Saturday, 7 April 2012
Images of Charm - Youtube Video
Why People Lie?
A couple of weeks ago I read a book review - titled - Why Men Lie? I read the book review and in a nutshell the author, a journalist said, "...The first person a man lies to is his mother and that they lie because they don't want to be punished...? I beg to differ it's not only men who lies. Women lie as much or perhaps even more.
My daughter Chris and I were having a conversation and I stated emphatically, "Men are such liars." And the young one replied, "It's not men that lie, people lie. I lie."
That's it! She is telling the truth. We all lie from time to time. Some of us tells little white lies because we don't want to hurt anyone...(Check out my book: Joyful, Soulful Sex, The Modern Woman's Guide to Intimacy and Great Sex - and see the chapter on "Honesty"). But as far as I am concerned a lie is a lie whether grave or otherwise. When we lie we take from the other the opportunity for them to make an informed decision. Some people will even tell half truths - hinting at something far more profound until you are caught in their web of deceit.
I believe fear is what drives people to lie. Fear of rejection. Fear of being found out to be shallow. Fear exposing one true self. Fear of being alone. Fear of being vulnerable. This last one is the one that really drives a person to lie. Many years ago, I decided to free myself from these little trivial lies, you know what they are "white lies..." These lies have the capacity to transform a wonderful human being into a profound liar. My mother, when she was alive would always say, "I'd rather have a thief around me than a liar because a thief will steal what they need and leave but liar remains hidden and constant." I'm with her.
So, if you want people to be honest with you, first thing first start by being honest with yourself. Start admitting your little fears and accept them. Start to live a more authentic life with transparency and honor and you will be sure to live a of joy, peace and tranquility.
Live your best life ever.
P.S. I got a new video on YouTube !
Charm
My daughter Chris and I were having a conversation and I stated emphatically, "Men are such liars." And the young one replied, "It's not men that lie, people lie. I lie."
That's it! She is telling the truth. We all lie from time to time. Some of us tells little white lies because we don't want to hurt anyone...(Check out my book: Joyful, Soulful Sex, The Modern Woman's Guide to Intimacy and Great Sex - and see the chapter on "Honesty"). But as far as I am concerned a lie is a lie whether grave or otherwise. When we lie we take from the other the opportunity for them to make an informed decision. Some people will even tell half truths - hinting at something far more profound until you are caught in their web of deceit.
I believe fear is what drives people to lie. Fear of rejection. Fear of being found out to be shallow. Fear exposing one true self. Fear of being alone. Fear of being vulnerable. This last one is the one that really drives a person to lie. Many years ago, I decided to free myself from these little trivial lies, you know what they are "white lies..." These lies have the capacity to transform a wonderful human being into a profound liar. My mother, when she was alive would always say, "I'd rather have a thief around me than a liar because a thief will steal what they need and leave but liar remains hidden and constant." I'm with her.
So, if you want people to be honest with you, first thing first start by being honest with yourself. Start admitting your little fears and accept them. Start to live a more authentic life with transparency and honor and you will be sure to live a of joy, peace and tranquility.
Live your best life ever.
P.S. I got a new video on YouTube !
Charm
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Self Knowledge - Self Love
There is something to be said about knowing thyself. Once you know who you are and what you stand for your life begins to take shape into everything you've ever dreamed it to be. Self knowledge invites wisdom and understanding and you realize you really don't have to engage in useless never ending arguments that has no beginning and no end.
For instance, at times I feel this incredible desire to experience deep love for another - this yearning it turns out is for love of self. It's amazing that our entire journey on this planet in this form is to experience ourselves as LOVE. That's it very simple, we know intuitively that our nature is love and somehow we got separated from our inner joy ever since then we've been looking for ourselves - a mirror to reflect that beauty that we are.
Wow...and that's when I realized that falling in love with myself is the love that is first required before all other loves follow. It is a wonderful feeling to bathe in this epiphany knowing that the greatest love is love of self, to be patient and kind, to be tender and honest in what we feel about ourselves and not to be too harsh in judgement or too self critical. It is all good - to be gentle with ourselves as we are our own redeemer.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Relationship/Finance: GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES (GICs). The bi...
Relationship/Finance: GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES (GICs). The bi...: I find it incredible ironic that most people are up in arms about how the government is wasting our tax dollars. This is in light of the b...
GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES (GICs). The big money pit.
I find it incredible ironic that most people are up in arms about how the government is wasting our tax dollars. This is in light of the billions of dollars lost each year in Canadian banks by clients who neglect to pay attention to when their GICs (Guaranteed Investment Certificates) comes up for maturity.
Seriously, the banks have done their due deligence by sending out quarterly statements to clients so that they can call their banker and renegotiate the current rate for their certificates. This is not happening. Guaranteed Investment Certificates are automatically renewed every year at the posted rate for the same term as the previous certificate. What does this mean to the saving population? It simply means that you will have a 3 year term GIC automatically renewing for approximately 1.3% and a 5 year for 1.65%. Outrageous!
