Money: A Myth or A Conspiracy?

Money: A Myth or A Conspiracy?

By Ashish Subedi  Dec 18

 “It is well enough that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning” — Henry Ford

 Chasing bunch of cash, that is where everything sums up to, right? But, is that where every thing should sum up to? It’s kinda both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. But the bigger question is, what are those god like papers?

 What Are Real Assets?

Money? Well, that would be the current asset but everything grounds up to the actual physical properties. Lands, golds are the actual properties disguised as money.

 Long before we had money, we used to have lands, golds as an asset. But these assets were very much hard to exchange. So, a bunch of brilliant people came up with a term ‘Money’.

 For getting money, people had to reserve their actual property to the money lenders and this is how all it started.

History

It all started with Federal Reserve System. In early 19th century, a group of 6 brilliant and wealthy people had a meeting. One of them was Nelson Aldrich who led the meeting.

Other members were Henry Davidson, Frank Vanderlip, Benjamin Strong, Abe Andrews and Charles Norton. The meeting went for 9 days and they came up with Federal Reserve System and established a central bank in America.

 “Central banks are the organizations responsible for money generation”

So, was that all what it took to make money the god?

People then had an idea about the central bank and what it can do. So, civilians was against them. On the other hand, Congress was also contra to their actions.

But, these 6 people were very smart for their time and made a conspired contract with the Congress.

 Since, they had reach of many local banks, they published a fake and conspired news to the Civilians claiming that local banks were against Federal Reserve System.

Whereas, the local banks did what they asked. So, unknowingly people thought Federal Reserve System to be good.

So, this was all it took to have a complete monopoly in maintaining the economic status.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://medium.com/@subediashish35/money-a-myth-or-a-conspiracy-d1dfe468f73a

What Happened When I Unwittingly Married Into Money

What Happened When I Unwittingly Married Into Money

By Anonymous  From The Cut

 Living With Money explores the personal side of personal finance: how our bank balances do and don’t define who we are.

 I first realized my in-laws had money, real money, when they bought a second house — to store their boat. Fewer than two miles separate their homes, making this renovated boat house a tricky thing to explain to friends. I try not to bring it up. It raises too many questions.

Eighteen months into my marriage, my husband and I relocated to the Pacific Northwest. This move put us for the first time within driving distance of his parents, who had recently retired in a gorgeous beach house in a sleepy coastal hamlet.

​This move also marked the beginning of a new chapter: realizing my husband’s family is rich.

While I reap the benefits of my in-laws’ wealth and generosity, I often find myself feeling uncomfortable and guilty. It’s such a stark contrast to my immigrant family upbringing, when I was always keenly aware that I was the “poorest” of my friends.

I was raised in a middle-class family in an upper-class suburb of Houston. My mother, who emigrated from Hong Kong, never attended college. My father worked a blue-collar job for the postal service until he passed away when I was 19. We were exactly comfortable — and not in the way rich people say they are comfortable.

My in-laws have taken us on several luxury vacations. We’ve had fun touring castles in Scotland and exploring the jungles of Costa Rica. But these getaways bring emotional baggage, in equal parts sadness and guilt, because I could never take this kind of trip with my parents.

I couldn’t bear to tell my mom that my in-laws picked up the tab for vacation. Nobody loves free stuff more than my mother. (She once snagged a stash of complimentary tampons from the ladies room at a hotel even though she was a post-menopausal woman in her 60s.) Maybe she’d be ecstatic for me. But I certainly couldn’t risk making her feel bad.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.thecut.com/2018/11/married-into-money.html

News, Rumors and Opinions Friday Morning 10-18-19

KTFA:

Gem:  Remember family Frank has said he really don’t have anything else to tell us, he also said if nothing significant come out that he won’t do a u-tube

Don961:  Iraq loses membership of the Human Rights Council because of the recent protests .. in favor of a submerged state!

2019-10-18

14 new members of the UN Human Rights Council

New York UN General Assembly. Five countries - Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Korea - are running as candidates for the Asia-Pacific region, competing for four seats: after the vote, Iraq failed to get the support it needed. Human rights despite the support of some permanent members of the Security Council for re-nomination

UNESCO also:

Iraq lost the right to vote at the UNESCO General Conference, which will be held next month at the headquarters of the Organization in Paris.  link

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Don961:  The first repercussions of restrictions on freedom of expression .. Iraq receives an international shock

2019-10-17

Iraq on Thursday lost its membership as a candidate for the Asia-Pacific region at the UN Human Rights Council.

