The Burrard Street Blog

Phil is an investment expert who was speaking about how individuals can invest to make great returns. I really enjoyed his presentation because he reiterated a lot of ideas I am familiar with and have preached to family and friends who generally choose not to believe me.

The basic ideas:

•  Money managers make over 800 billion in commissions each year, so they have a vested interest in managing your money and maintaining control of the markets
• The most popular mutual funds results mirror the S&P 500 but charge fees
• You should focus on about 5 stocks
• Technology and freedom of information has given the individual investor power they never had before
• 85% of the market is controlled by fund managers, but because of their size they need to move very slowly when entering or exiting a position, so the individual investor can spot trends and profit because they can move so quickly
• He was a follower of the Buffet school of investing
• Rate of return is not = to risk. Its like if you drive your car it is not risky, but your 11 year old driving would be. More knowledge and skill = greater rates of return.

I ended up buying a package that included training and use of some investor tools. Ironically I have no money free to play with in the markets right now, but you know me I’m obsessed with learning and seminars and every bit of knowledge I can get my hands on. As I free up some money and start testing it out I will keep everyone updated about the results.

In both business and social environments I have always been one to avoid compliments and flattery. I think my thought pattern went something like this:

“If they look nice they know they look nice, so why tell them? I’ll just look like every other suckup.”

Of course what I have always failed to take into account is that well, people tend to be insecure and unsure of themselves. Even if we were to forget about insecurities, well, we just love compliments. Why do I wear an expensive watch or does lady wear a designer dress? To get noticed! So of course people love it when you notice.

This all kind of came together today with the last nail in the coffin. The last few days I’d been feeling overly tired, and despite seeing some legendary speakers on Wednesday a bit out of gas. This morning after over sleeping I decided that was all going to end right there. I threw on my shoes and started what ended up being an epic 20km run.

As I was running through Stanley Park feeling ambitious, pumped up and energized again I saw an interesting looking gentleman drawing something, we made eye contact and he motioned for me to remove my headphones. As I approached I realized he was much more interesting that I could have hoped for. In an attempt to get me to write him a cheque for a few thousand to support his journey to Hollywood to be a comedy writer he told me how ambitious and successful I looked. It was as I “ran” away that I realized how good I was feeling from his obviously contrived compliment. Here is a situation where:

• The person flattering me is clearly doing so because he wants something
• The flattery is empty as he doesn’t really know me at all, and of course is using it to get something
• The person flattering me holds no significant social value in my eyes (not a mentor, role model, parent, boss, friend etc)

Despite all these factors, well, it felt good to hear (almost as good as when this really cute girl caught me singing “Mr.Brightside” to myself and gave me a smile). Whats the moral of the story? Well it isn’t to go out and throw empty compliments at everyone you meet. I’d also be careful complimenting those who tend to hear nothing but praise as you’ll blend into the masses who tell them the same things day in and day out. What I am suggesting is that the next time you notice some-one’s shoes, new haircut or the graceful way they carry themselves, tell them. I’m going to try and compliment 25 strangers over the next week, what is your goal?

Here are some quotes I thought I’d share from the speakers I saw today:

“It’s not a black thing, it’s not a white thing, it’s a green thing”
-Christopher Gardner

“For $25,000 I’ll listen to him tell all the Ni$%^ he wanted. I was laughing all the way to the bank”
-Christopher Gardner

“When the CFO and the Chair of the Board are selling, its probably a good indicator of what to do!”
-Phil Town

“It was a small misunderstanding…..I had to go to jail”
-Martha Stuart

“If you don’t give appropriate attention to what has your attention it will take more than it deserves”
-David Allen

“The more something is on your mind, the less is probably getting done about it”
-David Allen

“95% of the time when you have the time and energy to do something you don’t have the time and energy to think about what you need to do”
-David Allen

“Life has been made too confusing, too complicated…Laugh, move, dance”
-Loretta LaRouche

“If you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans”
-Quincy Jones

“Live everyday like its your last, one day you’ll be right”
-Quincy Jones

“Copy the 10 people you admire most….once you walk in their shoes and gain confidence your own personality can come through”
-Quincy Jones

“When people doubt me I’ve practiced my response….Right, we will see”
-Quincy Jones

“Not one drop of my self-worth depends on your acceptance of me”
-Quincy Jones

“Dan, you have some amazing rhythm, don’t let it go to waste. One day you’re going to be a star”
-Quincy Jones

“When life gets to be too much, stop and let your soul catch up. Listen to a great song”
-Quincy Jones

“Tell someone you love them. Call, write, email or text an old friend. Tell someone you miss them.”
-Quincy Jones

“I played 1000 games where I didn’t have to be great, just better than the other guy”
-Andre Agassi

“Focus on getting one day better, not two, and build momentum each day”
-Andre Agassi

“Eat an elephant one bite at a time”
-Andre Agassi

“If this is co complicated for you, let me make it simple, if you see the ball move and hit it”
-Andre’s Coach during The French Open Finals

Thats all for tonight. Look forward to more indepth articles on each of the speakers over the next few weeks.

Dan.

Today I attended a Power Within speaking event at GM Place and so far have been very impressed by what I have seen (It is the intermission right now, so I decided to take the time to write down all my thoughts on the speakers before they float away). To benefit those who attended, and those who didn’t, I will review, recap and explore the ideas presented by each speaker. I will keep it to one article per speaker and while I will likely write all 8-9 articles today while the ideas are fresh I will edit and publish them every few days as to not overwhelm the reader and keep the ideas fresh in my mind.