Substantiality

I saw a social media image posting some time ago of a spare room that had been converted into a home gym by the poster. It came on the heels of an earlier photo posted by this individual, which was of a very long flight of outdoor stairs. Accompanying the makeshift gym photo was a […]

Every day, in every city, there are numerous events, where the masses congregate to hear the word being spread from on high, in anticipation of being given the keys to the kingdom. Now I’m not talking about church, but I couldn’t blame you for thinking I am, and really, there’s not much difference between these

Don’t believe the hype you see and hear about almost anything. The world is full of deception, usually in the form of hyperbole designed to ultimately separate you from your money. It’s wise to recognize that buying into the hype that surrounds other people or the products they are pitching will almost certainly not result

To me, the most astounding thing about Stephen Covey realizing a multi-generational family fortune by the publishing of his trite concepts providing nothing more for his marks than illusions of problem solving, isn’t that they bought into ‘em, but that many of the world’s largest companies did too. A quick search indicates that less than

The seventh and last habit is about “sharpening the saw”, which, after struggling to successfully remain conscious through this tedious time waster, I found that it simply means strengthening and supplementing the greatest asset one has – themselves. I also find that no one with any amount of common sense needs to read this tome

In this part of Make More Monie’s seven takes on The Seven Habits, I review habit six, which is to synergize with others. Covey states that synergy is, in fact, the highest activity in all life. Wait, what? Wasn’t it communication? He then sermonizes about how synergy will realize a brave new world; one that

Habit five is to seek first to understand, then to be understood. I suppose this sounds good and all in theory, but in reality, studies apparently show that although most people claim to be self-aware – and therefore would have the capacity to seek first to understand – they actually aren’t, and therefore don’t. So

The next three habits are about how we relate to and work with others. The first of them is to seek positive outcomes for all in all our daily interactivities, and the concept is to see life as cooperative, not competitive. My take on this is that in today’s “everyone-for-themselves” First World, this frame of

To review, habit one in Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – which purports to give us insight into those habits of the successful – details the principle of being proactive with one’s choices. It further suggests, reasonably so, that each of us in the First World are in charge of

Part two of Make More Monie’s take on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, focuses on habit two; to “begin with the end in mind”. It’s based on the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes, or, in simple terms, it’s based on your imagination. It

This is my take on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a pretty boring read. Before commenting on these habits though, let me say that the book’s certainly full of all of the unnecessarily complex ways and words to describe simple concepts that one would expect from those pretentious “grandiloquents” and pompous “sesquipedalians” that

In my previous post, Sorry, But Not Impressed, I took aim at a quote that, like many, initially sounded deep and profound, but when examined below the surface, turned out to be just so many words. It struck me that if these so-called words of wisdom were replaced with actual advice that represented years of

I’ve come to realize that many quotes that purport to feature words of wisdom – those sometimes sage but sometimes not – sapient sayings that so many people love to like, post, tweet and retweet, etc., are fine and all, being relatively harmless. When it comes right down to it though, they are simply just

Despite those that believe in Ms. Byrne and her “secrets”, there aren’t any laws of attraction whereby you simply think your way into “making more monie”, unless it is part of efforts to actually do what’s required. Yes, from now on, you can take a hard pass on any of the modern sessions or seminars

In this, the last of this multi-part, shallow dive into investing and my own investments in the stock market, I highlight those industries in the following two sectors: Technologies – This sector, which I understand makes up a significant ~25% of the market, is seemingly not only the most valuable, but apparently one of the

In this multi-part, shallow dive into investing and my own investments in the stock market, I highlight those industries in the following two sectors: Real Estate – This sector, which, I understand, like Energies, Materials and Utilities, also makes up ~3% of the market, consists of businesses that develop, own, operate and/or otherwise manage real

In this multi-part, shallow dive into investing and my own investments in the stock market, I highlight those industries in the following two sectors: Industrials – This sector, I understand, like Communications, Discretionaries and Financials, makes up ~10% of the market. It consists of businesses that keep everyone and everything safe, sound and moving around,

In this multi-part, shallow dive into investing and my own investments in the stock market, I highlight those industries in the following two sectors: Financials – This sector, which I understand, like Communications, Discretionaries and Industrials, also makes up ~10% of the market, encompasses those businesses that keep track of the debits and credits of

In this multi-part, shallow dive into investing and my own investments into sectors of the stock market, I look into those industries in the following two sectors: Discretionaries – This sector, I understand, also makes up ~10% of the market. It consists of businesses that are considered non-essential, which cater to consumer preferences, and, as

Not having any kind of schooling or credentials in investing or in any other aspect of the financial markets or financial planning, I’ve relied on my own observations of it all, as well as the musings of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet and the late Charlie Munger. In addition, since they often tout their wisdom gained

Those like me, ones that never had any guidance early on in life to utilize in developing a plan for it, have always had to react to the conditions in which we found ourselves. Over the decades I spent trying to figure this all out, I was never able to take advantage of compounding. For

Except for my home contents and life insurance policies, and mandatory spending on all things life, work and Make More Monie related, all my financial activity takes place within four different accounts. One’s an all-inclusive checking account, which, provided I keep a minimum balance in it, the monthly fee is waived. It also features unlimited

Or, like Elon, you can believe so much in yourself and your goals that you invest your share of the PayPal fortune into Tesla, then SpaceX, both of which you have no actual education or experience in, then have the brightest minds in both realms – including your heroes – reject your requests to join

I wanted to compare Matthew McConaughey’s so-called secrets to success with those espoused by others that have given a more relatable pathway to it in less time using plain English. With life being short, I feel it’s best to be succinct. As such, after carrying out deep dives into the paths taken by some of

Stripping down to nothing, ridding himself of all “window dressing and packaging”, including his “lucky and faithful American cat”, that had puzzlingly appeared in his story. Hmm. The bongos must’ve remained at home. Anyway, he removes all “talismans from adventures past”, including his late father’s gold ring, melted down from his parents’ class rings and

Returning to success again, Matthew urges us to “dissect our successes and the reciprocity of gratitude”, rather than focusing and obsessing on our failures, as by doing so will cause us to become intoxicated with them to the point of disillusion, which will lead to more failure. He suggests that the easiest way to dissect

On January 7, 2016, Matthew McConaughey gave a speech at the University of Houston, and I’ve read that it is considered one of the best motivational speeches of all time. I thought I’d do a deep dive into it and provide my feedback as, although it features some good moments, I don’t share that opinion.