Video Notes: 生死的智慧 - 柯文哲

怎样才是算是活着？

人生的目的不是死亡。死亡是全部人的终点。人生的目的是寻找人生的目的。

荣华富贵只不过是一陀大便。

Video Notes: What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness by Robert Waldinger

What keeps us healthy and happy as we go through life?

If you were going to invest in your future best self, where would you put your time and energy?

Project tracked lives of 724 men for 75 years.

Clearest message: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.

3 big lessons about relationships:

1. Social connection is really good for us; Loneliness kills.
2. Quality of close relationships e.g., family, marriage matters. 
3. Good relationships protects our bodies and our brain.

Happiest people in the study:

• Replace work mates with new play mates. 
• Lean into relationships with family, friends.

Book Notes: Money, Master the Game, 7 Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins

Interesting: Singapore holds record for spending $4000 per household per year on lottery. 

Compound interest as a powerful tool 

William 

• Start retirement account at 20
• invest $4000 annually until 40 (20 years in all)
• Stop funding the account at 40, left money to grow at 10% return
• 2.5 mil

James

• Start retirement account at 40
• Invest $4000 annually until 65 (25 years in all)
• 10% return
• $400,000

Benjamin Franklin

• left $1000 for Boston and Philadelphia
• after 100 years, withdraw $500,000 for public work projects
• rest invested for another 100 years.
• 8% annually
• in 1990 = $6.5 mil (3000%)

Our earned income will never bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to be. 

Sir John Templeton 

• find bargains at the point of maximum pessimism
• Secret to wealth - gratitude
• When you’re grateful, there is no fear;
• when you’re grateful, there is no anger.

The secret to living is giving. 

Life is about creating meaning. Meaning comes from what you give. 

The ultimate significance in life comes from a sense of self esteem for ourselves, which is something we can never get from someone else. What matters is what you think about yourself. Whether or not you believe that deep inside you are continuing to grow and push yourself, to do more and give more than was comfortable or you even thought was possible. 

The fastest way to feel connection, a sense of how significant your life is, a deep sense of certainty and variety, and put yourself in a state where you can give to others, is to find a way each day to appreciate more and expect less. 

9 Financial Myths

Myth 1: Mutual funds work

96% of actively managed mutual funds fail to beat the market over any sustained period of time

Myth 2: Mutual funds fees are insignificant

Invest $100,000 at 35 to 65 at 7% annually

At 65,

less 3% annual annual fees = $324,340

less 2% annual annual fees = $432,194

less 1% annual annual fees = $574,349

Myth 3: Average return

Beware of how returns are being marketed

Myth 4: Brokers help you - They don’t

Myth 5 is on 401(k), Myth 6 is on Target-Date Funds, Myth 7 is on annuities - not really relevant to Singapore context

Myth 8: Huge risks, huge rewards - talks about structured notes, market-linked CDs and fixed indexed annuities as safer forms of investments

Myth 9: The lies we tell ourselves - is about motivation, the stories we tell ourselves, changing our states and our stories.

Knowing How Much Do You Need to Retire

Www.tonyrobbins.com/masterthegame - for app to determine how much is needed to retire

Change your story, change your life

Speed It Up

1. Save more

Save on mortgage, save on car etc.

2. Earn more 

All you have to do to earn more money in the same amount of time is to become more valuable- Jim Rohn

3. Reduce fees and taxes

4. Explore living in foreign city

How to Invest?

Do asset allocation - diversification to mitigate risk

• Security/Peace of Mind Bucket
• Risk/Growth Bucket
• David Swensen thinks ETF are for trading and not holding for the long run.
• Jack Bogle says if you are 40 years old, 60% should go to equities in your risk/growth bucket, 40% in bonds in Security Bucket.
• Dream Bucket

Do dollar cost averaging and rebalancing

Lifetime Income Plan 

Ray Dalios shared All Seasons Portfolio Allocation

Use of annuities 

Invest Like the .001%: The Billionaire’s Playbook

Warren Buffett says put 10% in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low cost S&P500 index fund.

3 Decisions that determine the quality of your life

1. What are you going to focus on?
2. What does this mean?
3. What am I going to do?

How to spend money to increase happiness

1. investing in experiences - travel, learn new skill
2. buying time for yourself - outsource mundane tasks
3. investing in others - give money away

Video Notes: Sugar, The Bitter Truth by Robert Lustig, MD

Ranked by sweetness:

Fructose (lab) - 170

HFCS - 120

Sucrose - 100

Glucose - 74

Lactose (milk sugar) - 15

HFCS = sucrose (table sugar)

HFCS and sucrose are poison. Both contain fructose. 

• Fructose 7x more likely to cause browning of blood vessels than glucose. 
• Fructose does not suppress hunger hormones - we eat more even when full. 
• Eating too much fructose cause:
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Heart attack
• Hypertension
• Obesity

Juice contains sucrose. 

Low fat food usually contain more HFCS to improve taste. 

LDL can be broken down into 2 types - one good one bad. Low triglyceride (1+) and high HDL (1.5+) suggest more of good LDL. 

Fast food = fibre less food, to cook faster and last longer. 

