Scott, Author at Scott's Thinking

Those Defining Moments

Posted on April 2, 2021

That early win or terrible slip-up can have a long lasting effect on our self-perception and confidence. Those defining moments can haunt us or provide much needed energy for our sails. Which defining moments can you recall?

It’s great to look back on these and unpick them a little. Was it a sporting achievement or scholastic? Were you 8, 13, 18, 27, 33, 48, 57 years old or a different age?

I was fortunate to have great friends, be athletic and be very good with academics. So I can recall mostly good memories at an early age and also as I went through secondary school.

Can you recall the first time you went on a big road trip? Do you remember being on a boat, train or airplane? Who inspired you the most when you were under 10 and who was it when you were a teen?

Most importantly now, is not what has happened, but what will happen. What defining moments would you absolutely love to have in your life? Will it involve an athletic achievement? Perhaps you have an academic goal in your sights? Relationship and financial success are both wonderful things to work towards. Don’t think any of these things just happen. You have to get yourself in the right place both physically and mentally.

Then those defining moments can happen!

Action Financial Progress Think About It

Producing And Consuming

Posted on April 1, 2021

Do you consume more than you produce? It is an interesting question. Producing and consuming are both required in life. However, imbalances in your life will occur if you do one more than the other.

Producing here means providing something of value. The more you offer in value, the more productive you are being. The more the market perceives value in what you are offering the more you can charge for it.

If more people like what you offer, the larger your business will grow. This is how the world has companies valued at billions of dollars. Because of this, we also see billionaire founders and investors. This is what happens when you provide something that others find valuable, not just what you think is valuable.

What you think is valuable is what you will consume. The more value you place on a product or a service, the more you will be willing to pay for it. This payment you make will come from your own resources such as income or savings.

If the value of your consumption is more than the value of your production, you will have less money or wealth. If your production value is greater than your consumption value, you will attract and keep more money.

Producing and consuming are part of life. Which one you focus on helps determine how you spend it.

Financial Observe Think About It Time

Feeling like Spring 2000

Posted on March 31, 2021

Anyone else got that deja-vu thing going on? Stock markets near all time highs and some stretched valuations. It’s feeling like spring 2000.

The Deliveroo IPO was not in line with City expectations. This immediately made me think of a similarly hyped IPO from March 2000. It was the IPO of Lastminute.com, the dot.com seller of discounted travel. Although it’s initial day was much better, it turned south very soon after. Things continued to unwind through April and into May. Actually it continued for a full year. From the 14th March 2000 IPO through to 14 March 2001.

The NASDAQ peaked in March 2000, coincidentally. It then went on to fall 78% over the ensuing 31 months. The descent ended in October 2002.

This all came on the back of a very unique year, which was the last year of the Millennium/Century/Decade. We’ve also had a very unique year in 2020. That seems more circumstantial, or not relevant at all. But I thought I would throw it in there.

Anyway, after the bull market in the 90’s, there was a shake out. Maybe we are seeing the start of a shake out now again. We have had about a decade of bull market activity, so theoretically markets are due a correction.

It may be just me, but it’s feeling like spring 2000.

Financial Gratitude Think About It Time

If I Had His Money

Posted on March 30, 2021

I would do things differently. Have you ever heard someone say this? Maybe you’ve even said it. If I had his money I would do x,y,z.

Now it could be his or hers, but the idea behind the phrase strikes me as the speaker thinks they would do better with it. In my experience, hearing people say this, it tends to involve the speaker spending more cash on luxury items. Holidays, clothes, better meals out and cars seem to high on the list of improvements.

The irony seems to be, once again, that those who develop good cash management habits have more cash to manage. And those that don’t put effort into good cash management habits, don’t tend to have much money to manage. Though they are not short of observational skills and have a fine knowledge of how to improve the millionaire’s suboptimal lifestyle.

With just a few flourishes of a debit or credit card, the speaker can resolve your unfortunate circumstances.

This may be one of the reasons why the speaker might not have enough money of their own to mess about with. With their unique money mindset and a propensity to spend rather than save, we can better understand why the speaker is in this predicament.

The good news is that great money management habits can be learned. Then you can turn, if I had his money, on its head.

Action Observe Progress Time

Getting Distracted

Posted on March 29, 2021

What do you do when you can’t seem to focus? What is your remedy from wandering, scrolling, staring or getting distracted in some way?

This evening has seemed to be one of those times. Despite getting some things done, I did not get as many done as I could have. There were a few things on my mind, for starters. Then I got caught in an interesting scroll on Instagram for 10 minutes.

Writing out my to do list for tomorrow kept taking longer as I remembered many things that have slipped by me over the last week. While it is productive to do the list, sometimes the time taken to do it feels like wasted effort. It feels like I could have done one of the things rather than write a bunch down.

Then there was the wandering around the house to find the children and remind them it is bedtime. The third time round the house was starting to seem more like an exercise session with a stair-master. And since each round involved passing through the kitchen, there was the compulsory look in the fridge and cupboard for more food I wasn’t even hungry for.

Don’t get me started on replying to international and local text messages. I know better. Though I am also trying to reply more quickly rather than forget and take 2-3 days. Oh, the precarious balance.

Uh-oh, I’m getting distracted.

Think About It

Curious, Confident, Resilient Kids

Posted on March 28, 2021

What three things do you wish for your kids to be? After all the education, training and experience, I’d like them to be curious, confident, resilient kids.

