of clothes at home. I have at least 3 really nice sweaters and here I am about to buy another one? what for? how many sweaters do I really need??? I thought about what was going on and basically I was just there wanting to buy something because I didn't have it. when I realized what was going on I got mad at myself... and thought Do I not appreciate my other sweaters enough to just be happy with them? they are all in great condition, fashionable, can I not just be thankful I have sweaters that i like, that are cool.
In the moment it was hard for me to understand this. To be able to sit back and say to myself, James, you have 3 money sweaters at home that you love, you can wear those sweaters till they are worn out.. instead of focusing on what you want, why don't you focus on what you already have.
It was all new to me because = I have never thought like this before, I ALWAYS subscribed to the never enough mentality, I would always focus on my wants which lead to me needing and wanting more.... this past weekend is when Irealized if I keep thinking like that I will NEVER be happy, because there is always going to be new things, better things, great sales that are going to create that "i want that" feeling inside of you...
It took me 24 years to figure out.
But surprisingly when you get to a point of wanting what you have, of actually wanting it and being thankful you have it, you will find there is so much more satisfaction than having all these wants and finally getting some of them.
We are constantly making decisions, every day, every hour almost every minute... Decisions as we know come in many different forms: some are simple and straight forward, others are more complex and take time..
What I want to focus on right now is those decisions directly involving somebody else where you have conflicting feelings, where you are ambivalent, where somebody is telling you one thing and you want to go ahead and do it but then you are having second thoughts and reservations because you get this other sense that maybe you shouldn't, and it puts you in a position where you don't know what to do??
How many times have you made a decision and then kicked yourself saying... I KNEW I shouldn't have done that, or I WISH I would have went the other way or tried this instead, or listened to myself or whatever...?? It's happened to you before, right? It happens to everybody allllllll the time!
So what's going on??? What part of yourself do you listen to? How do you make a solid decision you're happy with more frequently...?
Let's break this down...
Most of the time when you find yourself in this kind of position with conflicting feelings you have one choice which comes from what somebody is verbally telling you, what they are saying to you to try and influence and persuade you. Then on another hand you'll get this "gut feeling" which is something you don't really understand or know why you are getting it but you just know its there and its telling you to do something.
To understand where you get that "gut feeling" from you want to understand Communication has been estimated to be 7% verbal and 93% non verbal.
So when processing a decision and being logical you will usually only pay attention to the 7%, that is what the other person is saying to you, how it sounds, how it makes you feel, the possibilities, etc.
What the gut feeling does is interpret the 93% non verbal signs when communicating and form a decision from that.
So for example it will take into consideration how another person is acting, that is: their tone, how fast they are speaking, what they are doing with their hands, their eyes, etc. Our gut feelings has the amazing capacity of being able to interpret all these non verbal cues and give us a decision based on that.
So when you get this "gut feeling" realize that it is trying to tell you something, realize that it is basing a decision with 93% of the communication equation vs. just the 7% you have to base a decision on when just listening to a verbal message.
For me it all comes back to the multiple choice tests... I always remember being told to circle the answer that comes up first, and to NEVER change your answer.. Same idea with circling a decision you might have in life.. If you get that gut feeling CIRCLE IT!
Easy right, Go to school.....study reaaaaaaaaly hard so you are the best in your class.... Get A+ all the way through....get in with a good company... work your way up to a $ 100,000+ a year salary... continue at job for 10 years... get rich.
That's what I thought anyway...
Get your hands on this book... it will blast your reality.
Added feature this week, This post comes with a Soundtrack!
It took me waaaaaaay too long to figure out how to embed this video into the blog so I'm going to have keep the article short, but I had to figure it out because now i'll be able to add more videos of glory in the future... so it all works out in the end, on to today's post.
Have you ever thought in general how much time people spend listening to music these days? It seems like everywhere... While in the car driving, at the gym working out, walking to the mall, riding the bus or in the library studying...
take a minute to think about how much time you spend everyday listening to music, 30 minutes on the drive to work + an hour in the gym, maybe half an hour while you are on your computer...add it all up.... It's probably quite a bit of time..
Have you ever stopped to think about the influence of what you are listening to, and what it IS or ISN'T doing for you?
I like using extreme examples to illustrate my thoughts I find it makes things more clear,
so back to the Jr. high/High school era. The little OG I wanted to be I use to listen to a lot of rap music, I was big into the whole WESTSIIIIIIIIDE till i die thing so naturally these are the dudes I idolized... From left to right meet my hero at the time 2PAC, his side kick snoop doggy dogg, and the infamous Suge Knight, the mastermind behind Deathrow records who Pac and snoop rapped for....
I use to love these guys, anytime I turned on my discman whether I was walking home form school or waiting in line somewhere I would blast the volume and listen to 2pac Shakur dropping beats rapping about how he was fresh out of jail cause he posted bail, drinking crystal, flossin gold chains in the low low, while dropping hits in the studio, chillin with his hoochies with hundred dolla bills in expensive suites or on tha streets cuz he had to hustle to make a dolla outta 15 cents.
Now Some people are more influenced than others, but no matter who you are I believe if you listen to something enough it will usually begin having an influence on you.. maybe small, maybe big - the extent depends on who you are and how emotionally attached you are to what you are listening to.
I was pretty into the whole rap music thing for a while so I bought a few pairs of baggy jeans, cursed a lot and at one point I even considered spending $2000 on a platinum chain to represent.
anywayyyyyyy I love music and I always will.. I will never stop listening to it. but I realize how what we listen to can influence us so these days though I divide my listening time between music and educational audio programs.
For me music is enjoyment, its entertainment, its fun... its something to sing along to with friends, to relate to when I'm feeling happy or down, but other than that it really doesn't help me progress much or get better....
I see all that listening time we calculated earlier,like in the car, in the gym, on the computer as an opportunity to grow, to learn new skills to get better....
Think about how much you could learn if you spent just 3 hours a week, (that's just a car ride into work everyday) studying your chosen field through audio programs, you would be listening to fresh ideas and new thoughts. How much better you would become and how much of an edge you would have over the other people in your chosen profession....
The power of the self conscious is amazing, and well documented.
If you spend time filling your mind with educational material there is no way it's not going to have a positive effect on you and your life.
If you don't know where to start check this guy out, Tony Robbins you have probably heard of him before he is just unbelievable. You spend your time listening to him everyday and you'll become a superstar, it's that simple. He's also going to be speaking live in Halifax at the Metro Centre February 26, 2008 if you get a chance get tickets! other than that search for products relating to your profession there are tons out there!
Orginal rockstar gangster out of Halifax. I majored in management at Mount Saint Vincent University. I Currently work in the sales industry. Besides that my life consists of hitting the gym, reading, listening to country music and a once a week sushi habit. I also take off from time to time to travel places around the world.
It was just a glorious conference. This was my other favorite speaker of the day, Mike Lipkin.
So stop and think about this for a second...what are YOU investing your money in these days? where is your money going, what are you spending most of it on these days? write it down quickly if you can so you can actually see.
Again, just stop and think where you are spending/investing most of your time these days.. Write it down so you can actually see where it is going!
That's me eating Swordfish in Cape Breton~!
Multiple choice style.
Easy right, Go to school.....study reaaaaaaaaly hard so you are the best in your class.... Get A+ all the way through....get in with a good company... work your way up to a $ 100,000+ a year salary... continue at job for 10 years... get rich.
