Well, it seems as though 2 of those men, Warren Buffett and Jay-Z, are bringing their financial super powers together to educate kids about money.
Buffett has started an online series aimed at teaching children about financial responsibility and the entrepreneurial spirit. The series, called the “Secret Millionaires Club” is set to air on the tv channel The Hub, a cartoon channel for kids, on October 23. And who else but Hova lends his voice and commercial appeal to this first televised episode.
Along with a tv series focused on teach financial literacy, the program will also features a “Learn and Earn” promotion to help get this important message out. The program is sponsored by CreditReport.com. Over 100,000 financial educational kits will be sent out to teachers across the country. The same day, the “Grow Your Own Business Challenge” debuts. The challenge is an online competition designed to stimulate kids’ entrepreneurial ambitions.
I think this is an amazing idea! Educating about the right way to handle and value money is a passion of mine. I love that Buffett is sharing his financial genius with a group that will actually listen, kids, is great! Consider the fact that Buffett has been a major financial player for the better part of his 81 years and realize that MOST men in his position don’t want others to know what they know or have what they have.
This is a great idea that I hope to be able to implement in the near future with schools in the DC area. After all, today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. With the way things are going for our country economically, we need a generation that knows how to value and handle money properly to get us out of this current mess we were left with are struggling with now.
Yet another reason why I want to be like Warren Buffet when I grow up!
Most of us really don't know how to be our most productive selves. We think we do, but really we start a lot of stuff and never finish or don't use the time we do have correctly. I am very guilty of this!
I work and work and work and feel like nothing ever gets accomplished. I don't use my time effectively. I thought I had time management on lock because growing up I played sports, was in the band, and was in honors classes. Ha! Boy have I been proven wrong lately!
Here are some tips to help US ALL be more productive...
1. Embrace simplicity
Simplicity drives true productivity. Think about the small, relatively inconsequential tasks that compete for your attention every day. What can be eliminated, automated, delegated or relegated to the back-burner? Productive individuals ruthlessly root out those tasks that compete for their time and sap their resources.
2. Manage distractions
The forces of our hyper-connected, 24/7 world offers us amazing opportunities to engage—and even more opportunities to become distracted. The truly productive understand the threat of distraction in all its forms and create clear boundaries between the task-at-hand and the host of diversions that vie for their attention. Whether the distractions are work or play, establishing a “sacred space” for what you’re doing is key in becoming more productive.
3. Bend activities around inspiration
No strategy can match the motivation that comes from being inspired. Productive individuals understand this and leave their schedules flexible enough to identify and respond to inspiration. Though inspiration doesn’t always come and we often have to force ourselves to complete some tasks, knowing how to leverage those motivated moments can transform our work experience, cut the time investment and improve the quality of what’s produced.
4. Seize small blocks of time
What would get done if you waited until you had enough time? Productive people understand that small blocks of time used wisely can whittle away at projects large and small. Whether it’s 15 minutes before work or an hour during a commute, being ready (read: organized) to seize the moment can make all the difference.
5. Make lists and set goal paths
Highly productive individuals understand that every goal, no matter how small is driven by smaller supporting goals. Dissecting this dependency and flow is essential to creating sound goal paths.
If you want to change careers, that goal may be driven by several smaller goals like going back to school, improving your networking skills, updating your resume or getting a new certification. And each of these smaller goals is supported by even more granular sub-goals. Creating daily “to-do” lists is perhaps the most common way we identify each of these mini goals and understand how they fit into the bigger picture. Productive people tend to be ardent list-makers and are motivated by accomplishing the small daily tasks that, over time, drive larger achievement.
6. Multitask…sometimes
Multitasking gets a lot of good press in modern corporate culture. The willingness and ability to juggle five or 10 tasks simultaneously is almost assumed, and most employees are trained to be circus performers early on. But what subtleties of concentration, recall and quality are lost as we indiscriminately multitask?
The truly productive realize that multitasking can be useful at times and utterly ineffective at others. Choose your occasion carefully. For those jobs that don’t require creative problem solving, interpersonal communication, attention to detail, or quick response times, multitasking works great (but what exactly are those jobs?). The rest of the time, embrace the long-forgotten “mono-tasking”—it’ll boost the quality of your work, reduce your stress, help your communication skills and ultimately, make you more productive.
In the end, productivity is one part old-fashioned discipline and one part smart strategy. Organizing our lives so that we optimize our chances of being productive is half the battle. Once we see results and start to build traction, the strategies become habit and we open ourselves up to a life that’s powered by smarter time management, more focused work, and greater personal and professional achievement.
1. Experts provide real value. Real experts provide real value. They focus on using the information they have to help others.
Experts commit to helping others long before money is exchanged. Don’t wait to start contributing in whatever way you can.
2. Experts always look one level up. Teaching is the highest form of learning and true experts are always searching for better ways to do their craft.
