Currently reading a new biography on Warren Buffet, “the Snowball.” One exceptional piece of wisdom that is regarding the source of a person’s self-worth. Many people have an external scorecard. They look to others for affirmation. Whereas people like Warren, more individualistic, tend to have an internal view, and approach things based on their own values, morality, and intellect.
So which are you? One simple test is to ask, “Would you rather be known as the world’s greatest lover, but in fact the worst? Or would you be known as the worst, but in reality the best?”
Externals tend to excel in people related professions such as politics, and have more active social lives. In contrast, internals might be more analytical, and be able to identify great investments.
The point is not whether one is better than another. But rather better understand people’s motivation including our own. As for myself, I rather be know as greatest lover both to the world & in the bedroom. 
I quitted my job at an Internet Marketing agency in March 2007, and started a blog publishing company. The good news is that it’s making a profit after expenses. The bad is that it’s growing slower than I expected. I figured that by this time, I’d be buying a mansion, yacht, and sipping martini from a private beach in the Caribbean. Ok back to reality, I’m still optimistic about 2009. With 7 money making blogs, & various independent contractors, I plan to improve the quality & quantity of my content, and maybe build a web application.
Regarding health & fitness, I’m in the best shape of my life. Hiked about 8 different mountains in 2008. Jogged 23 miles in December, and plan to run a LOT more this year. I’ve also gotten into the habit of doing 100 pushups & 200 situps every other day. My flexibility has also improve dramatically due to regular Yoga practice, now entering 4th year. At this rate, I should enter a marathon or something. 
My Salsa dancing also improved quite a bit. For an embarrassingly long time, I wasn’t able to hear the beat of some of the complex songs. But then suddenly, eureka, they’ve became a lot clearer, or at least 95% of the time. I’ve also came up with my own moves & combination to better express myself on the dance floor.
Finally got to see Whistler BC this summer, the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s very charming, yet commercialized, and expensive!
For 2009, here’re my goals
- Run 300 miles
- Do 15,000 pushups & 30,000 situps
- Read & review 20 books
We should all have goals, something to strive towards. Whether it’s building better relationships with our loved ones, or improve our health & finances. Goals make life more meaningful. Let’s face it. Life goes by pretty fast. Goals help us with priorities and better allocate our most precious resource, time…
Why not set your goals today? Take a few minutes and write 10 of the most important goals in your life. Then be sure to review them often, preferably daily, to make sure they’re still relevant & up to date. Goals can also act as milestones to help us figure out whether we’re on track. Or to put it in a more bluntly, if we do something that helps us achieve our goals, then we’re behaving intelligently. And if not, then stupidly.
Make sure it’s specific & measurable. For example, “I want to make $100K in 2009” is a goal, whereas “I want to make more money” is a vague wish. In that case, here’s a buck. That’s more money. So mission accomplished. and back to watching mindless TV on the couch?
Sarcastic remarks aside, goals help us grow & hopefully become better people. Goals provide us with a sense of direction & purpose. So have some goals. And start accomplishing!
Money exists because of debt. If there’s no debt, then there’s no money. The current economic depression is caused by the default of trillions dollars worth of debt. This destruction of money causes deflation, where money becomes scarce, and more valuable.
So what happens next is that economic growth slows down. Unemployment goes up. More loan default happens. And the cycle repeats. The Fed decides to solve this problem by creating massive amount of money from nothing, thin air, a snap of the fingers. It’s a fight they will definitely win. Heck money doesn’t even need the printing press to exist these days! Just go into the computer and add a few extra digits, and viola, instant more money!
My predication is that eventually there will be a lot of money. It just won’t worth as much. For a recent lesson on hyperinflation, check out the Zimbabwe money. 
I’m not saying that we’ll be walking around with $100 Billion Bills, maybe just $1 million, but instead creating money from nothing is a slippery slope that we’ve been falling for quite a while even before the whole economic mess. Now the crisis gives the Government the power to create & spend an unprecedented amount of money. So yeah the chances for inflation, even hyper ones in the years/decades ahead is pretty high.
So what should a cautious person do? Maybe buy some gold. There’s only so much of it around, and has a proven track record of retaining its value throughout history. If you don’t want to own the actual stuff, then at least go for the paper certificate, like GLD. You don’t have to have everything in Gold. But get some insurance policy against losing big time if the whole system actually collapses.