The Right Destination

Where are you going?

If we don’t know where we are going, chances are we are already there, a place we may be stuck and therefore dislike.

1.       Destination. Have you ever stop to think on how you got where you are in life? Do you know where you want to go? Is that destination whispering at you bugging you all the time? Well, if the answers are NO, then you are already there, a place you may not like. If the answer is YES, then being the best at what you are doing, will you get where you want to go in life? Can you get all your dreams doing what you are doing? If not, then you have a decision to make.

2.       Decision. Are you taking the path that is least popular? Are you financial literate? Do you think and act as an entrepreneur? Are you getting better every day in every way? If the answer is NO, then you could be headed to the wrong place. We can only course correct if we are on the right path and moving. The right path is the one that can take you where you want to go. Indecision is often a bad decision.

3.       Focus. Are you like the crowd and highly distracted? Area you living by your priorities instead of your obligations? If Yes, then you are headed in the wrong direction and may think of changing where you are headed. Plan and prioritize your life. The smart phones are making most people dumb. Use your smart phone to get smart, to get educated, to build a business. You cannot go back and change the beginning of your life, but you can choose a new ending. All ends should allow you to be wiser and more generous. Leverage technology instead of letting technology to leverage you.

4.       Action. Now you are ready to take massive action towards your destination, your dreams. Consistent action is the big secret of success in any field of endeavor. There is nothing that will resist the consistent right thinking followed by the right actions. Even a rock will erode over time being hit by water.

5.       Inertia. Get moving. Never mind all the critics. The world is full of critics. Turn criticism into positive energy to get you moving in the right direction. The only critic that can stop you is the one living inside you. Be sure to starve the bad one and only feed the right one, the one that says you are a champion.

6.       Journey. Learn to love the journey. Area you just getting by, dreading going to work? Have you forgotten to have fun? Have you forgotten to learn and to love the work you do? If your answer is YES. Then it is time to practice some creative leisure. Substitute entertainment for fun, real leisure. Substitute the daily grind for something that will allow you to learn and grow. Learn to work by working hard at first, then work smart by leveraging a learning system.

7.       Serve. No one succeeds on their own. Lasting success is only achieved by helping others to succeed. Help others get what they want and you will have all that you want. Serve is the privilege of the great. Be a servant leader that attracts great talent.

Do you know where you are going? Share it!

Carlos Fontana

Financial and Leadership Coach

(Get out of debt, make more money, pay less taxes)

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

GOT MOTIVATION

What Motivates you?

WHY NO ONE CAN MOTIVATE YOU.

What is motivation? Motivation is the sum of our motives. It is a reason or reasons for acting or behaving a certain way to achieve something. All of us need motivation (motives) to do anything. Motivation is like attitude, we need a healthy dose of it daily, like taking a shower 😊 

Where does motivation come from? It comes from our inner being, sources inside us.

Where do I go to get my motivation? Read bellow.

Motivation comes from within us, from our inner desire to achieve something. The world has a lot more unmotivated than lazy people. If you expect others to motivate you, be aware, others will soon realize they have the wrong you. No one can motivate you but yourself. There is a massive industry called motivation, where businesses spend or waste away billions to motivate their people. Motivation done by anyone but yourself does not work. The responsibility for motivation is 100% yours. Many swamps are being drained and it not a good time to be one of the unmotivated alligator :) :) 

Get some motivation for yourself so you too can live the life you always wanted to live.

1.     Dreams. When I was young my dream was to fly in a Jet airplane. Boy have I done that. Millions and millions of miles around the world. I had the dream to come to America and learn the English language. Then came the dream of being a writer and publish books. Than to be a public speaker, to grace the stages, where other great speakers have been. The dream to create many stories in life and live long enough to share them with you. I will never live another day without a dream, many dreams.

2.     Creation or Invention. The adventure to be there first, to create something new, to chart new territories. I love writing because I can crystalize my thoughts and expand them. All these things provide me with motivation. I guess I have a little of the Indiana Jones spirit in me. God has protected me over so many adventures and dangerous situations, and that is why I keep doing what I do. The last decade has been a challenging and at the same time an exhilarating journey.

