To catch your attention, the internet and "others" try to lure you in with shocking statements, click bait, or even cool acronyms. But nah, we ain't about that here...just keeping it real. If this is for you then welcome, if you need more time to unplug from the Matrix then so be it. I wanted to talk about how I use the Urbanomics Pillars everyday to literally Project Manage my life. I don't need a degree or even a PMP (one of those shiny acronyms for being certified for managing projects) to succeed. They are the icing on the cake, as I have developed skills to manage my biggest project, my Life Project --- one that focuses on God, me, family, and friends. Notice I didn't say work, wealth, and traveling to each state/continent as my main project. Like others, I enjoy these things and they may be on my goal or bucket list, however; my project is my life.
To be balanced in life you need a strong core, that's the base of the Urbanomics Pillars. Underneath those 4 Pillars you need to manage the collection of small and large projects that make up your life very carefully. Every project you take on eats up time which is our most precious asset, every decision impacts a future decision, and distractions can derail you from your ultimate mission. So let's discuss how to manage projects and in turn manage your amazing life:
1) Develop Your Skills --- You have to be grounded in the basic things that will help you dream, set goals, make rationale data-driven decisions, manage risks, negotiate deals, and know what's fair (i.e., right vs. wrong). The skills I recommend people focusing on are the skills that are free, YES FREE!! If you need a cool acronym try this on SLAM+, it stands for:
Science | Legal | Arts | Math | + (volunteer, teach, technology, engineering, trade, etc.)
All of these were learned for free in PUBLIC schools and have anchored my life.
Science - I don't love chemistry, biology, or physics but I have a true appreciation for one simple technique that I use literally everyday of my life. I learned in science classes how to develop a hypothesis. In Science, a hypothesis is an tentative answer to an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem that can be tested by further observation, investigation and/or experimentation.
In today's world, I hear so many people giving me their opinions but often I am suprised how little of it is rooted in any data at all. Funny in public school, I took something, usually a problem, and tried to find ALL the answer by identifying potential answers (solutions) and rigorously testing them over and over again. I do this everyday and for complex things I write them down.
Legal - It's sad to say but I fundamentally believe that everyone, especially people of color need to understand laws and regulations. In a litigious society, the difference between giving a statement that will be used against you or your child, illegal searches, contracts and fine print, loans and gifts, and stand your grown and imminent threat can unfortunately mean life or death. Legal laws killed Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and countless other innocent people. It's still strange to say "lawful", "legal", "innocent" and yet they still ended up tragically dead in a mature, lawful society.
Arts - My focus on Arts is English because communicating is a lost form. So much of life is decided by the word choice you use and kids from a very early age can learn word choice, negotiation, debate, and how to write and articulate their thoughts by reading, acting, revisiting history, and through music as these are all forms with which we express ourselves in. The other art I find beautiful is speaking multiple languages -- growing up in a family and community of accents, the one thing I learned is to take the time to "listen" deeply and closely to what the other person is saying. I rarely ask someone to repeat themselves and have even told people don't try to compensate because english is your second language...say what you're saying and I'll piece it together. People come up with terms everyday to describe actions we've always known existed. The one that is top of mind is micro-aggression. Again, it's a bit fancy for me but I've always called this hate coming from haters and also when i was younger a put-down. Quick example, I can remember how mainly my white friends as early as elementary i believe would make a big deal out of saying the work "ask". I would say the word, they clearly knew what I meant but often felt it was their place to correct me and say do you mean ASK not AXE...haha you're not planning to kill me with an axe. Or I felt for some of my friends who went out of their way to emphasize the world important --- when most Americans hardly ever emphasize the first "T" --- I've always heard many say impor * ant. So the arts helped me be an interpreter for my parents, a sympathizer for English second language persons, adventurous as I've speak African Krio, bits of Mende, Portuguese, and Spanish, but also cognizant that in the business world I needed to learn a NEW language to compete. I speak business fluently - I say important with the first "T', I emphasize ASK when I can remember, and most importantly due to another micro-aggression I felt early on I trained myself to speak slowly. While colleagues early in my career would blurt out, why are you speaking so fast...in a hurry. Again, you understood me but after my amazing presentation you needed a little something I guess to put me back in my place. Unfortunately, being an African that is proud and KNOWS his history and worth, I kept it moving. But again, I speak business -- so around 2007 I witnessed an amazing orator speak - then presidential hopeful Barack Obama his the scene and graced us with his presence. I heard the calm, smooth, deliberate, and slower pace with which he used with the world and I studied his speaking, literally. Between him and CEOs of major companies, I watch with how they "artfully" described their vision, slowly paused for questions, and elegantly drew you in with examples. I only knew of two other people with impact for me prior to President Obama and that was Christopher Wallace (The Notorious BIG) and Tupac Amaru Shakur (Tupac). Finally, history proves that words matter, and cultures since the beginning of time have had a few basic common principles -- treat your neighbor like you would want to be treated...and that fairness would take us a long way.
Math - Basic math, calculus, and most importantly probability and statistics have by far been the single best skills I've learned and use hourly. My most favorite class was prob/stat in college as it changed my life. Used by poker players, who often make great investors, I learned about how to calculate the odds of events happening. Tack on my learning of decision trees, applying this calculation to making everyday decisions and my world slowed down to a crawl. I was able to make informed decisions at school, in job selections (I graphed pros and cons on all the offers I received), at work, and in life. I used this to determine what houses to buy, where to live, what investments to make, and more importantly how to prioritize my TIME. This is the hardest concept for someone that grew up poor --- learning that you can't be everywhere and do everything. Time is your most precious resource and focusing on your most important areas, when you trust someone else (outsource), and when to admit you failed. Because you aren't taking enough risks if you haven't failed at something in life.
+ - To round out your skillset this is where I see volunteering, learning technologies, trades, mentoring, and teaching as a way to continuously improve over time. You must expand your circle, give to others and upgrade your skills as time goes on. These are the ways to do them.
Part 2 - Will cover how to manage projects from investing, renting homes, etc.
Another Free Trade Reveal: Ebay had been in the dumps. Paypal is no longer a payment option that can be used on the platform. Disagreements between the CEO and outside investors led me to believe change was coming. And it has it a big way. This culminated with Ebay selling its classifieds business to a European company just this past week. This contract will net a healthy profit is Ebay can stay above $32 going into Jan 2021. Ebay currently trades in the $55 dollar range and I may sell Ebay before that date as this position has already collected roughly 60+% of the gains. Time for another investment to find:
