Trust and sharing economy

Where does Money come from? What is the value based on?
Money is a destribution of wealth.
Money consists of our needs and wants, combined with the physical reality of the work for it. For instance, Gold. yes it does cost to find it and dig it out, but it is the scarcity of it that gives it the value. Symbols are symbols because they are rare…

Value of a Product is not its actual value but a combination.

Money is partilly the proportion of Value ( R) + Value ( P). R = Real + P= Perceived.

 

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The sharing economy is a way to monetize trust by letting users “rent” services together. A way to get rid of  wasted space.

AirBnb. Living in strangers´ houses.
Blablacar. Increasing trust to travel with strangers.

Trust is the factor of success here. Yes, perhaps it is a good service as an idea, but will the overnight stay/car ride have an experience that is close to what you expect: tangible? tangible enough that you feel OK with making the purchase decision.

Increasing trust is done through a study of user experience engaging users. And organising the business around trust as a key performance indicator.

Read more about what to measure here:

http://www.betrustman.com/

Business in general increases trust to get the deal. To make the transaction more smooth.

Yes, money is built on trust. Business is trust. Sharing economy is built on monetizing the trust of sharing.

 

 

 

 

Napoleon by Vincent Cronin

Napoleon – A book written by Vincent Cronin,author born in 1920.

An exciting read. I would say a 5/5, if it wasnt for the uncertainty in the “true” picture of him.

From a benign point of view towards Napoleon this book paints an interesting, compelling man that seems both before his time, as well as someone fundamentally good, however with some personal shortcomings – mostly because of the time he was living in. It is almost as if Cronin felt sorry for him. The morale compass an old one from the time, but still admirable.

The shortcomings are according to Cronin mainly:
Impatience, over optimism, naivete towards human feelings.

The book does not mention women in an equal or good wayCronin bring up a few issues to point out that equality was not the same. but Cronin also make use of metaphores over women which seem to convey his own sentiments such as: France not longer being Napoleons mistress because she had “slept around” and did not consider him anymore her master. A few other semipsycological comments on how women are can be seen.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book but the overall postive picture of Napoleon. But in the end it made me wonder how objective this book really was. Since my picture of him, being the first book, was positive. Was it my own projections or the author? Maybe both. What about all the negatives people have said about Napoleon? etc.

If history is written by the victors, in that case this book is an excellent counterweigh to a negative tone. This book is as Cronin says a more humane picture of the man behind the name.

Napoleon, as by Cronin seems to be as an energetic superman, who is good towards other, sometimes too harsh, a administrator “with eyes for detail but no loosing sight of the big picture” and reformer who exported the revolutionary freedomes to the people of Europe.

Napoleon was according to Cronin someone who had vision, extreme focus and vigour, talent and audacity.
He is someone to look up to and even sympathize with.

Some quotes:

Here Napoleon about life:

A bridge thrown over a fast river. Travellers are crossing it, some dawdling. Others running, some going straight, others meandering. One group, arms dangling, stops to sleep or watch the river and there are others, laden with burdens and taking no rest, who tire themselves tyring to catch soap bubbes, of every colour which charlatans blow out into the void from richly decorated platforms. As soon as they are touched these bubbles vanish, sullying the hand that has reached for them.

“Napoleon, we know, was a perfectionist and, like all perfectionists went wrong were subject to deep disillusion.” -Cronin about Napoleon:
“The essential thing is to be afraid last” – Napoleon said to Alexander of Russia.
“Everything is matter, more or less organized” – Napoleon on Religion.
“If your number is up, no point in worrying” – Napoleon in battle.
“He wanted more from life than happiness” – Cronin about Napoleons love for Josephine.

My Project planning experiment with Trello

Since my move to Berlin I have applied the Kanban-tool explained here to various fields of my day to day life.

I failed but got something else.

The experiment was:

To implement the project/time management tool Kanban in order to make my everyday life more structured and effective.

The fields would be:

• Reading + Blogging.
• Business.
• Training.
• Other.
• 6 months goals.(Learning)

I started in July by trying out an easy kanban tool which name I have forgotten.
Around the same time I started using Trello after a recommendation on the site of the Sales/CRM system I have been using in my startup.

Trello was the more compelling choice with enough features to make it interesting, a nice and compelling design and which quickly proved to me an easier tool that also was more free in its used, which will be explained a bit more.

To implement this project management style of life proved to be hard. I listened to Brian Tracy and applied his morning list to my day followed by putting that into Trello leading me to add another project: Websites and articles where I would add interesting articles I came over on the internet and wished to read. Things that were low-priorities. This was a good idea which I made use of for a long time. Now I simply write the URL down in a wordfile.