3.     Resistance or Rejection. Rejection provides me with the energy to achieve more. When I meet resistance, I know I am on the right path. Nothing great can ever be achieved if first it is not met with resistance, opposition and rejection. Amazing the amount of resistance that is met when one works with financial literacy. People resist changing a situation they are trapped in, a situation they put themselves in. Voluntary slavery is difficult to eliminate.

4.     Hunger. Have the hunger to get better, to overcome, to achieve great things in life. My hunger comes from my desire, my dreams, the things that are important to me and to those around me. Hunger is difficult to create in others. Hunger must be self-induced. No one can place hunger inside you.

5.     Material Things.  Have my dream home in the country was a great motivation for me. Have the financial means to travel around the world was another. Have the financial freedom to own my time so I can read, write, listen, and associate with the right people. Have the material things to help others.

6.     Recognition and Respect. A strong motivation for me is to be recognized and respected by those I care and respect the most, my children and grandchildren, my parents, my family, my friends, my associates, my customers and my clients. Having financial freedom to use my time and resources to make a positive impact in this world.

7.     Legacy. This is the strongest level of motivation. Leaving a legacy has a powerful pull on us. What do we want to be remembered by? I want to be remembered as a person who lived fully, who chased many dreams, who travelled the world learning everywhere I went. I want to be remembered as someone who shared what he learned through writing, public speaking, and conversations everywhere I went. Above all, I want to be remembered by my children as a great dad and friend.

Where to you go to get your motivation? Share it!

Carlos Fontana

Financial and Leadership Coach

(Get out of debt, make more money, pay less taxes)

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

What Inspires You?

What Inspires You?

What is inspiration? Process of being mentally stimulated to feel and do something great.

Where does inspiration come from? It comes from sources external to us.

Where do you get your inspiration? Read bellow.

Inspiration comes from without, from the outside of us. Motivation comes from within us, from our inner desire to achieve something. Both are healthy emotions to change our current reality.

The world has a lot more uninspired and unmotivated than lazy people. Get some inspiration and change your life and the life of those around you.

1.     Reading. Great books provide me with inspiration, especially those with stories of overcoming big obstacles to achieve greatness. The parables of the four Gospels provide me great inspiration. I have many books in my library that give me great inspiration.

2.     Association. Spending time with the right people provides great inspiration to me. My major professor at MSU was a great example and source of inspiration. He pumped so much belief into me while we spent time together.

3.     Songs. The right song, either the music, the lyrics or both. For me it is the song Amazing Grace. Classical music can provide great inspiration.

4.     Movies. You know what I mean here. The movie you can not watch enough time. For me the movie The Miracle is a great source of inspiration. The movie provides live moments of greatness from a young team that overcame great odds to win an important game.

5.     Poems. The right words create images and emotions in our minds, energizing our whole being. Poems can come from anywhere. For me it is a simple poem written by older brother called “The Force of Destiny.”

6.     Special Moments. A special time we spend with someone we admire for their greatness, be a great soccer player or a great singer. For me it was the King of soccer Pelé. In 1990, in a Hotel in São Paulo, I met the Brazilian soccer team that won the 3^rd World Cup Soccer in Mexico in 1970.

7.     Dreams. Learning about and reflecting on dreams achieved by others can wake up our inner selves and start the emotional process to burn in our brains images of a great life.

Where to you go to get your inspiration? Share it!

Carlos Fontana

Financial and Leadership Coach

(Get out of debt, make more money, pay less taxes)

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

WHAT'S ONE TRILLION IN VALUE?

Why Apple is so valuable?

Apple is worth more than one trillion dollars. The other three mammoth companies worth well over half a trillion dollars are Amazon (889 billion), Google (850 billion), and Microsoft (830 billion). Now the race is on for the two trillion market value. Apple has become a company for value investor where Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are still viewed as companies for growth investors. Apple has a low PE ratio (Price/Earnings) of 19 while Amazon (220 PE), Microsoft (73 PE) and Google (52 PE) have high PE ratios.

Why has Apple created such enormous value? Profitable growth.

Why did Apple get there before everyone else? Having Warren Buffet invest heavily in Apple gave a vote of confidence and a boost. However, in the end it is about the value Apple created that got it there first.

