Month: April 2016

Mindful Moments

On By LoriIn MindfulnessLeave a comment

I have decided to change the format of my mindfulness posts.  I will still continue to write longer posts on Mindfulness but have decided to start a daily Mindfulness Moment series.  Each day I will introduce a suggested mindful moment that will provide an opportunity to check in with yourself and your surroundings.

A formal mindful meditation is usually around 15 – 30 minutes a day. When just starting out this is a very uncomfortable length of time, Mindful Moments will be short bursts of Mindful awareness that are intended to bring your busy and over stimulated mind to a calm and grounded place.

I hope you enjoy Mindful Moments 🙂

P.S. Check in tomorrow for the first mindful moment!

Foundations of a Great Company – Microsoft

On By BenIn Investments - BenLeave a comment

Company Name: Microsoft

Ticker Symbol: MSFT

Founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen

CEO: Satya Nadella

Honestly, I’m not much of a Microsoft person. I’d prefer to have everything Apple. But looking at some of the company information I started to realize how great of a company it is.3ec2fc1e-697f-416f-b75b-5bd2638f9110_22.png

Microsoft was founded on April 4th 1975 by Bill Gates (You’ve probably heard of him) and Paul Allen. In 2013 Bill Gates was one of the richest people on earth. Microsoft is known for their computers but the also make tablets, smart watches, and phones. As of 2016 Microsoft had 118 584 employees and was worth $438.98 billion which really shows how large it is. Some of Microsofts subsidiaries include Skype technologies (Skype), Nokia, Mojang (Minecraft), and over 100 others. The CEO, Satya Nadella, was born in India on August 19th 1967. He learned electrical engineering in India and he learned about computers and business in the U.S. Microsofts annual revenue is $93 580 000 000 and it has over $176 Billion in assets. Microsoft has an awesome logo which is important in any industry and has some great products. Microsoft is in charge of Microsoft Word which I use constantly. They’re also in charge of Bing which is almost as good as Google. If I were you I’d definitely invest in Microsoft right away!

That’s all for now, Ben

 

 

Mindfulness and the Samurai

On By LoriIn Mindfulness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My son recently read a book for his English class, Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz.  I picked it up one day and read it through.  Samurai Shortstop is a fascinating historical novel which takes place in 1890’s Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration.  This is a transitional time between traditions and modern values in Japan.  A time, as we are reminded by one of the characters, when Western influences are eroding Japan’s cultural heritage. In the novel, the main character, Toyo, learns the fundamentals of being a samurai with his father who clings to the “traditional” Japanese way of life.

Besides being a good read, the book is infused with examples of Mindfulness. It is interesting to me, that once you start bringing mindful awareness into your life, you recognize mindfulness steeped in many traditions, stories, songs, sports, and ways of life.  Mindfulness is not a new way of focusing your attention; it is a learned awareness that has been around for centuries.

“Clear your mind. Let it become empty,” Sotaro counseled him, “so it is not filled with the past or the future, but with the present. The now.”

“It will be difficult at first,” Sotaro said. “The very act of trying to forget will cause you to remember. To help focus your thoughts, listen for the sound of the wind in the sakura.” Sotaro paused. “Do you hear it?”

Later in the book Toyo discusses his samurai lessons with a friend.

“We sat around trying to hear the stupid wind in the stupid sakura. I’m supposed to be able to hear it any time I want. But I don’t even know what that’s supposed to sound like.”

You’re not supposed to just hear it,” Fuji said. “You’re supposed to see it too. In your mind. It’s a way to focus your thoughts.”

 “We were taught to meditate before our sumo matches,” said Fuji. “They told us to imagine we were the ceaseless river pushing an immovable stone.  I didn’t really understand what they meant until I went down to the river and really thought about it.  After that, I could picture it anytime I wanted to.”

Mindfulness can be as simple and as frustrating as that. To focus our thoughts without judgement is all that is required; it just takes a little practice, patience and loving kindness.

Embrace the moment!

