how to be fearless and confident - Become Alpha Male

We often let fear dictate our decisions. However, living a courageous life is one of the best ways to find success in business and in life. In fact, according to Aristotle courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible. Famous positive thinker Dale Carnegie once advised people to do the thing they fear as the quickest way to conquer fear. So how do you banish fear and live the life you want? These 10 might help. 

Hi this is akash Kumar from Alpha Monkey and let's make you fearless

1. Embrace vulnerability

People who live fear-based lives often have little or no confidence in themselves. If you feel afraid of other people seeing who you are, open up and become more vulnerable.

2. Admit you have fears

In addition to opening yourself up to others, admit you have fears. Identifying what you are truly afraid of gives you the information you need to overcome the fears and insecurities.

3. Face your fears

Exposing yourself to your fears is a great way to overcome a phobia or fear. People who feel afraid of snakes often change their minds after handling snakes with the help of a trained professional.

4. Think positively

Part of a positive attitude is allowing others to love you and show you affection. If you are the kind of person who refuses favors, let others do nice things for you.

5. Reduce your stress

Sometimes you experience fear due to exhaustion. Make sure you eat well, get enough sleep and exercise. Take breaks and take your vacation time. We all need a break. 

6. Demonstrate courage

Another important way to overcome fear is to show your courage. Take the time to help a person who is in a dangerous situation. Instead of ignoring a person in distress, call for help or take bold step to intervene.

7.Know failure but press forward

If you fail, don't curl up into a ball or head to a metaphorical corner. Instead, keep moving forward.

8. Cope with risk and uncertainty

You can conquer your fears by learning to deal with life's uncertainties. If you fear losing your home to a foreclosure, set up an emergency savings account. If you fear losing your spouse to another person or losing your client, figure out what it takes to keep them.

9. Continue to learn

Continue to grow by constantly trying to learn and improve your skills. Take all opportunities learn a new skill. Read top thought leaders books and read everything you can about your industry. The more you know the less risk you have to take to be successful. 

10. Accept your challenges

Stay on the course even after confronting challenges and fears. Instead of hiding face what lies ahead. In many cases, fear is just in your head. Most of what you fear will never come to pass. Don't waste time worrying when you can get ahead by living.

We cant and shouldn't let FEAR drive our decisions. We shouldn't let FEAR stop us from what we want and what we deserve. We shouldn't let fear have control. So deal with FEAR so you can start focusing on the most important things like accomplishing your goals. 

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10% Happier book Summary

 Nightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.

We all have a voice in our head. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we’re stuck with this voice that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.

Chapter 1: air hunger

After being diagnosed with depression in his early 30s from the overseas journalism, he started to experiment with cocaine

He says you never reach satiety

He also loves experience of ecstasy but they come down was just as intense as the high

The lesson he learned was that there was no free lunch neurologically speaking in terms of drugs

His third psychiatrist helped him understand that his drug use was triggering his on-air panic attacks 

Chapter 2: unchurched

There is research that says regular churchgoers tended to be happier in part because having a sense that the world is infused with meaning, and suffering happens for a reason helps them deal more successfully with life’s inevitable humiliations

Chapter 3: genius or lunatic? 

From a book he read by Eckhart Tolle, he learned that the failure to recognize thoughts for what they are is the primordial human error

When we are unaware of the egoic mind, we blindly act out our thoughts and the results are not pretty

All we have is the present moment

We experience everything in our past through the present moment, and we will experience everything in the future the same way

Ekardt told him to make the present moment your friend, not your enemy

Many people live habitually as if the present moment was some obstacle meant to be overcome in order to get to the next moment

Imagine living your whole life like that where the moment isn’t quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one

That is continuous stress 

Chapter 4: the Jew-Bu 

According to a psychotherapist, Buddhism was better than seeing a therapist and the mental health community seemed to be embracing the teachings

Book reference to Siddhartha and how the Buddha came to be

The Buddha’s main thesis was that in a world where everything is constantly changing, we suffer because we cling to things that wont last

A central theme to the Buddha’s teaching revolved around the idea of impermanence

An understanding of impermanence will take you off the emotional roller coaster and allow you to see your dramas and desires through a wider lens

It allows you to let go, to drop your attachments

The key is to recognize the wisdom of insecurity

The Jew-bu’s were Jewish people who got into Buddhism and wanted to translate that eastern wisdom for a western audience, mostly by making it less hierarchical and devotional