"Five countries - Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Korea - have advanced as candidates for the Asia-Pacific region, competing for four seats," the UN General Assembly said in a statement.

He added, "After the vote, Iraq failed to get the support it needs, although it was a member of the current session and was removed from the membership of the Human Rights Council despite the support of some permanent members of the Security Council to re-nominate."

MP Mohammed al-Karbouli, a member of the Iraqi Forces Union, said Thursday that Iraq's continued restriction on the freedom of public opinion has made it lose its membership in the UN Human Rights Council.   link

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Courtesy of Dinar Guru

Jeff  ...about a month ago they told us in the month of February they were going to implement financial controls and measures at the ports and borders to control the funding and financing of terrorism and money laundering.  The only reason you would implement those types of steps is most likely for a rate change...

TNT:

Harambe:  NewsDay Zimbabwe: New notes being printed (10/17/19)

NEW bank notes will be introduced into the market in a few months’ time to ease the current serious shortage of cash in the country, a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) official has revealed.

RBZ deputy director for finance and markets, William Manimanzi, disclosed this yesterday when he appeared before the Budget and Finance Portfolio Committee on Monday together with Pfungwa Kunaka, the acting secretary in the Ministry of Finance to speak on the 2020 National Budget.

 He said the new notes were being printed outside the country, and would be the solution to the cash crisis in the country, which has resulted in people being short-changed and charged high premiums by money transfer agents.

Budget and Finance Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chairperson Felix Mhona had asked Kunaka and Manimanzi to explain how the 2020 National Budget would deal with the cash crisis in the country.

 Manimanzi told MPs that the issue of the new notes would be announced at the right time.

“There are currency reforms that have taken place over the past few months and we have been working on ways to try and ameliorate the current cash shortages, and what happened was that we had introduced bond notes as an export incentive that were going on a drip feed system,” he said.

“Those funds were allocated to banks, but unfortunately, the bond note has become a commodity and its circulation is now outside the banks. However, there is a programme that the Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube has already spoken about.

“I am not privy to the dates, but what is happening is that new notes will be available soon so that they meet the required cash demands. Obviously, these notes are going to be printed outside the country and this requires foreign exchange. That is all I can say at the moment — but maybe in a few months — I do not know exactly when, but those new notes will be available.” 

 In August, Ncube announced that the country would introduce new monetary notes before the end of the year to ease the cash shortages, but he did not say it would be a new currency.

He said the country would not introduce new monetary notes to replace the quasi currency bond notes, but would introduce replacement notes to address imbalances between cash in circulation and electronic money.

 Marondera East MP Patrick Chidhakwa (Zanu PF) then asked Manimanzi to explain the steps that the RBZ had taken to deal with EcoCash agents.

“For instance, where I come from in Nyakurwi, cash is still being sold at 50% premium to rural people and they end up paying $35 EcoCash transfers for transport, (for a journey which) which costs $25 because they do not have cash. As RBZ, you always say that you do not dispense money to money changers, but we always see crisp notes on the streets,” Chidhakwa said.

 Kambuzuma MP Willias Madzimure (MDC Alliance) also said the RBZ must explain to Parliament who exactly was behind the EcoCash premium cash distortion.

“Who is in control of EcoCash, and as RBZ, are you still controlling the monetary policy? For example, you pay teachers through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement dollars) and when they look for transport using electronic money, they are charged premiums,” Madzimure said. 

 “What it actually means is that a teacher who earns RTGS$1 000 actually earns RTGS$500 because they need to buy cash. Who are these people, because they have very fat bank accounts and they always have people sitting at different places with bags of cash and exchanging it on a 50% premium?”

He said it was only in Zimbabwe where bags of cash are found on the streets, while banks cannot dispense physical money.

 “Selling of cash is not happening in Malawi, Mozambique or Zambia, but it is happening in Zimbabwe. It means that the RBZ is not in control of the monetary policy,” Madzimure said.

