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.

Squamish - Where Clouds Are Born

I had the opportunity to explore some mountains during the 2015 Arc'teryx Squamish Climbing Academy held at the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish (45min North of Vancouver).
This is one destination you can't afford to miss if you're in the Vancouver area. The scenic view, which starts on the drive there, is probably why Squamish was named the best mountain town to visit in 2014 according to CNN.

The July 10-12 event included many activities related to climbing and some live music from a local band. The fact that it rained during part of the event didn't damper the experience at all... I mean, you can't go wrong with a party on top of a mountain right?
I'm a mountain hiker more so than a climber but found myself genuinely interested in the information shown by the guest speakers/climbers and I was left with a "I need to try this" feeling at the end of the night.

The Sea to Sky Gondola is, again (I can't emphasize this enough) a must see destination if you're in the Vancouver area. This is the one place that truly shows the natural beauty that is B.C.

*Update - July 16, 2015: A video of the event was released on youtube today and you can actually see the back of my head at 1:50 - It's pretty Rad (climbers say that a lot)! Check it out here:

The event was also mentioned on the Arcteryx blog here: http://blog.arcteryx.com/arcteryx-climbing-academy-wrap