They are always looking one level up to round out their skill set and improve their abilities. There is always something new to learn.
Think about the skills and talents you need to accomplish your job or reach your goals. Who are the people that are one level up in those areas? What can you learn from them? How can you get in touch with them?
3. Experts focus on the process, not the product. It’s easy to want the Gold Medal, the hard part is training like an Olympian. Everyone loves the product, but very few people enjoy the process.
If you want to master your craft, then your actions need to follow a consistent process.
Consistent focus on the process will create extraordinary results.
4. Experts spend time on actions that can scale. Experts, by definition, are known for their expertise. Well, you can’t become known if your name doesn’t make the rounds.
For that reason, experts focus on actions that scale.
Now, you might be saying, “But I don’t really care if I’m well-known or not.”
Doesn’t matter. You should still focus on actions that scale. Why? Because they dramatically improve your earning power.
5. Experts reach out to other experts. It doesn’t matter what you know, if you can’t get the information into the right hands, then you’re not going anywhere.
Experts have the courage to reach out and build relationships with other experts. You need to show the same courage.
Building a network that can help you accomplish your goals is a critical step in success. It’s takes time, but it’s well worth it. That’s why knowing how to email important people is so critical.
I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will...
~Say thanks — and mean it. .
~Smile at a stranger.
~Learn to lean into vulnerability and express your true self.
~Perform one senseless act of kindness per day.
~Take a sabbatical and learn something new about yourself in the process.
~Do something you've never done before.
~Set goals wisely — and reward yourself for making progress.
~Start a conversation with a random stranger.
~Create a vision board to visualize — and achieve — the life of your dreams.
~Help somebody.
~Reflect on the amazing moments in your life, and figure out how to replicate them.
~Be 100% honest for an entire day.
~Be generous — but not to your own detriment.
~Express disagreement towards injustice.
~Learn something new. For example, learn how to change your life and design the lifestyle you want.
~Interact with nature. Go for a walk using all your senses, start a garden, or just admire a beautiful sunset.
~Have fun with a brainstorm session of 100 ways to change your life in 20 minutes.
~Cook a meal for somebody.
~Save money.
~Try letting somebody in line in front of you or driving consciously and kindly, and see if it actually makes you late.
~Give your kids a leg up in life and make finance a family affair.
~Learn about a worthwhile cause, and get involved.
~Choose three ways to be nicer to the environment and implement them.
~Create your own definition of financial freedom, and inject a dose of passion into your budget.
~Regain your youth, and play with some children.
Life is hard! It's a fact. And we often make life harder by doing this that are counterproductive to what we say we want out of life. There is no fool proof plan or set of instructions to leading your best life, but open yourself to making these 21 things apart of your everyday life and see how much things seem to change for you...
1. Take Small Steps A baby learns to crawl before it can walk, and it learns to walk before it can run.
Most people expect rapid life changes. If they’re wasting their time at a soul-sucking job, they expect success and fame within six months.
I’m not saying it isn’t possible, because it is, but in most cases it’s not going to happen.
People who need life changes now don’t realize that it’s not going to make them happy anyway.
All they want is their dream of a future without any problems. When they get there, reality sets in, so they set another goal.
And on it goes.
Take small steps. Enjoy the process, and have fun.
Those small steps will eventually evolve into quantum leaps.
2. Take Quantum Leaps Something I’ve learned in life is that changes can happen in an instant. Old pains, fears, and negative emotions can vanish and be replaced by something more useful.
We don’t live in a black and white world.
Quantum leaps are tipping points.
As you keep taking one step at a time, you will eventually reach a tipping point where everything shifts.
The problem is that most people never get to those shifts. They take a few steps, complain, whine, and give up.
They stop drilling when they are about to hit gold.
3. Accept Where You Are It has taken me a long time to realize that it is ok to be who I am. A lot of things about me may seem contradictory to the image I present, but these things make me who I am. Once I learned to embrace EVERY part of me things began to change.
My best friend and I joke that we are a different breed, but in reality we are. At least I know that I am. I have my great attributes and my not so great attributes; I have attributes that people have always made fun of me for such as reading, being shy, and helping others. But those things make me who I am and have in some way have made me be more successful and more driven.
Each day it gets better, and I’m okay with that.
Things come and go. People live and die. Your life feels good, and it feels bad. The more you accept this, the easier it is to change your life.
4. Be Patient I have had this dream of finding something that I am passionate about and using it to help others, now that I have found it and am making progress I am learning to be more patient. A business doesn't start and grow overnight.
I stumbled a lot in the beginning. I make mistakes, I fail, and I give up in frustration more times than I’d like to admit.
I'm begining to see results as I became determined to succeed and focused.
There will always be problems. But they don’t have to clutter up your whole life.
Be patient with your progress.
