Writing is my passion and I've already published two ebooks in spanish. The spanish ebook market is growing fast since 2011 with Amazon Spain's opening and the prices of readers being so much cheaper.

Amazon marketing people are really smart and selling readers under 100 dollars has boosted the market because it makes it a great investment in the long run, as you can read many more books which are also cheaper than their paper version that can be easily carried everywhere.
They've have seen where people needs are. People like reading stories, manuals, novels or poetry. People like reading for fun more and more, and literary books are getting behind.

Now many spanish writers (including myself) have come to the self-publishing adventure and you don't have to be a Nobel prize winner to get there.
Well, that doesn't mean you can publish with no quality at all. Bad quality ebooks will get your reputation down in the long run, and your sales with it.

Writing books in spanish will open the door for you for the new spanish emerging ebook market which includes Spain and all South American countries (that makes more than 500 millions readers).
For this reason if you've got an ebook that sells well, consider translating it to internationalize it.

Spanish literature "crisis" and the wonderful opportunity

Photo credit [Stuart Miles] http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

I think that a part of the literary genre written in the last 30 years in spanish is mostly boring. Some authors think only about their intellectual incomprehensible thing, instead of writing exciting stories or useful stuff for the public.
Intellectual or depressive writing style and expensive paper book price have ruined the market.

A few years ago I was invited to a literary group meeting to present my novel and poetry and when I had my turn to read my writings aloud I was criticized, they said to me:
"You haven't read enough in your life, you could never write a book".
All that because I've read more technical books than literary books at that time.

Well, I wish they could see what I have done now; I've written more than 400 articles and two books.
I'm writing my first english book now  and continuing my third book in spanish and I didn't listen to them of course!
When you start writing it is normal to get critics.
 
But lo and behold we have now a wonderful opportunity with all the self-publishing platforms. There are new writers that are getting a great success and now it's the time to get your share in this developing market.

When you understand the real value of money then it can buy you time, and money is neither good nor bad it's just what you make of it what matters.
Now is the time to learn how to handle money to serve our better goals and spend you time as you want.
When you save money it's like you are borrowing it to the bank and it will pay you interests, this is positive interest working for you.
The opposite is asking for credits and loans, then negative interest are working against you.
Which way will you choose?
You can read the rest of this post I wrote in BadCredit.org

J.M. became a millionaire in the early eighties and today he is a billionaire. We used to get together just to talk and had long hours of conversation. One day I asked him:
'How did you succeed with your business?'
'I played my cards, I took the risk and I won', he answered.
'And having so much money how do you know who are your real friends?'
'There are many who come to me by interest', he said, 'and I know it. I'm just aware of it when I deal with them, my real friends are few, the ones I really cherish.'

The tale of the wise man and the cities

A wise man was sitting at the door of the city and many people came to him to hear his answers and sayings. One day a group of travelers came to him to ask questions.
'How is this city? Are its people kind? Is this a prosperous and safe place to live?'


'I will answer your question', said the wise man, 'but first just tell me: how is the city where you come from?'

'The city where we come from is a nice place', they said, 'its people are kind and the whether is sunny. We can buy and sell our goods with safety and there is music and songs in the air.'

'And so it is in this city, so it is', the wise man said.


Later on another group of people came to him seeking his wisdom.
'How is this city?', they asked. 'Are its people kind? Is this a prosperous and safe place to live?'

'How is the city you come from?', the wise man said.

'The city we come from is gray and its people are unkind. It is a cold place to live and we don't feel safe there.'

'And so it is in this city, so it is', the wise man said.

I lived in a horrible city and I didn't know about it

Image courtesy of [koratmember] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

As you can see the wise man gave two different answers to the same question, this is because sometimes we don't see things as they are but as we are.
The first time I met my millionaire friend I was very young and I lived in a city where its people were not kind, but he never told me about it.

Well, things were fantastic for me at the time because I was experiencing freedom and meeting people that are connected to me for the rest of my life.
The thing is: I didn't know that it was a horrible city and to me it was a wonderful place, and it was!
30 years later I keep the sweet memories in my mind of a city by the seashore, surrounded by wonderful forests, where everybody said 'Hi' to a very young woman, a stranger whom they've adopted so well.

Information uses people attention. An over dose of information creates poor attention and the need to share this attention between all the many sources that use it.

Over information is a distraction strategy. In an over informed world it is easier to get people's tolerance towards injustice or violence. Once the mind get used to watching all kinds of atrocities, the brain won't react as much as it should and it just let go without resistance.

But the worst effect of all is that over information causes a lack of attention and dispersion from the things that do really interest you.

Unplug from television

And unplug from latest news, we are bombarded with news, but we don't need to watch it all to keep up. We are also bombarded with ads and violence in films. This over dose of information has two main effects:

• Distraction
• Consumerism

Small children are plugged into television too early, then television takes the place of imagination and just playing.

Do you have negative thoughts?

Then try this:

• Unplug from rage and violence in films.
• Unplug from tv horror and sadness programs.
• Start your day always with a thanking thought.
• Embrace your family and loved ones more.
• Watch your conversations with yourself and others.

Watch out if most of the time television takes the place of conversation, or conversation is about television most of the time.

How do you use the Internet

Another instrument of over information is the Internet, there are millions of people now connected through computers and smartphones every where. We are in a new era of communication and this is really good because it gives you wonderful opportunities to play, make money and create, more than ever before. So this freedom of information is really wonderful!

On the other side we are also victims of over information if we don't have the right habits. If we are hooked to the Internet while we eat, travel of enjoy holidays. Or if we need to read emails ten times a day.
It is better to be in real nature rather than watch a Youtube video on wild life, it is better to go and drink a coffee with a friend than like his picture 10 times in Facebook.
Most of information on the Internet is free and we think it is always true, "I read this and this on a web site the other day and watched the videos so it must be true".
There is an over dose of reading and watching videos on the Internet, if you do that too much what happens? Distraction and dispersion take place and you miss so many good things!
It all depends on how you use the Internet.

