Whatever your goal in life happens to be success will only come to those that envision the final result way before it has been reached. Picture a marathon runner preparing to race, in his mind he has already crossed the finish line. If he does not know where the finish line is then what is the point of him running he will never stop running or most likely give up quickly. Setting a goal is very important you need to know where you are going. This is the fun part where you dream and you make it as big and exciting as you want. Do not ask for permission just dream and set high goals for yourself. Then you must find a way to get your goal fulfilled to attain success. You need to write down your goal and believe it will happen you need to envision it daily and tell others about it. People may help you, not care or even doubt you. It doesn't matter if others bash your dream the act of saying it aloud increases your probability of success.
When I was starting out as a freshman in college I went ahead and told a pretty girl from my class my dream which at the time was a pretty big one for me. I don't know if she believed me or not but at least she was polite about it. A few semesters later as I found myself working at a gym and other low paying jobs with very little savings I doubted myself and regretted having told my classmate my dream. But that doubt didn't last long I kept telling myself and others about my dream. The work I put in was overwhelming there is no easy way to attain victory. In the process my dream changed it got bigger and I now realize that although the dream I shared with my classmate has changed if I wanted to do so I would be able to carry out what I told her. Telling her my dream ended up being a good thing.
To attain success you need to associate with like minded people. People that will challenge you and encourage you. You also need to find mentors who are currently living your dream so you can learn from them and not waste time trying to figure out all the little details by yourself. If you have the means and time go international and visit people in other parts of the world. I learned plenty by traveling and observing people's routines and every day lives.
As you achieve goals make them bigger or update them if you find new passions. Empower others along the way the same way others empowered you. When you find adversity along the way don't pay much mind to it. Success is always the best answer to jealous, doubtful and arrogant people. Turn the negatives into a positive and you will surely achieve success much faster than if you dwell on the bad situations or people that you will surely come across.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Connecting
I have written a few articles about the importance of interacting with others to further one's career. I now see connecting with others as a healthy way to enjoy life. If you gain the world but can't name a few if not several people that love or care about you what is the point? If you manage to ascend to CEO status but didn't help anybody along the way you will feel empty. Connect with others to help them out and everything else will fall in place.
In statistics it is said that there is no such thing as luck. If you flip a quarter 100 times there is a chance you will get 100 tails and 0 heads. What every day people would call either good luck if you are betting on tails or bad luck if you are betting on heads. In statistics it is all about randomness and the law of large numbers. With that said I do somewhat believe in the concept of luck. I believe that I can influence my luck or create to some degree better luck for myself and my loved ones. If I didn't then I would not do much in life other than eat and sleep. I believe that creating a solid network can give you a better quality of life, job, wife and future.
Most of the people on my network are there because I either created an opportunity to connect with them or a result of me going after them. If I had left it up to luck then 90% of the people on my network I would have never met or interacted with. People on my network from stock traders, IRS employees, artists, real estate agents, doctors working on research (breast cancer to brain) most of them would not be on my network. My life and jobs would have only put a few of these professionals across my path. Not every attempt will be productive or successful but you can't let this stop you from connecting with others.
When connecting with others I know who I can approach and how to approach them. I wouldn't suggest going out to connect with a quant if you have no idea what they do or if you don't have any experience with derivatives or stock trading. Don't purposely set yourself up for failure. If you want to connect with better people you have to work on improving yourself and your skills. You need to show that 800lb gorilla in the room you have something to offer something he can benefit from.
We all know about Michelangelo the sculptor and painter but what we don't always remember is that
he might not have become the best if it were not for the help he received from Lorenzo de Medici.
Lorenzo noticed Michelangelo's unusual talent and moved him into his palace to help educate him.
Michelangelo was thrown into the social circle of the wealthy. He perfected his skills by being among the most prominent people, he studied sculpture under Bertoldo di Giovanni. As good as Michelangelo was he would have not become the Michelangelo we speak of today all on his own.
I don't like waiting for life to bring me the people I need I rather go look for them or interact in places where I can meet what I am looking for. The more your network grows the more you can enjoy life with new exciting opportunities. If you get a bit overwhelmed because you are an introvert take breaks but keep putting yourself out there. I am not an outspoken person but I don't need to be as long as I speak to the right people at the right time.
In statistics it is said that there is no such thing as luck. If you flip a quarter 100 times there is a chance you will get 100 tails and 0 heads. What every day people would call either good luck if you are betting on tails or bad luck if you are betting on heads. In statistics it is all about randomness and the law of large numbers. With that said I do somewhat believe in the concept of luck. I believe that I can influence my luck or create to some degree better luck for myself and my loved ones. If I didn't then I would not do much in life other than eat and sleep. I believe that creating a solid network can give you a better quality of life, job, wife and future.
Most of the people on my network are there because I either created an opportunity to connect with them or a result of me going after them. If I had left it up to luck then 90% of the people on my network I would have never met or interacted with. People on my network from stock traders, IRS employees, artists, real estate agents, doctors working on research (breast cancer to brain) most of them would not be on my network. My life and jobs would have only put a few of these professionals across my path. Not every attempt will be productive or successful but you can't let this stop you from connecting with others.
When connecting with others I know who I can approach and how to approach them. I wouldn't suggest going out to connect with a quant if you have no idea what they do or if you don't have any experience with derivatives or stock trading. Don't purposely set yourself up for failure. If you want to connect with better people you have to work on improving yourself and your skills. You need to show that 800lb gorilla in the room you have something to offer something he can benefit from.
We all know about Michelangelo the sculptor and painter but what we don't always remember is that
he might not have become the best if it were not for the help he received from Lorenzo de Medici.
Lorenzo noticed Michelangelo's unusual talent and moved him into his palace to help educate him.
