A philosophy professor once stood up before his class with a large empty mayonnaise jar. He filled the jar to the top with large rocks and asked his students if the jar was full.

His students all agreed the jar was full.

He then added small pebbles to the jar, and gave the jar a bit of a shake so the pebbles could disperse themselves among the larger rocks. Then he asked again, “Is the jar full now?”

The students agreed that the jar was still full.

The professor then poured sand into the jar to fill up all the remaining empty space.

The students then agreed again that the jar was full.

The Metaphor:

In this story, the jar represents your life and the rocks, pebbles, and sand are the things that fill up your life.

The rocks represent the most important projects and things you have going on, such as spending time with your family and maintaining proper health. This means that if the pebbles and the sand were lost, the jar would still be full and your life would still have meaning.

The pebbles represent the things in your life that matter, but that you could live without.

The pebbles are certainly things that give your life meaning (such as your job, house, hobbies, and friendships), but they are not critical for you to have a meaningful life.

These things often come and go, and are not permanent or essential to your overall well-being.

Finally, the sand represents the remaining filler things in your life, and material possessions. This could be small things such as watching television, browsing through your favorite social media site, or running errands.

These things don’t mean much to your life as a whole, and are likely only done to waste time or get small tasks accomplished.

The Moral:

The metaphor here is that if you start with putting sand into the jar, you will not have room for rocks or pebbles.

This holds true with the things you let into your life. If you spend all of your time on the small and insignificant things, you will run out of room for the things that are actually important.

In order to have a more effective and efficient life, pay attention to the “rocks,” because they are critical to your long-term well-being.

Source:  https://www.developgoodhabits.com/inspirational-stories/

Riches are visible; Wealth is invisible!

The biggest barrier to becoming wealthy for most people is living like you’re rich before you are. Why? Because all that unnecessary discretionary spending — to appear rich — crowds out the necessary saving and investing over the long-term that will enable you to be wealthy someday.

“To make money in stocks, you must have the vision to see them, the courage to buy them, and the patience to hold them.” ~ George Baker

The rarest of the three investing virtues is patience, according to Thomas Phelps.

Thomas Phelps was 70 years young when his book “100 to 1 in the Stock Market” was published. Phelps spent over 40 years in the investing world working as a private investor, a columnist, an analyst, and a financial advisor.

Mr. Phelps went back in history and found that from 1932 to 1971, there were over 350 stocks in which you could have turned $1 into more than $100. He said, “The reason that more people don’t make 10,000% on their money is that they don’t set their goals high enough!”

He  shared four things an investor should look for when investing their money in order to increase their wealth 100-fold.

1. Invest in smaller companies that can sustainably grow their earnings at a fast pace for a long time.

2. Invest in relatively unknown businesses. Phelps writes, “Popular growth stocks may keep on growing, but too often one has to pay for expected growth, too many years in advance.”

3. Invest in companies with a strong, progressive, research-minded management team

4. Buy companies that have a unique product that can do a job better, faster, or cheaper than their competitors or provide a new service with prospects of long-continued sales increases in the future.

This often leads investors to microcaps because they meet many of Phelps’ four requirements:

They are generally early-stage small businesses, relatively unknown, and their values are between $50 and $300 million.

One of Phelps’ biggest takeaways from his study was the importance of simply never selling.

To achieve 100X returns, you need to find companies that are compounding capital rapidly and hold them for a very long time.

This eliminates a big wealth killer: capital gains taxes.

Recognize this guy?

His name is Thomas Phelps, and he wrote a classic book in 1972 called 100 to 1 in the Stock Market.

His ideas inspired Chris Mayer to write 100 Baggers.

Here’s what YOU need to know about Phelps and his strategy to find 100 baggers: 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/A8XK2LXfU5

— We Study Markets (@WSM_TIP) June 14, 2023

Sometime the thing that is holding you back is all in your mind.

Gary Keller, founder of Keller Williams Reality said the following:

It’s Graduation Season! Here is what I would I tell my 18 year old self. Parents, this goes for you too.

1. Breathe. No matter what happens. Just make sure you always breathe and know you’re ok.
2. Love. No matter what happens. Just lead with love and always know that you are loved.
3. People. No matter what happens. Just make time for the people who matter the most.
4. Charity. No matter what happens. Just be charitable and go find a charity and get involved.
5. Hit it. No matter what happens. Pick a target and go for it with everything you’ve got.
6. Never ever give up. No matter what happens. When you fall down simply get up and move.
7. Believe in yourself. No matter what happens. Always believe in yourself, believe you can do all things through Him who strengthens you, and always be grateful. 

Life is not about winning or accumulating wealth. It’s about your relationships, your health, your believing in yourself, your always being grateful, your fighting and never giving up.

https://twitter.com/valuestockgeek/status/1684154374317133826?s=46&t=mF_tsrQnjgviyl62GYfJjw

Success is not just about what you are achieving, but who you are becoming.

Are you spending your whole day pursuing things, or are you becoming something?

At the end of each day, take a moment to reflect on the moments that made you smile, the connections you made, the lessons you learnt, the positive impact you had on others.

It is in the small moments that you often find the greatest joys, it’s the little things that often make the biggest difference.

Each day, ask yourself if you lived authentically, if you were true to your values, and if you took steps towards your dreams, no matter how little.

As the night draws near, you may not have achieved all that you set out to do, but remember, the true measure of success lies in living a life that is aligned with your purpose and that brings you a deep sense of fulfillment.

It’s not enough to only get things done, always have the courage to ask yourself, “How am I living?”

Derek Jeter said, "You gotta have fun…we're playing a game."

Aesop said, "Gratitude turns what we have into enough."

Living with gratitude means choosing to focus on what you appreciate.

Gratitude builds your attitude.

It replaces the "I have to" with "I get to".

Choose to… pic.twitter.com/q2N3gRSaZW

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) July 22, 2023

The 5 things that can kill your dream: 

1. Fear: Fear is one of the most significant obstacles that can stop people from pursuing their dreams. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of what others might think – all these fears can hold you back and prevent you from taking risks or stepping out of your comfort zone.

2. Lack of focus: If you don’t have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, it’s difficult to work towards that goal. Without a specific target in mind, you might find yourself wandering aimlessly and lacking the drive to take action.

3. Negative self-talk: The way you talk to yourself can have a profound impact on your ability to pursue your dreams. If you’re constantly telling yourself that you’re not good enough, or that you’ll never make it, you’re likely to lose motivation and give up on your aspirations.

4. Lack of perseverance: Achieving your dreams often requires hard work, dedication, and perseverance. If you give up too easily when faced with setbacks or obstacles, you may struggle to make progress towards your goals.

5. Lack of support: Having a strong support system can make a big difference in your ability to achieve your dreams. Surrounding yourself with people who encourage and believe in you can give you the confidence and motivation to keep working towards your goals, even when things get tough.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the man on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The man replied, “only a little while.” The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The man said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the man.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”