Overcome over information by enjoying your own life more

All those news, films and ads are the stories of others, do you realize? They are taking away the time to live your own life.
All those disasters or stories are not your own: you should care about your own things and enjoy your own life more, so don't forget that over information is living the life of others.
There are people who write history and there are people who read history. So be the master of your life ans write your own history now.
Enjoy, there is so much to be thankful for and so much to do. But you need to feed your spirit from the right sources which is all that is positive, beautiful, makes your life easier and brings you joy. Think about that.
Spread good feelings and positive thinking around you and it will come back to you ten fold.
Let go of every weight, specially those who are not even yours, and that will make your whole life better and make you step into higher ground.

We are in a privileged moment in history because we have so much more freedom than ever before, or the opportunity to get it.
Today we can travel, start a business, write a book, whatever! If we really want to do it, so what keeps us from living that freedom?
So many are living in a new form of slavery which can be defined as:

1. Work
2. Spend
3. Pay debts

And back to work to pay debts and to continue spending. It is what others call the rat race.

And this is not because of the economic crisis. I recently read an article about an American family, victims of spending addiction, which has $ 90,000 in credit card debt, simply by falling into the vicious circle of borrowing more money to pay credits, until they decided to reduce spenses and to establish a plan to get out of the problem and have now paid 50% of what they owe.
As Warren Buffet says.

If you are in a hole, stop digging.

Spending to fill the void that causes us anxiety from modern life.

This spending addiction is fed by the stress and the need to work harder to have things that we often do not need and do not have time to enjoy, or to impress people who don't even like us.

And so the need to buy is fueled by advertising, television and the influence of the majority of society. This is consumerism.

This forces us to work on things we do not like, or to over work to pay debts and thus create more stress and anxiety.

Is compulsive spending a disease?

Well, you should not hesitate to ask for professional help if you need so, but I consider it more as a problem to be solved and that has a largely external cause. If we think we have a disease and start to feel guilty about it, then the battle is lost.
If to increase our self-esteem or security, we need to spend is because we have confused our values and we have to solve our internal problems.

Stop the bleeding now

Stop this spending addiction because if you can pay a debt, then you could also have put the same amount of money beside to save each month to pay all in cash. You see, it is a matter of habits and new attitudes like:

• Appreciate what you have and sell what you do not use
• Pay in cash
• Leave credit cards at home

It is not about stop spending completely because this is unnatural and will cause more frustration and will make you to spend even more. It is all about spending without anxiety.

It's like when you diet to lose weight: if the diet is too hard it's much easier to fall back and get over weighted again.
It's all about learning how to spend, but first you have to put your life in order and balance. Your strength comes from you, from inside, that part which belongs to no one and cannot be sold, so do not sell it and keep the treasure of your heart.

The film "The Wolf of Wall Street" tells the story about Jordan Belfort, a fraudster that enriched himself quickly by selling fraudulent actions on Wall Street.

The pump & dump fraud worked like this: Jordan Belfort convinced his customers that he had very positive news from reliable sources about some companies that would increase benefits right away. Of course he owned shares from that stock and those news were lies but that inflated the price. Then he sold his stocks to make a profit.

At the time he had about 1,000 brokers employees they wore an unrestrained lifestyle of drug and alcohol parties.

In 1998 he was arrested for fraud and money laundering and while in prison he wrote his memoirs to become the best seller from which the film came from.

At least he performed a creative act and now earns enough money honestly. But many small businesses are yet recovering from losses caused by his scam.

Winning a lot of money when you have not worked for it

As is the case of those who won big lottery prizes, many of these winners spent it all and some even ended up in debt.

Others went to the opposite extreme, as if they were afraid of the money they had earned, and stayed to live in their modest apartments and doing their daily work.

There are also those who received inheritances without having worked to get them, or without getting any financial education.

I consider that a good financial education is mostly about having the right attitude towards money, the fact of learning to handle derives from this attitude.
I mean, we have to solve problems with money to be able to handle a situation of abundance or scarcity.

What would you do if you did not need to work to make a living

Certainly some some who made money suddenly became victims of hard drug addiction and some other stupid things. It is as if they had been waiting for the money to do this kind of thing.
I think a lot of these problems come from plain boredom of having nothing to do, or no motivations.
I think having an empty head is not good :)

I think I'm already doing the things I like,  so I will continue with my projects and create some more.
And without having to work for a living,  I'd like to enjoy much more free time and my loved ones.

Consider the possibility of getting lots of money right away

Photo http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Most of the people I know who are really successful and make money, are genuine positive thinkers who signed a contract with themselves and determined to never give up, to focus their minds in their objectives setting aside every weight.

It is like the saying in the millionaire mind book: if you want to get rich, think like rich people do.

Instead of complaining about this rotten world, do something to impact it. The battle starts right here (tapped my head).

What do you think?

Steve Jobs said,

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." 

There is so much wisdom in just only that single one quote.

Sometimes I meet people (or even myself) who seem to want to live someone else's life, who get discouraged because of other people, their environment or just by watching the news on television.
They become their own victims, even when others have not done anything wrong to them.
But who can live life in your place? You may want others to do things the way you would do them and you expect someone to do things the way you'd want it. Be the government, your boss or the actors on a film that should have play their roles in a certain way: your way.

