Sal's Corner

The Hot Chocolate Story

When you do not have something wise or intelligent to say, just shut up, that is the reason I have not written in a while, the market has been in a roller coaster, everybody is talking about recession, and stimulus packages, who will win? Hillary, Obama, John McCain?  I do not know otherwise I would be in a different job.  I have learned that in the prediction business the only ones that make the money are the ones that sell the advice.  This week I would like to share with you a piece that I received from a good friend (Mike T).  As for the superbowl, I could predict that the Patriots are going to win, but like they say in the money business, past performance is not guarantee of future returns.  Still I would not bet money to either team, at least not big money, if you ever want to get poor get addicted to gambling, that will do it.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the big game!

The Hot Chocolate Story

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups-porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -- telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said:  "Notice that all the nice looking; expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.  The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups...   And then you began eyeing each others cups.  Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have.  Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate we have.  The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.  Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate in 2008!
What a great message!
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the
best of everything that they have!

Something about purpose

Today I was talking to a friend at work, I asked him how were things going? his answer was that they were going OK, but lately he has been lacking the motivation needed to excel.  How true is that, when we have the motivation, things get done.  Let me tell you about having purpose, when you have purpose in your life, in your work, or in any enterprise, you will succeed.  One thing that differentiates successful people is that they have a great purpose in what they do, whether it is Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Mother Theresa.  Purpose is that thing within us that drives us to get things done.  In a sense persistence comes from our purpose. 

The vision is the what?, the purpose is the why?  Ask yourself why are you doing certain thing or why are you working towards certain goal, and if the why is strong enough, the rest will take care of itself.  If you have not been as successful as you would like to, perhaps you have not found your passion, you have not found your purpose.

Bits and Pieces...

Ben Bernanke said today that the US faces a dire financial situation if nothing is done about Social Security and Medicare.  By 2030, these 2 programs will take about 15% of the GDP, up from 8% currently.  My comment:  What's new, I could have told you that, it is a problem where politicians turn their head the other way, If you ask me, fiscal discipline is the answer, hey! I got a better solution, ready?  INFLATION.

At any other time in history, the US has financed their wars through cuts in budgets and plainly, just tightening their belts.  The Iraq war is a different story, this war has been financed by credit cards, and the willingness of China to keep loaning money to the US, we'll see how long this lasts.

I don't know if you have met any Mormons, but if you have, you will probably agree with me that they are very respectful, they value family, and in general, they are very nice people.  Today I ordered a book titled "The Mormon Way of Doing Business,"  It's based on the stories of successful CEO's with a common denominator, they are all Mormons.  The question is what is their secret?  They never work on Sundays, rarely stay late at work, and they put their spouses and children ahead of everything else.  I look forward to getting the book and reading it.  After all, the next president of the US may be a Mormon in the person of Mitt Romney.

The Joy is the Trip Not the Destination

Last Sunday I spent some time with a pair of good friends that will be moving to Asia (let me call them PM and his wife LM).  They are some of the finest individuals that you could find, and needless to say we will be sad when they leave.  I know that my kids will be sad as well, as they are best friends with their kids.  It just seems odd that one never really cherishes friendships when Friends are close by, it is our tendency to take them for granted.  I'm happy for them as they will be entering a new stage in their lives, and they will be spending the next few years between Vietnam, Malasyia and Indonesia.  As for us, we will miss them dearly.  I have found that in the states it is common for people to live at least 150 miles away from their immediate families, and therefore, your good friends become part of your family.  As for our friends (PM and LM), we have come to rely on them to pick up our kids, for favors, to help us out, etc.  This is the kind of friends that PM and LM are, and they will leave a big vacuum in our lives when they leave.  We will miss their generosity, enthusiasm, kindness, and just plain good example of a fine marriage and family.  I know for a fact that my wife will be hurt more than me by this, but in the bottom of our hearts we wish them the best and we will be praying for them and for our friendship.

P and L, good luck, and know that we will be thinking about you!  And always remember that the joy is in the getting there.