Now the race is for two trillion dollars. First let’s shed some light into Apple, this titan of technology. Here are the 7 reason that has made apple the most valuable company in the world:

1.      Clear and Compelling Vision. Steve Jobs was a great visionary while still being deeply in touch with reality. Vision became synonymous with Jobs and Apple. The vision he casted was clear and bought by the Apple leadership, its employees and even clients and consumers.

2.      Superb Leadership and Management. Tim Cook is a great leader and manager. He has executed extremely well Apple’s strategies. He is carrying out Steve Jobs’ legacy with perfection. Companies often take a turn for the worse when its great leader and visionary is no longer running the show, not the case in Apple.

3.      Trendsetting Business. Business in the right trend. The right trendsetting created an even better business; the right and ever-expanding business model. Apple is not just a hardware company; Apple is a software company with a powerful operating system. Apple builds expectancy in its clients and consumers, then really delivers it!

4.      Continuously Innovative Culture and Ecosystem. Apple introduces new and improved products constantly. Introduces the right products at the right time. The high demanding culture creates high quality products and the brand conveys a sense of status and even perfection. Products work and are easy to use. Apple creates the demand then fulfills it!

5.      Product and Technology Acceptance by Consumers. Apple meets consumer wants and needs. Products carry prestige as they say something about the person who uses Apple products. People become loyal to the point of being addicted to the products, making the Apple business better than being into the legal drugs business. People who use Apple products seldom switch to other products.

6.      Truly Global Presence. Powerful global brands transcend country boundaries and cultures. The robust products work no matter what country or location you are at. With dominion on the smart phone business Apple has helped to bridge the knowledge gap between the developed world and many other countries.

7.      Disruptive Innovative Company. Apple is always years ahead of the competition. Company sets the tone for enormous success and has produced high profitable growth in many different industries and platforms.

Share the knowledge with others!

Be blessed and be a blessing to others

Carlos Fontana

Financial and Leadership Coach

(Get out of debt, make more money, pay less taxes)

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW MONEY?

Can it be true?

The global cost of financial illiteracy is in the tens of trillions of dollars. Why is the cost so high? Simply because very few people are financial literate. How can we know so little for something we work so hard for? Money. The money view of the great majority is wrong because it is acquired from the wrong sources with wrong information. Money is just a tool to do great things with so it makes a lot of sense to understand it and use it for our benefit and the benefit of those we care about.

1.       Money is a game. Know the game, the defense, the offense, and the rules of the game. Most don’t know how to play the game and the few that do don’t play it. How can we win a game we don’t know how to play and don’t know the rules of the game?

2.       The monetary system. The monetary system is at the center of all finances. The whole system is based on debt (government, businesses, personal). It is a system that it is tilted against the people for the benefit of the financial institutions. How can we win in a system where one third of our gross income goes to taxes, one third to service debt, and the last third to live on?

3.       Money education. Money education is absent in our school system and in our homes. Our money education comes from the financial systems institutions and the company marketing; and all of them don’t have interest in truly educating us about money. Why aren’t we educating ourselves about money?

4.       Money tracking. The great majority of people pay little attention to the flow of money in their lives. Without a financial plan, a budget/cash flow, income and expense tracking, and debt pay off plan it is nearly impossible to win the money game. Why not track something we allocate so much time to acquire?

5.       Money problems. Most people think that their financial problems are gone once they make more money. The lack of money is not the problem, lack of money education is the problem. Why not acquire the proper money thinking?

6.       Money assets. Most people accumulate financial liabilities instead of financial assets. Most people focus on expenses instead of investments. Without proper understanding of money, we easily become an asset on someone else’s balance sheet and a liability to ourselves. Why not accumulate assets by making the right investments instead of accumulating liabilities by excessive spending?

7.       Money blessings. The blessings of money are many when we understand that money is a tool and a blessing for us to live our purpose and bless the lives of others. Why knot be a creative giver by sharing your blessings with others?

The understanding of money is important if we want to be financial secure or financially free. In order to do that we must think long-term, delay gratification, and leverage the power of compounding.

Share the 7nuggets with others

Be blessed and be a blessing to others

Carlos Fontana

Financial Coach

Get out of debt, make more money, pay less taxes

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine that?