This is a very unrealistic idea and creates contradictory feelings because it is not possible for others to live your life for you and there is no way out anyway: only you can live your own life.
If you have jealousy, or criticism towards those who succeed, is a clear sign that you are living someone else's life.
Think that is contradictory to criticize in others what you wish for yourself.
It's like wanting to be rich and criticizing millionaires at the same time.
If you know how to do things better than others but think you can not do them or that others will not let you do them, then change scenario: it is the only way to be true with yourself and so live your own life and not someone else's. Just use your energy for your convenience, for what is interesting for you.
Just try to do your best to improve your situation instead of bearing with it.

The first challenge to attain your objectives and to do it in spite of adversity and problems that you may have to overcome. It is to advance despite the uncertainty, or the danger and to trust your own mind and spirit.
When you do so, then you have the feeling of being in your place and being fair.

The last battle on earth

For Don Juan, in Carlos Castaneda book, every act of the warrior should be like his last battle on earth. The warrior is in the battlefield and trembles all over, but his spirit is confident.
Of course today you do not have to fight with anyone or win any war, you don't even have to suffer.
You simply have to accept the challenge that tells you to live your own life and not that of others.

Whether it is to advance in your career, build your own business or be financially independent.
Do you want to work only part time and have more than enough income? Or are you thinking of passive income to make your living?
Well there is no magic solution, but rather to follow the necessary steps and provoke the favorable conditions and launching the assets that will work for you.
But do you really believe in it?
Prove it by living your own life and not someone else's. This is an obstacle that we are all face sooner or larer, until we live our lives with passion and stop being victims of external circumstances.
This is when you take your life in your hands and you move to the next stage: go from wanting  something to take action to get it.

Drawing is a fantastic way of manifesting your creativity. I'm going to show you step by step the technique to draw a portrait with Bics ballpoint pens.
I'm drawing a portrait of my son for his birthday next 13th.

Step 1: Draw a sketch with pencil

Use very light lines with no shadow, only the forms to guide you.

Step 2: Draw over the outline with a skin color ballpen

Do this very lightly and when the ink is dry erase the pencil lines behind it. I'm using a Bic ballpoint pen skin color that you can see in the picture.

Step 3: Start working on the details

I usually start with the eyes, as you can see, you need to handle the pen and only put a very light pressure.
Remember that there is no way back. I first draw a layer with skin color and then add some orange, pink and brown. I'm only using black

And three hours later:

It takes time! And that's the good part of it because you can enjoy longer.
I'll be adding pictures so you can see my progress.
Here you can see the last step of this drawing with ballpoint pen in colors:

Do you want better results? Do you want to walk on higher ground? Here comes the time to take the risk and change to get your whole life better.

It also means to let go and change your way of thinking and I would say that that's the hardest part of it: to let go, because we hold on to the past to the things we used to do even if there are other things that work better.

Why you are not willing to take the risk?

It is natural to resist to changes because when we change things seem to us as if we were walking on slippery ground.
When it comes to major swifts it is good to look inside yourself to check the deep reasons why you want better things in your life.
Look inside and ask yourself, am I willing to live this way for the next five years?

There is no way back

Photo [arztsamui]www.freedigitalphotos.net

Once you've committed to change you've burned the bridge and there is no way back
because you are focusing on the present and looking to the past only to thank for it and learn from it.
Once you've crossed over that bridge you feel lighter and more free, and happier!

There is always something you can do

Taking the risk is to be willing to change what is necessary to go to a higher level.
If you are convinced, you will find something to do about it, you can take the next step, even if it is a small one, to write the lines of a new chapter.
Are you willing to take the risk to be happy today?

Are you willing to take the risk to develop your skills?

You may know how to write or how to sing, organize events or have a sharp mind for mathematics, but you'll never know about it if you don't put your skills to the test.
You'll get the most satisfaction from having done your best with the talents you have. You know you've walked the extra mile and there will be only satisfaction left and smiles.

Taking the risk means accepting responsibility

This mean you accept success and failure and treat them in the same way.

Failure will help you to accept success and vice versa!

You will see that failure and success are like waves in the ocean, they always come in turn!

So you will get your part from it, but only if you sail your boat away.

Warren Buffet is the richest man of the entire world, let´s follow his counsels on value investing philosophy.

21. Crisis? Yes, but not for everyone.

Some companies do resist to crisis. Just watch them when economy is low because they can be wonderful opportunities to invest.

22. Manage your investments

Make a check-list before taking any decision just like plane pilots do, because the brain will get used to put aside the things which are not convenient. Using a check-list will bring you to reality and to the necessary discipline to take decisions.

23. Be humble

Humility should be part of human behaviour but it is essential to the investor because it will allow you to accept your errors in order to correct them.

24. Be calm to invest

No prevision can determine the time your investment will need to return profit. Do not use capital that you could need.

25. Diversification

"Exaggerated diversification is only justified when investors do not know what they are doing."

But diversification will dilute risk too.

26. Invest on a good brand

Investing on a well known brand means success in the long term.
Well known brand will deploy time and energy to impose themselves and success. Logically your portfolio will have a better long-term valuation.

27. Be objective in all your decisions

Learn to be critical towards your own decisions. Determine the reasons that compel you to buy or sell a stock.

28. A good record

A good record remains a good record even after a fall of 3%. The swings of the stock market in the short term can offer you beautiful buying opportunities at the best price.

29. Watch the leaders

Do not forsake the simple investment. Some values have grown steadily but sometimes they go unnoticed because often
investors do not like the simplicity and are more reassured by investing more complicated cases.

30. Work hard

Investing is about dedicating your time and working hard to attain objectives.

31. Free thinker

Stay free and independent for all your decisions. Being of the same opinion is not a guarantee of success.

32. Capital and growth

Study the companies that do not need regular investment for their development. These companies always have
sufficient reserves to ensure their financial stability.

33. Watch for overvalued stocks

Be aware as well of the market realities. An overvalued value may represent a good opportunity to sell

34. Look for small golden opportunities

Many small values which are neglected by institutional investors and the media are often very beautiful investment opportunities.