Of course bank staff make every effort to call clients to get their renewal options and offer them a bonus on the posted rate. This bonus can be significant, albeit the low interest rate environment we are currently experiencing. A bank client can get an extra .75 to 1.25 basis points on the posted rate, but they have to call and negotiate.
Clients are under the impression that the banks are obligated to call them. They are not. Calls made to clients to remind them of their upcoming GIC maturities are strictly courtesy calls. Like every other business, bank staff are overworked. Those advisors with assigned client lists are up to their ying yang with large portfolios - chances are they are calling their top 20%. Even so, there are clients with over 1 million dollars in Guaranteed Investment Certificates that are left unassigned with certificates in the millions that have been renewed without bonus points. Go figure and daily we curse the government for wasting our tax dollars.
Is it the banks fault. No. I think not. I think investors have abdicated their responsibility primarily because their lifestyle has become so hectic. They do not have time to oversee their investments and they are too spread out having certificates all over the map because they fear our banks may go bankrupt.
Solution 1.
Take ownership of your money. Don't wait for the banks to call you, they are too busy trying to gather more meaningful assets that increases their revenue generation. Banks do not make money off GICs or mortgages. By the time banks try to match the rates of the competition on a mortgages and GICs they are basically just bying the business to increase their money under management.
You get your quarterly statements. Put your maturity dates on your calendar and call your bank representative and negotiate a rate. You have thirty days to do so with most financial institutions and insurance companies. Your renewed certificates can be backdated to the date of renewal within 30 days of maturity. After that, you snooze, you lose.
The same goes true for brokers, institutional or boutique. Everyone is paying attention to their high value clients. And believe it or not, those are the clients that get the best rates because they have millions in the branch and losing them would be painful.
Solution2
Start to shop the competition at least 4 days before renewal of your certificates. Why? Because banks can hold GIC rates for 3 days. Get a rate for the term you want and go back to your bank and negotiate with them to match the rate. Of course, this all depends on the level of relationship you currently have with your bank. If all you have is a small amount of funds under management, don't bother you'll get bonus points but no one is going to fall over you to try and win your business.
Consolidated your GICs. I know, I know this mentality of not keeping all your eggs in one basket is for birds and a contributing factor for GICs renewing at posted rates.
Solution 3.
Ladder your GICs so that every year you have a certificate coming up for renewal this will allow you to take advantage of current rates and not have all your certificates coming due at the same time. For risk averse savers, this is the biggest risk, interest rate risk. Now, this laddering only really makes sense if you have hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead of putting 500,000 in one GIC why not have it broken up into 5 different certificates from 1-5 years. This way each year you have a certificate coming due with hopefully, a better rate. Yes?
That's it on GICs for now. Next we'll talk about mutual funds and the red hot market that most inexperience investors are waiting to settle down before they invest. Yes. You heard right. They want to buy high and sell low like they have always done.
Live Your best Life Ever.
Cheers.
Seriously, the banks have done their due deligence by sending out quarterly statements to clients so that they can call their banker and renegotiate the current rate for their certificates. This is not happening. Guaranteed Investment Certificates are automatically renewed every year at the posted rate for the same term as the previous certificate. What does this mean to the saving population? It simply means that you will have a 3 year term GIC automatically renewing for approximately 1.3% and a 5 year for 1.65%. Outrageous!
Of course bank staff make every effort to call clients to get their renewal options and offer them a bonus on the posted rate. This bonus can be significant, albeit the low interest rate environment we are currently experiencing. A bank client can get an extra .75 to 1.25 basis points on the posted rate, but they have to call and negotiate.
Clients are under the impression that the banks are obligated to call them. They are not. Calls made to clients to remind them of their upcoming GIC maturities are strictly courtesy calls. Like every other business, bank staff are overworked. Those advisors with assigned client lists are up to their ying yang with large portfolios - chances are they are calling their top 20%. Even so, there are clients with over 1 million dollars in Guaranteed Investment Certificates that are left unassigned with certificates in the millions that have been renewed without bonus points. Go figure and daily we curse the government for wasting our tax dollars.
Is it the banks fault. No. I think not. I think investors have abdicated their responsibility primarily because their lifestyle has become so hectic. They do not have time to oversee their investments and they are too spread out having certificates all over the map because they fear our banks may go bankrupt.
Solution 1.
Take ownership of your money. Don't wait for the banks to call you, they are too busy trying to gather more meaningful assets that increases their revenue generation. Banks do not make money off GICs or mortgages. By the time banks try to match the rates of the competition on a mortgages and GICs they are basically just bying the business to increase their money under management.
You get your quarterly statements. Put your maturity dates on your calendar and call your bank representative and negotiate a rate. You have thirty days to do so with most financial institutions and insurance companies. Your renewed certificates can be backdated to the date of renewal within 30 days of maturity. After that, you snooze, you lose.
