Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations, believed that “empathy is an intellectual activity that takes into account circumstances, motives, luck, social status, and human character of the person.” The moment we blame another person’s actions, we examine the appropriateness of those actions. Adequacy is a state of neither excess nor understatement. If everyone else thinks a person is bad but I advocate for that person by saying, “I can understand,” then I approve of their actions. This situation is called “mutual sympathy.” In our lives, we can be egocentric in some cases and relation-centric in others. The more mutual sympathy exists, the more relationship-oriented our thinking becomes. Both too much and too little can lead to tiredness or dissatisfaction. Pursuing happiness means finding this adequacy. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

To receive investment or borrow money is to use the “future” in advance. We should be cautious about using the “future” ahead of the present. The way to determine whether a transaction is favorable or unfavorable is to assess whether the time associated with it is beneficial or hostile to you. Time affects both the weak and the strong equally. This fairness is daunting. It embodies the fear that there are no exceptions to this principle. If the amount of sand (time) in both hourglasses is the same and the gravitational pull is equal, but the amount of sand falling is different, the outcome is significantly different. The fairness of time causes those who live in the future rather than the present to consume irretrievable value. The poor either do not recognize or overlook the fact that increases or decreases in wealth inevitably discriminate against those who live simultaneously. There is nothing more foolish than moving forward in time knowingly. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

If you think that ‘expressing love is all about love,’ your eyes will not be able to see the other person properly. If you haven’t truly contemplated love, you won’t have the ability to judge whether someone genuinely considers me. In this scenario, there is a high possibility that it will become one of those relationships where the other person is used to beg for affection or is deceived by coaxing. Thinking about love begins with clearly defining what it means to be human in one’s mind. If this premise is flawed, then the feeling of love can destroy the relationship between the two; people may end up blaming the lover. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

If you eat food solely for nutrition, there’s no need to cook it elaborately; just choose a nutritional supplement. However, food intake not only provides nutrients to our bodies but also offers the pleasure of experiencing various tastes, especially flavors known as aromas through the sense of taste. Incense reflects civilization and culture. Therefore, the food business must be cultural, and for fragrance-related businesses such as coffee, wine, and perfume, both a cultural approach and an understanding of fragrance are crucial for success. Occasionally, there are businessmen who try to sell food by emphasizing nutrition while neglecting the pleasure derived from this rich civilization and culture. I recommend that these businessmen sell nutritional supplements only. It is unfortunate to engage in business without a grasp of civilization and culture. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Let’s say you have two options. If you press the blue button, you will receive 1 million USD, and if you press the red button, you will receive 10 million USD, but the probability of winning is 50%. Which button would you press? If pressing the blue button is business, pressing the red button is gambling. In other words, depending on your attitude toward the relationship between risk and reward, we can determine whether we are suitable as managers. But if you press the red button with a 50% chance of winning and you don’t win, and you have to pay a fine of 1 million USD, would you still press the red button? The relationship between risk and reward influences people’s behavior. Business is about creating a structure that is advantageous to me, and building a system in which the structure continues to benefit me is called management. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

If you can’t throw away what you have, you don’t own it properly. If you cannot leave the place you are staying, you are not entirely settled. Possession and non-possession share the same root, and wandering and settlement share the same root. There is no eternal state; we only enjoy a temporary state. It is often misunderstood that a state of possession for a moment is possession, and that a momentary absence is mistaken for wandering. The world changes, and you change too. Obsession and stubbornness will only hinder your change. If you know how to give up and leave at any time, the value of what you currently have and the state you are in will change significantly. Stability comes from sharing instability. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

It also means that if I have been fortunate in the way I have lived up to now, misfortune may come one day. Management involves looking at both sides of this coin. When business conditions are good, we need to prepare for tough times, and when business conditions are bad, we need to prepare for better times. If you have experienced misfortunes so far, you should hope that the opposite can also occur. Nothing lasts forever. The universe also changes from time to time, and we must abandon the notion that the society we live in will remain the same. Management is the act of converting uncertainty into certainty. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Being wealthy means your assets grow larger, and their value increases too. The purpose of all economic activity is to secure assets. The more assets you have, the more opportunities you create. Assets represent the total of what one owns and borrows from others. In other words, it is the complete amount of resources available for earning time. Resources serve as the foundation for acquiring additional resources. It’s like using small earthworms as bait to catch fish. Thus, it is said that money makes money. This is referred to as financial income. Income is primarily categorized into earned income and financial income. If you have a substantial earned income but lack financial income, you are more likely to face poverty in the future. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Although it is not possible to draw a conclusion due to insufficient study, scholars are examining “Is it really fair that humans are rewarded according to their abilities?” and the results suggest that luck and community support are decisive for success. Of course, one cannot ignore or disparage an individual’s abilities. However, it is more accurate to say that they have a limited impact on success. In humans, parental influence—namely, genetic and environmental factors—emerges as the most important aspect according to the study results. The issue is that no one can choose their parents. This is the fundamental reason we must remain humble. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Management is the activity of transforming uncertainty into certainty to create predictability. For example, investing in stocks when you don’t know when or how much you’ll make is a gamble, but finding a way to achieve an average return of 15% per month is management. Bank loans have a fixed schedule for when and how much principal and interest must be repaid. It is not the banking business where you can repay or request repayment at any time when you have funds. Nevertheless, we gamble or engage in a ritual for rain, mistakenly believing that it is management. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Little money makes people rich, while big money can make people poor. It’s about our attitude towards money. Money should neither be overlooked nor be ostentatious. However, what is certain is that if you ignore small amounts of money, high-quality money will not follow, and if you pursue only big money, there is a strong possibility of losing everything in an instant. A person’s attitude determines the nature of money, and the legitimacy of the way they make money affects the quality of that money. Not all money earned is equal; it varies in quality depending on how people treat it. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