The way I see it, you need to be curious about life. The more curious you are, the more you will find out about things. You will learn, engage, meet people, have fun and develop more quickly as a person.

As all these new people, situations and aspects of life are being discovered by their curiosity, they should, and will need to, grow in their confidence. The greater the experiences the more likely they will gain confidence. Additionally, helping them gain confidence from a young age is an important element of raising children. Letting them try and fail. Allowing them to make mistakes and supporting them throughout with strong messages of support.

Finally, there will be moments that knock them back. Physical situations, nasty people, relationships ending and goals missed. All of these are possibilities. And, although as a parent, I don’t want them to encounter any hardships, I know that is unlikely to be the case. So I want them to develop resilience so they can be knocked down and get back up. Whether it is once or 53 times, I want them to be ready and develop an ability to stay cheery and bounce back.

Curious, confident, resilient kids – that’s the goal.

Action Reframe your thoughts

Replace Smart With Capable

Posted on March 27, 2021

Having a fixed or growth mindset can dramatically impact the success you find in life. Because of this, replace smart with capable when speaking with children, or anyone else for that matter.

When children, and people in general, hear praise that they are smart, it can lead them to believe they have the answers already. And that if they don’t have the answers, that perhaps they are stupid. This can lead to the desire to only do things where they know the answer for sure. This in turn can lead to reducing their circle of knowledge and reducing their participation in class or conversation.

This is indicative of a fixed mindset. This is the idea that what we know, we know. People can believe that if they don’t know, then they are not intelligent rather than they need to go find the answer. Someone with a growth mindset will note their lack of knowledge and learn to grow their knowledge base.

This is all reviewed in Carol S. Dweck’s book Mindset and in her research.

This idea is why I choose to use the word capable with my kids. They do not know everything. Nor can they do everything. However, they are capable of learning, training, practicing and improving. This is how I suggest they tackle all things in life.

Replace smart with capable for better long term results.

Gratitude Observe Reframe your thoughts

People Are The Key

Posted on March 26, 2021

Have you ever walked into an empty building? Perhaps your office building on the weekend or school during summer holidays. People are the key. Otherwise those quiet, soulless locations just echo with memories past.

People create the buzz, the energy and the excitement. It is their being that breathes life into a situation or place. Although locations can conjure up strong memories, the strongest ones often involve people.

I recall walking into my secondary school, during the summer after graduation. My footsteps echoed in the halls. After 5 years there, it seemed like I would bump into someone. But there was nothing. Just the ghostly quiet and silent cacophony of days gone by.

There was a deep sense of melancholy and a yearning for those days again. The friendships and silliness. The final and laughter. The challenges, struggles, wins and memories. Those halls are filled with people who will live in your mind forever. They are frozen in time. Slow motion. Black and white. Fast forward, Colour. Echo.

Best friends or sworn enemies, there was a place for everyone. And without anyone, there was just a building. Empty rooms and hallways. The place had seen tens of thousands of student faces over the years. But ours were the only ones that lived in our minds. friendships for a lifetime.

People are the key.

Action Financial Reframe your thoughts

Credit Cards Are Brilliant

Posted on March 25, 2021

I have always loved credit cards. They are so useful. They can be brilliant if you use them with the right intent. Credit cards are brilliant when you are sensible. However, like fire, if not used properly, you can get badly burned.

There are two features of credit cards that I think are great. The first is called a Balance Transfer. This is the option to shift one credit card balance on one card over to another card. On the surface, it may sound like a bad idea that has no benefit. However, if you get curious and look a little deeper, you’ll see some great benefits.

Let’s say you have a $5,000 balance left on one of your cards. And it’s attracting a 20% rate of interest. That would equate to $1,000 annually of interest. Now you could transfer that balance to a new or current card you hold. Find a good deal and you could pay 0% interest for up to 24 months right now.

In addition, you will usually have to pay a fee as well, but if you’re getting a new card, sometimes this is waived. Let’s say you pay an upfront fee of 4%. That would be $200. But no other cost for two years. That’s like a 2% per annum rate. Now you have some breathing room to pay the balance off over two years and it will only cost one tenth of your current card.

The other option is a Money Transfer. Similar idea, but the card company simply places the funds in your bank account. You don’t need to be paying off another account balance. Similar terms can apply.

Like I said, credit cards are brilliant. (Use sensibly and pay down the balance so you clear it when the 0% period ends.)

Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Practice Receiving

Posted on March 24, 2021

This is very tough for many people. You may be one of them. Although, some folks make it look effortless and genuine. Practice receiving gifts, compliments and good wishes.

People often look quite uncomfortable when receiving an unsolicited gift. There can be a feeling of unpreparedness or a desire to ignore it or to give back.

A compliment is similar. Some people will downplay a compliment. Others will quickly change the subject, redirect or ignore the whole thing. This discomfort with receiving is something we should all be addressing. Practicing gratitude is good for the soul.

It is so easy to say, ‘you’re welcome’, and yet so easy not to. In addition, saying, ’thank you’, as a simple response to a compliment just needs to be practiced. The more you practice at home, at Christmas and at birthdays, the better you will become at receiving.

There is no need to give the other person a gift, compliment or good wishes. Simply accept their offering, show appreciation and move on. Have intent to do this the next time you receive something.

If you practice doing this at home, possibly in front of a mirror, you will get good at it quickly. It will feel genuine and be so. Like almost all things that look gracious and effortless, they have been practiced 1,000 times before.

Practice receiving.