The same goes true for brokers, institutional or boutique. Everyone is paying attention to their high value clients. And believe it or not, those are the clients that get the best rates because they have millions in the branch and losing them would be painful.
Solution2
Start to shop the competition at least 4 days before renewal of your certificates. Why? Because banks can hold GIC rates for 3 days. Get a rate for the term you want and go back to your bank and negotiate with them to match the rate. Of course, this all depends on the level of relationship you currently have with your bank. If all you have is a small amount of funds under management, don't bother you'll get bonus points but no one is going to fall over you to try and win your business.
Consolidated your GICs. I know, I know this mentality of not keeping all your eggs in one basket is for birds and a contributing factor for GICs renewing at posted rates.
Solution 3.
Ladder your GICs so that every year you have a certificate coming up for renewal this will allow you to take advantage of current rates and not have all your certificates coming due at the same time. For risk averse savers, this is the biggest risk, interest rate risk. Now, this laddering only really makes sense if you have hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead of putting 500,000 in one GIC why not have it broken up into 5 different certificates from 1-5 years. This way each year you have a certificate coming due with hopefully, a better rate. Yes?
That's it on GICs for now. Next we'll talk about mutual funds and the red hot market that most inexperience investors are waiting to settle down before they invest. Yes. You heard right. They want to buy high and sell low like they have always done.
Live Your best Life Ever.
Cheers.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
The Art of real friendship.
Lately, I've had reasons to start taking a closer look at some of the people whom I call my "friends" and realized that most of these "friends" are not really my friends but more like acquaintances that could become real genuine friends.
What is really at the heart of the art of friendship is love. Yes, love. When was the last time you told your best friend that you love them? When was the last time you were totally honest with your best friend? When was the last time you went beyond the call of duty to show your support and commitment to the ones whom you call, "friends?" Those are loaded questions. What it boils down to is this; most of us could count on our finger, the amount of real friends we have. That's the gospel truth.
In this the 21st century, "friends" have a whole new meaning. The next time you declare that someone is your friend take a moment and really inspect that thought and see if that friend is really a friend or a friend to be because believe it or not too much energy is being used up spending time with people who do not care one flying fart about you and they're your friends.
Friends come in all types, you have the friends that call you only when they have big issues and are looking for a sounding board. You have friends that are seeking others to entertain them. Friends who simply want someone, anyone to pass the time with because anything is better than being with the self.
These thoughts got me started thinking about those in my circle that I call friends and low and behold yes, like everyone else there are in this world three people that I know will come to my funeral or my wake whether or not it is raining, snowing or sunshine. These are my friends: I, me, and myself. These three are always with me in good times and not so good times and all the times. They are with me when I fail and when I succeed, when I am sad and when I am joyously happy. They are with me when I am in love and when I'm out of love. They are my true friends because even when I am afraid they stick around to help me conquer fear.
The true art of friendship begins with friendship with the self. Today for the first time in a long time I consciously gave thanks for the gifts that I have been given, my talents, my personality, my inner strength and outer weaknesses and for my over all operating systems; everything that keeps me moving even when I am not.
So yes, I am best friend to myself because I am always there for me, and I never just show up I am in IT.
Live your best life ever!
Cheers.
What is really at the heart of the art of friendship is love. Yes, love. When was the last time you told your best friend that you love them? When was the last time you were totally honest with your best friend? When was the last time you went beyond the call of duty to show your support and commitment to the ones whom you call, "friends?" Those are loaded questions. What it boils down to is this; most of us could count on our finger, the amount of real friends we have. That's the gospel truth.
In this the 21st century, "friends" have a whole new meaning. The next time you declare that someone is your friend take a moment and really inspect that thought and see if that friend is really a friend or a friend to be because believe it or not too much energy is being used up spending time with people who do not care one flying fart about you and they're your friends.
Friends come in all types, you have the friends that call you only when they have big issues and are looking for a sounding board. You have friends that are seeking others to entertain them. Friends who simply want someone, anyone to pass the time with because anything is better than being with the self.
These thoughts got me started thinking about those in my circle that I call friends and low and behold yes, like everyone else there are in this world three people that I know will come to my funeral or my wake whether or not it is raining, snowing or sunshine. These are my friends: I, me, and myself. These three are always with me in good times and not so good times and all the times. They are with me when I fail and when I succeed, when I am sad and when I am joyously happy. They are with me when I am in love and when I'm out of love. They are my true friends because even when I am afraid they stick around to help me conquer fear.
The true art of friendship begins with friendship with the self. Today for the first time in a long time I consciously gave thanks for the gifts that I have been given, my talents, my personality, my inner strength and outer weaknesses and for my over all operating systems; everything that keeps me moving even when I am not.
So yes, I am best friend to myself because I am always there for me, and I never just show up I am in IT.
Live your best life ever!
Cheers.
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