Capitalogix

Face Your Fears - Will Smith's Video

Recently, Will Smith shared a video of himself at Skydive Dubai.

Apparently, the experience taught him much more than how to jump out of a plane.

 "The point of maximum danger is the point of minimum fear."

  

Worth a watch.

 

 via YouTube

Likewise, Tony Robbins preaches the importance of expanding your "threshold of control."

The idea is that you need to continuously push your limits and grow your tolerance of what is within your comfort zone.

Think about the problems and annoyances you had when you were 18, 13, or 8 ... Chances are that they were much smaller than what you now face comfortably. 

Expanding your thresholds of control, and facing your fears (and discomforts) is a big part of growth.

In my company, we call it "Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable."

The old way wasn't enough, and the tools and techniques that got you where you are, won't get you where you want to be.

So, into the unknown we go.

What do think will catapult you to that next level?  

What's the first step?

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading - March 25th, 2017

Let's play "Caption This Picture."

 

Found it under the headline "Aides Wrestle Drill From Trump's Hands As He Tries To Remove Obama Listening Device From Skull."  What would you caption it?

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

  

Lighter Links:

• ‘Homo Sapiens as We Know Them Will Disappear in a Century or So’. (Yuval Noah Harari)
• A Stunning Video of Mars that Took Three Months to Stitch Together—by Hand. (Wired)
• Stephen Hawking is Going to Space. (TheNextWeb)
• Darth Vader’s Suit Would Cost $18.3 Million in Real Life. (Dailyinfographic)
• How to Tell a Good Story, as Explained by George Saunders, Ira Glass, Ken Burns, Scott Simon, Catherine Burns & Others. (OpenCulture)

 

Trading Links:

• Steve Cohen is Trying to Teach Computers to Think like Top Traders. (Bloomberg)
• John Oliver on the Federal Budget. (Ritholtz)
• Measuring the Cost of Living Worldwide. (Economist)
• Are Bonds Flashing a Warning Sign for Stocks? (SeeItMarket)
• Quants are Eating Away at Wall Street's Edge. (QuantNews)

A Tale as Old As Time ...

I watched Beauty and the Beast this weekend, with my youngest.

 

via filmschoolrejects

 

He's not so young anymore, and it feels like these two toddlers aren't either.   If you haven't seen this yet, watch ... It's a fascinating and funny time-lapse.

 

 

Two toddlers escaped their cribs and held a party in their bedroom. 

By the way, Beauty and the Beast was pretty good.  It's a faithful representation of the original cartoon, and a reminder that while children get older and technology changes, some things don't.

Victory Is Near: A Reminder From Tony Robbins and JP Sears

I ran into YouTube sensation JP Sears at a conference this week (where Tony Robbins was going to be the keynote speaker).

If you don't know who JP Sears is ... he's funny.  Some of his most popular videos are parodies on Spirituality,  if meat-eaters acted like vegans, and being gluten-intolerant.

He also does a bit about what it is like to be at a Tony Robbins event. 

 

 

It's mainly comedy, but there are some nuggets of truth hidden in there. 

As for the Tony Robbins event, there is a lot of truth woven through lots of entertainment. And I'm always impressed by how masterfully he controls a room!

I've been to many Tony events in the past, but I get something new every time.

One of the ideas I liked was a concept he uses often ... Victory is near!

The night is always darkest before the dawn.  The storm is roughest before the break.  And even after the coldest, darkest, winter ... Spring appears.

If you're looking for a relatively short (but representational) glimpse at what Tony does – a good place to start is his TED talk on why we do the things that we do. 

 

TED via YouTube.

Hope you had a great week.  And, remember, Winter is just about over ... 

Facts or Fiction: How Faithful is Your Favorite "True" Movie's Story?

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about fake news and fact-checking the contents of the news and what public figure say.  However, I haven't heard much about measuring the veracity of movies.

This site was kind of interesting.

It purports to rank the relative veracity of various movies. 

For example, "Selma" is impressively accurate  (as is "The Big Short") ... "The Imitation Game"?  Not so much.

 

via Information is Beautiful

This interactive breakdown lets you be as "pedantic" as you want -- letting the "truth" be relatively flexible, or seating the truth-scale at "only what objectively happened".

So, where does your favorite film fall?

Pretty interesting.

Clown Hysteria: 2016 in a Nutshell

This summer, South Carolinians started seeing menacing clowns in the woods.

As a response to clown hysteria,Target pulled clown masks from shelves , McDonalds scaled down use of Ronald McDonald, and people everywhere have been in a fervor.

Not everyone has been affected negatively though ... Surprisingly (to me), Pornhub has seen a massive increase in clown related searches. 

 

via TNW

There you have it ... hard data.

2016 continues to surprise ... Celebrities dying, phones exploding, the election, and this.

It will be interesting to see how 2016 ends, and what the future brings.

The world changes, but human nature remains relatively constant.

 

 

The Voice of Nature: Words of Wisdom from Koko the Gorilla

Jennifer and I traveled to the Roaring Lion Ranch in Hamilton, Montana last week.  

 

 

It was an amazing few days in the High Plains ... Especially since there was a major forest fire there just a few weeks ago.

Many fires, like this one, could be avoided with some common sense.

You don't have to be a rocket-scientist to understand the issues.

Koko (the gorilla is that can talk with humans using sign language) was recently informed about some nature-related issues.  Then, supposedly, she was allowed to improvise.

This video is the result.

 

 

 

The Gorilla Foundation via YouTube.

 

 

Regardless of whether the editing was intense or Koko's handlers led the conversation ... it is compelling to watch.

  

Related articles

How Human Should A Gorilla Be?

On TV: KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS

How to Be a Life Coach - Ultra Spiritual Life comedy episode [video]

Have you watched the Netflix documentary, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, yet?  The reviews are very good.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, this video 'teaches' you everything you need to know about becoming a life coach.

 

The message: Getting rich teaching other people how to get rich has never been easier!

 

Funny.

 

 

 

 

via YouTube.

Watch more Ultra Spiritual comedy episodes here.

Furious George: Monkeys Understand Unequal Pay (Video)

We don't expect animals to understand human "inventions" like economics (or pay scale, income inequality, or fairness).  Surprisingly, they do.

 
This quick video showcases the emotional reaction of one Capuchin monkey when confronted with unequal pay for equal work. In this case, the work is giving a rock to a researcher in exchange for a treat.  The monkey was perfectly happy trading a rock for a piece of cucumber – until a neighboring monkey gets a delicious grape for performing the same action.

See what happens next.
 

 

via YouTube.

Fascinating.

Click here for the full TEDTalk.

 

The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes

Innovation comes in many forms. I often challenge my research team to come at the edge-finding process differently. For example, how can you tell what’s happening in the stock market (or in your portfolio) without looking at the market?

As an example, I might ask how we could determine the number of people in a room, without using sight?  To answer, you could: ask; use heat signatures; detect the number of heartbeats, etc.  The point is, there is usually a way if you want it badly enough. 

The story and video below captured my attention … and admiration. 

Hope you enjoy it.

 

Diagnosed with retinal cancer at the age of two, Ben Underwood had his eyes removed at the age of three.

Still, he was able to detect the location of objects by making frequent clicking noises with his tongue. He used it to accomplish such feats as running, playing basketball, riding a bicycle, rollerblading, playing football, and skateboarding.

Check out the video.

 

 

 

Via CBS News.

He died just before his 17th birthday; but his life is still an inspiration.

For more, watch this.