The Online Investing AI Blog

WindRiver@Flickr

People in the world cannot identify their own mind. They believe that what they see, or hear, or feel, or know, is mind. They are blocked, and so cannot see the brilliant spirit of their original mind.
–Huang-po.

Most people tend to see the worlds of spirituality and finances as completely separate.  Most also tend to think that the skills of a spiritual master are different from the skills of a master of personal finance.

We can argue about the first theory, but the second is demonstrably false. Both spiritual and financial masters use similar skills. A Zen master might even learn from an investor or trader. And you can put a little Zen in your financial matters.

Success in personal finance all boils down to the mind and its perceptions.

As Huang-po would say, it’s a mental thing. Here’s a little advice from zen masters that you can use in your own personal financial endeavors.

Read more…

Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, Success, US Economy finances, Investing, Money, personal fiance, trading, zen

Creative Commons

When financial distress hits, you notice one thing: people freeze.

The ease of accepting new thoughts and new ideas vanish. They resort to old thinking.

It’s probably a comfort thing. Once you’re stressed, you want to avoid more stress and new situations and new ideas can be uncomfortable and stressful.

We resist risk.

Unfortunately, this is the exact time that you should embrace risk. In the words of Kris Kristofferson by way of Janis Joplin.

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left  to lose.

And, perhaps, when you ain’t got nothing, you got everything to win.

If you feel this way, this is a time for a financial “beginner’s mind.”

Read more…

Investing, Money, Online Investing AI, US Economy attitude, economic, economy, mind, recession, shunyru suzuki, zen

In the last post of the Five Ways to be More by Doing Less series, we discussed how technology can help you manage time more effectively.

How much time do you waste each day?

Ever think about it?

I did and was shocked. I found that I spent so much time checking web stats, for instance. I would flick back and forth monitoring traffic. Why? I have no idea! It just became a habit, one that I am breaking free of by using better time management skills. In this case, I set aside a certain time for checking stats.  Now, I have a lot of work to do, but I’m making steps in that direction

While I continued my examination, I came up with a three-step process for better time management.

Simplify
The examined life is usually the simple life. One way to simplify is to cut down on the things that don’t add value to your life. Once you arrive at the things you value, you can go to the next step: prioritize.

Prioritize
Make sure you spend more time accomplishing tasks that give you the most return–whether in passion or in wealth–to your life.

And remember, when your prioritizing, that adding beauty and reflection in your life should be a priority. Here’s how Leo Babauta of Zen Habits explains it:

What is so important that it can’t wait until later? What email must be answered right this moment? Do we really need to read all those articles online, all those messages from others, all those newspapers and magazines? Do we need to have the television and radio and Internet on all the time?

Budget
Set aside time for things you have to do, but may not necessarily want to do. That stops tasks from mounting in huge procrastinating walls.
A great resource for this type of thinking is at Zen Habits, a blog that is centered on living the simple, but extraordinary life. It’s also a big proponent of the “Be More, Do Less” philosophy. You may also check out the e-Book at Zen Habits called Zen to Done.

In the next post, we’ll take a look at how forming relationships can actually save you time.

Business Strategy, Great Books, Online Investing AI, Success Money, time, time management, wealth, zen, zen habits

One of the major misconceptions of American society is that you have to do more to be more and have more.

This isn’t necessarily true.

This week, we’ll take a look at five ways you can be more by doing less.

Specifically, we’ll discuss these ways to do more with less effort:

• Relax
• Use technology
• Master time management
• Develop relationships
• Find financial freedom

The first way to be more by doing less is to create a ritual of meditation and contemplation. This is a long-standing tradition of having a day off. It’s like the religious tradition of the Sabbath.

This ritual carves a time in your week to ground yourself and relax. When you’re stressed, you can actually be wearing yourself down, which makes you less productive.

Here’s what Marc Lesser (how aprapos is that last name?), author of the book Accomplishing More by Doing Less said about scheduling regular downtime:

“When my two children were in elementary school, a weekly day of doing less was an important part of our family ritual. We borrowed some ideas from the Jewish Sabbath as well as Buddhist Day of Mindfulness practices.”

And here’s what he suggested:

At the heart of our day we had three simple rules that we applied from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday evening:

Rule #1: There was no spending money.
Rule #2: There was no watching television.
Rule #3: We did something together as a family.”

Entrepreneurs and hard-charging business types may chafe at the suggestion that they actually take some time off on a regular basis, but the rest and centering will actually increase your time by making you more productive.

You can read more about Marc at the Accomplishing More By Doing Less web site.

In the next post of the series, we’ll discuss how to use technology to Be More While Doing Less.

Business Strategy, Dreams Come True, Online Investing AI, Success accomplish more by doing less, budget, busy, management, mindfulness, time, time management, zen