Manimanzi said the RBZ only supplied bond notes to commercial banks, adding that the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit was investigating the issue of street money deals.

 “As RBZ, we deal with cash through the banking system, but we had sectors paid in cash like the cotton and tobacco farmers. Our Financial Intelligence Unit is now trying to look at those bond notes on the streets because if we issue them out, we can trace their serial numbers,” Manimanzi said.

“In terms of the 50% EcoCash premiums, we are aware of this development and that is why over the past few weeks we banned cash-outs, but it was later reversed. We have engaged EcoCash and Potraz [Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority] and a number of merchants have lost their licences and their accounts were closed.”

 The RBZ official said Econet explained that the illegal transactions were happening outside their platforms.

“Where the transactions are done at proper EcoCash cash-out platforms, EcoCash is able to deal with that. The solution really is on the supply of cash and its availability,” he said.

“If cash is available, then this will be a thing of the past. As RBZ, we are now working with Potraz and Econet to deal with the issue. We still need EcoCash because it has helped the rural areas in terms of financial inclusion.”

 Economist John Robertson urged the central bank to ensure that there is no excessive money printing that will drive inflation.

“The central bank must keep its promises that there will be no excessive money in circulation. Banks have to buy cash from the central bank and the central bank must not put money in circulation that is not paid for by banks. The money must not be excessive as it will drive inflation,” he warned. 

 “There must limited production of notes, but enough for automated teller machines to start working again. If people start to have confidence in the banking system, there will be stability and they will bank their cash.”

Robertson said at the moment, people were not willing to put cash in banks because they do not know whether they will get it when they need it.

 “Another issue is there should be a balance between supply and demand. The exchange rate must be stable. If the exchange rate remains stagnant for a year, inflation will go down. The quantity of money in circulation must not distort currency value,” he said.

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/10/new-notes-being-printed/

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2/3 Of Americans Are Actively Preparing For Recession! It's How They're Doing It That's The Bad News

Silver Report Uncut:  Oct 18, 2019

First we look at the overnight funding markets. We see even though the fed has begun permanent open market operations (Not QE) there is still a desperation for liquidity. We also look at a recent poll from bankrate that revealed 2/3 of Americans are already actively preparing for a recession. The bad news the largest response was by cutting spending. This comes at a time when there are huge fund flow trend changes i.e. going to cash, and drops in the September retail spending data.

https://youtu.be/Mk0sQeiJLp4?t=2

The “Apple Theory” by JohnP

Thanks John For sending this to Recaps

From Dinar Recaps Archives

The “Apple Theory” by JohnP

I have a theory on the whole dinar "rate" discussion.  I call it the "Apple Theory".  In fact it could also be the "Gumball Theory" if you like as the implications are the same but I don't know if they're allowed to have gumballs in Iraq.

Anyway we'll stick with Apple Theory in the meantime, and maybe someone can research whether they're allowed gumballs.

Anyway, with all the discussion and conjecture about the rate, I think folks are missing the most important point, and that is what the LOWEST denomination that will be in circulation is - and how do you pay for an apple.

We heard about the "fils" a couple months ago and that made me VERY happy as they were supposed to be a fraction of a dinar.  And this is where the Apple Theory comes in.

You see, in the real world you have to be able to buy an apple - not a bushel, but a single apple.  This means that you can impute the planned exchange rate by looking at the lowest denomination that will be in circulation, and estimate what it will cost to buy an apple (or gumball, if they're allowed to have those).

I believe that if they move to parity with the dollar, then the lowest denomination in circulation should be about 1/10th of a dinar.  The smallest coin we use here in New Zealand is a 10 cent coin and everything is rounded up or down to ten cents.

If, on the other hand, they are going to RV at 3.86 (or whatever), them the lowest denomination in circulation should be about 1/30th of a dinar, because that's about what it takes to buy an apple.

To some degree the same theory can be applied by looking at the HIGHEST denomination that they will have in circulation.

For practical purposes the biggest note in circulation in the US is a $100 note.  The same is true here in NZ.  Therefore discussion about introducing a 50k note is probably not a good thing.

