One change lifts you above fear to a better future.
Simply ask three questions.
Continue Reading “One Change Makes a Big Difference for Your Future”One Change Makes a Big Difference for Your Future
Reinvent You for a Brighter Future in 4 Steps
Businesses and charities are desperate to reinvent themselves.
But, dogs are happy no matter what.
If you’re not a dog and need to uncover a bright new direction.
Check out these four steps.
Step #1: Move from “closed” to “open”
Frustrated by closed doors? They’re actually clues for a new direction.
In his great work, Masks of Love and Life, Hanns Sachs includes a chapter called “Locked in a Room with Open Doors.”
He talks about two brothers.
One of them could never tolerate an open door.
He’d jump up and shut anything standing open.
The other brother was annoyed by this and told him, “one of these days I’m going to lock you in a room with open doors.”
Why did he say this?
Because his brother could only see closed doors.
Restaurants, for example, that only see traditional dine-in may not survive.
But, Panera Bread is looking another direction.
Instead of choking on traditional dining-room traffic, the CEO, Niren Chaudhary, is searching for open doors.
He recently shared how his executive team noticed the struggle of people getting basic groceries at the store. So, they started selling groceries.
“We had the infrastructure, the e-commerce plumbing, the operating system. In 48 hours, the team said, ‘Yes we are going to do it.’” Niren Chaudhary, WSJ, 4/24/20
Never stop imagining a new application for yourself, your family or your business.
Step #2: Move from “material” to “people”
I believe a brighter future begins with a desire to make a difference in the world.
Most folks I know have a desire to not just occupy space, consume goods or make and spend money. They don’t want to merely occupy space, but as the philosopher said, “we want to plant a tree under which we may never sit.”
William Manchester, in his book about Winston Churchill, said that Churchill delighted in having guests for dinner both at noon and at evening. He liked to host people who were doing something with their lives.
There’s a tendency to sit back after you’ve made a certain amount of money, raised a family, paid off a house or sold a business and say “that’s it!”
But, it’s not it. Money doesn’t mark the end of work. Property doesn’t either. People mark the measure of our contribution. What makes a difference in life is you and other people.
Step #3: Move from “dead-end” to “u-turn”
How did people like Winston Churchill or the Apostle Paul become so productive?
They were sensitive and open to change.
When doors closed they u-turned.
Maybe God wants to move you in a new direction.
- Talk to people you’ve never talked to before
- Open up to new information never considered
There’s a fear of information, as if information is going to corrupt us.
Socrates said his mission with the young men of Athens was to lead them from unconscious ignorance to conscious ignorance.
In other words, realize that we don’t know all there is to know.
So, keep an open mind and open spirit.
Step 4: Move from “hurter” to “healer”
We’re not here to inflict wounds. We’re here to wash wounds.
Everyone has the gift of healing.
- Heal a relationship by forgiving
- Heal a relationship by accepting forgiveness
- Heal discouragement with affirmation
Every one of us can heal people with a word or a look.
Charlene Hunter Gault was one of two black students attending the University of Georgia during the worst clashes of the civil rights movement in the sixties.
She was at a sit-in at a lunch counter in Atlanta.
People were saying horrible things and the tendency was to say horrible things back.
Charlene recalled later, as a T.V. journalist, that the leader of the sit-in was a woman named Ruby Smith.
As Charlene recounted the story, she said, “Ruby would keep walking beside us and behind us during those terribly tense moments and she’d whisper these words, ‘Don’t forget why you’re here.’”
Not to fight, but to love and forgive.
We’re here to . . .
- be open
- love people
- embrace change
- heal and not hurt
What life changes are you facing?
Run to the Land of Beginning Again
Let’s run from all the madness in the world.
- War
- Loss
- Loneliness
- Fear
- Suffering
- Death
“I wish there were some wonderful place called the land of beginning again where all of my heartaches and all of my woes could be dropped like a dirty old coat at the door and never be put on again.” Author Unknown
So, why not run to the Land of Beginning Again.
You can enter right where you are, even in the middle of suffering.
Continue Reading “Run to the Land of Beginning Again”The Best Money Advice in a Savage Market Decline
Savage market declines are normal.
The difference between great and poor investors is how they deal with fear.
Every major news outlet is flashing Coronavirus.
Panic is everywhere.
But, as Warren Buffet said . . .
Continue Reading “The Best Money Advice in a Savage Market Decline”
What the Smartest People Know About Market Panic
March 9, 2020 was the 11th anniversary of the height of the worst global panic ever which marked the bottom of the bear market of 2007-09.
I was there then as I am here now.
Here’s what I’ve learned after 40 years of living through stock market volatility.
It is to me a thing of the most wonderful irony that the world has elected to celebrate this iconic anniversary with, you guessed it, another epic global panic attack.
As of March 9, 2020, the S&P 500 is down over 18% from its all-time high, recorded on February 19.
Declines of this magnitude are fairly common occurrences.
Indeed, the average annual drawdown of the S&P 500 stock index from peak to trough since 1980 is close to 14%.
But such a decline in barely a month is noteworthy, not for its depth but for its suddenness.
As we all know, the precipitants of this decline have been . . .
- the outbreak of a new strain of virus, the extent of which can’t be predicted
- the economic impact of that outbreak, which is equally unknown
- the onset of a price war in oil
The common thread here is unknowability.
We simply don’t know where, when or how these phenomena will play out. And in my experience, the thing in this world that markets hate and fear the most is uncertainty.
We have no control over the uncertainty; we can and should have perfect control over how we respond to it.
Or, ideally, how we don’t respond.
The last thing in the world that long-term, goal-focused savers and builders of wealth like you and I do when the whole world is selling is – you know – sell.
On March 3, the erudite billionaire investor Howard Marks wrote, “It would be a lot to accept that the U.S. business world – and the cash flows it will produce in the future – are worth 13% less today than they were on February 19.”
How much more true this observation must be a week later, when they’re down 18% or 
even if the index drops further.
So coach, what if it does decline tomorrow?
What matters is what markets ultimately do over your family’s lifetime, not what they do tomorrow.
If you have any doubt about where the world economy is ultimately headed, read Robert Bryce’s book Smaller, Faster, Lighter, Denser, Cheaper.
The stock market has experienced a 30% decline one in every five years since WWII.
Right now it’s offering the equivalent of a January White Sale on linens.