Sal's Corner

Too Much to Do, Too Little Time

Lately I have been extremely busy, as dome of you may know I'm now the proud owner of 4 investment properties.  I started reading about real estate investing 3 years ago.  In addition, a year ago I started along with my wife a resume and translations business.  Well, let me tell you that life does not get any easier.  Having 4 kiddos takes a lot of time, they require attention and patience, not only that, but all of them are under 6 so it is very taxing, all of that on top of my regular job, and since I'm new to the position I have been putting more time to prove that I can be valuable to the company.  The little time we have left we split between our 2 businesses, and the rest we try to relax, read, and every once in a while go on a date.  To be honest I enjoy it, but sometimes I wish I could just kick my shoes and lay in front of the TV and vegetate.  A few months ago I got a book on audio titled "Getting Things Done," I never finished listening to it, but now I'm seriously considering revisiting the idea.  Do you have any advice as to how to do the amount of work of 48 hrs in just 24?  Lately the only time I have been enjoying in front of the TV has been watching the soccer matches on Saturday nights with my son.  Anyway, this is not to complain as I very much enjoy it.  This is just in case you were wondering why I have not written more often.

I learned today of another peer that is leaving my former company (Kraton) to go to a different company.  I'm not surprised, they do not seem to appreciate talented individuals, and honestly their leadership is arrogant as I get out.  There's a few of my friends that I would love to see getting hired by a better company as I think they deserve better, but who knows, they say that you create your own luck.

On my next blog I will spend some time explaining my point of view with regards to the current state of th economy, and why I still believe the stock market is not the place to be.

Youth is Wasted in the Young

I'm into my 3rd day replacing the carpet in my house for hard wood floors.  One thing I learned pretty early on is that nothing replaces experience, no matter what activity you are into (investing, driving, cooking, etc) nothing makes up for experience.  I got pretty frustrated the first few hours, and I thought it would take me a long time, but once you get EXPERIENCE, it goes very smooth, this however does not mean I'm not tired as a dog.

Since I want to link this event with some end of the year reflexions I've been having, if you do an analogy, in investing is the same thing, the more experience you have the better you become, unfortunately we do not have an eternity to learn how to be better investors by ourselves, in the long run every body is dead.  So how can you learn without going through the painful process of losing money?  Read from the experts, I like reading Warren Buffet's annual reports, and I also subscribe to a couple of news letters from experienced people (not to say old).  I also like reading anything that comes my way, I figure picking other people's brains is a good way to make up for personal experiences.  For example I have learned from John Mauldin and other people, that the stock market move in cycles that last up to 30 years from top to top.  I could have learned this from my own experience but by the time I realize this, I'm 30 years older. 

So, is youth wasted in the young? I do not know, after all somebody's got to do the learning and make the mistakes along the road.

Searching for Meaning

Last week I borrowed from a friend a book by Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search For Meaning," I started reading it yesterday, it is a real good and sobering book about a holocaust survivor and his reflections on why some of the prisoners made it out and why some of the younger and seemingly more energetic ones died.  Given that there is always a degree of luck associated with that, but his main conclusion is that the ones that survived is because they had a meaning to their lives.

I do not know what stage in your life you are currently at, but at some point it has either happened to you or will soon happen, and you will question what is it that you are in this planet for? How can you make a difference in peoples life's and how can your presence transcend or leave a legacy?  All theses are not easy questions to answer, and you are the only one that can come up with them.  Are you happy with your life?, are you happy with your job?, are you happy with your family?  Viktor Frankl's book will not provide you with straight answers to all these questions, but i sure will make you think about them.  If you are looking for a good book to read during the holidays, or a good Christmas gift for an avid reader, this is a good one.

I will be spending thanksgiving with my in-laws eating turkey, and an assortment of different types of bread stuffing's.  I always look forward to thanksgiving dinner at my brother in law, he makes the best smoked turkey that I have ever tasted.  I hope your thanksgiving is just as good as mine.

The Real Deal

As I told you yesterday, I started reading "No Excuses,", it is the best self-help book that I have read in a long time.  The story is compelling.  Kyle Maynard was born without limbs (legs or arms), but this did not keep him from achieving his goals.  From an early age, he showed that he was not going to be denied.  The fact that the odds were stacked against him, he found ways to beat any barriers or hurdles put in his way.  I'm halfway through the book and I already have learned a lot.  I have learned that the major obstacle to achieve any of my goals is the person in front of the mirror.  I also learned that my problems are no problems at all, and that excuses are simply the way to avoid an obstacle without giving any effort to conquer it.  Excuses give us a reason to explain to other people why we are too weak to deal with a particular problem, regardless of its size or importance.

