Leadership Exposure

The great thing about leadership positions is that it exposes you to your faults. Of course, you can only do your best but being in the spotlight will make you prone to criticism from those around you.

For a leader, a bad decision is better than no decisions at all. Followers lookup to you and, for many, they won't move until you tell them where to go (because they assume you know what you're doing and they don't like making mistakes or being in the spotlight themselves). If you ever make a mistake in the process, you can be sure someone will point it out to you.

There was a time when I believed people would fight for leadership positions. Today I realize that not many wants to be a leader let alone are qualified for it.
This was made evident to me when the company I work for was looking for someone to take on additional responsibilities for the social committee. It felt like people were on a death sentence more so than anything else.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the perception that there is something far more important at stake."
-Robert Morrisette

I don't necessarily like to be in the spotlight but I have a burning desire to get things done and there's nobody around to take the bull by the horns - so I'll do it.

Relationship Value

I read a comment from a relationship article that I thought was interesting. Mr A was asking for advice on how to keep a relationship to which Mr B replied that in order for a partner to choose you, you must provide something of value. If all you can come up with is "I'm Nice" to the question "Why should someone choose you?" then there's your problem.
He then advised Mr A to travel, workout or learn a new skill that could add value to someone else's life.

Mr B is right; relationship is about selling yourself. Can we say we add value to someone else's life when we entertain ourselves excessively? Can we say we add value to someone else's life when we spend most of our time at work?
It's not enough to hangout with somebody and just hope for the best. As I once heard, "Love is a verb - it's something that you do". There needs to be something that's shared that can benefit both party. Can you sing? Can you cook? Can you talk about that funny thing that happened to you when you visited your grand-mother?

Are you prepared to make one of the biggest sales of your life?

You're Poorer Than You Think

If you live in Canada, you must of seen the financial institution "You're richer than you think" ad. How can a financial institution say something like this when they see first hand how in debt people are?

"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
-Proverbs 22:7

How can anyone feel rich when they have a debt twice (or more) as big as their yearly income? Being able to afford the monthly payments doesn't necessarily mean someone is "rich". One's ability to produce income may be high but that means little if the spending habits are just as high.

"If you don't learn to spend less than you earn, it won't make any difference if you earn twenty thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, or one hundred thousand dollars per year. Your spending would simply rise as your income rose."
-Dwight Nichols

Most people are poorer, not richer, than they think. To tell them otherwise is a lie. They need not to spend more but to learn how to make a budget, pay off their debts and invest in their thinking.

Today's Tax

"Surrender of Lord Cornwallis", by John Trumbull (1920)

The American Revolutionary War was fought following the implementation of a 5% tax, without representation, from the British. The Americans saw this as a form of slavery and decided to put an end to it.

Today, we're taxed almost 50% (when we consider inflation of Fiat Money, income tax, tax on individual items etc...) Why are people okay with this?

Romans emperors figured out that when you "Entertain and feed the people you can take their freedoms away"... - isn't that what's going on with the world today?

Our focus on entertainment is allowing our government to take away our freedoms without creating an uproar. People don't understand the issue simply because they're not focused on it.

So what can I do?
Master your finances instead of having it master you. Get a better understanding of Fiat Money, inflation, the economy, Gold Standard, the various taxes of your country and get out of debt!

The more you understand it, the more you'll be interested in it. The more money in the bank you have, the more you'll want to protect it.

But it's On Sale!

"Sales exist to make us believe we're saving money by spending it." -Laurie Woodward

Every item we buy has a huge markup on them due in part to the many business processes it goes through and on the supply/demand. A pair of shoes, which cost 10$ to make, will sell for $100 by the time it reach the consumer.
When items go on sale, they are a bit cheaper to you but not cheap enough to make the seller cry about it.

"If you don't master money, it's going to master you." -Tony Robbins

Sales are just attempts to make more money out of us. It plays with our "If I don't buy it, I'll miss out" feeling. We shouldn't buy items that we don't need simply because it's on sale.