If we assume that a modern society needs a note worth about $100 in buying power for day to day transactions and convenience, then having a 50,000 dinar note should mean that they are looking at a rate of about double what it ts now, or about 1/500th of a dollar.

 If it is confirmed that they plan to introduce a 100k note then that should mean that they are not looking at raising the rate at all and the rate will remain about 1,000 dinar to a dollar.

There is a possibility that they will only use a 50k note for banking transactions but I doubt very much that they would make a big deal about that with the public as the public wouldn't have any need for a note that large if they RV at 3.86.

After all, all THEY care about is buying an apple!

This Secret Hiding In Your $1 Bills Could Make It Worth Thousands

This Secret Hiding In Your $1 Bills Could Make It Worth Thousands If You Look Closely

Everyone dreams about getting rich overnight, but this almost impossible. You need to be very lucky and win the Powerball or Lotto in order to do that. However, there’s another way to get super rich that might surprise you.

There are some dollar bills that are worth thousands of dollars and you might be carrying one in your pocket right now. You better stick around for #15 in order to find out if you own one of these special dollar bills.

25.  One Dollar

Today we are going to share with you some amazing information that might make you rich. Therefore, open your wallet and take out all the cash that you have because you will need to search for some special markers.

24.  Rare Bills

There are some one dollar bills that sell for as much as $2,500! Can you believe this? If you do have one of these special bills in your wallet, then you are going to make some easy money.

23.  Getting Rich Overnight

With that being said, get out a magnifier glass or the zoom camera on your smartphone because you will need to pay close attention to the serial numbers of your dollar bills. You might even end up selling the lucky bill for thousands of dollars!

22.  Collector Items

The reason why dollar bills with specific serial numbers are selling for so much is because they are seen as collector items. Who would even buy a dollar bill for so much money? You might have seen them in this famous show…

21.  The Famous Show

Everyone who has watched at least on episode of the famous Pawn Shop show knows that people are willing to pay top dollar for items that they want to add to their collection. We’ve seen many items selling for tens of thousands of dollars!

20.  Serial Numbers

Even though dollar bills might mean nothing more than this week’s groceries for your, some people are more than happy to pay you a fortune for them if they have the right serial number. Keep reading to find out why collectors are desperately searching for rare items.

19.  The Collectors

The reason why collectors are willing to pay so much money for a single dollar bill is because it will help them complete their collection. Check out the picture at #7 to see which are the rare serial numbers that can make you rich.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.obsev.com/g/secret-hiding-1-bills-make-worth-thousands-look-closely/699904?utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=TestYAH-AS-CT-Yuri-Mihai-DollarBills-US&utm_medium=HOMEPAGE_US&utm_term=prezna

Central Banks Expect Dollar to Reign Supreme for Another 25 Years

Central Banks Expect Dollar to Reign Supreme for Another 25 Years

Economics By Katherine Greifeld   October 16, 2019

 Dollar still the ‘ultimate safe-haven currency’: UBS report

 Chinese yuan expected to chip away at greenback’s share

Foreign-exchange reserve managers at central banks around the globe expect the dollar to remain dominant for at least another quarter-century.

Roughly 66% of managers believe the greenback will remain the reserve currency of choice over the next 25 years, according to a UBS Asset Management survey of 30 central banks. The U.S. currency accounts for about 62% of global central banks’ $11.7 trillion foreign-exchange reserves, the International Monetary Fund said last month.

The finding comes as questions emerge over the state of the so-called strong dollar policy and countries like Russia vocally diversify out of the greenback. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney railed against the dollar’s hegemony in August, bemoaning the currency’s “domineering influence” on trade. But still, the dollar is “the ultimate safe-haven currency,” according to UBS.

“The dominance of the U.S. dollar in global reserves -- an average share above 60% over the last 25 years -- has been a constant feature of FX reserve management,” UBS analysts Massimiliano Castelli and Philipp Salman wrote in a report released Wednesday. “This is particularly surprising because speculations about the imminent demise of the dollar have become a stable refrain over the past decades.”

