Reality Check: Lessons in Shaping Your World
August 24, 2008 by Vagabond Investors · Leave a Comment
Your reality is different from other people’s realities. We live in the same world only in a geographical sense. That sounds like a harsh statement. I know and I agree. Thanks for your support. Let’s look at how our reality is constructed and what we can do about it.
The world is full of information and stimuli, which is filtered in our minds. Only a small fraction of what we sense is coming through. Do you remember the last time you bought a car? Did you notice how many similar cars were suddenly in the traffic jam with you? In the same way, babies seem to pop up everywhere when you hear that you (or your wife) is pregnant.
Hold on. The cars and babies were always there, right? How come we didn’t notice that?
First, our conscious mind is only capable of accepting things that grab our interest. In the face of tragic news, we find it hard to accept the circumstances. The first reaction is to say that what has happened is not true! It can’t be, we think, but it is.
Second, our mind is constantly looking for ways to support the beliefs that we have created. We find evidence to support whatever we have chosen to believe – in a conscious or an unconscious way. Most things that we don’t believe in get little attention from our minds. We literally do not see them.
Imagine you live in a world filled with possibilities. Imagine virtually everyone you meet wants to help you. This is world is a projection of a mind which has prosperity consciousness. If we choose to believe in it, it’s a very different world from somebody else’s “reality” if they happen to think exactly the opposite. They might believe that the world is constantly becoming a worse place to everyone living in it and that people are only there to serve their own selfish interests with little caring to anybody else. They have what is called a scarcity consciousness. Our beliefs literally shape the world we see, touch, smell, hear and taste.
Third, our fears shape our thinking. Fear gets our full attention in such a way that all other things are wiped out of the conscious mind. Let me give you an example. Suppose you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would be in a terrible accident this week. Do you think it would affect the way you think of your upcoming sky diving course or rock climbing session? I bet it would. You would probably be so afraid of it that you would miss out on most of the positive things in your life. You see, fears shrink us. Fears make us live a smaller life. When we do the thing we fear, the death of fear is certain. Therefore faith is the key to a bigger life.
Just in case you should say think that the world is a terminally boring or unsafe place, let me tell you something. That’s the good news! It’s all in your mind! You have the power to shape your thoughts, beliefs and fears. There is no “out there” out there. There is no the state of things as they actually exist. Your mind represents (re-presents) everything!
You are not in control of the outside world but you have total control of your inside world. We don’t see situations as they are. We see them as we are, that is, as we see ourselves.
Give these ideas a little room in your mind this week and see if you could see a new world. See if you could become more sensitive to the heart beat of life. You can respond to the world with your new thoughts, new beliefs and new faith. Try it out for just this week!
Matias
On Oil $300, Recession, Fed (Plus: Q&A Session)
August 19, 2008 by Vagabond Investors · 4 Comments
This video on YouTube caused a flow of critical questions to me. I thought I’d answer them all here so that everyone can see the answers. Consider it another FAQ :o)
Question: Why such a critical attitude towards America?
Answer: In fact, no criticism towards American people at all. Many of the people I respect deeply are from the USA. I’m bullish on America, but I’m bearish on the dollar.
It makes me feel sick when I see certain people, namely Mr. Bernanke in the Federal Reserve, abuse their position. He’s not playing by the rules of capitalism. Instead the man is promoting socialism for the rich. He was never elected by the simple person on the street, yet the average person has to pay for that. Take the case of Bear Sterns on the video.
Question: Without bail-outs the economy would have gone into recession and that would have been bad! What do you have to say about that?
Answer: First of all, the world economy may already be in recession. The worst of this crisis is yet to be seen both (especially in the USA banking sector) and in the EU. That’s my opinion.
Secondly, the Fed is over-reacting. A five percent correction in the stock market made him lower the interest rate. What happens if the market falls by 35%?
Thirdly, in 1907 everybody on Wall Street was bankrupt. After that America emerged as a dominant player in the world economy. In the 60s almost all Japanese bankers were bankrupt. Yet after that Japan became an economical powerhouse. Let’s just accept the fact that banks tend to run into problems like this and the financial sector too can have recessions. It’s not the end of the world. It’s painful - very painful! - but it’s better to have serious dips than witness a total wipeout of the system! Right now it seems that Mr. Bernanke is deliberately destroying the US Dollar.
Question: That prediction on oil at $100 / $300 per barrel is ridiculous. What were you thinking???
Answer: Many commodities have experienced serious corrections from their peaks on this commodity boom. I would not be surprised to see oil do the same at $100 per barrel. Just watch the world economy slow down and oil prices fall.
On the long run, I believe that oil prices will go much higher. No major (elephant) discoveries have been made in 40 years. There will be a day that oil demand picks pace again. 3 billion people now want to buy cars. There could be a war on some key areas. On times like that, oil prices could hit $300 per barrel.
Question: You’re not a central banker, analyst, government official or economist. What do you think you know about these things anyway?
Answer: That’s a valid point. Fair enough. I can be wrong. I have made colossal mistakes in the past. That can happen again. The real question is not whether I’m right or wrong. The true question is, what are you going to do, if things turn out as I said? Will it be good or bad for your portfolio? I’m just asking you to think!
Question: What makes you think that the Fed would go down someday???
Answer: Just read economic history and you’ll see why. I believe history tends to repeat itself especially if same mistakes are being made over and over again.
The last one is my favorite one!
Question: Why are you speaking English? It’s obvious that it’s not your mother-tongue.
Answer: Well, simply because most of you would not understand if I made my point in Finnish. You’re right, I don’t speak 100% correct English, heck it’s not even 80% correct! Then again, most of the readers of this blog don’t either. Despite all the progress in the world, many people still speak in foreign languages :o)
There you have it.
Kiitos että luitte tämän kirjoituksen. Nähdään ensi kerralla!
(Didn’t get it? ”Thanks for reading this post. See you next time!”)
Jaakko
