Textual Thoughts

Here’s a link to download five wonderful self help classic, in e-book (PDF) format, for FREE.

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
2. Science Of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles
3. As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
4. Acres Of Diamonds by Russell Conwell
5. The Art And Science Of Personal Magnetism by Theron Q. Dumont

These are all self help classics – pioneering works in the field of personal development, highly recommended reading for people from all walks of life.

I received this via email recently. Thought I’d share it here for the New Year:

LIFEBOOK 2010

Health:

• 1. Drink plenty of water.
• 2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
• 3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
• 4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
• 5. Make time for prayer.
• 6. Play more games.
• 7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
• 8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
• 9. Sleep for 7 hours
• 10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.

Personality:

• 11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
• 12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
• 13. Don’t over do ; keep your limits.
• 14. Don’t take yourself so seriously ; no one else does.
• 15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
• 16. Dream more while you are awake.
• 17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
• 18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
• 19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
• 20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
• 21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
• 22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• 23. Smile and laugh more.
• 24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:

• 25. Call your family often.
• 26. Each day give something good to others.
• 27. Forgive everyone for everything.
• 28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
• 29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
• 30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
• 31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

• 32. Do the right things.
• 33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
• 34. GOD heals everything.
• 35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
• 36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
• 37. The best is yet to come.
• 38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
• 39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least :

• 40. Do forward this to everyone you care about.

Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

I came across this interesting article on CNBC’s website which talks about watches as an alternative investment, more interestingly, as an asset class that withstands the test of time. Personally I find it satisfying that my little hobby (my wife would call it an obsession) can now be described more respectfully as an alternative form of investing. Hopefully with the aid of this article I can argue my case more eloquently and convincingly in justifying my next watch purchase to my better half.

Some points from the article which I found to be worth noting:

i) The article that the current downturn has been hard on the luxury watch market. However it is necessary to differentiate between “retail” luxury watches from “collectible” luxury watches. In the current global economic malaise the collectible luxury watch market have been more resilient. Record prices are still seen at recent horology auctions for rare timepieces.

ii) “Jon Cox from Kepler Capital Markets says collectible watches may also offer inflation protection as investors may be worried of higher price levels in the future. He adds that in some countries, a Rolex is even considered a currency.” – That’s good news for all Rolex fans out there. Like they say, never leave home without your trusty old Rolex. You never know when you run out of hard cash. With a Rolex or two on your wrist, you can confidently pop into the nearest neighbourhood pawn shop and walk out five minutes later with wads of hard currency bulging in your pockets.

iii) “While age for most other asset classes is associated with depreciation and loss of value, a collectible watch investment ticks differently. The older a timepiece is, the more value it usually holds.” Words of wisdom indeed. Like I always say, it’s far better to put your money into good watches than to buy an expensive luxury car which depreciates the moment you sign the purchase agreement. But I’ll bet there are people out there with deep enough pockets who would dispute my line of thinking.

iv) “Signs of wear and tear show a watch is authentic and has history, while a polishing only reduces a watches’ value.” So all you weekend watch polishers please take note. You may be polishing off your watch value, so go lightly on the cape cod cloth.

Timezone has an excellent article on the work horse caliber 3135 from Rolex. Must read for all watch enthusiasts.