Blog Archives

How My Father Taught Me to Live a Truly Wealthy Life

On July 25, 1998, my father, Sherman Carmell passed away and today is the anniversary. I would like to pay tribute to him by sharing this video. He was a very special person who left an indelible imprint on my life. He truly made his mark in the world despite having passed away at the relatively young age of 67.

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Kevin Durant and the Power of Grudges and Adversity

A lot of people have become quite successful from a career and financial perspective by seeming to always have a chip on their shoulder. There was some slight, insecurity, or need for total dominance that feeds the creation of enemies to fuel their drive and success. I have been listening to Michael Ovitz’s autobiography on Audible and this was clearly the case for him as his goal at CAA was total domination of the agency industry.

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Wisdom of Yogi Canseco? Japan's Negative Interest Rates

Canseco-Yen

A few very insightful tweets came out of a very unexpected place after the Bank of Japan waded into the waters of negative interest rates. It was from none other than Jose Canseco, the former home run king, wrestler, and iconoclast. This is what he had to say courtesy of Business Insider:

Jose Canseco

He is pretty much spot on in asserting that negative interest rates have a deflationary impact.

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Pop Philosophy & David Hasselhoff: My Tribute to Ariella

Ariella Carmell Dead & Company Chicago 2019

From time to time Ariella and I engage in some very deep conversations which I always find so enjoyable and stimulating. In light of these interesting discussions, she thought we should consider having a podcast and call it Pop Philosophy. Maybe this will launch a new category called popcasts.

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Lessons from Steve Schwarzman - Chairman and CEO of Blackstone

Steve Schwarzman

Steve Schwarzman is the co-founder and Chairman and CEO of Blackstone, which is the largest alternative asset management firm in the world. Schwarzman has built a financial colossus and extraordinarily successful asset management firm that is by far the global leader in alternative investments.

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What Is Your Story? Creating A Story Where You Are The Hero

Bob Weir Grateful Dead

Marc Andreessen said something in an interview that I have thought a lot about over the years. I have been a big fan of Joseph Campbell who was an expert on myths and deconstructing the hero’s journey into its most important components and structure.

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Stressless Stress for Commercial Real Estate Investors

Stress-Free-Investing

“When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks.” – Shakespeare

Hyman Minsky famously said that stability creates instability. Good times sow the seeds for bad times because people believe that stability will be the norm and growth will continue uninterrupted.

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The Art of Improvisation - Liberating Your Artistic Genius

Improvisation

I want to continue focusing on books that resonated with me. A while back I was doing a mental exercise and thinking about some of my most memorable experiences. I was trying to determine if there was some sort of common thread weaving throughout all of them.

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Hope Is Not A Strategy - Don't Discount Liberal Arts!

hope is not a strategy

This will be my last blog post related to Andrew Carnegie. All good things must come to an end. When I started at CWS out of college my first boss asked me what my major was and I told him political science. He had an engineering background and kind of snickered and asked what I planned to do with that degree and if I considered “opening up a political science store.” I laughed it off and gave the standard retort that I thought it would help me be a better writer and think critically.

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In Sickness and Health

sick

It was a year ago that Roneet and I, along with her parents went on a trip of a lifetime. We took a five-week cruise that stopped in 11 countries in Africa and Asia. I am so glad that we took that trip as we were able to spend such a glorious time together and I ended up with such beautiful memories and hundreds of pictures to remind me of our special time.

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