The Chinese yuan is expected to chip away at the dollar’s share, however. UBS found that 38% of respondents see it becoming a reserve currency on the level of the dollar or the euro in the quarter-century to come. The euro accounted for just over 20% of reserves in the second quarter, according to IMF data.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/central-banks-expect-king-dollar-to-reign-for-another-25-years

10 Powerful Quotes That Made Me A Millionaire

10 Powerful Quotes That Made Me A Millionaire

Post From StartupCamp By Dale-Partridge

Make Your Passion Your Profession

With an overwhelming access to knowledge, this generation often finds itself ten feet wide and one inch deep. Knowing a little about everything but never enough about one thing to matter. We have no shortage of words; rather, we have a shortage of the right words.

Poetry has been defined as the best words in the best order. But I believe it goes beyond a poem.

The right words listed in concert and color can articulate a comprehensive and deep meaning in just a few characters. A meaning that can fasten your fears to the floor and allow you to step into progress.

Anchors that keep us straight and hold us tight – almost like an injection of clarity and control for our most uncertain of times.

Ultimately, words are the stones that bridge the gap to our furthest destinations. From incomprehension and overcoming indifference to closing a sale and believing in God.

 Words make up how we think, what we know, and who we become.

But the right words change your life. They can change your story.

Here are the words that have changed mine.

1. "Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life."

Who Said It?: My Grandmother

How It Has Helped Me:  Getting lost in something you love often results in getting lost in general. We live in a culture that measures our success by how much money we make rather than the fullness of our lives.

Over the 13 years I've spent building businesses, I've learned the months that feel weighted to one side typically follow a season spent living in the absence of this quote.

2. "Speak to people how they need to hear it, not how you want to say it."

Who Said It?: My Mentor

How It Has Helped Me:  Empathy is a difficult virtue to master. As an entrepreneur, the best marketing is performed by those who can step into the customer's pain. To put words to their emotions and to create products that solve their most trying problems. As leaders, we must not forget that thoughtfulness is the most effective form of communication.

3. "Your greatest weakness is often the overextension of your greatest strength."

Who Said It?: Jason Benham

How It Has Helped Me:  I'm a natural teacher. Speaking, selling, and convincing others is almost instinctive to me. But far too many times I've been kicked in the leg by my wife for not shutting my mouth.

As I've matured, I'm learning that the overuse of our inherent gifting can backfire. The secret is learning to take it to the very edge, and stop.

4. "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

Who Said It?: Antoine de Saint-Exupery

How It Has Helped Me:  A designer is someone who can make something more beautiful than someone else with the same tools at the same cost. Beauty is my secret weapon. But the more I practice design, the more I realize its purpose is not to draw our eyes to many things, but one thing.

So whenever I dislike the aesthetics of something I'm working on, whether it's landscaping my backyard or designing a new website, my first step is to take something away.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://startupcamp.com/10-powerful-quotes-made-successful/

16 Of The Most Expensive Mistakes In History

16 Of The Most Expensive Mistakes In History

 A Regretful Sellout For Ronald Wayne

Alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne was instrumental during the formative years of Apple. Afraid of past experiences and skeptical about the future, Wayne sold his share in Apple for just $800 (£516), 11 days after Apple was formed. According to reports, Wayne would have been worth more than £25 billion today had he kept his stock.

Toshihide Iguchi's Prolonged Miscalculation

Japanese bank executive Toshihide Iguchi converted a US $70,000 debt (£45,000) into a loss of $1.1 billion (£709 million) for the Daiwa Bank after he failed to recover a bet made on U.S. government bonds in 1983. Though Iguchi managed to dodge authorities for over a decade, FBI agents finally caught up with him after 12 years.

Rogue Trader Nick Leeson

Seldom does an individual bring about the downfall of an entire financial institution, but “Rogue Trader” Nick Leeson managed to do so by causing the collapse of the oldest investment bank in the United Kingdom—Barings Bank—in the mid '90s.

His unauthorized speculative trading brought him success at first, but in the end, disaster struck as losses ballooned to over £190 million. He fled to Singapore, where he was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison.

Mathematical Error Ends £80-Million NASA Mars Probe

NASA spent around £80 million on the Mars Climate Orbiter, which was originally designed to study the climate on Mars. However, a small mathematical error proved to be the orbiter’s undoing as NASA lost contact with the probe, and it was eventually destroyed over the planet in 1999.