Chapter 5: the power of negative thinking 

He decided to give meditation a try

The instructions were simple:

Sit comfortably anywhere and make sure your spine is reasonably straight

Feel the sensations of your breath as it goes in and out. Pick a spot on your body and try to feel the breath

Whenever your attention wanders, forgive yourself and gently come back to the breath. You don’t need to clear your mind of all thinking

At first, he didn’t like meditation. But he respected it because he discovered that taming the mind was a rigorous mental exercise

Buddhist secret sauce was mindfulness

Mindfulness is the ability to recognize what is happening in your mind right now without getting carried away by it

According to the Buddha, we have three habitual responses to everything we experience:

• Want it
• Reject it
• Zone out

Mindfulness is a fourth option, a way to view the contents of our mind with non-judgmental remove

Mindfulness represented an alternative to living reactively

The mindfulness and Buddhist philosophy is to be aware of our self-hatred without trying to make it go away or love it particularly

The idea of leaning into what bothers us seemed radical because our reflex is usually to flee or numb against it

As the Buddhists say, “the only way out is through“

What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can respond rather than react

You can’t control what comes up in your head, it all arises out of a mysterious void

The only thing you can control is how you handle it

Chapter 6: Retreat

After retreat, he started to experience what was called “choiceless awareness“

Once you’ve built up enough concentration, you can drop your obsessive focus on the breath and just open up to whatever is there

You’ll be able to focus on whatever object is there with total ease and clarity until it is replaced by something else

There is something about the act of being present and awake in this way that produces a gigantic blast of serotonin

The Buddhist words of “life is suffering” was actually mistranslated

The real meaning was more like “everything in the world is ultimately unsatisfying and unreliable because it won’t last“

Hedonic adaptation: when good things happen, we bake them very quickly into our baseline expectations and yet the primordial void goes unfilled 

The real super power of meditation is not just to manage your ego more mindfully, but to see that the ego itself has no actual substance

Reaching nirvana is when the self is seen as unreal, the negative emotions are uprooted from the mind, and the meditator becomes “perfected”

When back in the real world, when you are faced with stress or emotional situations that require thinking and planning, ask yourself, “is this useful?“

Thinking and planning should only be used up to that point until it is no longer useful

Chapter 7: 10% happier

He came up with the tagline of how meditation “makes him 10% happier” as an easy and concise way to explain to those around him why he meditates

When people make the leap and attend a retreat, they get the first glimpse of what the mind is actually doing

You’re getting a real close, intimate look at what our lives are about

The point of “getting behind the waterfall” wasn’t to magically solve all of your problems, only to handle them better by creating space between stimulus and response

It was about mitigation not alleviation

The pursuit of happiness becomes our unhappiness

This is because we are never satisfied with the moment and we are always looking forward to the next thing

Reader’s note: This idea of the pursuit of happiness becomes our unhappines reminds me of ideas in the book Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson. He talks about how hope becomes our demise because it sets expectations and skews our reality. The main takeaway from both is being content in the moment.

Chapter 8: “the new caffeine”

There was a ton of scientific research on meditation that gave a long list of benefits and propelled meditation from something counter culture into the mainstream

He found research that suggests pausing could be a key ingredient in creativity and innovation

Studies show that the best way to engineer an epiphany was to work hard, focus, research, and think about a problem, and then let go by doing something else

Reader’s note: This sounds like how an epiphany happens in every TV show plot ever, lol. The protagonist comes up with the idea that solves his or her main issue while they do some other activity, chatting with a friend or confidant until their epiphany occurs.

Chapter 9: the self-interested case for not being a dick

The Dalai Lama taught him that there is a self-interested case for being compassionate

The practice of compassion is ultimately benefitting to you

We are selfish, but be wise-selfish rather than foolish-selfish

He started to add compassion and empathy into his meditation practice

It began to have a strong positive effect on his daily life and interactions with the people around him

He started to see karma as a real thing in the sense that your actions have immediate consequences in your mind, which cannot be fooled

Behave poorly, and whether you are fully conscious of it or not, your mind contracts

Chapter 10: hide the Zen

The Way of the Worrier:

1. Don’t be a jerk
2. And, but when necessary, hide the zen
3. Meditate
4. The price of security is insecurity until it’s not useful
5. Equanimity is not the enemy of creativity
6. Don’t force it
7. Humility prevents humiliation
8. Go easy with the internal cattle prod
9. Non-attachment to results
10. What matters most?