Believe

Over the past few blogs I have been writing about the pitiful economic state of our economy, and how the day of reckoning gets closer and closer.  Today I would like to comment about following your dreams and being persistent.  I was watching with my kids the Polar Express (I know it's out of season, but we love the movie and watch it any time we can) and something caught my attention, if you haven't seen the movie, the main message is "believe."  Towards the end of the movie, and when the kid that is the central character is getting down from the Train, he gets told the following: "Remember that the important thing is not not where the train is going, but deciding to get on."  It struck me; how many times we do not follow our dreams or our beliefs because of fear, or else.  It seems we are experts in excusaitis and it is never the right time to start that project or pursue that dream that we have always thought about.  We basically worry so much about where the train is going that we do not decide to get on, and by the time we make our minds up, that train is gone.  I'm first one to confess myself guilty of that, I have dreamed many times about many different ventures, projects, etc.  But never seem to get started on them, and they get buried inside my "closet of dreams."  Last Friday I stayed up late and finished reading "Small Giants," it's an excellent book, that shows that in order to be successful, you have to be persistent, and love what you do, it describes the modus operandi of many companies that have become great, even though their size is modest (therefore the title), every single one of those companies have been lead by determined individuals that never gave up and made things work even when things looked very dark.  Sometimes we have to use the creative and dreaming side of our brain as well, being practical is good to a point, but after that point, it will just harm you more than it will help you, believe in what you feel inside, and give your dreams the wings to fly, there is no time to waste.  So if you have had something in your mind, do not wait any longer, take action, remember:

"The important thing is not not where the train is going, but deciding to get on"

Just One Thing

I have 4 kids, and that is a great responsibility.  Being a parent is not an easy task, and teaching them to succeed is hard.  It is hard to summarize parenthood in a single piece of advice, however, if you had only one thing you could tell your kids that would help them get ahead in life what would it be? 

I just finished reading a book titled "Just One Thing,"  from John Mauldin, it is a good book, but after reading Bulls Eye Investing, Just One Thing falls a little short.  The book compiles 12 chapters written by 12 different authors telling you the one thing you need to know to become a better and more successful individual.  One of the chapters that caught my attention is the one by Michael Masterson, in his chapter he shares a great secret that if you follow will make you very successful, and he says: "The secret is: In every relationship you get into-every business, social, or personal transaction-make sure that the other person gets as much benefit from it as you do.  When considering your own advantages or disadvantages in taking any course of action, consider those of everyone involved." 

Read the above paragraph time and time again, if you follow that very simple piece of advice, I guarantee you that no matter what your goal in life is, or who you relate to, you will be a very successful person.  Now, going back to my original question, what would I tell my kids?  I would tell them to never give up on their dreams, to keep fighting for their goals, and never compromise their integrity.  I would tell them to find their passion Early in life and follow their instincts.  To be committed to better the society and place where they live as much as they are committed to better themselves.  To cherish life and never stop learning, for they say that if you are not growing, you therefore are dying.  I would tell them to never let anybody make them doubt themselves or desist from their ideals, and finally I would tell them to never do anything halfway, and seize life.

Attitude is Everything

I just finished reading the book called "Attitude is Everything."  I do not know what stage of your life you are currently in, but one thing I do know is that it does not matter, and it is never too late to change.  Attitude is that little voice inside your head that motivates or demotivates you.  Always remember that the most powerful tool you have is you brain, and nothing has more meaning than what you are willing to give it.  Thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to action, and action leads to results.  Attitude is a powerful thing that can make or break your efforts.  Always surround yourself with positive people that will lift you up.  Life is already tough to be dealing with negative people sowing negative seeds in our head.  Have you ever thought why is it that one man succeeds and another with the same knowledge and resources fails miserably under similar circumstances?  the difference between failure or success 99% of the time is attitude.  Read the biographies of great people and you will often find a great attitude reflected as unwavering determination, and discipline.  I have said this, however it is important to repeat it, if you have a dream, follow it, do not let people or negative thoughts discourage you or keep you from succeeding, and always remember that most of the time the journey is the reward.  I play golf and if you know about golf is a very complicated game, for beginners it is a daunting task as your head gets filled with 1001 things that you need to watch for: look at the ball, start your swing slow, keep your grip soft, keep your knees still, do not rotate your hip to fast, etc.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm always looking for a single variable that I can focus and forget everything else and hit the ball consistently.  If I translate this into life, attitude is the only thing you need to keep in mind and your will succeed, you can forget about everything else, as long as you attitude remains positive, your future will be bright.