Sar Alexander II Sells Off Alaska For Just £4.6 Million

During the late 19th century, Russian emperor Tsar Alexander II was unable to look at Alaska as something other than a land with a lot of ice cover. Fearful of a forceful takeover of Alaska by the United States, the Tsar decided to sell the vast territory to the United States for just £4.6 million in March 1867.

Since the values of ruble and dollar at the time were almost similar, Russia gained little in cash and lost natural resources worth billions of dollars.

A £116 Million Jackpot That Went Unclaimed

A British couple lost a fortune of around £116 million in 2010. A woman’s ticket for the Euro Millions lottery won the jackpot, but her husband threw it in the trash, which meant that they could not claim the prize money.

Equipment Fault Causes A £230 Billion Nuclear Disaster

A tragedy that still send shivers down the spines of many around the world, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster was caused by an equipment failure in four reactors that went out of control during a test.

The entire 1986 disaster cost around a massive £230 billion in cleanup and in the value of lost farmland. The loss at today's inflated rate stands at around a staggering £464 billion!

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/16-of-the-most-expensive-mistakes-in-history/ss-BBjZkVx#image=2

The Most Expensive Mistakes In All History

To err is human. There is nothing wrong about making mistakes from time to time, unless, of course, we're talking about some kind of "oops" near a nuclear reactor. Yes, some mistakes are too expensive, and we are gonna tell you all about them today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXelZriTubU

The Underrated Skill For You To Succeed

Three Billionaires Reveal the Underrated Skill You Really Need to Succeed (and It’s Not Intelligence)

By  Brooke Nelson

And you don't need an expensive degree to learn it either.

Turns out, your mom was totally wrong. There IS a secret to success! So forget everything you’ve been told about meditation, exercise, or productivity. The real answer is way simpler than you originally thought.

According to billionaires Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Warren Buffett, there’s just one essential skill you need to be successful: communication.

That’s it! Easy, right?

Well, maybe not. Communication issues are common in any group setting, and that goes for lots of different mediums: interpersonal, organizational, and even nonverbal. (Don’t miss these signs you can’t trust your co-worker.)

But being a good communicator is essential if you want to get ahead; research by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that only 15 percent of financial success comes from knowledge or skills, while the other whopping 85 percent comes from the ability to effectively communicate, negotiate, and lead.

Plus, if the world’s most successful billionaire entrepreneurs have already confirmed the importance of communication, we should take heed!

Here’s the scoop: Ten years ago, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said in a BBC News interview, “Communication skills and the ability to work well with different types of people are very important … software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs.”

One decade later, that advice still holds true today. As Richard Branson wrote on his Virgin blog,

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/secret-to-success-billionaires/

The 10 Attributes of Wildly Successful People

The 10 Attributes of Wildly Successful People

Lambeth Hochwald

You know those people who seem to ace everything in life? Researchers have uncovered their secrets to success.

Secrets Of Success

We all know people who seem to be accomplished in their every pursuit. So it’s especially interesting to read a new British study that drills into the 10 attributes that make people extra good at what they do.

And they all have a few things in common. For starters, they identify and understand their strengths when pursuing a goal, says Amanda Potter, the lead researcher, founder, and managing director at Zircon Management Consulting, a business psychology company in England.

High achievers also tend to be motivated by a negative or positive life event, and they credit their success to having someone in their life who believed in them.

After conducting interviews with 42 high-achievers, including a range of CEOs, entrepreneurs, sports stars, and media personalities, Potter concluded that we all have a different combination of winning attributes—in other words, no two winners are exactly the same—however, all successful people have some or all of 10 specific attributes.

“For example, it may be your single-minded focus and determination or it might be your curiosity and willingness to disrupt the current situation that makes you successful,” she says. Read on as our two experts explain why the qualities that engender success and why they’re so key.

Burning Ambition

Successful people are driven to achieve their goals, but for the ultra-successful there’s an even bigger mandate, says Isaura Gonzalez, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City.

“Burning ambition takes into account the desire to hit your mark each and every time as well as an unrelenting desire to be the best of the best.” Say these mantras every day to reach your goals.