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the 5 love languages by gary chapman summary

 The five love languages describe the way we feel loved and appreciated. Depending on our individual personality types, we may feel loved differently than how our partners do. Understanding and decoding these different ways of showing love will help take the guesswork out of your partner’s expectations and needs.

According to Dr. Chapman, there are five love languages Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. These love languages are not only present in romantic relationships, but in family, friendships, and even leadership.

Lesson 1

Words of Affirmation

This love language expresses love with words that build up your partner. Verbal compliments don’t have to be complicated; the shortest and simplest praises can be the most effective.

“That dress looks incredible on you!”

“You always make me laugh.”

“I love your hair today.”

Words mean a lot if your partner has this love language. Compliments and an “I love you” can go a long way. On the other hand, negative or insulting comments can hurt your partner and it could take them longer to forgive than others.

Lesson 2 

Acts of Service

Your partner might have this love language if their motto is “Actions speak louder than words.”

This love language expresses itself by doing things that you know your spouse would like. Cooking a meal, doing the laundry, and picking up a prescription are all acts of service. They require some thought, time, and effort.

All of these things should be done with positivity and with your partner’s ultimate happiness in mind to be considered an expression of love. Actions out of obligation or with a negative tone are something else entirely.

Lesson 3

Receiving Gifts

This love language isn’t necessarily materialistic. It just means that a meaningful or thoughtful gift makes your partner feel loved and appreciated. Something as simple as picking up a pint of their favorite ice cream after a long work week can make a huge impact.

This is different than Acts of Service, where you show affection by performing actions to help your partner.

Lesson 4

Quality Time

This love language is all about undivided attention. No televisions, no smartphones, or any other distractions. If this is your partner’s primary language, they don’t just want to be included during this period of time, they want to be the center of your attention. They want their partners to look at them and them only.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t curl up on the couch to watch Netflix or HBO; it just means that you need to make sure to dedicate time together without all of the distractions. That will help them feel comforted in the relationship.

Every time you cancel a date, postpone time together or aren’t present during your time together, it can be extremely hurtful to your partner as it can make them feel like you care more about other things or activities than them.

Lesson 5

Physical Touch

To people with this love language, nothing is more impactful than the physical touch of their partner. They aren’t necessarily into over-the-top PDA, but they do feel more connected and safe in a relationship by holding hands, kissing, hugging, etc.

If Physical Touch is your partner’s primary love language, they will feel unloved without physical contact. All of the words and gifts in the world won’t change that. They want to feel you close by, not just emotionally, but physically.

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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Book by Daniel H. Pink summary

 The author Pink has used scientific studies and facts to assert his point and reveal the reason behind motivation. The older models of motivation described a reward and punishment system, which Pink believes is outdated. This system of motivation ran on the purpose of external factors to motivate us.

External factors such as money or fame were the rewards for hard work. It also became the basis of motivation. Money can encourage. Fame can persuade. However, Pink disagrees with this notion since these are extrinsic features that can change us on the inside. So, Pink suggests that the motivation we feel is from within ourselves – intrinsic. The intrinsic needs drive our work and are the key motivators.

Lesson 1. Type of motivation

Since success, money, and fame are relatively recent developments in the grand scheme of the universe, the concept was void thousands of years ago. Thousands of years ago, our ancient humans had two motivations – to consume food and to survive. These two needs were primary and everything else, secondary. The need to fill our stomachs and survive the horrors of the wild were the motivators of their life. Pink calls this type of motivation as ‘Motivation 1.0’.

The arrival of civilization to modern times has seen a drastic shift in the life of humans. While nutrition and survival are still our primary motivations, there are simply not enough. From a biological standpoint, these two are the only requisites to live life. However, due to the shift, other motivators have entered the field. Motivators are regarded as classical – success, recognition, and money. Pink calls this ‘Motivation 2.0’.

An upgrade in motivation was crucial since the world just did not run due to eating and surviving. The need for more of everything is what drove us to live our life the way we do. Yet, Pink thinks this is not the last upgrade. He proposes a ‘Motivation 3.0’, based on the intrinsic factors influencing our drive.

Lesson 2. The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is powered by a reward system. There is always a contingency attached to an action. The motivation, in this case, is either to get a reward or to avoid punishment. If someone is in line to get promoted, their productivity peaks. If someone is close to the deadline, they are motivated since they do not wish to be punished.

