What’s your job?I’m asking you honestly. You have two main tasks. Two. Not one, not five, not ten. Just two. First, get your calendar filled with meetings. Second, get your inbox clean. The rest of your activities, pure distractions. I know. It’s sad. But you know it’s true. What should you be doing? Easy. First, forget about Pareto’s law… we are not even close. Yes, that thing of concentrating on the 20% of your tasks that produces the 80% of your results. Forget it. Just list, write down, the only activity...Read more
A pen vs a computer... which one wins?I have some friends that love the Formula 1. Since I don’t have TV at home, following the F1 or any other sport is complicated. It’s complicated and doesn’t give you money… so, it’s a pass. But, you can learn about the F1 by reading. About F1 and any other thing… because knowledge can be learned. Take note of that. Well… the F1 is an amazing business and there are plenty of things you can learn from it. For example, I don't know if you know Adrian Newey. Adrian is an engineer who, for years,...Read more
What’s your job? I’m telling you mineI received a message from my kindle. Yes, that thing where you can read on without distractions or notifications. Congrats, 250 days without missing a single day reading… or something like that. I just erased as soon as I saw it. But then, the message stayed in my head. I don’t know when I missed a day… probably a 28 hour flight from Auckland to Madrid or something. When I tell people that I read a minimum of one book per week, they get surprised. “How do you do it? How do you have time?” I...Read more
If you sell anything, you want to check thisLet's imagine that you have a business or a job. It doesn't matter. You know how to do something. And you want to show it to the world…. And in the way, you want to make money with it. Maybe build a reputation. Fame. Whatever. A you have a long career and experience. What you’re selling is not garbage. Now, you have two ways of sharing it with the world. You can do it as a confident person. You give maximum value without wasting people's time. Or you can be insecure, with “horror vacui”,...Read more
Consultants are vampiresConsultants are vampires. Old manners, old customs, old dresses, old mentality… they behave as frozen in time. Of course, not all of them. But think a little about it. If you wonder why the construction industry is so behind, what’s their responsibility? In theory, these guys should bring innovation and modernity to the industry. They are the ones that know the most, right? The ones that design our building, bridges and roads… But, a bad revenue structure can fire back and create the wrong...Read more
English people are terribleMany people don’t believe it but you can become who you want to be. But you need to want to become that person. And don’t listen to me. Look at the data and evidence. One of the classic stories in the field of self-fulfilling prophecies is of a computer in the UK that was accidently programmed incorrectly. This computer was supposed to be used by a school to put children in the “right” classrooms, i.e., in the classroom of smart people and in the classroom of the dumb people. Yeah… English...Read more
My opinion about the Trump vs Harris debateA friend asked me a couple of days ago. What’s your opinion about the debate, who won? My answer was short and to the point. “I didn’t watch the debate. I didn’t read about it. I simply don’t care.” Look. If you worry or care about who won the debate or who will win the elections, you are in trouble. Mentally in trouble. You’ve got a mindset issue. A disability. People work and work… and work and work. Many hours. Many. Many. And still, they don’t make much progress. Same salary… well,...Read more
Too intelligent? You've got a problemYou probably feel too intelligent. That’s the sure path to stay poor. When I say that A students work for B students that work for C students who are the owners I was not even close. Even Harvard Review has a recent article showing how employing people with disabilities in managerial / supervision roles boost company performances. Yes. As you hear. Or read. Correlation and statistics are stronger than MBA diplomas to measure boost in productivity. I’m not suggesting that you cut off one of...Read more
Too many thingsPeople come to me with too many projects in their heads. Vicente, this. Vicente, that. Vicente, what do you think of... ? I have a few too. But there is a difference. People have too many projects in mind, switch from one to another, and then jump into the next, when no one is working. I didn’t start a second business until my first one was solid, giving good money, and started to behave well in autopilot. I’m not saying that you stop exploring. When nothing works, you have to do, do, do and...Read more
If you are intelligent, you won't be richThis phrase isn’t mine. It comes from the entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant. If you discovered Naval with this email, I feel happy because I’ll be changing someone’s life. Well… this Naval is a very smart guy. He got free from his boss, company and the rat race… but he had a hard time: “You’ll never be rich because you’re smart, and there will always be someone who will offer you a good enough job.” This is what he says… The point is that salary is a trap, it’s a drug, just like...Read more
