Financial Samurai

The older I get, the more I realize how necessary it is for people first starting out to find a mentor.  A mentor is there to guide you through all the landmines in a career or start-up venture.  In fact, I encourage everyone to get a mentor with every serious endeavor they are about to undertake.

“You are special.  You deserve the world and can do anything.“  These words do more damage to young people than any insult.  If all you hear growing up is how special you are, you’re going to develop the biggest entitlement attitude ever!  You’re going to think you walk on water and your shit don’t stink.

Is there any wonder why the most typical complaint by the 99% protest movement is not getting a dream job after going tens of thousands of dollars in debt?  What is wrong with picking crops and making hamburgers? College graduates are told to go to school, don’t be afraid to take out massive debt because their lives will be great since they are so special.  As a result, they aren’t willing to put in the hours to get straight A’s, work unpaid internships every summer to gain experience, and develop technical skills beyond the classroom.  Being told they are special DOOMS them.

This is why growing up in a free and developed country like the United States is pretty easy, ironically.  If you don’t have the “I’m special” attitude, then you will never be delusional.  And since so many of your peers think they are special, they aren’t willing to put the extra time and effort into whatever they are doing.  Just realizing you are just another nobody will put you far ahead in this world.

In “How To Succeed The Dumb And Easy Way” on Untemplater.com, I try and knock some sense into folks who need a nice kick in the pants.  I love the stories and interviews there because it shows how people can live differently.  The Untemplaters make it look easy, but that’s what skilled people do.  Feel free to share your thoughts here or there!

Do you believe you’re special?

Photo: Hissing Stray Baby Cat, Venice, 2011.  Sam.  Can you guess the symbolism?

Best,

Sam

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Back in 2001 the economy was imploding much like it was in 2008-2009.  I was worried about losing my job and I asked my mentor for advice.  He told me something so important that it has guided my approach to doing everything ever since.

David took me to a conference room and sat me down and said, “If you become the best at what you do, you will NEVER have to worry about getting fired.”

He went on to say, “The bottom 10% of people always get fired even during good times.  Look at Jack Welch from General Electric.  Even in the brightest of good times, he canned the bottom 10% .  There’s no room for underperformers, underachievers, and people who blame the world for their own failures.  You are in control of your career and your finances.  Stop worrying and start being invaluable.”

THE CHANGE IN MINDSET Read more…

Every now and again, people surprise me.  One of the greatest feelings is when you want to laugh and cry at the same time.  For years I’ve had the most wonderful tenant.  Timothy, was always courteous and kind, and never more than 10 days late on rent.  When he told me in January of his plans to move back East, he did so in a hand written letter that was so kind.

Saddened by his impending departure, I wrote a post asking a basic question, “Is It Better to Rent To Males or Females?” to help deal with the preparation ahead.  Most of you mentioned you prefer females, however all of the past five tenants have been males.

WHO COMES HITHER? Read more…

I was driving home from grocery shopping one day when I saw this little boy in the picture holding a clipboard and smiling.  It was your typical, chilly 58 degree San Francisco day and the boy stood so patiently in his parka, saying “hello” to every passerby.  His presence filled my heart and I zipped Moose around the corner to park so I could see what he was selling.  Whatever he was selling, I was going to buy!

Little Henry was selling $1 raffle tickets to support his school choir so they could take a trip down to Los Angeles and perform.  Oh my goodness Henry, you are a star!  I pulled out my wallet and gave him my only bill and told him I’ll take 10.  His smile got even bigger as he gave me the clipboard and asked me to fill out my contact info.

“Thank you Mr!“, Henry said gleefully.  I smiled back at him asking if I could take his picture.  Of course he said yes to one of his best customers.

Henry, it is I who thanks you.  You’ve given me perhaps years of mental smiles and motivation that I so dearly need all the time.  Why do I love to blog so much?  It’s partly because of memories like this where I can capture, record, and come back to any time in the future.

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER Read more…

I want you guys to visualize a world where there is no media schadenfreude.  Imagine never reading stories debasing others out of delight in order to make the writer and you feel better about yourself.  My how nice the world would be!

The reason why there are so many negative articles out there is simply because there are a lot more people making a lot more money and doing much greater things than one realizes.  If you can’t make it on your own, it’s easier to just try and bring others down.  Don’t do that!

You know from a previous article that $60,000 to $75,000 is such a silly low range for what researchers and the media think is the ideal income level where happiness rises no more.  It’s so silly because that is clearly not the case if you ask anybody who has ever made more.  Is it a coincidence that researchers and reporters make on average not much more than $75,000?  Of course not and therefore it helps makes them feel better about their wages.  It’s perfectly rational.

THE SECRET MOVEMENT Read more…

On Sunday, January 16th Yakezie.com received around 6,300 visitors thanks to Little House’s (Yakezie Scholarship Committee Member) efforts to reach out to other organizations online.  That organization was Fastweb.com, a site that helps students find monetary support for education around the web.

Not expecting such a surge in traffic, immediately things started going haywire.  My registration e-mail notifications started flooding in, and then personal e-mails started coming in asking why they didn’t get an e-mail confirmation to register to the allow them to apply.  Frantically, I tried addressing all problems over comments, Twitter, and e-mail myself as Chris was not near a computer.  When Chris returned, he did some testing and things seemed to work, but because of the sheer flood of visitors, things locked up.

Our e-mail system (Google) supposedly has a ~200 limit per day on sending e-mail notifications for new registrants.  After about 1:30pm on Sunday, the 200 limit was quickly hit but the registrants kept coming in.  As a result, any eager student who was looking to register and compete could not.  Oh my, how bad I felt for them.

MY FEAR AND GUILT Read more…