35. Accounting, you know?

Understand the business and its value will require a minimum of knowledge. Be sure to read some books so you are familiar with the language of business.

36. Be watching

Take advantage of the swings of the market to be always ready to catch opportunities that present themselves to you. Learn how to be a reactive investor!

37. Invest without precipitation

Investment takes time and careful study for each selected value. Override these rules will transform you in an speculator unable to ensure the sustainability of your investment.

38. Look for the keys of success

A company with a high growth potential has probably innovation, patents and know-how... which will ensure its success.
Try to find the keys of success of the company on which you want to invest

39. Keep a cool head

Your judgment must not be altered by the swings of the market, publications in the media and analyst opinions. Stay objective and be confident in your own judgment.

40. Do not compare

If your neighbor has made 18% profit last year, do not try to imitate him or her, but develop your own investment strategy and your own analyzes.

[Read Part I >>]

If you had invested 1000 dollars in Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the financial holding company of Warren Buffet, you will have 5 millions dollars today.

1. Rule number one: do not loose money. Rule number two: do not forget rule number one.

• Whether it's socks or stocks, I like to buy the goods quality when is marked down. Stocks have ups and downs all the time. When stocks go up then prices are really high, when they go down prices are cheap.
  In real life when you want to buy yourself a good coat you wait for the mark down period, they why should you buy stock options when prices are so high?
  Wait patiently till the market will propose you a good price and to recognize a good price, learn to value a good company.
• It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. Don't hurry, be patient and invest in good quality companies when prices are cheaper. You'll take less risks and get better results, just watch to not buy too expensive.
• We're just trying to be to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. The ideal situation is to buy stocks that people are selling for reasons that do not concern the fundamentals of the company. To do so, you must learn to value a company and control your emotions.
• I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.
  Invest into companies which are simple to understand and simple to manage. If the activity of a company is too complex, keep away from it. You won't be able to value it and if you are not able to value it you'll never know if it is a good opportunity or not.
• Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. Everybody thinks that risk comes from market volatility, that is what they learn at the commerce school. But it is a stupid thing because the real risk of investing comes from the probability to definitely loose your capital. And this probability becomes bigger when we don't know what we are doing.
  If you want to buy yourself a car you spend weeks to compare prices and look for the best offers. This is common sense.
  But it is strange that when we are dealing with stock options we act by impulse without thinking or reading the WHOLE financial report of a company and we just act because one line impresses us.
• You just need to learn one single lesson, that it is of vital importance: to know how to value a company. It's the only way to know if you're paying a fair price, otherwise it is not investing but casino playing.

2. Invest in companies you understand

An investment you understand is a sure success. Many people ignore this but it's so important. We can take the example of Warren Buffet which has almost never invested in technology (with the exception of IBM from which he owns 5% in shares).
But in general if you don't understand a company, do not invest.

3. Patience always pays

Look for quality companies but wait for good opportunity prices.  It is very important to not pay too much.

4. Committed managers

A company whose executives are shareholders will always be responsible in the decisions and directions it will take in the future towards its partners and investors.

5. Leaders of impeccable honesty and integrity

The integrity of the company's leaders is a sign of success and confidence in the business world. It's up to you to watch over the managers of the company you've chosen.

6. Buy cheap, sell expensive

This seems logical but it is easy to forget if you jump over an opportunity following an impulse that is often too expensive.

7. Patience

Patience pays and investors know about it. Nevertheless if you act on an impatient mood your decisions will be less objectives.
If you haven't seized an opportunity just be patience as the price will
become attractive sooner or later.
Think that the market is huge and that there are many others opportunities out there.

8. Knowledge

Knowledge is the key to success. So read, study, keep informed yourself and compare things all the time; it's the best way to be completely objective.

9. Passion

Investing with passion will allow you to put the time and energy in your job as investor.

10. Fear, the chance to get good opportunities

Ask yourself why values are overly sold on markets because they are often unfairly sold off, an this is an excellent opportunity for you to acquire them.

11. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

Cheap stocks does not necessarily mean a good deal, for you may still be buying them at its highest price. You must observe its value in time to really see if it's the moment to buy.

12 Motivate your decisions

Do not invest without taking the time to note down your motivations, then you can compare your writings with the reality of markets and get conclusions.

13. Risk

Investing your money without controlling the risk is like being in the back seat of a car at whole speed without driver.
If you can't define the rules to handle risk, do not invest.

14. Markets influence

Do not be fooled by the markets and sell your values only if they have achieved what you set out in your trading plan.

15 Undervalued stock, yes, but for how long?

To buy undervalued stocks is a good opportunity, but ask yourself about the reasons for its devaluation.
An event such as a takeover bid or launching a patent could bring investors interest on this value

16 Stocks smoke screen

You may think that you know a value by its image, its marketing, its name, its products... but focus your attention more on its annual reports on its figures, projections ...
This approach will allow you to remain objective and have a length ahead of many investors.

17 Footnotes

You may find important revelations in the annual reports small printing footnotes.

18. Short term investing for long term investments

Enjoy the markets in the short term, the companies offering good prospects in the coming years.
The market often tends to amplify the good or bad short-term news which represents many opportunities for invest in promising values.

19. Macroeconomic forecasts: myth or reality?

Do not attempt to predict macro-economic figures to motivate your investment decisions. Do not expect an economical upturn  because it is often too late.

20. Compare, Analyze

To invest you need to compare and analyze markets, but as an investor you need to compare and analyze your failures as much as your success. Write down a plan.

[Read Part II >>]

To change a bad habit, overcome a behavior that does not suit you, or to adopt a different attitude you have to go through these 3 steps.

If you skip one you just wont make it. Whether if it is to achieve financial independence, become more efficient, learning to not to procrastinate, develop your leadership or make a significant change, you have to go through these key steps.
If you do not respect, it will be difficult to get to it .