The hardest thing was to keep on with the routine, which in the end made me see my effort as not succesful, but not entirely that that my commitment to the project dwindled because of its thourough implemantion in my entire life. Such a decision should be taken very seriously.

The training-part which in the end was succesful and let me build a new life style was to:

Instead of listing the training as “todo” I simply put in in when its done to keep track of my progress.
This made it easier for me to do without seeing the task at hand as “a thing to tick off” but more like leisure time.
However, that is how I see it now. Not before. It seems like a routine becomes solid ground when it is integrated into one´s Psycology, before one has to pull it up by the rope of motivation litte all the time and never let go.

End result:

I kept at it in all fields the first 3-4 weeks.

My training has developed into a routine which has permeated my life and changed my life style by making me eat better, taken care of myself more and better health.

How does it look in Trello?: I have logged every training session with comments about the training since July. So, the experimentation has so far has had a positive inpact on my life but not as I meant for it to do. The end goal is in fact to get better routines which I to some extent got.

To start a routine one must keep the routine alive, even though changes are made. The routine itself is important and when it is firmly integrated into my psycology as Training now is, it is almost relaxing to fall back on it.

I think I will add one or two things to my Trello tool now that one part is carrying itself.

Furthermore: Some other things have been gained such as the logging of expenses to get a clear picture of my monthly spending.

To implement such a change in life style I need to ask myself: Will I honestly do this in 5 years time? Does it help me on many levels? Should I really do it 100% on all fields in my life, or start small and add?

I am not sure, I will try to add now.

Team of Rivals

Hope it is worth it. A recommended book by many. Few hours in. No real political strategy yet, but history and some more understanding. Abraham Lincoln was awkward with women, bought prostitutes, was depressed, hit by death, contemplating to kill himself. A mountain which is lit by the sun has two sides with one covered in shadow as soon as the sun doesn´t stand in Zenith.

Slowly but steadily understanding more about the american dream. The term “Rise” is used often in this book which also is the title of the first book in the trilogy about Theodore Roosevelt(and his mountain climbing in Europe).

The will and ability to rise in society, life and self seem to be at the core.

 

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel – Co-Founder of paypal and investor in Facebook has recently published a book on highly successful startsups, more specific game changing companies that innovate in Technology.

The Interview with Peter Thiel in the Podcast of Tim Ferriss made me more curious about him. Not only did the appeal of him grow after reading the Art of Learning, which I also discovered through the Tim Ferris podcast, a book that to a large part is about chess – a game in which Peter Thiel is an expert.

Peter Thiel mentioned in an article this October that the most influencing  book he ever read was the Sovereign Individual – A book about megapolitical political events happening through the lense of violence. It was written in 1997 and fortells the furture of internet including cryptocurrency(Bitcoins) and possibly being one of the reasons of Paypals first started. With a focus of creating a Cryptocurrency.

This book has as far as I have read brought some attention to the Monopoly side of business.

It does not focus much on the negative parts of it, although Thiel distances himself from it. Instead he says that where less competition is where the most value can be captured.

I am looking forward to writing more about this book.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin – Introducton

“The secret is that everything is always on the line. The more present we are at practice, the more present we will be in competition, in the boardroom, at the exam, the operating table, the big stage. If we have any hope of attaining excellence, let alone of showing what we’ve got under pressure, we have to be prepared by a lifestyle of reinforcement. Presence must be like breathing.”

Josh Waitzkin became a celebrity chess prodigy after the release of the film “Searching for Bobby Fisher“.

Waitzkin started his chess carrer as a child competing with the colorful mix of personalities in the park close to his hous. He found the game exciting and he discovered an innate talent for the sport. Waitzkin had the luck to come in contact with a great teacher who could help him advance his street-savvy chess style to something more refined, whilst keeping young Waitzkins inner flair alive.

According to Waitzkin, other chess instructors tend to suffocate the same passion that is crucial for wanting to learn.

Apart from a good teacher Waitzkin had both a loving mother and and father who helped guide him through his early life.

Waitzkin also started to develop mental strategies to cope with the immense stress during tournaments, further magnified by the the fame following “Searching for Bobby Fisher”. These strategies were explained in detail by Waitzkin in the book.
Now, a young man in his early 20s, he started to practise Tai-Chi. Again he learned quickly and again, this is explained in more detail telling of the continous consciouss effort made by Waitzkin.