Intrinsic motivation is that fire within us which compels us to be better and do better. It is our inner voice that tells us to not give up. It is our integrity for giving our best without any reward. It is the satisfaction obtained from being productive, helping others, or perusing a hobby.

Lesson 3 Why the reward system does not work

Pink picked up results from experiments performed in psychology. The experiments surrounded the gains from extrinsic motivation. He then drew the conclusion that the reward system was futile and secondary to intrinsic motivation.

The initial boost of energy as provided by an extrinsic motivator tends to reduce with time. So, a well-paying job can excite a person only for a short amount of time. As per the tendency of humans to get bored, the person will develop a dislike towards the job. However, if the person continues to put in efforts, it is their intrinsic motivator which is compelling them to do so.

When there is a reward, people develop a tunnel vision. This tunnel vision stops from observing the bigger picture. Thus, their visions end where the reward is achieved. Beyond that, all their work is driven intrinsically.

An experiment by Richard Titmuss observed that paying people for blood donations reduced the number of potential donors. Since the altruistic aspect of blood donation as a socially responsible act was converted into a financial one, the motivators of the people changed.

Cheating and addicting are side-effects of the reward system. Since the reward is desired by all, people may opt to cheat instead of maintaining their integrity. On the other hand, addiction to rewards is also plausible. The person can be so used to getting a reward for each of their actions that they would not put in the effort for something that does not include a reward.

Lesson 4. Type X and Type I people

Pink terms the people conforming to the extrinsic motivations and the reward system as Type X. Their endeavors are driven by the need for fame and money. Chances are, they will earn it. But their inherent tendency to want more will keep them thirsty and never satisfied. Since the greatest amounts of money cannot satisfy a person, and nor can their name on billboards. There is always ‘more’ to be desired.

Type I people rely on their inner motivation to accomplish themselves. They measure success on the scale of their emotions and efforts instead of what rewards they received for it. They are generally more satisfied and content with their work and status. Since they choose to not weigh punishment, their esteem is higher than the Type X, even during failure.

Lesson 5. The pillars of intrinsic motivation

Pink conceptualizes three pillars of intrinsic motivation. These pillars represent the matchstick used to burn the fire within the Type I.

• Autonomy – It is the desire to govern our own lives and decide our own paths without the dominance of others.
• Mastery – The need to excel at something important to us.
• Purpose – The realization that there is a bigger picture and our work contributes to it.

Lesson 6.The importance of autonomy

Autonomy is independent to go our own way. It enables us to be an individual with personalized opinions and behaviors. The reward system gives us a tunnel vision and so, governs our actions. If there is no reward in sight, we decide the path. We may go beyond our expectations since our vision does not have a finish line.

Lesson 7. The importance of mastery

When a task matters to us, we try to excel at the skill required to do it. Hence, mastery is a brilliant motivator. The skill might not even have a reward, but our temptation to satisfy ourselves is what drives us. Since we deeply care about the skill, we will not be satisfied until we do our best. Thus, motivation lasts a long time. It will push us to reach higher heights with each attempt.

Lesson 8. The importance of having a purpose

Having a purpose refers to envision ourselves to be a part of something bigger. Just like society is formed with the efforts of each person, a revolution is made with many people contributing to it. The innate purpose of making a change is another crucial pillar of motivation.

The assurance that our efforts are leading up to something gives meaning to life. If we feel that our attempts are futile, the entire basis of hard work would collapse. Hence, more than rewards, promotions, or bonuses, it is essential to have a purpose in mind. Combined with the other intrinsic motivations, we will forever be able to accomplish something.

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how to overcome depression without medication - 7 easy steps to follow

Depression drains your energy, hope, and drive, making it difficult to take the steps that will help you to feel better.

there seven steps that can help lift the emotional paralysis and ruminating that often accompany depression. Both of which make it much more difficult to focus on the behavioral changes that are necessary to prevent a relapse. Luckily, there are ways to punch holes in the curtain of unrelenting darkness.

Step 1 

Find small ways to be of service to others. 

Find personal meaning by serving something larger than yourself. Remember service doesn’t have to be big to count. Consider this, Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.

Step 2 

Find workable goals that give you a sense of accomplishment.

