Do you need the media to tell you what reality is?

Thursday, October 31, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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"To be completely cured of newspapers, spend a year reading the previous week's newspapers." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

If you look back at headlines from 10 or 15 years ago, you’ll notice that much of the news was either trivial, distracting, or sometimes outright false. Predictions like Antarctica disappearing in 20 years, or the extinction of wolves, bears, and trees were rampant. A century ago, the media focused on reporting facts—this happened, then that happened. Over time, the shift moved towards less factual reporting and more opinion and commentary. Nowadays, some news outlets even fabricate facts, turning the news into a propaganda machine with questionable motives.

While it might feel like you’re accomplishing something by staying updated with the news, the reality is that it often doesn’t impact you directly. It’s good to be aware of global events, but don’t mistake this for productivity. You’re not actually doing anything. Focus on your work instead.

Out of the approximately 10,000 news stories you’ve read in the past year, can you name one that genuinely helped you make a better decision about a serious matter affecting your life, career, or business?

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” – Thomas Jefferson

You will never reach your destination if you

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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Being stoic often means not displaying emotions of joy or sorrow, but simply leading a balanced life. Typically, it involves maintaining a high level of composure.

Ignore the noise and focus on your own path.

Winston Churchill famously said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”

Avoid watching the news; most of it will be irrelevant in five days. Almost nothing matters in the grand scheme of things. The only thing that truly matters is improving yourself, and that is a challenging endeavor.

“Be satisfied with even the smallest progress." —— Marcus Aurelius

All happy companies are different

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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Be a specialist that gives you focus and clients respect that, when you say I don't do this and that that is very powerful .....

 “Your brand’s power lies in dominance. It is better to have 50% of one market, instead of 10% of five markets.”

— Al Ries

Tolstoy opens Anna Karenina by observing: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in his own way” Business is the opposite. All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition”

“All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.”

— Peter Thiel

“Good things happen when you narrow your focus.”

— Al Ries

 “If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. If you CAN’T then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won’t help you achieve your objective.”

— Al Ries

The Winner Takes It All Song by ABBA

Monday, October 21, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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 The key to succeeding in a crowded marketplace is to be the leader, not just a follower.

Al Ries

Growth pains

Thursday, October 17, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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 It’s widely acknowledged that significant financial gains often come later. A prime example of this is reflected in the Dow Jones Index outperforming the Nasdaq over time, as highlighted by Prof. Siegel in 'Stocks for the Long Run.' Similarly, Home Depot's stock demonstrated substantial movement when they shifted their strategy away from pursuing growth at any cost.

Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to

Thursday, October 17, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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 “It’s only by saying NO that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.” – Steve Jobs

• “Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.” – Josh Billings

Rockefeller was the richest man on earth

Thursday, October 17, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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Rockefeller was the richest man on earth. He realized that with strong competition, making money is difficult. He discovered many other insights because he wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations of his companies, giving him time to think. He spoke very little and listened to everything, often sitting in meetings without saying a word. From the beginning, he devoted 10% of his earnings to charity. He was ahead of his time, never drank, or engaged in any kind of addiction, except for going to church. He also helped anonymous people from his congregation.

Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

John D. Rockefeller

From David Senra synopsis of Rockefeller biography .

David Senra

@FoundersPodcast

You will go far with a single idea expressed clearly

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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The most common form of human stupidity is forgetting what one is trying to achieve. Keep your goals in sight.

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks”

Winston Churchill

I attribute much of my success in New York to my ability to understand and avoid unnecessary distractions.

Derek Jeter

All the tools in the world are meaningless without an essential idea

George Lois, Mad Man

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Swami Vivekananda

I don't know if you can live on one idea, but I know that you cannot drift too much. One thing I have felt is that when you say you only do one thing (specialist/FOCUS) people will consider whatever you say more seriously.

A few ideas from Steve Jobs I found in this book:

1.  You will go far with a single idea expressed clearly.

2.  When advertising your product pick one feature to focus on.

3.  Customers see more choice as more confusion. Steve believed in doing the work for the customer.

There are people who do nothing but.....

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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There are people who do nothing but invest in the stock market and go about their daily lives without looking at it.

