Don't Believe Everything You See Online

If you're Canadian, then chances are that you've heard about the House Hippo ad that use to be shown on T.V. to remind everyone not to believe everything we see or hear. Is it time to re-run this add to remind us not to believe everything we see on T.V. and, especially, the Internet?

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen, during one of his nomination, said it best:

There have been many conspiracy theories in the wake of the Pandemic and most don't even have facts to back it up. Why is it that some people think that their 10 min Google research is enough to prove, or disprove, something? Why is it that we would rather listen to "Blogger434" than the advice of an expert?

We can, literally, find anything online that supports our beliefs but that doesn't mean that it holds any ground. I can ask Google "is the Earth flat?" and I'm going to find hundred of thousands of sites that supports this idea and, again, it doesn't mean that it's right.

How do we know if this Pandemic is real? 

If you're asking yourself this question then you likely don't believe anything that's in the news right now (and you shouldn't) but do you really think that all Governments have banded together to mess up the economy like this? Do you really think that all the news about doctors and nurses crying are fake? How would it be possible to setup a global phenomenon like this and have everyone on board with it? What use would it have? Do you need to experience these events yourself in order to know they are real?

This isn't my first rant on this subject but I'm constantly reminded, by my Facebook friends, how easy we believe in things that just aren't true. The mere existence of a conspiracy doesn't make it true. It's frustrating to see people I highly respect fall prey to a blogger who's only wish was to gain views in order to boost his revenue. We need to be careful!

Am I a Good Writer?

 

"Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." 

-Vince Lombardi

I've been writing for a long time and always thought that if I do it often enough, if I work hard at it, and I give it time ... I would eventually become one of the greats. While I have made improvements over the years I'm surprised at how little of the "best practices" I actually implement in my writing. 

The problem is that I haven't been learning much on the subject of writing itself. I've simply read books, unrelated to writing best practices, and went on to write expecting that I would pick up on things. The irony here is that the motto of this site is to "learn from those that have the fruit on the tree" but I haven't been learning from the writing masters.

Practice what you preach right?

I've implemented some lessons I've learned about paragraphs and sentences in this blog post. Is it better? Is it working? I can't tell! I can't tell because it's difficult to spot our own mistakes. What I need is a writing mentor - someone that can look over my blog post and tell me how I can make it better without loosing the message I'm trying to convey. 

"No! Try Not! Do or do not, there is no try."

-Yoda

When I go to the gym, I have a very specific goal in mind. I know how my end result is going to look like and I notice changes along the way. Improvements, related to writing, seems to be barely noticeable to me. I don't know how I'm doing and I don't know what it takes to get where I want to be with it. Is the desire to be great writer enough to actually be great at it?

If you like my writing - thank you! If you don't then constructive criticism would be appreciated. Either way I'm going to be doing this for as long as my mind is able to formulate thoughts so stick around!

I Miss the Gym

Those that don't go to the gym, on a regular basis, don't understand the true meaning of "missing the gym". When I share this, with my non-gym friends, they tell things like "well why don't you just workout at home?" or "why don't you just go outside for a walk?". The gym is more than just a place to exercise - it's a sanctuary. It's like a church for millennials; a place where we go to exercise and mingle with people of similar goals. It's a place filled with people that understands the true meaning of discipline and hard work. It's a place to forget about your problems and focus on the moment.
Sure, I do some workouts at home with the tools that I have but it's nowhere near as good as a proper gym. I feel "flabby" in places I wasn't flabby before.

I was recently asked "what is the first thing you're going to do when the quarantine is over?" and the first answer that popped in my head is that I was going to the gym. Assuming I'm still working when the quarantine is over I fully intend on taking a few days off to go workout.

What's is the first thing that you'll be doing after the quarantine is over?

Is the Pandemic Your Financial Wake-Up Call?

I've been fortunate to have gotten my financial "wake-up call" early on in my IT career. For some of you, the Pandemic is your financial wake-up call and it's going to hurt you more than those that were financially stable before this entire mess started out.
I can't stress out enough the importance of living a debt free lifestyle. Having money in the bank gives you choices - debt is financial slavery.

Some of you are protesting the lock-down not because you want to go back to work as much as you need the money to pay off all of your bills.

Now here's the problem: the majority of people is going to loose money because of this pandemic. If you don't have any money then you will be more in debt at the end of this ordeal than you were when it all started.
I have one of the most conservative, minimum risk, financial portfolio that I was able to create and I still am loosing money because I don't understand the investment world enough to take advantage of the changes that are going on. Even some experts investors are loosing money in some areas because previously "safe" investments are no longer safe. Compared to most of us, however, those experts know where to put their money to minimize the lost and, in some cases, make gains out of this change.

In recent weeks, I've seen an increase amount of "sponsored" investment related videos on my Facebook feeds, from people not known in the investment world, promising great gains if you buy their training videos and follow their investment advice. Since we are in unknown waters right now I would advise you to be careful with those that think they can outsmart the investment market. If you are looking for investment ideas then you need to be looking at what the experts, such as Warren Buffet, are doing with their money. They are the ones that knows the game best and have the most chances to take advantage of the change.

Listen to those that have the fruit from the tree.