Most people feel guilty when talking about goals because they set unreasonable or unworkable goals. A goal is workable if it’s:

• Something you can control without depending on others
• 
  
• Manageable but not overwhelming
• Realistic for you 
• 
  
• Measurable which means you know whether or not it is done or getting done

If something goes wrong with your goal, adopt a “what can I learn from this?” 

Also, be careful when comparing your progress with others. We usually compare our biggest weakness with another person’s biggest strength. This is unfair and usually not accurate anyhow.

Step 3

Schedule pleasant activities or events.

Don’t wait for yourself to be “in the mood.” For example, give yourself permission for a 30-minute “vacation” or schedule a healthy hobby every day. 

Just remember to do these activities with the right attitude. Also, practice gratitude take time to notice what went well today, not just what went wrong. Consider keeping a gratitude journal. Know that being grateful for your blessings doesn’t mean you have to discount your problems.

Step 4 

Stay in the present.

 

This practice is sometimes called mindfulness. As best you can, during activities try not to be in your head with self-judgment. You may not be able to turn off the self-judgment, but you can notice it and bring yourself gently back to the present. Research shows that people with higher self-compassion also have higher self-worth or self-confidence. 

Step 5

Exercise And eat healthy

Doing moderate exercise about five times a week about 30 minutes a pop can dramatically help your mood. Moderate exercise is a level of activity where it is difficult to sing from your diaphragm while doing it.  

Also pay attention to how the type of food or drink you’re eating influences your mood. You don’t have to do fad diets, but anyone will be depressed if they frequently binge on carbs, junk food, and energy drinks. Remember the virtue of moderation.

Step 6

Focus on people who lift you up.

Interact frequently with others that bring you up not people that bring you down. While it’s OK to have some alone time, find a balance and don’t isolate yourself or the depression will linger. 

Step 7 

Try to keep a regular sleep schedule.

Keep a balance with not too little and not too much sleep. Staying up late one night and then sleeping in excessively the next day is a sure-fire way to feed depression. Also, don’t try to solve problems late at night when your brain is half-asleep.

As you practice these steps know that you’re on the path to overcoming depression

In contrast, depression tends to linger when patients make up a reason why they can’t do these things. No matter what medication you’re taking, doing several of these activities every day — especially when you don’t feel like it — is vital to the treatment of depression. These Steps may take time and practice, but if we don’t take the time to be well now, the periods of “unwellness” may be forced upon us later.

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Book Summary & review -8 lesson to learn from The Geometry of Wealth by Brian Portnoy PDF Download

things used to be much easier when  you got a good job, you stuck with it until you retired. At that time, your employer was responsible for things, usually paying out a fixed-sum pension connected to your old salary. Then, retirees could then rest and relax. 

Over the past three or four decades, everything changed. The kind pension plans of previous years are long gone, and the present workers need to care for their own nest eggs. That entails playing an active part in how your pension pot is maintained and investing your savings. 

This can be difficult–nevertheless, one wrong move in the turbulent financial markets can completely ruin your savings. Therefore, how should you manage your finances? 

This is what we’ll be discussing these book chapters as we take examine seasoned investor Brian Portnoy’s holistic lead to money management.

buy this book at amazon

Chapter 1 – The new common thing is financial insecurity, and our instincts hinder us from investing our money wisely.

 

Speaking from the past, pension plans are a really current invention. As a matter of fact, they just really became popular in the nineteenth century as specific societies became more financially secure.

But, nowadays, that age seems to be over. With financial insecurity ever more popular, pension plans are again becoming an uncommon thing.

The reason is that there’s been a huge transformation in the manner pension plans are funded. Before the 1980s, employers basically stumped up a lot of the money to pay for their workers’ retirements. But, nowadays, employees are required to pay this themselves. Now, in the United States, retirement is most usually self-funded with the 401(k) investment plans.

Statistics show this transformation in retirement funding. Between 1980 and now, the number of workers qualified for a complete company pension reduced from 62% to only 17%. On the contrary, the number of workers self-funding their retirement through 401(k) plans, increased from 12 to 71 percent.

not surprisingly, this has formed a lot of insecurity. Consider a 2017 survey that was done by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. It discovered that less than one-quarter – only 18%– of all Americans expect a sufficient retirement.

However, this is the real circumstance: Our attempts to self-fund retirement are ruined by our instincts, which cause us to make poor investment choices. 