The 3 steps to change anything you want in your life are simple:

1. Understand the mechanisms that trigger factors, difficulties and performance.
2. To have the desire to adopt a new behavior .
3. To be willing to make efforts .

Apply this to the domain of your choice and see that these are essential steps. You'll see that if you skip a step, it will be hard to make it.
For example if you want to stop procrastinating and you  "force " yourself you are going to burn because you do not understand what you are facing and you will misdirect your efforts.

If you want to negotiate your salary and you assume that you had a positive opinion of your job last year, you better go thorough these steps before.
To understand how a salary negotiation work, you'll have to change to get it and accept the efforts you have to do.

Step 1: Understand what is happening.

If I take the example of time management  we realize that what works well is illogical. It is often the opposite of the basic advice that everyone gives you .
They say that to be effective you must make a list of everything you have to do. The problem is to listen to people who know nothing about it. The other problem is that sometimes there are people who makes you believe that they know what they are talking about.
To overcome a problem you must understand the key mechanisms and especially those that apply to your situation .
But you do not you need to become an expert in time management to learn effectiveness, you just have to understand the mechanisms .
Triggers are situations or stimuli that cause the problem. For example, you are overwhelmed each time a new project comes. You lose patience when Tom is involved in a meeting, etc. .
These are signals.

Ask yourself the good questions to understand what's happening.

What are the consequences of my current behavior?
When a new project arrives and you feel overwhelmed you destroy the work in progress and your customers suffer.
When you lose patience you lose credibility in front of your team.
You 're committing self sabotage.
Then you have to understand the process with a more broader view .
What are the cognitive processes, behavior and what goes through your head when the problem is occurring? The goal is to "understand".

Step 2: Have the desire to change.

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I know it's obvious. Who would strive to change if it was not his desire? But how do you change? What is it that motivates the change?
Sometimes we force ourselves when the desire is not strong enough or because it comes from others and we are not really convinced of wanting to change.

Step 3 : Make efforts.

Yes, change will require an effort, that is evident. To make an effort is to commit yourself to take time and money if necessary. To make an effort is to consciously work on that behavior that needs to change.
It is not that you must exhaust yourself or get frustrated about it, but to be aware that there will be a time when you have firmly decided that things really must change and you feel ready to accept the transformation.
What will you do when you'll face the first challenges?

What are bitcoins?

The word bitcoin literally means currency in bits. It is a decentralized virtual currency that no one controls. You can buy bitcoins as if you bought currencies. You can get paid or pay in bitcoins and there are more merchants accepting that currency.

Maybe at first the idea of using bitcoins is a little bit scary, but it is very simple: the programs to handle bitcoins are open source and free to use and the transactions are encrypted and public.

It is a mode of payment and a way to save money as well, but investing in bitcoins is another subject.

Why bitcoins?

Bitcoins exist in response to traditional currencies which are 98% virtual and the rest is in the banknotes in circulation.

The drawbacks of the traditional coins are:

•     It is controlled by a central bank.
•     Is in constant devaluation, that is manipulation.
•     The state controls all movements.

Why bitcoins are interesting?

You can send and receive money around the world at no cost.

Nobody controls, limits or prevents your transactions.

The bitcoin is relatively independent from traditional currencies and allows, in theory, to protect your assets in case of collapse of the euro or the dollar.

This means that you could buy anything even if it is illegal, bitcoins are just a tool and what you do with it is up to you alone.

How much do they cost?

The value of bitcoin it's just shooting up and no one knows how far it can reach. The mass of bitcoin is limited to 21 million today, which in theory also limit its value once everything has been distributed.

The value of bitcoin is very volatile

The volatility is hight from 700-540 dollars in two days last November and now (December 2013) has surpased $1000 and the value changes every five minutes.

 

Source : http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-540-2013-11

At the moment while I'm writing this article (9 Dec 2013) China's government has banned bitcoins so the value has gone down to $576.
I would say that news and rumors are the only rules with bitcoins.

The risk of bitcoins

The dangers of having bitcoins are basically these two :

1. Fraudulent intermediaries such as the case of China Limited Global Bond platform http://www.techienews.co.uk/972880/bitcoin-trading-platform-gbl-shuts-5-million-bitcoin-disappears/  that was supposedly an exchange platform on bitcoins registered by the state, when in fact it was all about scammers that have stolen 5 million in bitcoins.
2. Cyber thefts victims because of the lack of security of platforms hosting wallets.

As everything is new it is easy to find unscrupulous people, these are the limits of a currency that is not subject to any rule, but it is something you can easily avoid working only with services or recognized companies only.

Another possible risk is to invest in bitcoins and then to have to get the money out in a time when the value is lower. But this would be the same risk as if we were investing in foreign exchange.

As the whole system is in a period of experimentation it could disappear suddenly and you could lose all the capital . The probability of this happening is remote, but we can not exclude by prudence.

How does it work?

To use bitcoins you do not need a card id and an appointment with the bank, you do not even have to give any information.

You have to download a program that lets you have a wallet with wich you can generate code that is the key that you will communicate to receive the money .

By the way if it is installed on a computer you must either save the information for this KEY if you do not want to "lose" money if you computer is stolen, damaged or reformated.

With this wallet you can also send money to someone you have communicated your code.

How to buy bitcoins

To feed your wallet you can convert your euros or dollars in bitcoins in specialized agencies (for approximately 1% commission) or "mining" for Bitcoins (a long operation that requires calculation power from your computer).

You can also get paid something in bitcoins it's the easiest way to get them.

Should I invest in bitcoin now?

I'm thinking of getting a small wallet to experiment. The truth is that I like the idea of bitcoins, because it seems consistent with individual freedoms.

