Blog
Professional athletes require unique financial planning due to the amount of compensation and timing of the earning career. Athletes, with their families, should create a financial plan that spans the playing career, transition to post-play career and long-term life goals.
Information for educational purposes only.
On Efficiency
“The organization will let you work on whatever you want to work on. You just have to make sure you are working on things only you can work on… Certainly true if you are going through a period of tremendous scrutiny or big changes… You have to set time aside to make sure you know where you are.” Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf.
Mr. Mollenkopk’s words had a big impact on me as an entrepreneur as there are no shortage of items that need attention. His comments bring clarity to how to prioritize tasks to determine what needs should be delegated versus owned. End goal is efficiency as to avoid burnout as one scales mountains.
Case Study: Group Flow
Louis Gerstner’s book Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance is a fascinating account of the former IBM CEO’s historic turnaround of the tech giant. One lesson I took away from the book (available on Audible.com) was that Gerstner initially made no major decisions, but rather spent time talking with different divisions. One when he had a clear idea of IBM’s needs across the organization, did Gerstner develop an overarching strategy that served to right the ship. This collaborative approach relates to author Steven Kotler’s statement in Stealing Fire about the kind of leader Google was seeking in a CEO: someone able “…to let go of his ego, merge with the team…” Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal is available on Audible.com.
How Google used Burning Man to find a CEO who was familiar with group flow pic.twitter.com/saUgEX2q2r
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) January 19, 2019
Forget Successes Immediately.
IAC Chairman and media legend Barry Diller: "One of the ways you guard against arrogance is to forget success. So I just always tried to brush it clean. Sometimes successfully."
Read more: https://t.co/UyUmWhZngO pic.twitter.com/CUniGohzQ4
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) January 19, 2019
Finite verus Infinite Game
“They also make the very clever shift away from seeing those in their industry as competitors and rather see them as rivals. A competitor is someone you want to beat. And the obsession again is too much on the finite. What are the metrics, how are we going to get ahead of them? A rival is someone who’s strengths reveals to you your weaknesses. So to see those in your industry and admire where they are better than you, instead of trying to beat them, you look at where your weaknesses are, and improve. It’s constant improvement.” -Simon Sinek
Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse is a very interesting book and available on Audible. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek is scheduled to be released June 6, 2019. Can’t wait!
On Building Connections
Just downloaded The Code of Trust, by Robin Dreeke and Cameron Stauth, on Audible.com.
These 3 strategies can be used to connect with anyone, anywhere pic.twitter.com/4xvJIWfXdm
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) December 5, 2018
New Tax Law
Why pro athletes may lose a fortune because of the new tax law https://t.co/6EijSVsAGk
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) December 7, 2018
Traits of Billionaires include GRIT and Resilience
Success demands not believing the hype, or lack thereof, tunnel vision, GRIT and resilience. Each level becomes ever the more challenging but the formula remains the same: Just do the work.
Just downloaded Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Eric Barker on Audible.com.
The average GPA of college millionaires is 2.9 — find out why pic.twitter.com/HSpkveZHqS
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) December 13, 2018
Alkaline versus Acidic Foods
A recent conversation with a friend about acid reflux brought up a 2004 email from my father. Below content from his email is the framework in which I think about the food I eat. While the average pH value of yogurt is about 4, which is somewhat acidic, a drinkable yogurt from Trader Joe’s always settles my stomach.
“Strong alkaline food: Grape, tea, Seaweed.
Medium alkaline food: Yellow bean, tomato, pumpkin, strawberry, lemon,
spinach, banana, & egg white.
Weak alkaline food: Red bean, apple, onion, tofu, green color
vegetable.
Strong acidic food: Egg (yellow portion), cheese, persimmon.
Medium acidic food: Bacon, pork, beef, margarine, bread, wheat,
chicken & fish.
Weak acidic food: Rice, peanut, beer, clam, oil fries.
85% of cancer patients have acidic body fluid (pH< 7.4). Best acidic foods: alkaline foods ratio is 1:3”
Elite Performance
Here's how @AlexHonnold became the first climber to scale Yosemite’s El Capitan without a rope. #FreeSolo
Watch the full TED Talk here: https://t.co/H9RqMiEO0l pic.twitter.com/PO9xOWdGaW
— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) November 13, 2018
Risks For Asymmetric Returns
Listening to Money Master the Game, by Tony Robbins, on Audible.com.