Not only did Josh Waitzkin become a chess champion, he also became world champion in Tai-Chi. Furthermore he holds a black belt in Brazilian Jui-jutsu and now works as a proffesional advisor for top executives in the business world who want to reach true excellence.

The art of learning really delved into the psycology of development in a way that clearly had a solid foundation in results.

By combining Body, mind and conscioness into guide-book his interesting life story also is filled with knowledge gems, filling one with inspiration.

Before delving into the Art of Learning more I would like to provide the Learnbus with a link to an interview with Waitzkin made by Tim Ferriss (Author of the 4 hour work week, 4 hour chef and early investor in Uber, Shopify and a plentiful of other enteprises.).

Here is a link to a blogpost from last month between Ferriss and Peter Thiel if you are interested.

Brian Tracy – The Miracle of Self-Discipline, Part 3

This blog post will continute my summary of The Miracle of Self-Discipline.

5) The Disicpline of Excellent Health Habits:

• Try to live to be 100.
• Design and imagine your ideal body.
• Exercise every day even if it is just walking.
• A great start of the day. Being on top, before other people wake up.
• Just do it. You feel better afterwards

The significant thing here is to start small and build on it and just keep the routine.
By using visualization it is easier to see the future and reward oneself as one gets closer to the goal.

That is why the clear goal setting part is important.

6) The Disicpline of regular saving and investing.

• Save 1 % and live on 99%.
• then 2% and live on 98%.
• Change frame of : “enjoy spending to I enjoy saving.”

1. I buy something. Spend 10 Euros. I get the thing I bought.
2. I get 10 Euros if I dont buy this.I cannot have both.

What do I do?

Tracy continues on the topic of private investment strategies:

He says Investigation is very important. By investigating more the more value is at stake one can more easily avoid misstakes. These misstakes, could be influenced at the moment by persuasion instead of true reason.

By delaying major pruchases for more days one buys time to think, to understand the decision.

Keeping note over expenditure is great

Delay major purchases for 30 days or atleast a few days.

The goal from 1-2% of salary should be 10%-20% of salary according to Tracy.

Key words to remember (Not from book): Emergency, fun and investment-account.

Divide money into different categories to trylly make use of your money in a good way.

7) The dicipline of hard work.
Goal: Develop a reputation for being a hard, hard worker.
Work hard, work quickly, from beginning.
Prioritize.

When feeling distracted or interrupted, repeath back to work, back to work.

8 – The Disicpline of Continuous Learning.
To earn more you must learn more.

Read 30-60 minutes each day. This translates into a book per week.
50 books per year, equalling a readable account of an education.
Seminars are another source of knowledge.

9 – The Disipline of Persistence:

Courage, according to Brian Tracy, has two parts;
1) To begin
2) To endure.

Persisistence is the measure of your belief in yourself and in what you are doing.
Believe in goodness and rightness of what is being done and persist.
More persisting leads to better character and self esteem.

By enduring one becomes a stronger person.

The Practise of self-disipline in life gives, according to Brian Tracy, benefits of:

• Guarantee of sucess.
• More done and faster and better quality.
• More control.
• Self respect.

Future book from Brian Tracy: Eat that frog! 

Brian Tracy – The Miracle of Self-Discipline, Part 2

This is the second part of my review/summary of The Miracle of Self-Discipline.

 

 

Tracy lists the following in his bullet point book:

• Clear Thinking.
• Daily goal setting
• Daily time management
• Courage
• Regular saving and investing (Next post starts here)
• Health Habits
• Hard work
• Continous learning
• Persistence

 Nr 1: The Dicipline of Clear Thinking:
Take time to think through critical issues and problems and put aside time to do so.
By allowing oneself to calm down, as to let the water be still, one can more clearly see what needs to be done.
There is a voice within that knows what to do, which only resonates louder the more calm you are.

By writing down the problem the answer comes the distance between your awareness and the problem allowing for a more objective, quicker and correct approach.

 

Assumptions:

Tracy mentiones assumptions about situations.

The question to ask: What assumptions am I making about this problem or situation.

This resembles the thinking of Eric Ries who is the Author of the Lean Startup.
I have mentioned him and his teachings in a few posts. You can find them here.

 Brian Tracy says:

• What do you really want in life?
• What would you do if you had all money and no time constraints.
• When you had no limitations at all.

Each goal should be followed by a presence tense and also a deadline.
By re-stating the top 10 goals in the present tense as though one has alwready achieved them you.
By mentioning the goals in present tense Tracy believes, that the brain will help to change the cognitive dissonance from the situation in order to align the mental reality with the physical dito.