But I would not invest in bitcoins for the moment because there are no rules and because I think that is in a growing bubble period that could burst in any moment.

I consider it an interesting experience to make transactions and a good tool, but would I not use it to seriously invest or deposit a significant part of money.

You can find all useful information on bitcoins in the site: http://bitcoin.org

Leonardo da Vinci considered himself as an ignorant man because he had not learned Latin. All the books on science and knowledge of his time were written in Latin and the language of the universities was also Latin.
But he just had a basic education in school, he learned to read and write and some basic maths, nothing more.
If Leonardo da Vinci was an ignorant, how come he created so many fantastic things?
I would say because of these three reasons:

1. To ask the right questions and seek solutions.
2. To take action to end.
3. To write everything he did.

To ask the right questions and seek solutions

Leonardo da Vinci created a new way of thinking, he wanted to know how everything worked and find the answers based on good observation.

Here are some of the questions and answers of Leonardo:

Credit: Janaka Dharmasena (shutterstock)

Why in the distance the mountains are blue?

Until then, the artists of the time painted the distant mountains green or brown and only the sky could be blue when they painted a landscape.
Leonardo said, the blue color of the mountains is the reflection of the water vapor in the atmosphere in the distance. And so he was the first to paint the distant mountains in blue.

What are the proportions of the human body?

The man of Vitruvio drawing are a good examples of his study of these proportions.
You can read all about these proportions here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man

What is the movement of water?

For Leonardo water movement looked the way hair grows, in spirals. He said that the movement of water is like the air movement, and that movement is the principle of nature.
His research on movement led him to very important inventions, such as gears and the endless screw, without which the industry and mechanics would not exist as we know them today.

How do birds fly?

To design his flying machines he observed the flight of birds and also the flight of a bird without wing flapping or just planning, hence the invention of what we now call a delta plane.

How does the human body work?

Studying the anatomy and the functioning of the heart he discovered how do the valves work inside the heart and how it directs the flow of blood in the body.
He performed autopsies and did detailed drawings of the inside of the human body. His writings could be classified as the first treaty on cardiology.

To take action to end

Experiencing, sketching, creating and manifesting were his constant passions. The most impressive is the perfectionism, the precision and how prolific his work is. His innovative spirit, the desire to go beyond to find the light like no one had done in painting, to find answers in the fields of engineering and mechanics.
The mixture of art and science in a perfect renaissance man. In those times a wise and instructed person knew about maths, art, literature, philosophy, engineering and sometimes medicine. That was a complete person. Today is the opposite, people are so specialized in one single subject that they do hardly get a global vision of things.

He wrote everything he did

Thanks to the diary of Leonardo da Vinci the Codex Atlanticus along with the other Codex, in which he wrote three pages a day, today we can read about all these wonderful things .
Because he left a record of all his creations, ideas and new inventions, the Codex Atlanticus is undoubtedly one of the most important contributions to the advance of our world.

And if Leonardo da Vinci was an ignorant ... that's what he thought of himself.
And you, what do you think about it?

Did you figure out what to put in your budget for Christmas?
As every year we are submerged into a new wave of consumerism, shopping madness and uncontrolled expenses. Some times you have a hard time just finding out what you are going to offer as a gift.
Because a simple, full of love and meaningful gift doesn't have to be expensive. But, would it be appreciated?

We are stuffed ourselves with things. How many things did you buy, then you used it only once and is forever kept in a box?
The other night we went to one of the most fantastic restaurant in Paris, food was great and servers were kind, and even prices were quite affordable!
But reading comments on the forums later, there was someone who said: they don't even have any live music on!
As you can see some people always find a reason to complain, but when you go to a concert you don't get invited to dinner by the musicians, do you?

People are already stuffed with things but Christmas time and consumerism go together well, so people get stuffed up with even more things for fear of lack.
But it is the perception of lack that blocks abundance. Those needs are not real, but the belief of lack and loss are a real thing that make unwanted needs to come true.
We create it.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We've got all an automatic reaction towards lack and need. It provokes a permanent dissatisfaction and marketing and publicity people know about it so they are trying to make us believe that with this or that object this feeling of need is going to stop to allow us step on a life of plenitude.
But promises are only for those who listen to them.

We live in an abundant world

In the very ancient times we had to hunt and fight for our lives in order to survive, but today you do not have to kill a bear who is trying to kill you, so you can get rid of it and go and kill a rabbit for your breakfast. Those were hard times, times of survival.

Today we must take a step forward and realize that we've got more than plenty, in opportunities and in values.
I think that that is the mind of a millionaire, the spirit of somebody who sees abundance, who appreciates what he's already got and only get new things when he knows that is going to be enjoyed and used, or just because he likes it and not to fill up a hole of unreal lack.

A millionaire doesn't fall into the trap of Christmas time and consumerism, that is an unreal feeling of lack that will enslave you more into debt, and you are looking for financial freedom, remember?

So, what do you think?
Enjoy

We are all artists as we are already creating the life that we want. In fact you do not have to be a so called artist, you do not have to be a painter, writer, photographer o any other form of accepted artist to be creative.
If you are creating a family then you are an artist and your family is your master piece or your best piece of art.
If you are creating a business of your own, that is also art.
Are you writing a blog? that is also art and it's intended to be the best possible blog that you can produce.

Putting your art into action

There is one thing I like about creativity the way I understand it, and that is that it is not only imagining things in a sort of long daydreaming state, laying on the clouds playing a harp but it's also manifesting and putting your ideas into action.
Daydreaming with no action it's a pitfall but creativity is putting feet to your thoughts.

Image courtesy of [khunaspix] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So many artists were not creating the life that they wanted because they confounded creativity with inspiration and they stayed hanging in a world of ideas only.
They though about their inspiration but never crowned it with the needed action to achieve their work till the end including promoting their master piece, so no creativity!
Here is a simple principle:
Creativity = imagination + action
When you are manifesting you are creating the life you want, it is productive and by far the best work you can do.