I look forward to finish the book within the next couple days... 

Are you Dr. McCoy or Mr. Spock?

I'm getting ready to give my third speech for toastmasters tomorrow, I will speak about irrationality and how it affects not only our pockets but our lives in general.  In order to make better decisions, we have to remove some of the biases that make us irrational, however, human nature and rationality seldom fit in the same phrase.  We by nature are irrational, and we use our brains to justify our decisions, have you ever heard the phrase "Don't Confuse Me with the Facts," that is exactly what I'm talking about.  We are constantly making decisions, and like it or not, you will come up with reasons to justify your decision, whether they are right or not, that is a different matter.  So what can we do to try to be more rational?  In the next few blogs I will try to go over some of the biases that make us irrational, the first is:

1.-  I know better because I know more

What kind of answers do you think you would get if you asked a group of 100 male individuals the following questions: are you an above-average driver?, are you above average at your job?, are you above average as lover?  More than likely you would get more than 50% of the population answering affirmatively to all 3 of them, however you and I know that with just above average people there cannot be an average, and unfortunately, there is always an average, so therefore, we tend to overestimate ourselves.  We tend to be overoptimistic and over confident and that stems from the illusion of control and the illusion of knowledge.  The illusion of knowledge derives from the belief that the more information you have, the better decisions you will make.  It has been proven that is not true.  In a study, it was found that after certain degree of information, people actually become less accurate wtih more information.  The illusion of control comes from the belief that we have influence over the outcome of uncontrollable effects, for example, people is willing to pay significantly more for a lottery ticket with numbers they chose.

Do not be fooled by the illusion of control or knowledge, this is the first step towards becoming more rational.

Soccer, Football, and Veterans Day

It was a very eventful weekend, had my son's last soccer game and I must say that he should be very proud of himself, he almost scored a goal, but more important than that is that his team won, and he ended the season in a very positive note.  Basketball season follows next, I will give you an update on that when the time comes.  On a sour note, the aggies lost again, it was not unexpected, but still very discouraging.  My pre game prediction was 45-10 in favor of Oklahoma, it was closer than that, but still a loss, "to win is not the most important thing, is the only thing."  I've said it before, and will repeat it, to me Francione does not have the makings of a true leader, and I still think he will be out of aggieland in a couple of seasons, unless he can get into the players heads the fact that they can win and deserve to win, any way, I have been wrong before so I could be wrong on this one too.  The weekend is finally winding down, and I'm getting ready to go back to work tomorrow, however, I wanted to take a minute or two to thank all of our war veterans for their dedication and sacrifice, many have lost their lives or have been wounded in action while defending our freedom.  You must know that at least in my eyes, your efforts do not go unnoticed.  May God help you in battle and keep you out of harms way.

A little bit of everything...

Today I had lunch with one of my best friends, if not my best friend.  We had a quick but entertaining lunch, and since we had not talked in a while he told me about a promotion he just got, he basically replaced his boss as his boss moved to bigger and better things.  But why do I bring this up? you may be wondering.  To give you some background, he is a really bright chemical engineer and also extremely hard worker.  In addition to that he's quite humble, he was not looking for this position, however he got chosen among some of his peers that were actively seeking to replace his boss.  I always believe that good things happen to good people, and this is another such example.  I guess he's a manager, but I would rather call him a leader.  From our conversation, I know he will not be trying to manage people, this is very ineffective at best, what he will be managing are agreements made between him and his subordinates.  So, if nothing else, I can go to bed with the affirmation that honesty, hard work, and diligence sooner or later pay off, congratulations.

I wanted to comment about a book I'm currently reading, the title is "Starting From Scratch,"  I have a passion for discovering the secrets of what makes ordinary individuals achieve extraordinary things.  This book deals with exactly that, it contains 21 short stories from 21 individuals just like you and me, that made the leap from the corporate to the entrepreneur world.  I have not been able to put it down and I hope to get done tonight.  If you a) are tired of what you do and are looking for a radical change in your career, b) absolutely hate your job and dread getting out of bed every morning, c) have always had a dream but your fears keep sabotaging you, or d) would like to go it alone so you don't have to be fearful of the next round of layoffs, this book is absolutely a must have in your personal library. 

Nest week I will have a lot to write about, as I will be getting tomorrow another book (hot off the press) from one of my favorite authors John Mauldin, the book is "Just One Thing," and I'm really looking forward, I should also be getting 2 more books, "The Power of Persuasion" by Michael Masterson, and "No Excuses" by Kyle Maynard.  I will be traveling for 2 days next week so the timing could not be perfect, I will have time in the plane to hopefully read them all.