It doesn’t exist until it’s connected. In the era of widespread use of social media, everyone has a voice, but that voice does not always have a social repercussion. An unaffected voice becomes a monologue. Why am I sharing my voice and my message with the world, other than to shout for self-satisfaction? Now more than ever, we live in an age where individuals feel a greater sense of alienation if they are not connected to the community or the media. ‘Connection’ has become a very important issue, and the current generation often wonders about how to connect and what the right connection is. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

When individuals perform tasks that money typically does, they become enslaved to money. Even when these means come to an end, they remain bound to money. Therefore, it is not the abundance or lack of money that enslaves humans, but rather ignorance and greed—qualities that fail to recognize the purpose and utility of money—that lead to this enslavement. Ultimately, it is a philosophical issue. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Time is wiser and smarter than humans. The reason a regular income is necessary for escaping poverty is to fully utilize time’s value. If a person without a regular income invests, they must invest with money that cannot afford to wait, which forces them to spend the investment funds while waiting for the right opportunity. This may lead to missing a good investment. If the person has already invested, they might not be able to wait to recoup their investment, resulting in debt to others. Individuals who struggle to use their time effectively due to insufficient assets must generate a regular income unconditionally. The reason for having ample assets is to buy time. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

To prevent the boat from overturning when a large wave approaches, the bow should face the front of the wave. If you confront a big wave from the side, there is a high probability that the boat will capsize. Navigating life’s crises is akin to a ship facing the waves. One should confront them rather than dodge or avoid. Of course, even the ship’s direction is ineffective when dealing with waves that are too large. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

All businesses ultimately converge in real estate and finance. This is an unavoidable fate. Real estate is the smallest unit and foundation of production activities, with a price calculated in real terms. Volatile assets that have a real price and whose prices fluctuate frequently must generate interest or dividends. Rental fees for an office or store are typically sufficient for the business operator to pay the interest on the loan owed by the lessor, the real estate owner, to the bank, akin to the real estate owner holding a particular share of the lessee’s business. Therefore, a lessee capable of paying interest on a property as a rental fee is the strongest candidate to own that property. This fact serves as strong evidence that business is closely linked to real estate. After all, most businesses grow in size and have two asset structures: their basic operating sales and real estate revenue. Without an efficient connection between these two structures, a business will never expand...

Most trees do not grow alone; they grow alongside other trees. If a tree does not thrive, it cannot develop further because it is overshadowed by its neighboring trees, making it difficult to bear fruit. If it does not bear fruit, it cannot prosper and may eventually die or decline. To bear fruit signifies survival. A tree or a person can gauge health and future development based on its fruit. The fruit of a person is represented by their work and achievements. The track record reflects aspects of luck, effort, ability, humanity, capital, and time. Each element contributes differently to performance, but the variation does not shame the individual. Success or failure is secondary; the true shame lies in having no achievements. Trees and people are evaluated by their fruit. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Debt is not inherently bad; it belongs to someone else. The goodness or badness of debt depends on the circumstances, terms, and conditions of borrowing, and it is not necessarily negative. Debt should be acquired when I have a stable income or additional profits to invest, rather than for consumption. However, you should avoid using it for highly volatile investments, such as cryptocurrencies or stocks. You need to control the debt; it is considered good when you can manage it under conditions that allow you to repay both the principal and interest. The advantage of debt is that it provides the opportunity to grow faster than others in a competitive environment. Debt belongs to someone else. This is the key. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Both a life in which money is the goal and a life that ignores money while focusing on the limitations of existence are enslaved to money. People are wary of greed for money but feel pity for a life constrained by its lack and filled with excuses. However, these two are essentially the same phenomenon, stemming from a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about the essence of money. Both conditions prevent individuals from achieving the freedom that money can provide. That is why money becomes a source of unhappiness when it is viewed either as a purpose or merely as a means. There is nothing more precious than the freedom to exercise sovereignty over my life independently. The world divides into those who seek wealth for freedom and those who earn money to become slaves to it. There is no neutrality. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

To build wealth, you must live on your current income, not your future income. Using a credit card allows you to live in the present relying on future income, whereas using a debit card or cash enables you to live in the present with current income. To achieve prosperity, you need to have compound interest working in your favor. Living in the present with future income means depending on the compound interest of others, while living in the present with current income allows you to benefit from compound interest yourself. Don’t live in the present by discounting the future. Don’t discount your time; give it a premium. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”