Imagine you fell asleep in 2016 and woke up in 2026. You can not believe what you see. You wonder what happened. Am I in Lalaland? As you go about catching up, you realize that things have changed, and boy, they changed drastically and for the good. You start writing what has changed and you come up with the following:

1.       The economy is 50% bigger. You start doing some mental math and realized it really happened. There was no economic collapse and no great depression. The artists that said they were leaving the country are still here! The US economy grew at about 4% annual average over a decade and compounded to 50% growth. The Chinese economy is now growing at the same rate as US. How daring a president to accomplish such thing. Politicians are not supposed to solve problems, only fake and compound them.  You dig in and realized the trade is more balanced and fair. Welfare is way down. America is great again! Only a few night dreamers think of him as a clown. There are a few less nasty jokes about him too. You believe because you now see. Wait! You realize how little faith you had in our system, in our people, even in our government. Wow! He was right! Talking America up works.  

2.       Government size and debt are under control. A few trillion in debt have been paid. There is still large government debt (still about $20 trillion). There is still work to be done to conquer the people’s biggest enemy (runaway government debt). The only president to pay off all government debt was Andrew Jackson. How lucky to have a president that understand money, business, and the economy. Only in the early days of America we saw such thing. How daring a president to play the money game so well. He started with defensive, then move to the offensive, applying the rules of the game, and winning. He did drain the swamp; the alligators got angry, really angry, and they had no choice but adapt to the new house rules. As he used to talk in his speeches. We will win big, really big. The man has an ego bigger than our nation. How daring of him to use his ego for the betterment of a whole nation. I used to think – what a bunch of hogwash. Dang, he did it!

3.       Our enemies became our friends. A daring president faced the foes and turned them into friends. He would not be the first one to do it but went further than people imagined. Reagan did it and think what he went down in history for; brought down communism. You read some recent history and realize he started with North Korea and Russia and moved to many other countries and areas of the world. How could this be, he was totally unqualified to be good in foreign relations. He was not that intellectual. By now you are thinking he is not the lunatic you thought he was. You are no longer complaining since your grandson just left for a one-year exchange program in Russia and your son-in-law took a job in North Korea. Boy is he gutsy, he has a stronger spine and more hair on his chest than I thought! Many people now think he is witty and has the true grit that was so much needed.

4.       Improved infrastructure.  You noticed a drastic change in the roads, airports, and the cars and airplanes that you see. Heck, cars are driving by themselves. Sounds a little scary, but traffic seems to flow a lot smoother with a drastic reduction in car accidents. Fewer cars and less people own them. You love the lower cost of car and car insurance too. Electric cars are common. Gas stations have been replaced by electric stations. Renewable energy has taken off, solar in particular. Cost of energy has come down. 3D printers are common like laptops used to be. Kids produce all kinds of products using them. Again, you like what you see. Technology became friendlier than it used to be.

5.       America dominates the brain economy. There are dozens of trillion-dollar companies in market value, and all except for a few in Asia and Europe, the companies are all American. There are a lot less employees needed but the number of entrepreneurs has increased drastically. Individual business ownership has increased. Many types of small business have emerged. Who thought it was possible – growth with low inflation for decades now. It must be due to artificial intelligence. Human brains are designing amazing artificial brains. Many mundane tasks are performed by machines and more people are spending time managing than doing those boring chores.

6.       America is great again. You start looking around and see positive changes everywhere you look. With more people working and producing, there are less people to protest and occupy. More people are involved in the political process, especially young ones. You noticed several of your friends ran and won in the last election. Huge progress has been made in education and healthcare. Everyone has access to great education in the web. Teachers have been replaced by coaches and mentors. Wow! Amazing how the president has shocked the system and set a new level of expectation for government and the people. Americans have finally embraced financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Hard to believe but you see it everywhere.

7.       There is global peace and prosperity. America is respected again. No need to go around the world and apologizing for who we are. Many nations are taking their security more seriously and less dependent on USA. There are less division in USA and around the world. There is a lot more cooperation between nations because they are now competing more and protecting less. Several countries have now elected non-career politicians to high level government positions. Many governments organizations are run a lot more like businesses than bureaucracies. It is great to see that the intelligence and application of knowledge has increased globally. Middle class is a reality to many people around the globe.