Go Fish!

Last Friday I read a book called “Fish”, by Stephen Lundin.  It is interesting, and although I agree with some of the reviews from amazon.com, I do not agree with some others.  The main premise of the book is that it is guide on how to boost morale and improve results.  The four main point main points are: 1) Play, 2) Be present, 3) Make their day, and 4) Choose your attitude.  Out of these four I find that choosing your attitude is the most critical.  If you currently are in a job you do not enjoy or do not like, you may be limited as to what you can do to change your job, but you can do a whole lot to change your attitude.  It takes the same amount of energy to be a pessimist than to be a optimistic person.  There is always a choice about the way you do work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself.  If you are looking to be successful in life, you have to start by loving what you do, start by reading biographies of those people you consider successful, you will find a commonality and that is that they love what they do, they do not consider work what they do for a living, for they have so much fun doing it.  So the first rule is to find what is it that you love doing, write it down in a piece of paper, ask your friends and people that know you best what is it that they think you love doing, if their comments are consistent, that is a pretty good indication.  You may be wondering about the title of my blog and what does my story have to do with fish?, the title of the book I read is fish, and the story is developed around 4 characters that work for a fish market in Seattle.  The Apprentice is comming on TV this thursday, it is one of my favorite shows and one of the few I watch since you can learn lessons on good and bad leadership, entrepreneurship, success, etc.  Another program I like is Extreme Home Makeover, so I will be writing abotu those in the near future.

A Beautiful Mind

One of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal is the power of our thinking.  Through our thoughts we can bring ourselves up or down, we can lose confidence or win a battle.  If I were to tell you that you have unlimited potential I bet you would take it as just "some nice words", what if those words came from someone you consider a high role model (Bill Gates, Donald Trump, The Pope, A President, etc).  They say that things are no more difficult than you think they are.  Why are some people successful while others are not given that they were raised under similar circumstances?  The way you approach adversity defines you and your character.  Sometimes our thoughts is what limits us to achieve whatever it is that we want to achieve.  "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that is too low and we reach it." by Micheangelo.  And the great thing about all this is that you are the only one that decides your thinking.

What’s your purpose?

Sometimes it is hard to keep our conviction or beliefs.  We commit to something but all of the sudden when things do not go our way, or some other interests cross our way we just forget and do not follow through.  Has that happened to you?  I believe that one of the most important traits of a leader is persistence, along with his/her vision.  I like reading biographies of inspiring people, and one common thread is that they stay true to their beliefs even when it seems as an uphill battle.  Another characteristic is their ability to maintain their vision and make it so real, that people starts believing that they are indeed missing something, and the leader after all will prevail.  So what’s the difference between being stubborn on a failing venture, or keep pushing towards your dreams.  I think it depends on how much “want to” or desire you have within you.  I also believe it depends on whether you have the other two “D’s” within you (discipline and determination).   When you pursue an idea or a dream, you will see some signs along the road, it is how you react to these that will determine your success.  Do you learn from your failures and correct what you were doing wrong, or just keep pushing stubbornly along?  I just finished reading a biography that my wife picked up at the opening of a Chick-fil-A close to our house.  The book is written by Truett Cathy (founder).  It is not the best book I have read, but some things are worth sharing, like his strong desire to achieve his dreams, his hard work, and his strong devotion and commitment to his spiritual values and principles.  One thing that strikes me is how during some of the hardest years of this company, rather than slashing jobs or expenses, he goes back to the basics and re thinks why is it that he is in business?  What was Chick-fil-A created for?  The answer may sound trivial, but it is not, he decides that the utmost principle is to make a difference in people’s lives.  By doing this, the whole organization is able to recover, and goes on to be one of the best fast food franchises in the country.  Why is it that we do the things we do? Whether it is our job, side businesses, extra curricular activities, etc.  Do we have a purpose or just got stuck with a job because we could not find something better?  I’d like to hear what you think about this.  According to a Gallup survey, only 20% of the people really love their jobs and feel challenged more than 80% of the time.  Does it have to be this way?  I’d like to hear your thoughts on this even if you decide to do it anonymously.

Sal