Let’s explain that. When there’s an economic decline, we become less secure. Due to that, we start keeping money. Also, how can you do that when the economy stalls and stock prices fall? Right – you sell the stocks you have already and put off buying new stocks.

However, this isn’t reasonable. Consider it in this manner: You don’t just rush to your local supermarket when its prices increase; you wait for when there are sales. This is precisely the reasoning we have to apply to the financial market. The perfect time to purchase stocks is when prices are low – since, for instance, an economic crisis. Differently put, if you weren’t purchasing cut-price stocks during the financial crisis that happened, you missed out! That’s an error to evade the future.

However, Investment isn’t the only way to bigger financial security. In the next chapters, we’ll be looking at some of the tools you can utilize so as to set your finances in order. 

Chapter 2 – We can’t control all parts of our financial lives; however, we do possess an astonishing amount of agency.

Insecurity might be increasing; however, that doesn’t entail we’re doomed to monetary suffering. Fortunately, all of us have a powerful tool for fixing financial issues– and that is the human brain. The brain isn’t all that powerful, and it can’t solve all problems or make all of us financial tycoons. However, it does provide us some power.

Let’s begin by taking a look at our brains’ limits. In the psychologist and economist Daniel Kahnemann’s book titled Thinking, Fast and Slow, he claims that our default cognitive setting is “fast thinking.” This is a spontaneous reflex generated by situations in the world around us. For instance, while driving a car and notice a person dash into the road, it’s fast thinking that allows you to automatically hit the brakes.

The reason is that our brains are always scanning our surroundings for dangers. When we come across threats, our responses are lightning-fast and mainly unconscious. That entails that we don’t have power on “fast brain” – it basically decides for us. At times those are financial choices. If you’ve ever spent a big amount of cash that you don’t have, probabilities are your fast brain was in control of the situation.

However, fast thinking isn’t the lone setting on which the human brain works. As stated by Kahnemann, we also possess a “slow brain.” This is in charge of rational thought and analyzing difficult data. This is the setting that makes us to, say, calculate the yearly returns on high-yielding savings accounts.

Therefore, what does our slow brain control? To answer that question, we have to take a look at a study conducted by social scientists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan in the year 2015 and published in the Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. It claims that about 60% of our ability to make reasonable choices and be happy is determined by genes and situations.

That puts many of choices beyond our control; however, it also entails that a complete 40% of the choices we make over our lives are conscious decisions. If you make use of your slow brain to make those decisions, you’ll be well on your path to financial happiness! 

Chapter 3 – The best method of risk management is to reduce your exposure to losses. 

Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century French philosopher had a fascinating opinion on two of the largest questions of his day – God and faith. As stated by Pascal, the choice to believe or not believe in God is a bet, and this describes the reason it’s better to have faith. If God is truly real, you get big rewards. If you believe; however, it turns out that he isn’t real, you don’t lose anything. Belief, meaning, is basically much less risky.

Therefore, how does this relate to money? Quite so much, really. Reducing risk isn’t only a smart approach when it comes to belief – it’s a great method of making financial choices as well.

Reasonable money management is essentially about striking the appropriate balance between risk and reward. The more you risk, the more you get to profit. However, risking everything also entails you might as well lose everything. You can notice how this functions by observing start-ups. When you win in this field, you win huge – just consider Google or Facebook. However, as the CEO of Trepoint, Bill Carmody identified in an article that was written in 2015, 96% of all start-ups created in the US over the last decade had gone ruined.

Staking everything on red obviously isn’t a sustainable decision; however, you can’t grow financially without taking some risks as well. Therefore, how should you tackle risk-taking? Simple: reduce your exposure to losses.

Consider the insurance industry. When you purchase a house, you’re taking on financial risk. Houses are costly, nevertheless, and they can – and at times do – burn down. To evade losing all, you take out insurance on your house, hence minimizing the risk of financial destruction should in case the worst occurs.

The exact principle can be used in investment. Consider the world’s most successful investors, such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and you’ll see that all of them have a thing in common – they’re obsessed with evading damage and limiting risks. Their great strength is that they wait till the odds are set in their favor before doing anything. By concentrating on risk avoidance, they make stakes that basically can’t lose.

Chapter 4 – Begin preparing your finances by knowing your net worth and having financial goals. 

Now that we’ve looked at general methods to handling your finances, it’s now time to examine the specifics. Let’s begin with a thing really few of us ever get around to doing –determining our own net worth.