Overall, you realize that the enormous resistance to such unconventional, revolutionary leader as a president was necessary. Little did you know things would turn out better than you ever imagined. What the GOP did was absolutely necessary and contributed to unprecedented progress. They provided enormous resistance to any and all changes but could not hold progress back. America had a daring president that wanted to leave a legacy for generations to come. Without conflict and resistance there is no progress. Many leaders thrive on resistance. We got lucky to have one that did. Even though he was a little crazy, and at times paranoid.

There is a little sad part of the story. That is, you came to the realization that you missed it! You realized that you missed the above. You should have not bet against the clown and against America. Now you wished you had a little more faith in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Imagination is more important than knowledge but it is not enough. We must have courage to imagine and we must have faith to turn our imagination into reality. We are not lacking knowledge or even imagination, we are lacking faith. Faith is believing to see and not seeing to believe. Let’s have a little more faith!

If you saw value in reading this article, please share it with others. 

Be blessed and be a blessing to others

Carlos Fontana

Author of the book PRICELESS, Co-author of the book Follow to Lead

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”

The Long-Term Benefits of Tariffs

Why Tariffs Are Beneficial

You are probably saying there is no way that tariffs can have a positive effect on both parties -  imposing them and those on the receiving end. I encourage you to read this article to the end and you will likely agree with me. We have become accustomed to reading the headlines only, which normally are negative because they are predominant. In order to understand anything, we must look at both sides of any situation. Since the majority of you have already read the headlines on the negative effects of tariffs, I am taking a minute of your time to take you through the positive effect. Thinking for a change, yes, that is what we need to do more of. There is no problem that can withstand the constant attack of positive thinking. Nothing ever comes out of negativity, absolutely nothing. Tariffs give a jolt to the global system of trade and forces companies to take a closer look at their products, processes, systems, technology, people, etc. leading to many positive improvements. Yes, tariffs can be a positive catalyst for change. I am not either for or against tariffs, just looking at the long-term positive side of it. Let’s then think beyond the benefit of short-term increased government revenue. Tariffs are a better way to increase government revenues then to increase the taxes on already overtaxed citizens, especially in a government with over 20 trillion of debt.

Here are 7 positive benefits of tariffs:

1)      Get countries to the table and talk. Either by action or reaction more conversations and negotiations will take place. Trade agreements will be challenged, reviewed, and renewed for better win/win agreements.

2)      More local manufacturing. More manufacturing moving to USA by foreign companies which is good for the US economy as new jobs are created. More manufacturing in local markets like China (Harley Davidson, Tesla recent announcements) which is good for American companies. Local people working together take more pride in what they are doing. Create more jobs and higher wages at home.

3)      More efficient and effective manufacturing. The tariffs make exported products less competitive which forces companies to lower manufacturing costs (requires a complete new look at the current manufacturing systems). A short-term negative can be reversed to a long-term benefit in competitiveness.

4)      Slow the US Economy short term. This is a more effective way of slowing the economy than doing it via increasing interest rates, especially when in a very low unemployment situation like now. In the long-haul economies expand as manufacturing is spread into more countries.

5)      Consumers win on the long term. This happens with increased competitiveness, more options and more innovations. Consumers may pay the price short term while local manufacturing is getting set up for a broader number of products.

6)      Growth in US and Global economies. Remember the auto industry in the 70’s and 80’s. The Japanese ended up building factories in US to avoid import duties and reduce shipping costs. US automakers built factories in many other countries to become more competitive there. Everyone benefited and yes, the consumers did too, especially in many developing countries with more options and lower prices. Besides, the global economy needs to grow at a faster pace and keep on growing to support higher standards of living for more people.

7)      Global peace. Countries that do business together don’t go to war to each other. The movement of people increases increasing the transfer of knowledge and understanding of cultures. The well interconnected business world makes it difficult for countries to wage war with each other.

If you saw value in reading this article, please share it with others. 

Be blessed and be a blessing to others

Carlos Fontana

Author of the book PRICELESS, Co-author of the book Follow to Lead

"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust"

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious"

“Managers influence numbers, leaders influence people by inspiring them to pursue excellence”