Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core | |
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans | |
How to Open My First Brokerage Account | |
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments) HOW TO SEARCH MY BLOG:  | Get Updates to Your Email When I Create A New Post:  |
Also Coming Soon - a series on #HowtoInvest. People have been reaching especially after the spikes in Gamestop, AMC, and other stock to learn the basics. I self taught myself how to invest beginning at the age of roughly 18 and have never stopped. To be a good investor and ensure you are not gambling (speculating), I'll cover (hardest parts of investing in RED):
Budgeting 101 - How to Fund Ur Investments?
Why Stocks as an Investment?
What is Ur Investment Profile + Personality?
How to Pick Stocks?
When to Buy Stocks?
How to Enter My Trade?
How Many Stocks Should I Own?
When to Sell Stocks?
Am I Speculating (Gambling)?
Investing in Your Health - Pt. 2
I'm a cybersecurity subject matter expert, and I advise companies on risk management practices. I architect, monitor, and complete assessments so that they are fully informed on their cyber hygiene or quite simply their cyber health. One of the first things I ask my clients to do is to create a baseline or what you and I might call is a benchmark of what healthy computers should look like. This principle can be applied to my pillars. I thought Naomi Osaka did an amazing job of assessing her "Mental Health" and not pulling out of the French Open and now Wimbledon, two of the 4 major tennis tournaments. She could have put profits over her health but one may argue she chose balance and I admire her for that. My last post on Investing In Your Health, Investing In Your Health Pt. 1,
talked about some of the trials and tribulations to achieve balance in Corporate America. Spending long hours sitting at a desk, worries over needing to outwork the competition just to be accepted, commuting over 1.5 hours each day collectively took it's toll on me. There is no excuse on my part but moving closer to a suburb which lacked diversity, worrying about the optics of working versus going to the gym, or quite frankly doing anything to jeopardize a well paid and respected job seemed like risky tradeoffs to a person of color. But the one thing I didn't do was properly establish a health baseline or benchmark. Historically, I played sports, thought I was invincible, and didn't grow up adhering to doctor's visits. I began getting annual physicals at work which was a godsend. The metrics were solid at first with a few minor things to work on. But the grind I described above took its toll. I remember being in London for work when I first got word that my father was hospitalized. With a 6 hour time difference, I was getting updates in the wee hours of the morning London time while trying to put on a good face in the office. Upon my return to the states, I traveled home to be with my father and didn't take any time off. I would rush through the hospital to find quiet spaces so the beeping sounds of machines didn't disturb my co-workers. During those moments of uncertainty of my father's health, we made a promise to have our first child if he could just find a way to exit the hospital. Stressful months passed and eventually he defied the odds and the doctor's insistence for us to say goodbye and finally left the hospital. So we kept our promise and had our first daughter. A wonderful blessing but it also brought finding childcare to fit our work hours, coming home to our daughter already sleeping, more responsibility at work, serving on boards, maintaining a home, and monitoring aging parents and the fact that one had already been hospitalized. My next physical was less stellar and showed that some attributes had declined instead of stayed the same or gotten better. I changed my eating habits but all the other stressors of life were still there and growing. We moved states to be closer and help my parents and I no longer had annual physicals after switching jobs and working remotely. I didn't prioritize this activity on my own and lost my health baseline. See It -- Measure It -- Respond, something I help my clients do but I had lost "sight" of my own health. Fast forward --- a wedding, another child, two homes, starting a business, COVID gripping the country, and losing my father --- I wasn't feeling myself. I finally went to the doctor, got an annual health check which surprisingly resulted with me being hospitalized. Devastatingly high hypertension and it was unclear how long it had gone undetected. While I felt fine, my baseline was at a point that I couldn't be downgraded from intensive care unit for 4 days. I was a wreck and vowed I needed to find balance. So I changed my diet, sleeping patterns, tested my BP 3x a day, took walks, and declined work because I hadn't focused on my health. My Personal Update: I've made lifestyle changes and prioritize my health for myself and my family. I have good days and a few not so great days and every now and then my BP drops into a normal range. My goal is to keep it there and to do that I have to See It, Measure It, and Respond.
Final Note: I recently lost a friend due to mental health issues and I urge us all to establish a baseline and respond accordingly. Whether it's physical health, mental health, financial health, or spiritual health seek balance and advice to be the best you. Thank you to my doctors for their tireless work and counsel. And to the Naomi Osaka's of the world, thank you for not being afraid to respond when something doesn't feel right.
How to Buy + Sell Stocks
I have some positive news about my side hustle as I've hired 3 people within the last month. So I've haven't traded much in the last few weeks. Here are my trades that expired on Friday 7/02/21 and that will expire in roughly two weeks. If you want to see them, guess the stock and leave a comment in the chat. Be well and stay positive:
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