Lori

Proxy

On By BenIn Investments - Ben, UncategorizedLeave a comment

When you buy a stock you’re not allowed to have any say in company matters whatsoever  (Just Kidding). When you buy stocks you actually have a lot of say in company matters. You get to vote on something called the BOD (Board of Directors). The BOD gets to decide who the CEO will be and have the opportunity to hire top company managers. The more stocks you own the more you get to vote, so a person with one stock gets one vote, while a person with 500 sticks gets 500 votes. Every year all shareholders in a business are sent something called a proxy (although sometimes it’s sent to you online). Usually this proxy comes with an annual report and information on the Annual Shareholders Meeting, a meeting where the shareholders and people like the CEO meet to discuss important company events and communicate accomplishments and challenges from the last year. It’s kind of like the annual report but in person. If you live anywhere near where this is held you should definitely consider going. Anyways, when you get your proxy ballot you get a list of about ten people who are running for the BOD. You then get the choice to vote for them, against them, or abstain your vote (Pretty much means you chose not to vote). Most people vote for everyone on the list but some do a lot of research to decide who will benefit the company and who won’t.

Yesterday I got my proxy ballot from Mattel so I thought it would be the perfect the time to  write about Proxy’s.

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It looks kind of boring but some proxy’s look like this.

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Also kind of boring (I never said they were supposed to be interesting).

That’s all for now, Ben

 

Travel Photo of the Week

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Photo by highenoughtoseethesea on Tumblr

 

 

On By BenIn Travel - BenLeave a comment

Long-Term Debt

On By BenIn Investments - Ben, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Debt! An extremely scary word. Debt is what a company owes to another company. Generally this means that someone (usually a bank) gave them money with the expectation that they will pay back the money within a certain time frame. Lot’s of companies have debt, and a little bit of it is okay but a lot can be dangerous. Always look at the amount of debt a company has before investing. Try comparing the debt to other things like total assets and last years sales to see if the business could easily pay it off quickly. Debt is just another one of those things you’ve got to learn about before investing.

That’s all for now, Ben

Get to Know the CEO

On By BenIn Investments - BenLeave a comment

The CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of any business is definitely the most important person involved in the success of that company. They’re responsible for almost all big business moves and have control over the entire company. When you find a corporation you’d like to invest in, you’ve got to learn everything you can about the CEO. This can include simple things like their name and age but also stuff like their education and previous occupations, which can have a huge effect on how they run their company. Below is a checklist of the minimum things you should learn about the CEO before investing in their company.

  • Name
  • Age & Birth
  • Birthplace and Where they were Raised
  • Education (University education is the most important.)
  • Previous Occupations
  • Accomplishments
  •  And Other Qualification as CEO

That’s all for now, Ben

Travel Photo of the Week

On By BenIn Travel - BenLeave a comment

8ebbb9258f3d4b6d2ae86a031ebcf293Photo by rubinphoto on Flickr

An Awesome Travel Map

Looking for fun things to do in Europe? Check out an awesome travel map with tons of cool activities by clicking here. Some of those activities include a zero gravity flight above France and visiting an impressive bridge in Norway.

That’s all for now, Ben

On By BenIn Travel - BenLeave a comment

Now You See Me

On By BenIn Product Review - BenLeave a comment

Year: 2013

Rating: PG-13

Director: Louis Leterrier

Running Time: 1:55

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Now You See Meis a fairly recent movie about four Robin-Hood-Like magicians who must escape the law while doing their incredible magic acts around the United States. I’ve watched the movie quite a few times, and most recently saw it after I heard about the upcoming Now You See Me 2 which will be released this year. Most audiences will absolutely love this movie although certain scenes could be frightening for young children. Now You See Me is the kind of movie that makes you want to watch it over and over again. Every time I watch it I pick up on a new detail that I didn’t see before. The film actually pulls you in and is almost always captivating. The only time that I wished there was more action was just before the ending, but I can’t give too much away without spoiling the movie. This is one of few films on my list of top 50 favourite movies. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants action but also an interesting storyline in every movie they watch.

That’s all for now, Ben

If you’d like to watch the movie now, head to amazon.com by clicking on the link to the right.