This is very effective. Even better, it’s very easy to do.

Firstly, you’ll need to calculate the total of your entire assets – your house, car, retirement fund, savings, the value of each object in your home, and so forth. Put this in a column. Afterward, add up your debts in the second column. This will have everything such as mortgage, credit card debts, college loans, and car loans. The difference between the sum of these two columns is your net worth. Calculate this yearly to have an idea of how you’re doing overtime. 

Therefore, what is the reason why this is such a significant exercise? Well, as soon as you’ve got a precise synopsis of your present financial health, you can begin pondering on your financial goals.

Understanding what you’re targeting is the essence of money management. Definitely, you can’t usually predict what your needs will look like in the future; however, you can make some really decent guesses based on your present wants and needs.

Assuming you are already aware that you want to be able to put a $50,000 down payment on a $250,000 house in around five years, or you’ve calculated the amount of yearly income you’ll require to live comfortably after you retire. As soon as you’re clear about these aims, you can form a financial strategy to attain them. Check this yearly, and you’ll be able to evaluate if you’re on track or require to set a little bit more apart every month.

Chapter 5 – Gratitude is good for both your purse and your soul.

Financial health isn’t only about balancing budgets and choosing the appropriate investments. As a matter of fact, it’s only as significant to think about less-tangible things –such as practicing gratitude, for instance. Sound weird? Really, it makes lots of sense.

The really affluent people have more than only material riches – they’re happy as well. Why is that so? According to Robert Emmons, a psychologist, and world-leading gratitude expert mentions, thankfulness is a vital element of happiness. Simply put, showing gratitude makes you feel good.

This is a thing you can learn. Emmons suggests two gratitude-boosting methods. First and foremost, take stock of all the things you already own. The issue here is that we usually want to compare ourselves to other people. Fight that temptation and basically think about your own progress, and you’ll feel very grateful for your portion in life.

Secondly, it’s important to know that where you are at the moment isn’t down only to your skill and hard work – luck and the assistance of other people played their role as well.  As stated by Kristin Layous, a psychologist, humility is a foundation for gratitude. That signifies learning to thank other people –may be in words or thoughts – is an essential catalyst for feelings of happiness and satisfaction.

However, gratitude does more than only transform your attitude– it changes the way you spend as well. When you’re regularly watching over your neighbor’s fence and jealously bothering about his new car, you’re more likely to end up in a spending competition and spree on pointless luxuries of your own. That isn’t financially reasonable– and that as well won’t make you happy.

This is where gratitude comes to play. If you’re thankful for the food you have, you don’t require a gourmet meal. Likewise, if you’re grateful for the friends you have already, you don’t have to sway new friends by purchasing the current gadgets or following trends in fashion

 It truly is that easy: gratitude is good for your soul and your wallet!

Chapter 6 – When it comes to financial choices, simple conquers complex all the time.

Before we discuss money, let’s take a minute to go back during the 1840s. Our location is a maternity ward of a hospital in Vienna, Austria, where a doctor called Ignaz Semmelweis is thinking about a strange circumstance. The death rate among women delivering in his ward is one in ten. On the other hand, the death rate among the women during alleged “street births,” is only one in 25. What was happening? 

Semmelweis racked his brain for answers. Eventually, with the advantage of reflection, the solution became glaringly clear– it’s safer to deliver a baby outside a hospital than to be delivered by a doctor who hasn’t washed his hands. That is the message here: simple answers are frequently the right answers. 

But, the human brain likes difficulty. The more options we have, the gladder we feel. It is not surprising– the option is synonymous with abundance, which in turn offers us a sense of security. This, by the way, explains the reason why Starbucks’ massive coffee menu, with its whole size and ingredient options, is really famous. 

Simplicity doesn’t produce these responses. It’s realistic and boring and makes our brains longing more stimulation. Given an option, we’d rather stare at a stunning painting that’s been preoccupied in a busy café serving great food while a band performs than in a museum. Complexity sells.

However, making choices on this basis can be financially disastrous. This is the reason why it is beneficial– literally – to make things simple. For you to do that, all you have to do is keep these three direct rules in mind.

Firstly, purchase when costs are low and sell when the costs are high. Secondly, broaden your portfolio of assets, or – in average words– don’t put your entire eggs in one basket. Lastly, stick to your decisions and don’t move from one investment opportunity to the other one. This last rule isn’t as self-explanatory as the first two; therefore let’s explain it a bit. 