You can change your life. Sometimes it just happens in its own time.
5. Forgive We all have memories—painful memories.
What you may not realize is that the person hurting you with those memories is you.
You are the director of your mind. While the event may have happened in the past, it’s you who keeps playing them over and over again.
Reliving the past will get you nowhere. That’s why it’s essential to forgive and forget all those people in your memories.
When you do this, your life will begin to change. It takes a lot of energy to keep those memories running.
6. Heal Healing yourself goes hand in hand with point #5. When you know that you can let go of past memories, fears, and obstacles, you become confident.
Most people aren’t ready for life changes. All they want to do is complain. They avoid any and all solutions, because they are comfortable where they are.
And that’s fine with me, but if you make that choice, you have no right to complain or make excuses.
You either choose to be where you are, or you choose to change your life. It’s always up to you.
7. Face Your Fears When you face your fears, possibilities open up. I still have a slew of fears waiting to be faced, but I’ve come a long way since I started.
And that brings up another important point.
This is not about comparing yourself to someone else. This is about comparing yourself to you.
How much have you learned since last year? Have you moved forward? If the answer is yes, then you’re doing well.
8. Kill Your Excuses Your excuses are mere illusions.
You may have excuses about why you can’t follow your passion and build an online business, but are they really true?
If you really wanted to, you could make those excuses disappear, and when you do, you know what’ll happen?
That’s right.
Your life will change, once again.
9. Take Responsibility Since talking with more and more readers, clients, and people in general, I’ve started to notice a scary pattern.
That pattern is the lack of responsibility. I see people wanting to change their life, but they aren’t willing to take responsibility.
They wait for a white knight (or black, depending on your preference) to sweep in to save the day and make change effortless and comfortable.
I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not going to happen. When you take responsibility for the life you’ve created, you can begin to move forward.
If you’re blaming someone else for your situation, you’re stuck.
10. Follow Your Heart And what would an article of mine be without me telling you to follow your heart?
If you’ve been reading my articles, you know that I keep writing about following your heart, and there’s a reason it keeps popping up.
As I’ve been living my life, I’ve started listening to my heart more and more.
And when I say following and listening to your heart, I mean it in the broadest sense of the word. It can mean anything, such as following your gut, intuition, feelings, or going with the flow of life.
When you begin putting the pieces together, and taking responsibility, and healing yourself, you will naturally begin to follow your heart.
11. Follow Your Passion If you drive up to a gas station, fill your car with the wrong kind of fuel, it won’t run very well, if at all.
That’s what most people are trying to do in life. They are listening to outside influences, and that’s when all the “shoulds” come in.
You want to do your research and know that there’s potential, but if you don’t do something you’re passionate about, your car will run out of fuel sooner or later.
It is your passion that will fuel your journey for the rest of your life.
12. Meditate Ever had the experience of your mind racing out of control? It almost feels like you’re going crazy, doesn’t it?
A great way to calm yourself (and your mind) down is to meditate. Even five minutes of meditation can do wonders.
Did you know that a feeling can only stay in your body for about 90 seconds (chemically)? If it stays longer, you are doing something to maintain it.
You have to throw wood in the fire to keep it going.
Meditation is a great way to break that spell. So is exercise. So is eating. So is sex.
But I think one of the healthiest ways is to meditate and notice what’s going on.
13. Express Yourself I find writing extremely therapeutic. It’s something I love to do. It calms me. It’s inspiring, and it infuses my life with serenity.
I highly recommend you take up journaling or just writing down your thoughts after every day. If you’ve tried to solve problems in your head, you know it doesn’t work. Your mind is too scattered for that.
You can have a conversation on paper, freewrite, and solve problems easily. It has the ability to change your life completely.
14. Comfort Zone Kill If you want to change your life in the most positive sense, get comfortable with being out of your comfort zone.
When you’re learning something new, you will bump into the walls of your comfort zone.
Your spirit wants to be free. It’s when you put yourself into a little box that it feels the need to rebel. You will start feeling bored, and restless.
You don’t have to suddenly infuse your life with discomfort. All you have to do is dip your toes from time to time.
15. Flow Let’s face it. You don’t know what you want.
Sound harsh? Let me explain.
Most people think they know what they want. They make five and ten year plans, acting as if nothing will change during that time.
I’m on board with making plans and setting goals. But I don’t like rigidly sticking to them. You will miss opportunities if you do this.
In fact, you will miss life.
It’s like driving with all the windows painted black except the front window. You see where you’re going, but you miss everything else.
Accept that life brings you possibilities. You don’t always know where your life will go. If you go with the flow, it will take you where you need to be.
16. Focus In order to change your life, you have to change your focus.
If you don’t take control of your mind, it will run amok. You will focus on the negative. You will imagine the worst possible scenario.
So, how do you focus?