Investing is a marathon, not a sprint. Like waiting for paint to dry, it requires a long-term perspective. By embracing the seemingly dull nature of investing, individuals can resist the temptation of short-term market noise and focus on the bigger picture.

I plant some trees, normally in the winter (bear market) and do nothing, those trees lose everything in the winter but they grow and grow and now some of them they are producing great fruit. No one protects their trees in the winter . it is what it is.

From Stingy Investor Blog

Apart from articles by Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, I was most influenced by Robert Kirby's discussion of the Coffee Can Portfolio which was first published in the Journal of Portfolio Management in 1984.

Robert Kirby thought that investors would be well served by purchasing small amounts of many stocks and then forgetting about them for ten years. While discussing his investment counsel business he related an interesting anecdote.

"I had worked with the client for about ten years, when her husband suddenly died. She inherited his estate and called us to say that she would be adding his securities to the portfolio under our management. When we received the list of assets, I was amused to find that he had secretly been piggy-backing our recommendations for his wife's portfolio. Then, when I looked at the total value of the estate, I was also shocked. The husband had applied a small twist of his own to our advice: He paid no attention whatsoever to the sale recommendations. He simply put about $5,000 in every purchase recommendation. Then he would toss the certificate in his safe-deposit box and forget it.

Needless to say, he had an odd-looking portfolio. He owned a number of small holdings with values of less than $2,000. He had several large holdings with values in excess of $100,000. There was one jumbo holding worth over $800,000 that exceeded the total value of his wife's portfolio and came from a small commitment in a company called Haloid; this later turned out to be a zillion shares of Xerox."

I finished It

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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 I spent last week bike racing.

The weather was a disaster—seven days of rain. One stage had to be canceled at the top of Serra da Estrela, 2000 meters up, because the cold and rain were so intense that the 30 km descent to VIDE could be dangerous. Several riders were not properly dressed for the conditions.

I’m not a rain specialist; when it rains, I usually don’t ride. As a result, I completed the 976 km at an average speed of only 24.19 km/h, which is quite poor. However, I felt relieved to have finished under such challenging conditions. This edition of the Trans Portugal Roads is definitely going down in the history books.

Here are some pics of this eventful week. I am too fat for this I need to sched some 10 kg fast.

There is nothing new

Monday, October 14, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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The Lindy Effect essentially states that the longer a non-perishable item has been around, the longer it’s likely to persist into the future.

Old things are often considered the best because they have been tested over time. If a book is still in print 30 years after its publication, it’s likely because it’s a great book. On the other hand, I sometimes buy recent books and often find them disappointing.

The notion that I need to stay up to date with recent events and news is, at times, one of the most foolish ideas that crosses my mind.

Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Small things are not so small

Thursday, October 03, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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The distant future is small free cities with drone armies and skill-based immigration policies, surrounded by a sea of failed socialist states.

I am uncertain about the future, but I know that people crave security and despise uncertainty and surprises. If we allow individuals to enter our cities and cause chaos by burning, robbing, and disrespecting our way of life, our cities will descend into chaos.

From South Africa to Brazil, I see people fleeing to safer countries. Safety is a fundamental value. If people don’t follow the small rules about crossing streets, managing garbage, controlling noise, and obeying traffic laws, everything falls apart. The small things matter a lot.

If you throw moderation to the winds

Wednesday, October 02, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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Mark Twain once said, “Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”

Despite being a Mark Twain fan, I’ve recently tried (not always everything in Moderation)  a simpler lifestyle: eating less and abstaining from alcohol. The results are remarkable. Waking up the next morning is a pleasure—no pain, no discomfort.

I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of eating to live rather than living to eat. This approach allows you to achieve more, feel better, and truly live life to the fullest. Feeling sleepy after a meal is a sign that something needs to change.

Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.

Democritus

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

Hippocrates

It’s possible to live many different lives within one lifetime

Tuesday, October 01, 2024 Francisco 0 Comments

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Losing everything, especially loved ones, is incredibly difficult. However, it’s possible to live many different lives within one lifetime.

Change is not something I actively seek, but when it happens, I tend to accept it and move on. I used to play soccer a lot, but after breaking my left leg badly in a climbing accident, I started cycling and never looked back.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. Robert Frost