I just realized I'm approaching my 100th blog.  It is a milestone for me, when I started this blog, my intention was, and still is, to provide a source of positive energy and motivation to whoever happens to stumble across my blog.  In addition to share my insight into miscellaneous topics such as the economy, investing, success, and leadership.  I have been blessed to have a great family and wonderful friends that keep giving me words of encouragement through life.  To celebrate my 10th blog I will be giving away a copy of one of my favorite books.  A book I know will help you achieve your goals and live a more meaningful life.  So what do you have to do to get the book?,  just drop me a note and let me know whether you like my blog or not, and what topics would you like to see being discussed here.  I will pick a name among the participants.

Have a great weekend!

Stop and Smell The Roses

With the hectic pace of today's life, and the many things we feel we have to accomplish, we rarely take time to reflect on our own successes and accomplishments.  I do believe that reflecting is a vital part of your success and your life, you have to slow down and take time to be thankful, and count your blessings.  All the recent natural disasters make it that much more important, thank God you were not in the path of the Tsunami, or Hurricane Katrina or Rita, or KatRita what the heck!, or be associated with the most recent tragedy in Pakistan.  Thank God for all of our blessing, and may God be with all the victims, but also reflect upon all your past and recent successes, they are part of you and if you think about them and reflect on them, they can make you a better person than you are today.  The reason I'm writing this is because next week my brother will be receiving a highly coveted recognition by the Association of American Surgeons (I hope I got the name right), but this is just another accomplishment in his short but brilliant medical career.  I would like to be there to see him walk up the podium and receive his diploma, but family and work commitments keep me from doing so.  I know it will be a very special week for him, and I'm sure he will take time to enjoy this accomplishment.  Needless to say I have known him all of my life, and I know this is not his highest achievement, if I was allowed to take a guess I would say that probably would be being a Husband a a Dad.  Regardless of the relative importance of this achievement, I wanted to dedicate this blog to him and congratulate him for all of his life and the many joys he's brought to our family in general, and to me in particular.  Be sure that your family is very proud of you for all your hard work and dedication.  And no, I may not be that proud about the piece of paper that you are about to receive as about the fact that your passion and dedication to medicine and humankind drive you to get better and better everyday.  Enjoy the trip and drink a Napa Valley wine for me while you are there, but most important, do not forget to stop and smell the roses!

Congratulations!!!

The power of having goals

First  of all, I thank God for having survived Rita unscathed, it did not even rain enough by my house which does not bother me that much to be honest, especially after I thought I would not even find my house after I got back.  Sunday I watched the Presidents Cup, and although the event was very exciting one thing that caught my attention was the lackluster performance of Tiger, the best player of the world and known for his killer instinct and his ability to pull the impossible.  I do believe that the Presidents Cup as well as the Ryder's are not in his goal notebook.  I'm not saying he does not care about losing, I'm sure it bothers him a lot, but they are not something he really strives for.  What if the media decided to publish Jack Nicklaus record in these type of events and start comparing Woods' performance vs Jack's, I bet you he would win a few more matches.  When you don't have goals, even though you may want to accomplish something, you may not succeed, or your chances of succeeding diminish significantly.  Take the time to write and review your goals periodically if your truly want to be successful.

Resilience

I'm half way through a book called "The Resilience Factor : 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles".  Excellent book and very appropriate after all that we have seen happening in the Gulf Coast last week.  According to the authors there are 7 skills that any individual can build to become more resilient.  The first is to know you ABC's or Adversity, Belief and Consequence.  The whole premise is that a feeling is what you get for thinking the way you do.  We analyze any situation and experience according to the mental models that exist in our mind.  The way we react to adversity depends completely on the way we think.  Excellent book.

In a previous blog I mentioned that Katrina may be the straw that will break our economy's back.  I guess I should be more specific, what I meant to say was that Katrina could contribute to the next recession.  You know I'm bearish on the dollar, and I do not agree or encourage our spending ways, when the typical American spends more than it saves, it is not a good thing, and that is what just happened last month, the average savings rate in the US went negative (-0.6%, the lowest since 1959 that they started reporting this metric).  I would not bet against the American entrepreneur and the heart of this country, but I'm surely betting on the demise of the dollar, when you have one if not the greatest investors of all time (Warren Buffet) repositioning a good portion of his holdings into foreign currencies, you have to pay close attention, currently he has more than 12 billion dollars invested in foreign currencies.  The burden is too big and I do not see any signs of the government cutting expenditures or budgets or the American people stop buying electronics, houses, cars, etc that we do not need with borrowed money out of the equity of our own homes.  So will we recover from Katrina? that I have no doubts, even without any international help, will we enter a recession in the next 12 months? I do not know but it is possible.  Keep a close eye on what Greenspan says and does in the next meeting.