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How I’m Adjusting My Productivity System for the Distraction Age

November 18, 2021 No Comments

Ever since the early 2010s, people have been warning of the “age of distraction.” It’s no longer a warning. We’re definitely living through the Distraction Age.

The start of the 2020s has shown all of us how draining it can be to deal with distractions.

It’s no surprise so many of us feel chronically drained. There’s so much information we have to process and so many things we have to adjust to.

On top of that, it seems like there’s even more uncertainty when it comes to the economy, health care, and the rising cost of living.

Let’s not talk about the things we can’t control. Let’s focus on the only thing that’s inside your control: You.

In this article, I’m sharing how I’ve adjusted my existing productivity strategy and how you can use these insights to improve yourself in an age of distraction.

Mindfulness, Productivity

The Skill of Awareness Will Change Your Life

November 15, 2021 No Comments

I’ve noticed that almost all my conversations about improving an aspect in life, whether that’s your finances, health, or relationships, always revolve around the skill of awareness.

Think about it. The other day I was talking to a friend about how I’ve been consistently earning money in the stock market for several years. He lost a lot of money this year with crypto trading and chasing meme stocks so he asked about my process.

I talked about how I don’t do any of that stuff and only stick to stocks I know. I use a combination of passive investing with the majority of my money, and I use a smaller amount to trade growth stocks. I call that the 90/10 rule.

My trading method is mostly based on Jesse Livermore’s system in How to Trade In Stocks. Using that method, I’ve consistently closed trades with profits ranging from 20% to 60%. And I haven’t closed a trade with more than a 10% loss in two years.

But reading that book alone will probably not make you money. As we were talking about the process of investing and trading, I constantly came back to the topic of awareness. For years, I’ve observed myself as I was investing, or at least, as I was trying to invest. Without awareness, I wouldn’t learn as much as I did.

Career Advice, Creativity, Self-Knowledge

Why It Pays off to Be an Optimist

November 8, 2021 No Comments

You probably wouldn’t guess this since I write about personal growth and investing, but I’m mostly a pessimist by nature. I had to force myself to adopt optimism as my main view of life, but I can always feel the pull of pessimism.

What does it even mean to be an optimist or pessimist? In the world of philosophy, an optimist is a person who believes that good ultimately prevails over evil and that our world is headed in the right direction.

A pessimist is exactly the opposite. Someone who thinks evil ultimately wins and that the world is doomed. It’s just a matter of time before we self-destruct.

I don’t think people are 100% one way or the other. Most of us have both optimistic and pessimistic tendencies. For example, a lot of people have a very dark view of the future of technology or the climate. Those same people might be optimistic when it comes to green energy or the ability to educate others through social media.

Investing, Personal Finance

11 Things Every Stock Market Investor Should Know

November 1, 2021 No Comments

When I started investing in 2007, I bought my first stocks without doing much research. In fact, I did more research on buying my first flat-screen TV than which stock to buy.

Over the years, I met a lot of folks like myself. You somehow hear that the richest people in the world are investors 9 out of 10 times, and you think, “I need to get in on that.” You watch CNBC a few days, look at what stocks they talk about, and you end up buying the one you think is a “sure thing.”

“ING bank is a sure thing. There’s no way this stock can go down.”—Darius Foroux in 2007, one year before the financial crisis struck and decimated financial stocks.

When I think about my ignorance, I can’t help but laugh. However, I’m glad I stopped listening to mainstream financial advice. After losing money in the market, I only wanted to learn from great investors who actually made money, and I actively sought them out.

In this article, I’m sharing the 11 most important things I’ve learned from successful stock market investors.¹

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