You take it step-by-step. Meditate five minutes a day. Take a walk and notice how your body feels. Relax and stop stressing.
And when you do that, the way will open up.
17. Read I love reading.
We live and die by stories. My life has changed several times by simply reading a book. I really need to compile a list of my favorite books into a post. Oh well, another time!
The stories you read have a profound effect on how you view the world. You can be stuck on a problem, and the solution can pop into your mind while you’re reading something completely unrelated.
Your mind does not work sequentially. You can be reading something, then something goes click, and your life changes forever.
And as you’re reading these very words, it causes you to think, doesn’t it?
In order for you to make sense out of the funny letters you see here, you have to go inside, and make sense out of it from your own map of the world.
Change is inevitable. It’s all about in what direction you’re changing.
18. Befriend the Unknown You never know what you need. Remember point #15, going with the flow?
When you’re open to the unknown, which really is possibility, you accept that life may bring you something negative to teach you a positive lesson.
At one point I was looking up at the sky and asking “Why?”
And I’m not at all religious. But it helped me realize what’s truly important in life. It isn’t money, or material wealth, although those things can be nice.
You just never know what life will bring, so you might as well become curious.
How will the seemingly negative turn to positive in your life? What are they teaching you?
19. Reclaim Your Personal Power Stop looking for others for approval. Just like taking responsibility (#9), you have to reclaim your personal power.
You know what to do. You can feel it. You just haven’t been listening to that inner voice til’ now.
It’s easy to give the decision to someone else, but it’s your life. The sooner you realize that, the more fun you will have.
What do you want to do right now?
If you don’t know, then start somewhere, because action will bring clarity.
20. Accept Failure You will make mistakes.
And you won’t even know if they are mistakes when you make them, because mistakes and failures are skipping stones to success.
You only fail if you give up, so if you never give up, you can never fail, only learn, and grow.
21. You Are Always More And above all, remember that you are always more than you think you are.
You are more than your problems, more than your fears, and more than your body.
It’s only when you focus on your problems and believe them to be you that you get into trouble.
So, remember to relax, because life is way too important to take seriously
1. Do something you are afraid of doing everyday – When you make a habit of getting outside of your comfort zone, you will grow strong mentally and emotionally and will see yourself getting past a lot of mental blocks.
2. Don’t over plan - There is nothing wrong with planning your goals in life, however if you try to perfect your planning, you won’t take action on any of your goals.
3. Meet new people – When you constantly meet new people, you will see yourself learning a lot about yourself and others as well. You can then use the new knowledge to contribute and help others.
4. Practice being present - When you are engaged in a specific task/activity or are having a conversation with someone, make sure that you are fully present and not caught up thinking about the past or future.
5. Take leadership roles – Start taking leadership roles in every area of your life. Organize a workshop or plan a trip or a social event. When you start taking leadership roles, your self-confidence will rise.
6. Note down all of your ideas - Whenever an idea pops into your head make sure to write it down somewhere so you can refer back to it. There are going to be those times where your mind will suddenly get creative ideas, so make sure that you have a pen and paper handy.
7. Set aside “alone time” - Spend a half hour every day by yourself in a quiet place and take time to think about your goals for the future. Think about where you want to be in the next ten years.
8. Spend more time outdoors - Get outside the house/office more often. You don’t have to plan a big trip to get out. It can be as simple as going for a hike or walking by the beach. You will be able to think clearly and focus better on your tasks. Don’t become a workaholic and get burnt out.
9. Attend seminars - Start attending helpful workshops and seminars of topics that interest you. You will be surprised by the knowledge you will gain. You will also meet like-minded people and make new friends.
10. Read more often - Turn off the television and start reading more. Once you start developing a habit of reading, you will notice that your vision will expand and you will see the world in a whole different way.
11. Don’t talk about yourself too much – If you are ever interacting with close friends or at a social event, don’t make a habit of talking about yourself and your success. This is a sign of insecurity. Instead, take interest in others unless or until someone asks you more about what you do.
12. Spend minimum time browsing the web – When you constantly browse the web, your mind will be cluttered with different images and thoughts and you will get sidetracked from all your goals. You will start getting imaginary thoughts that will get you nowhere.
13. Go to the gym at least four times a week - When you make a habit of working out frequently you will have a lot of positive energy that will help you in other areas of your life. Put it on your calendar and make it a “must do” task.
14. Don’t delay to have fun - Some people think that they need to have a lot of money in order to have fun. They think that one day that big paycheck will solve all the problems in life. Life will have its ups and downs regardless of whether you have accumulated a lot of wealth. Don’t wait for that big day to arrive to have all your fun. Enjoy every minute of life.
15. Be honest with yourself - Be very honest with yourself about who you are and what you want out of your life. Spend time thinking about what your purpose is in life. When you are aligned with your purpose in life, you won’t get many conflicting thoughts that will leave you confused about who you are.