Michelangelo was thrown into the social circle of the wealthy. He perfected his skills by being among the most prominent people, he studied sculpture under Bertoldo di Giovanni. As good as Michelangelo was he would have not become the Michelangelo we speak of today all on his own.
I don't like waiting for life to bring me the people I need I rather go look for them or interact in places where I can meet what I am looking for. The more your network grows the more you can enjoy life with new exciting opportunities. If you get a bit overwhelmed because you are an introvert take breaks but keep putting yourself out there. I am not an outspoken person but I don't need to be as long as I speak to the right people at the right time.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Investing In Gold
Gold has been on a 13 year rally dating back to 2001 when it was trading at 271.04. It currently trades at $1202.80 the troy ounce. This may be the first time in 13 years where gold closes the year at a loss. Investors like to have some exposure to gold as a hedge or just to diversify their portfolio with one of the most popular commodities worldwide. During an economic crisis gold seems to be even more popular that pretty much explains the ascent of the commodity from $695 in 2007 to $1917 an ounce in August 2011.
As an investor or someone trying to make some profits there are a few ways to invest in the precious metal. The most obvious way is through the purchase of gold bars, jewelry or gold coins. Your best bet is to buy the gold bars and store them in a safe box at a bank. You can also invest in gold without actually purchasing the physical commodity but instead you can buy the futures contract on Comex this will give you the same exposure to the actual price of the commodity which currently trades at $1202.80 (GCG14.CMX). You can also buy gold through your 401k or through a mutual fund.
An investor can also invest in gold exchange-traded products that aim to track the price of gold and are traded on the major stock exchanges such as London, Mumbai, Zurich and New York. These products include close-end funds CEFs, exchange-traded notes ETNs and exchange-traded funds ETFs. The most popular exchange-traded product is the ETF which is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges just like stocks. It can hold commodities such as gold and silver. Investors like them primarily due to their low costs. A popular gold ETF is the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD).
Another way to have exposure to gold is through an index such as the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index (^XAU) which trades on Nasdaq the index is made up of different companies that mine/produce gold and silver. You can also pick one of the gold mining stocks from the index and invest in that company such as Goldcorp Inc. (GG).
If an investor wants to fully invest in gold I would suggest to invest in the actual physical commodity either through gold bars or a futures contract. Any other investment may be easier and less expensive but it will not move 100% in congruence with the price of gold. Since the financial crisis started in 2008 gold stocks did not rise in value as much as the actual commodity. When a recession as severe as the one we just lived through hits, people want the physical commodity not a stock. This year gold prices have dropped about 25% yet gold companies have lost about 50% of their value. That is why I prefer to go for the actual commodity I bought gold back in 1998 when it wasn't hot came very close to buying at the 1999 low. I was just a kid back then I wish I would've had more money but I did buy some more in late 2007.
Whether you pick the physical stuff or a mining stock you risk buying high and waiting a lifetime to get your money back or if you buy a futures contract you may get stuck accepting physical delivery of the commodity or with a monetary loss from trading. The declining prices may be a signal to buy especially for mining stocks yet prices may continue to fall. The economy is improving which may lead investors to drop gold and move onto other investments. Buy gold now at your own risk or wait for prices to drop even lower to enter. As for me I like to buy when no one is interested as I did in 98. At this point the prices are a bit too high for me and I would invest a very small amount of money if at all. I believe there are better investment opportunities out there.
As an investor or someone trying to make some profits there are a few ways to invest in the precious metal. The most obvious way is through the purchase of gold bars, jewelry or gold coins. Your best bet is to buy the gold bars and store them in a safe box at a bank. You can also invest in gold without actually purchasing the physical commodity but instead you can buy the futures contract on Comex this will give you the same exposure to the actual price of the commodity which currently trades at $1202.80 (GCG14.CMX). You can also buy gold through your 401k or through a mutual fund.
An investor can also invest in gold exchange-traded products that aim to track the price of gold and are traded on the major stock exchanges such as London, Mumbai, Zurich and New York. These products include close-end funds CEFs, exchange-traded notes ETNs and exchange-traded funds ETFs. The most popular exchange-traded product is the ETF which is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges just like stocks. It can hold commodities such as gold and silver. Investors like them primarily due to their low costs. A popular gold ETF is the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD).
Another way to have exposure to gold is through an index such as the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index (^XAU) which trades on Nasdaq the index is made up of different companies that mine/produce gold and silver. You can also pick one of the gold mining stocks from the index and invest in that company such as Goldcorp Inc. (GG).
If an investor wants to fully invest in gold I would suggest to invest in the actual physical commodity either through gold bars or a futures contract. Any other investment may be easier and less expensive but it will not move 100% in congruence with the price of gold. Since the financial crisis started in 2008 gold stocks did not rise in value as much as the actual commodity. When a recession as severe as the one we just lived through hits, people want the physical commodity not a stock. This year gold prices have dropped about 25% yet gold companies have lost about 50% of their value. That is why I prefer to go for the actual commodity I bought gold back in 1998 when it wasn't hot came very close to buying at the 1999 low. I was just a kid back then I wish I would've had more money but I did buy some more in late 2007.
Whether you pick the physical stuff or a mining stock you risk buying high and waiting a lifetime to get your money back or if you buy a futures contract you may get stuck accepting physical delivery of the commodity or with a monetary loss from trading. The declining prices may be a signal to buy especially for mining stocks yet prices may continue to fall. The economy is improving which may lead investors to drop gold and move onto other investments. Buy gold now at your own risk or wait for prices to drop even lower to enter. As for me I like to buy when no one is interested as I did in 98. At this point the prices are a bit too high for me and I would invest a very small amount of money if at all. I believe there are better investment opportunities out there.
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