Dogged Determination

Being doggedly determined means that obstacles are not deal-breakers, but mere inconveniences that need to be overcome. “There is no hesitation, just action, when it comes to success,” Gonzalez says.

“Success comes when you have hit your mark, and determination is the road on which you travel to hit that mark.” Get ready to troubleshoot with this guide to handling tricky interpersonal situations.

Realistic Optimism

Optimism is important, but you can’t expect that the sun will shine 100 percent of the time. “It’s imperative to focus on maintaining positivity while acknowledging the realistic obstacles that can deter us from achieving our goals,” Gonzalez says.

“It’s not thinking that nothing will ever go wrong. Rather, it’s about thinking that we can achieve what we set out for ourselves even if there are setbacks.” Here’s what optimistic people do every day to see the glass half-full.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/attributes-of-super-successful-people/

Why Successful People Have Hobbies

Why Successful People Have Hobbies

Ryan Holiday  October 1, 2019

My new book Stillness is the Key just debuted at #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller lists. The piece below is based on some of the ideas in it. Check out the book, and please leave an Amazon review—it helps a lot!

Winston Churchill was a mediocre painter and a worse bricklayer, but to these two hobbies, the world owes a great debt.

“It is a pushing age,” Churchill wrote his mother as a young man, “and we must shove with the rest.” His ambition was legendary. Multiple times, he shoved his way to the top of British politics, when Britain was the world’s dominant power. Once he was there, he did not let up. During war-time, it was not uncommon for him to work 110-hour weeks. Between 1940 and 1943, he traveled something like 110,000 miles by air and sea and car. A bodyguard once said that Churchill kept “less schedule than a forest fire and had less peace than a hurricane.”

It’s this exhausting workload that is worth examination in a time of “millennial burnout,” and digital distraction. More and more people fear that taking their foot off the gas for even a second will only cause them to fall further and further behind in a rigged economy that cares little for individual happiness. Certainly, it’s something I’ve wrestled with as I look back on my very busy twenties (six books and three careers) and look forward towards my thirties with children.

So how did Churchill manage? How did he not burn out and die early?

How did a man with so many responsibilities that on a piece of notepaper he once sketched himself a pig, loaded down with a twenty thousand-pound weight, not only survive the workload of two wars, five kids, 10 million written words and live into his 80s, but do so without ever losing his trademark joie de vivre?

The answer is simple: The restorative power of a good hobby.

As it happens, Churchill believed in the power of hobbies almost as much as he believed in British exceptionalism. He was an avid practitioner too. Writing in one of his lesser known books, "Painting as a Pastime," Churchill explained that, “The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is...a policy of first importance to a public man. To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.”

A few centuries before Churchill, Aristotle said that this was in fact the main question of life: What do we fill our non-working hours with? What do we do for leisure?

Churchill knew the power of cultivating a good hobby, because painting saved his life. In 1915, reeling from the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, which he had championed and then watched helplessly as it cost some 46,000 men their lives, Churchill had what might appear to be a nervous breakdown.

Blamed for unspeakable tragedy, his competency questioned, his name suddenly radioactive, Churchill described feeling like a “sea-beast fished up from the depths, or a diver too suddenly hoisted, my veins threatened to burst from the fall in pressure.

I had great anxiety and no means of relieving it; I had vehement convictions and small power to give effect to them.” It was in this moment of crisis that his sister-in-law handed him a toy set of oil paints. They had given her children much fun, she said. Maybe they could help him.

Churchill, and indeed Western Civilization, reaped the fruits of this sweet offer. A few years ago, a study conducted by professors at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and published in the Psychosomatic Medicine Journal, found that people who made time for leisurely activities — defined as “activities that individuals engage in voluntarily when they are free from the demands of work or other responsibilities” — experiences increased life expectancy and life engagement.

It improved them physically, mentally and spiritually — as anyone who has pursued a hobby has experienced first hand. The research is even clearer when those hobbies are related to art in some way or another. Studies show that even just looking at art helps produce psychological resilience, but creating it is even better.

A 2016 study of 700 adults conducted by Dr. Christina Davies published in the BMC Public Health Journal found that those who recreationally engaged in some form of art (even just two hours per week) experienced significantly better mental well-being.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/01/why-ambitious-people-have-unrelated-hobbies/