Often times, when you invest, you’ll either be loaning your money to a firm or stocks or purchasing shares in a firm. Say you’re playing the long game; your best stake is to invest your money in stocks, which provide the maximum return on investment extending over numerous decades. Whereas, if you’re doing a short-term investment, bonds are a safer decision. Remember this all you need to do now is pick a company you trust that has a good product!

Chapter 7 – Investing isn’t an exact science, and good investors admit that they don’t understand everything.

Finance is usually related to complex equations and algorithms that make hard market activities effortlessly knowable and predictable. Unluckily, this just isn’t the manner investment functions.

As a matter of fact, investing isn’t the exact science it’s usually made out to be. Ironically, this is really a good thing – nevertheless, it entails that you don’t need to be a genius in math with five PhDs to acquire money on the markets.

Consider one of the world’s most successful investors named Charlie Munger. As stated by Munger, investors don’t understand the exact results of investment choices– the best thing they can do is choose investments that have a high chance of yielding a good result.

Coming from an investor who made billions on the stock market, This might seem like wrong modesty; however, it’s a sound method. If you wish to make reasonable investment decisions, you need to admit that you’re playing a “game” that is mainly directed by chance. Remaining humble and truthful is your best stake if you wish to evade losses and make the appropriate decisions.

In practice, this entails that you have to accept to yourself that you don’t know everything. This can be difficult, particularly if you’re a high-profile investor with a lot of financial information at your disposal. However, in spite of the Hollywood depiction of hostile, arrogant traders duking it out on Wall Street, the best investors know that humility outdoes overconfidence.

What is the reason for that? Well, think of it in this manner. When you know that you can’t predict all the results in the financial markets, you’re very more likely to have the patience to abide by your investments and concentrate fully on portfolio diversification and risk management. That’s a better method than basically hopping on the current trend and investing your entire money on the most hyped investment choice.

Chapter 8 – There is a foreseeable average return on stock investments; however, the variety of possible results is much wider.

if you ask your mother or your neighbor what type of return you can anticipate on your stocks and they’ll probably mention an amount like ten percent. This shows the common sense knowledge of how an investment functions, and it’s not a million miles from the reality: the return on the majority of the investments is very predictable.

For instance, as stated by the data gathered by the Ned Davis Research Group, the average annual return on investments in stocks is truly around ten percent. In the first two years of investment, average returns really increase a bit above that number as a result of swings in company performance. These usually have a higher effect over the short term than they do over the long term.

That signifies that we can depend on a ten percent return on our investments, right? Not really. This number omits something significant out of the picture – that is probabilities. Also, that results in false anticipations. Let’s unpack this.

as a matter of fact, the range of likely investment results is unpredictable. Instead of a consistent ten percent return, you’re very more likely to get a big number of highs and lows as rates go up and down. This is a thing that the average rate of return doesn’t capture. Think of the United States stock market. Some years, it increases at an amazing rate– in current times, it’s increased by 167 percent! Then, there are sharp declines. The stock market has reduced by 67 percent in some years

Meaning, the range of positive and negative results, is big, particularly during the first years after investment. However, this is the good news: the more you abide by your investment, the more this range reduces. Eventually, in the long run, you’re looking at a range of between, say, for instance, zero and twenty percent, however, small losses can’t be excluded all the time. 

The point here is that it’s significant not to get really happy by the early up-and-down fluctuations in your stock’s value. Give it a few decades, and there’s a strong probability that things will balance out.

The Geometry of Wealth: How to shape a life of money and meaning by Brian Portnoy Book Review

When we talk about finances, it’s significant to keep cal, and bear in mind that luck has a part to play the financial markets. Knowing this and remaining humble is a significant aspect of turning into a successful investor, which is essentially about minimizing risks and evading bad calls. As soon as you’ve accomplished that, you can pile the odds in your favor by investing in basic, trustworthy schemes, and abiding with your investments over the long term.

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Broaden your investment portfolio.

As we’ve realized, luck has a huge role to play financial investment, because it’s not possible to be certain which companies will flourish and which will companies will crumble. If you anticipate an average ten percent return on your investment, and just invest in a company, you’re likely to see yourself in a problem if that company crumbles or underperforms. The alternative method? Simple: hedge your bets and extend your investment over various firms. If one of the stocks becomes bad, you’ve usually got a safety defense.

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