Manifesting your own thoughts and not someone's else   

One key step in all this is knowing what you really want and detecting that your desires are your inner ones being born from your deepest heart and not someone's else.
Sometimes we want to please our loved ones and we take a role in life that is not truly ours and we may end engaged into doing something that we don't really want to, filling up the needs of others, but we convince ourselves that we've got to.
It's like lying to yourself, you adopt the desires of another person, to please him/her, that's what happens with contagious emotions, but those needs are they really yours?.
If you don't manifest your own thoughts the voice will quite down and you’ll be unhappy, but this doesn't have to happen. You may also get to a real agree together and use the synergy power to boost your lives.

Ask yourself, am I creating the life I want?

When you ask questions deep inside yourself there is always an answer and you can go beyond and ask yourself: what action can I take today to create the life I want?
That is called aligning with your inner self, that's what I did when quitting my job or when I started this blog, just listening to my inner voice.
I’m sure you will find that little thing to do that will light up your day and get you in the right way to manifest your creations.

You know I’ve been thinking a lot lately about quitting my job and there are three things that I need to make clear to my self before I jump out:

1. To know real reasons why I'm quitting my job
2. To face my fears before I jump into the emptiness
3. To quit my job gracefully

The first thing was to tell my loved one that I wanted to quit my job and I was encouraged when I've heard the answer: I see that you stagnate. That was a confirmation and a relief too.

I also had a coffee with an ex-colleague wich quitted a year ago. He gave me real good counsel about how to quit a job and he was a sample of gracefulness all the time.
He told me to get a break as he did by negotiating with the boss to be able to quit the job with unemployment aid or unemployement benefits to which you are eligible right away if your employer laid you off for lack of work.
This is true here in Europe, the thing is that in my case there is no lack of work for me in my company.

1. To know real reasons why I'm quitting my job

I really pondered about this because it is better to know why you are quitting your job before you do it and not find out that you could have stayed when you are in the middle of the process. So I did this little exercise and asked myself:

• Do I see myself working here for the next five years?
• If so, could I progress, get promoted or get new knowledge and new experiences?

Well, the answers were negative and I feel my time's finished. I read once that people do not quit companies, but they quit other people. Leaders should stop managing people and just manage the work to do.

2. To face fear before jumping into the emptiness

The defy is about trusting in your capacity to raise funds in the future, to live and pay the bills and to have more than enough money left to enjoy life.
But fear is paralyzing, it just stops you from acting, it's telling you: you are here so cozy in your comfort zone, no need to stir up things, just quite everything down... hush, hush!
But let me tell you that if you don't act, nothing changes, nothing happens and water get darker and muddier and as the time passes by it becomes more difficult to make a move.

3. To quit my job gracefully

I planned my resignation meeting as I planned my first interview to get the job. I had meditated on every word I was going to say to make it really positive.
I explained that the main reason for leaving was the need of new technical challenge and new projects to enhance my experience as a programmer.
I'm also accomplishing and finishing tasks in the best possible way, I've never talked bad about any person, so I'm ready to quit gracefully, ready to start my new adventure.

Why do couples argue about money and how to better organize home budget.

Money and personal values can happily go together with your couple life.
Let numbers speak.
Putting money goals together should boost your finances, like a sort of synergy effect (1 + 1 = 3), and in many real situations money and couple problems can be solved with a basic organization and a simple budget.

But which are the basis for happy domestic economy?

Step one: define common expenses

Just sit down together and take pen and paper, or open up an Excel worksheet if you prefer it and type in detail all monthly expenses which may be:

• Rent
• Electricity
• Food

 ..and so on,.. please write down all the expenses in detail even if they are very small..

The goal is to quantify monthly expenses and to determine the exact amount to pay it all.

Step two: how to contribute to common expenses

Image courtesy of [sdmania] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To find the formula to contribute to expenses and to organize the bank accounts are the key to solve this money and couple problems.
I've found two methods that seem interesting to me:

1. By giving 50% each. 

This method is very interesting when the two salaries are similar. Each one pays half of everything because each one consumes just half of everything.
I will not advice you to split expenses by two like saying: I pay the rent and you pay food and the rest of invoices.

2. Contributing in proportion to each one salary

If there is a difference of more than $500 between the two salaries, each one should contribute in proportion to the amount he/she makes.
This seems right to me because even if salaries are not similar the individual participation is fair.

Step three: create a common accounting system

Even if it is a very simple thing it is always good to keep track of money flow, when things are clear on paper (or computer screen) things are also clear on each one mind.

A common bank account comes handy to pay monthly expenses, once a contribution method is established.

The principle of paying one self first it also works when you are in couple, and in order to work it out you can set up a simple automatic money transfer system that will feed the individual bank accounts with savings.

Each one should keep and watch his/her individual bank account and so you can offer your loved one a present and it always be a surprise without affecting home economics!

And of course these are not the only systems, if you make $2000 more than your loved one you will want to share it with her (or he) so she can get as much personal money as you.
We are talking about love, not a corporation accounts report, and with love balance and sharing are the keywords.

How to make all this work

Each one could have a personal bank account that receive the salary.
Each month an automatic money transfer will pass the accorded amount to the common bank account which will pay common expenses, feed common saving projects and investments.
Each month you would sit together to check bank movements and correct the necessary things to attain the ideal budget together.

There are many more solutions to money and couple problems, of course, it all depend on you, the way you both like it and agree, all that seems fair to you both.

And so, they lived happily forever and ever by letting numbers speak.

The stock market is all about companies and dividends and before investing your money in stocks options you need to understand how does the stock market works.