Compare:

120 kcal glucose (2 pcs of bread)

• 96 kcal use by body.
• 24 kcal reach the liver.
• glucose turn into glycogen in liver, but is harmless.
• tells brain that you are full.
• ~1/2 kcal turn into VLDL (cause heart disease, obesity), but not so bad.

120 kcal ethanol

• 24 kcal absorbed by body and brain
• 96 kcal reach the liver - damages liver
• a lot more VLDL created

120 kcal sucrose (a glass of orange juice, sucrose = 1/2 fructose + 1/2 glucose)

• 60 kcal fructose (not used by other cells in body, all go to the liver) + 12 kcal glucose reach liver
• a lot more VLDL created
• produces chemicals that stops telling brain to stop eating => vicious cycle

fructose => uric acid up => gout, hypertension, high blood pressure

Chronic fructose exposure cause same problems as chronic ethanol exposure

Exercise is good, not for burning calories. For reducing stress, appetite goes down. 

Fiber is good. Wherever there is fructose in nature, there is fibre. That’s why fruits are ok. Fiber tells brains that we are full earlier.

Drinking chocolate milk is like drinking a cup of milk + 1/2 a cup of orange juice.

 Coke is 10.5% sucrose.

The earlier kids are exposed to sweet, the more they are going to crave for it later.

The doc's recommendation:

Video Notes: Make Me A German (BBC Documentary)

This video was telecast back in 2013. My video notes:

Economy

• Small, medium enterprises, known as Mittelstands, like Faber Castell employs 2/3 of German’s workforce. It may be a SME, but Faber Castell produces 1/6 of the world’s pencils. It is the leading exporter after China and USA. 
• Mittelstands stay with traditional products, stay away from computers, stay as SMEs and try to do whatever they are doing really well.

Company

• Company built loyalty employee through subsidising meals etc. 
• Communal responsibility rewarded by shared team bonus. 
• CEO-level representation of women in Germany is two per cent.

People

• Germans work the shortest hours in Europe.  
• German work attitude – start work at 7.49am on the average. 8 hour day include an hour for lunch. More productive. Don’t use mobile phones, Facebook, no gossip, no private email during work. 
• Highly regard manufacturing skills. Go for apprenticeship at around 15 years old. Work at Mittelstand often for life. 
• Cautious with spending. 
• Value job security.
• Good tax break if wife is not working. 2/3 of mums with children under 3 are stay-at-home mums. Tradition – don’t want children to be in nursery for whole day. Stigma for mums that go out to work: Rabenmutter - a raven mother – one who doesn’t care about her children.
• They join clubs being part of a community. 
• Get horns when make mistakes on road.
• Against the law to be noisy on Sundays.

Education

• Forest kindergarten. Children create own games, interact with nature. German kids in school only by 6. 

Video Notes: The Truth About Calories

Calorie numbers on food labels are around 10% lesser than actual. 

Less intense but longer workout such as doing housework is more effective in burning calories.

Food labels affect how we feel fullness. Eg, When food label says 200 cal, we tend to feel hungry faster. It’s all in the mind. 

Video Notes: Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abraham

​

This video gives pointers on spontaneous speaking. But I think many of the tips apply to prepared speaking situations and general communication as well.

How to deal with anxiety before or during speaking:

• Reframe as a conversation, not presentation
• Start with questions.
• Prepare talk with questions
• Use conversational language
• Be present oriented eg, say tongue twister, count backwards in 17s, push-ups

Ground rules for spontaneous speaking

#1 Get ourselves out of the way

Dare to be dull. Don't set expectations about outcome of the speech. Just doing it is already success.

#2 See spontaneous speaking as opportunities. eg, to find out more about the other person's thinking.

Yes, and...

#3 Slow down and listen

#4 Tell your story

Useful structures:

1. Problem/opportunity -> solution -> benefit
2. What -> so what -> now what (who->why is he important->what we are going to do now)

Speaking in a hostile situation

• Expect it. Don't be caught by surprise.
• Acknowledge emotion. Eg, I hear you have concerns about the price.
• Reframe and explain.

Speaking in an online setting eg, delivering a talk through web conference

• Use collaborative tools to encourage engagement.

Interrogation setting

• Paraphrase to buy time to employ strategies discussed above. (Universal strategy)

When trying to get answers from a guarded speaker

• Ask why questions.
• Ask for advise.

Humour

• Test before using. Self deprecating humour is best bet.
• Have a backup plan.
• If not don't use.

Video Notes: The Science of Persuasion

​
Factors influencing persuasion:

1. Reciprocity. People tend to give after they have received. Be the first to give and give unexpectedly is the most effective. Eg, Amount of waiters' tips after giving mint sweets.
2. Scarcity. People want more of what is less. Tell them what they stand to lose. Eg, British Airways discontinuing Concorde.
3. Authority. People are more willing to listen to people who are more credible. Eg, Real estate call staff recommending real estate agents.
4. Consistency. Asking people to indicate commitment. Eg, Erecting ugly slow down signs and getting patients to write down own medical appointment details.
5. Liking. We like people who are similar to us, pay compliments to us and cooperate with us. Eg, Pay compliments before talking business.
6. Consensus. We like to follow actions of others. Eg, 75% of those who stayed in this hotel room reuse their towels.