Once Upon A Time
But (sigh), these are not the traits of a master sales (wo)man, traits that, Robert Kiyosaki assures me, will make me very rich.
Finding Kindred Minds
I cannot help it. He was there at my first foray into the world of money and investment through a book given to me by a mentor: The Tao of Warren Buffett, by Mary Buffett and David Clark. That introduction so inspired me that I have dedicated my life to learning all I can about this enigmatic thing, wealth, which has the power to change lives – not only the money earner’s but everyone’s. Buffett, the philanthropist, showed that it can be done (and should be done). I moved on to learn the principles of Kiyosaki, Orman, Coelho, Bo Sanchez, Ramit, Tim Ferris, Dan Kennedy and countless others.
But I always go back to Buffett and his principles. Here are three and some life’s lessons.
Under the Gaze of the Burning Sun
There was light rain. My bed had spanking new, clean, crisp white sheets. I was in the middle, curled up, roused by the idea of just staying there, and not moving. In my mind, it had the makings of a perfect day.
It was a Monday.
A doubt clouded my brow, I know that lethargy will come, and that if I do not get off that bed, I would miss seeing the day reflected in the eyes of the people who I would meet, new friends and old friends, miss what they have to say, miss what I would have learned from what they had to say, miss an idea or doing a good deed, putting in an investment, a day laid in waste when I could have flexed that muscle and got a few calories off, miss writing about what I have learned and expanding a thought that would form words that would form ideas that would form a story that I could live in – again – for a moment.
I rouse myself, get out of bed and go out. Out. The idea of missing life terrifies me.
The Lobby of Shangrila Mactan
A wealth attraction author believed that people should walk streets paved with gold so that they can attract wealth into their lives. Ricky Reyes’ version was a little crass: “Kailangan maging social climber ka tapos pag narating mo na yong itaas, balikan mo yung mga nasa ibaba.” You should be a social climber and then once you are at the zenith, return to the ones you have left behind.
So we went to Cebu and stayed at Shangrila Mactan to see streets paved with gold and social climb.