The birth of a company

At the beginning there are entrepreneurs with an idea and a vision. That is transformed gradually into project, but to materialize it they need capital or assets such as machines. These assets are brought by investors, sometimes the contractors themselves. In exchange for these contributions, each investor was awarded with shares of the newly created company.
Then investors become shareholders each with a percentage of the company determined by their contribution. It is important to remember that an action is nothing more than a share of the company. You therefore become owner of a part of the machines, the stock of cash and everything the company owns. The company is therefore launched and can start its activity.

How does the stock market work?

Image courtesy of [photokanok] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The search for new capital on the stock exchange.

After some time the company needs to invest to continue to grow.
There are two options: to borrow money or to issue shares.
When it borrows money from a bank or investors, it works int he same way as it would with you with  your banking institution with regular repayments.
The second option is to offer shares on the stock market. Investors buying these shares bring new capital to the company.
This means that if the total number of shares of the company increases, the share of the company for each share or action decreases.
It is better for the company to have an action from the available 100 which gives right to 1% of the company than 1 action out of 10000 which gives the right to 0.01%. Investors are therefore the new owners of the business.

As long as they keep their shares they receive a part of the distributed dividends and have the right to vote at the general meeting of the company.

In the mean time the stock trade evolves. One day a shareholder decides to sell his shares, he sells them to the market price and gets back more value if the course has mounted since its purchase or a less value otherwise.
As soon as the shares are sold, the rights to the company are obviously lost.

How to buy shares on the stock exchange

There are two markets for the purchase of shares:

The primary market.

When the company goes public and offers directly to investors the shares at a fixed price determined by the company itself.

The secondary market.

It is when investors exchange shares between themselves by buying and selling in the stock market without the intervention of the company.
The price is then determined by a confrontation between supply and demand. Note that companies may decide to buy back some shares which is a sign of good health and good news for shareholders. The stock exchange is a market regulated by the financial markets authority in your country. The companies listed should have the obligation to provide information regularly about:

• Their annual accounts once per year.
• A financial report, an activity report and report of the Auditors.

Many companies have habit to publish quarterly financial and activity reports to inform investors.

Why not all companies are in the stock market

Do you see how does the stock market work? Some times investors are making decisions on the company and certain managers don´t like that. Specially if they don´t own a mayor number of stocks, they´ll have no voice.
Being ruled by investors add pressure on performance and reports but especially this imposes additional pressure on leaders. If the stock price is too low, the company could be acquired by a competitor or by investors who would impose a different management policy.

The leaders of the largest companies have part of their remuneration which consists of actions, they have therefore every interest in the fact that the course rises to make a profit on the future resale. Another advantage of a high stock price is that it facilitates the supply of new capital.

Let´s say that the company needs $ 1000, and its course is € 10 then it will issue 100 shares. If its course is € 1 it will be obliged to issue 1,000 shares.
The more it issues shares and the more the value of each is one 'diluted' or low, which is not interesting for investors.

What is a stock market index

A stock market index is a set of values which reflects the global movement of the companies that make it up.

Some examples in America are:

• Dow Jones
• S&P 500
• NASDAQ

In Europe:

• FTSE 100
• CAC 40
• Swiss Market Index

In Asia:

• Nikkei 225
• Hong Kong Hang Seng Index

Usually the number after the name represents the number of companies that are included in the index. For example, the CAC 40 index is made of 40 companies.

There are many other products that are traded on financial markets besides the stocks, such as bonds, warrants or raw materials. I did not go in the details on this article on how does the stock market work because they are more complex and need to be explained more extensively.
And now, do you understand how does the stock market work?

Have you ever heard of investing on dairy cows? It sounds funny, but it is a real thing! Here is how it works:

The investor buys heads of cattle (dairy cows), then he addresses to a specialized manager who rents them out for him at a selected breeder or farmer. The breeder provides work, buildings, equipment and land. He raises the cows, feeds them and pays for the illness and accident insurance.

Each cow who dies is replaced by another of the same quality, the owner suffers no loss of profits as everything is covered by the insurance. The farmer keeps the milk, manure and males.
The female offspring are shared between the farmer and the owner, after a levy designed to keep a young flock (this levy ensures sustainability of the flock).
Therefore one does not become a breeder... It is all about investing money.

At what interest rate? 

Image courtesy of [digitalart] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The owner (the investor) collects about 4-5% of its population a year in nature. He then has the choice between reinvesting its earnings (heifers will be added up to his flock each year, with an average growth rate of 4.2%, then the flock will double in 19 years) or sell.
If he decides to sell, the heifers due to him are sold as soon as they are adults.
In short, this is another investment not often proposed by bankers, but it is a way to diversificate passive income.


Small farmers can benefit from cattle he didn't have to pay for and owners (investors) can colaborate to grow our planet resources and get money from a real "tangible" thing.

An example of investing on dairy cows

There are two options for the return of benefits:
The grow option (keeping new born heifers and no yearly cash income)
A yearly cash income (by selling a fixed number of animals every year)

These are the costs and benefits.
- cost per head 1 167 €
- average yearly yield (in number of heifers) 4,20 %,


The thing is to start buying heads and chose the growth option for a number of years (let's say you grow your cattle) and then get the return of investing on dairy cows.

Let's say we start buying ten heads and then we buy two extra heifers for a period of five years.

Start 1 167 x 10 = 11 670
Buy two extra by year 1 167 x 2 = 2 334
In five years you will have 20 heads, worthy 23 340 wich will yield 980.28 euros/year

It seems that this idea comes from the the middle age, the old times of Richard Lion Hearted, where herd was considered as the real richness.
All this figures and conditions are samples here in France, to read more:
http://www.afic-ass.com/anglais/cadre_ang.asp?savoir=0&choix=ex
Cows will always be a growing market, what do you think?