 

Nr 2. The dicipline of daily time management.

Every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution.
The more you plan the better you use your time, and the more you accompplish.

• List of what to do
• Write night before.
• Organize by priority.
  A = Must do
  B= Should do.
  C= Nice to do
  D=Delegate
  E=Eliminate in order to save time.
  Priority by A1-A2 etc.

Tracy says the ABCDE follows the 80/20 a.k.a. Pareto Law

Other possible reads on Time Management and other productivity hacks is: David Allen – Getting things done.

 

Disicpline of courage.

Elimination of fear is a a constant battle, therefore attacking fear straight on is a good routine for making it consume less time and energy.

 

Task Asignment from book: Identify a fear in life and confront it

 

 

Tim Ferriss and Peter Thiel

Tim Ferriss:

Entrepreneur, Investor, Author, Lifehacker and everything else.
The four hour work week helped me out from entrepreneurial isolation and helped expand my knowledge to understand that I could become proactive and deliberately choose how to live my life, in the face of those who says it is not possible.

Tim Ferriss has since The Four Hour Work Week grown into an investor and inspiring mentor for many entrepreneurs world wide.

Ferriss writes blog posts on his website http://fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ about a variety of themes and has also written several other books about nutrition/food and training.

He also has a Podcasts which I highly can recommend. He basically interviews people he admires or is interested in and put in some of his own thoughts in others.

I have found that in each one of the podcast interview a book – which I have read or heard about is being mentioned since a frequent question asked by Ferriss is something like: Which book has given most impact on your life?

The other day I saw on Ferriss´ Facebook page that he had an internview with Peter Thiel himself:

You can find that great 25-30 minute interview here: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/09/09/peter-thiel/?utm_content=buffer43938&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I Recognized concepts of Peter Thiels thinking and made a quick google search on the book I thought they were derived from and… Voilá!! An article from Forbes:(http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2014/09/10/peter-thiel-dont-wait-to-start-something-new/) the physical copy is coming in the end of september 2014.

In the Forbes-article/Interview the question of which book has been more influential for Thiel, and he respons with The Sovereign Individual (Touchstone, 1997), by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg.

That book is the one I have been reading(last year, but it was stolen!) bought it to my father with my brother for christmas and have since summer rearead it

Mr. Thiel says as follows about it:

It is an unusual book that I read at a singular moment, just before starting PayPal. A lot of thinking about technology oscillates between two extremes: It’s either a big historical force acting over the long term or it’s a matter of short-term trends to bet on. The Sovereign Individual is different because it takes foresight seriously: If you think hard, you can understand and make plans for a future lasting 10, 20 years or more–and that’s how you have to think to be successful.

I find the sovereign individual to be a heavy book with an interesting perspective on a Mega-macro level in society based on the notion that the ability to excert Violence is the driving force of human history and therefor its future.

I might write a summary of this book later on.

Until then I will enjoy more talks of Tim Ferris and Peter Thiel and hopefully get my hands on his lates book Zero to One.

Summary of post:

• Tim Ferriss and Peter Thiel are two interesting people for inspiration and knowledge.
• Tim Ferriss has good books, podcasts and blog posts.
• The Sovereign Individual has affected one of the well known investors of today.

Brian Tracy – The Miracle of Self-Discipline, Part 1

This short book goes through a few easily digested, but harder to live with routines – as many self help books do; By changing a few things in life one could change everything; In total 9 different diciplines.

Self-diciplin could usually be summarized by the words: ”Just do it” and to know what to do.

Many easy one line answers usually contain more than just one line. The easy answers can be unpacked.

To see ones own behaviour from a pair of external ”helicopter-view” eyes, could be a routine in it self. A concept that helps see the problem from outside, the reason why we often find errors with others but not with outselves.

The diciplines described in the book, however independent of eachother forms, a framework for self-disipline.

Brian Tracy is a renowned self-help coach in Selling and Success,The first of which being the reason for my discovery of him.

He has written many books with eye-catching titles and I am not sure if I have a need to go through them all. Another of his books ”Eat that frog” – A book on self-discipline, is on my read list.

Early in the Miracle of Self-siscipline,Tracy states that the successful people look further into the future with the result of more positve outcome. He states that effecively understanding the result of effort is what make people succede.

This concept is quite well known from the time-frame perspective. A cookie can be nice to eat, but how will you feel later? Tracy says close to affirmations that going through the more tough now an immediate happiness and self-worth comes. Who are you helping? Your future self or your immediate now?