.@TonyRobbins: Here’s the secret to investing like hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones #ThursdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/AEUl11UXDa
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) September 8, 2016
Eastern Europe Post War World I
One hundred years ago, the end of World War I was the beginning of many border changes in Eastern Europe – and much ethnic strife. Here's what you need to know about the impact #WWI had in the region: pic.twitter.com/H4K4ZZEAcg
— DW News (@dwnews) November 11, 2018
The Middle East Post World War I
100 years ago, the end of World War I brought turmoil to the Middle East. The aftershocks can still be seen today.
Tune in to our videos looking at the impact of the Great War. Here's episode one. pic.twitter.com/kWLyU3g3gJ
— DW News (@dwnews) November 10, 2018
“Previous record-holder Karl Meltzer suggested Sabbe ice his shins each evening.”
The Belgian dentist averaged 50 miles a day to shatter the old record by 4 days. pic.twitter.com/3IRGrewEZq
— Runner's World (@runnersworld) October 28, 2018
On Excellence
“I think it's on us to try to teach kids what excellence looks like and feels like,” –@kobebryant. Adults should give youth the tools to help them chase their dreams and "along the process they will learn what excellence looks like." https://t.co/rzOFhdkuJS #ProjectPlay pic.twitter.com/VD2clEahbi
— Aspen Inst Sports (@AspenInstSports) October 16, 2018
Imagination play
“Imagination is key. You have to be able to envision and dream it first. –@kobebryant on the role imagination plays in sport and kids staying in the game.
Watch live: https://t.co/RVZYmPjtoG #ProjectPlay pic.twitter.com/9Z5qefAYcx— The Aspen Institute (@AspenInstitute) October 16, 2018
“I set out to make positive thinking a practice.” Deena Kastor
“That’s as good as I am in that moment and then I get to challenge it. Then I get to see, alright what else are you made of here?” Deena Kastor
This Olympian’s running career was completely changed thanks to one simple tweak pic.twitter.com/vP5FRaS5VB
— Women's Health (@WomensHealthMag) September 12, 2018
“A slump is a period of adjustment.” Dave Winfield
Just downloaded, ‘Life As Sport’, by Dr. Fader on Audible.com.
A slump is a ‘statistically acceptable aberration’ pic.twitter.com/yUHt0YVGOf
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) September 13, 2018
Grande Armee invasion of Russia
Charles Minard’s graph follows Napolean’s Grande Armee thru it’s march to (tan color) and back from (black color) Moscow. Napoleon who understood the ‘friction of war’ started the campaign with approximately 600,000 soldiers. The black line shows the severity of the forced retreat with 20,000 some of his initial 600,000 troops eventually making it back to France.
Which brings me back to thinking about General Lee at Gettysburg, with his Calvary commander Jeb Stewart’s location unknown, all culminating in Pickett’s Charge.
Graph source: Wikipedia
Lions can get trapped.
"Masculinity is about power. It is about the projection of power and the projection of strength. That projection is false, and it is killing us."
– @michaelianblack, during the #MIGlobal discussion on "How to Be a Man in 2018." #Equality https://t.co/hHBCcjSIL9 pic.twitter.com/oAItRiJ1LS
— Milken Institute (@MilkenInstitute) August 16, 2018
On Grand Strategy
“It was in our strategical thinking, in the strategy of peace, that we made our mistakes. It was because our strategy was wrong that our tactics, whatever they were—and they were various—never worked out. And if now we do not develop a grand strategy of peace, we shall be wrong again—and we shall have another war.”
Richard Law, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, March 1942
KCL Grand Strategy @KCL_CGS Apr 12
Introducing our #SecurityExperts: @JohnBew on #GrandStrategy. Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/D3FxZH3m5s.@KCL_CGS @DefenceResearch @warstudies @KingsCollegeLon pic.twitter.com/UN3Ie2bOWj
— Security Studies (@KCLSecurity) December 15, 2017