The more stupid you are, the more money you makeYes… as you have read. In the world of business, especially in services, people continue to have a terrible myopia. I put you two examples. Fulanito A charges you 250$/hour. Good guy. Experienced. Love to work focused, fast He doesn’t waste his time in chitchats, bad coffee machines, etc. Fulanito B charges you 250$/hour. He is stupid… Or, let’s say that he has not the same level of experience, and when you ask him to do something, he breathes deeply, take 15 min meditation prior to work, and...Read more
On steroidsHumans have lots of problems… And managers, executives and others in the zoo are humans on steroids. And, because we are always stressed, problems are going up, etc. We have such a tendency to rush in, to fix things up... Most of the time, with good intention, and even after having seek advice… But we often fail to take the time to diagnose, to really, deeply understand the problem first. You know it well. You look at your calendar and see meeting after meeting. The problem arrives, and you...Read more
Running on high heels"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." ― Albert Einstein The good Albert was right. Apply this to E=mc2 and whatever you want in life. It’s like “power is nothing without control” of the famous Pirelli calendar. When I tell people about the lessons learned in my project, I think that they get it. They know that the contract needed some twists, that they teams should have been organized in a different way, that the way to manage disagreements was inefficient, that the conditions for...Read more
The maliciously obedientThey are people and contractors alike. I have one I love. It’s the company that is building one of my projects in Spain. You choose the best in experience. Even you pay a premium to hire the guys. Then, work start. Progress slow. Extras coming in… and in… and in… Questions. More questions. More obvious questions. No progress. And your experience? Your references? “I do what you tell me to do. Nothing else. Nothing more”. These are the maliciously obedient. They do exactly and only what you...Read more
A question for you todayIn life there are two kinds of people. Those that fears AI or artificial intelligence (in case you forgot what AI means), and those that only think about how to apply it to “their case” and produce more doing less. Those that see PPPs or Public Private Partnerships (in case you forgot what PPP means) as an existential threat, and those that only think about how to use the opportunity to make more money for them and their companies. I could continue with bitcoin, China, the next pandemic,...Read more
Free contentA few of you have asked me whether my course about investment is a “stock market” or “trading” course. The answer is simple. No. I have no f**** idea about trading or the “stock market”, so the only thing available to me would be to put free stuff in social media. But, I have a few other things in my plate, and I’m lazy, so I’ve not started those free videos yet. The course is about common sense investing. The common sense that 99% of people forget… or simply don’t apply. It tells you the...Read more
About friends cryingI have a friend who is not passing for a good moment at work. And, you probably know my opinion about “work” and about complaining… but it’s a friend. This is what I told him. You work 8 hours, if you are lucky, to enjoy 4… if you are also lucky. You work 5 days to live 1… as normally Sundays are used to worried about the next Monday to Friday cycle. You work 1 year, in exchange of 3… maybe 4 weeks, if you are lucky… or 5 if you are superlucky and get all public holidays. Then you work 40...Read more
About babies cryingIt’s probably because I’m a new dad. I see a video with children… and I can’t stop watching. One of those that get out some tears from my is a video showing some very, very young babies, just a few months old, being given glasses to wear for the first time. At first, the babies struggled to avoid it, crying, moving their head non-stop, pushing with their hands, complaining... They did everything they could to avoid THAT thing being put in front of their face. But thanks to having loving...Read more
The number 1 causeIt was on Saturday. I was waking up from a mini siesta caused by the flu and an overdose of paracetamol. I saw the email from our com manager. The minister says that they are going to increase the speed limit in our highway. Fantastic! Wonderful! They could have given us a heads-up, at least. We could have told him that it’s not about changing the 100 speed signs by 110 signs. We could have discussed about reviewing the performance of the barriers protecting users, or the need to change the...Read more
365 days ago... 365 days since I started this newsletter. And so many things have happened. Investors for my real estate businesses. Increase in social media (followers and engagement) by 3x Thousands of dollars in courses sold. New friends, lots of fun and much more. The reason why I started this newsletter were some friends who were not very good at investing their money. Being an ex-banker and someone that talks on regular basis with funds, private equity, investors and entrepreneurs from all around the...Read more
The Antagonist