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18 real estate investors share what they wish they knew at college graduation

18 real estate investors share what they wish they knew at college graduation

By Andrew C. • Updated: December 1, 2019 • 28 min read • 4 Comments

I asked 18 financially independent real estate investors what advice they would tell their 22-year-old selves if they could go back to college graduation day. Here’s what they said.

When one of the great filmmakers of our time almost gave up on his movie-making dream, this is how his wife convinced him not to

When one of the great filmmakers of our time almost gave up on his movie-making dream, this is how his wife convinced him not to

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • 3 min read • Leave a Comment

Following Ang Lee’s best director Oscar for “Life of Pi,” an essay he wrote in 2006 after winning the same award for “Brokeback Mountain” re-surfaced on the web and has been shared by many friends and colleagues. It’s a tremendously inspirational story of what it means to struggle, self-doubt, nurture, draw inner strength, persevere, love, and dream…. Read More

Crafting a career out of chaos with a liberal arts degree

Crafting a career out of chaos with a liberal arts degree

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • 6 min read • Leave a Comment

This interview is with Katharine Brooks, Director of the Office of Liberal Arts Career Services at The University of Texas at Austin. Tell me about your career path. How has your career unfolded into your current role as the Director of Liberal Arts Career Services at the University of Texas?  My career is a perfect example of chaos theory… Read More

If you’re not reading voraciously, you’re not love-driven

If you’re not reading voraciously, you’re not love-driven

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • 4 min read • Leave a Comment

I recently had a thought-provoking conversation with a UX designer friend. We were talking about what motivates long-term high personal achievement. He made an observation that struck me. “Personal change and achievement can start with fear-driven motivation,” he said. “It can turn into will-driven motivation. But it can only sustain itself by being love-driven.” This got me… Read More

Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You

Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You

By Andrew C. • Updated: June 2, 2019 • < 1 • Leave a Comment

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine recommended the new book by Cal Newport, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You,” which argues that the best and most satisfying careers are those where your passion for the job emerges only after you’ve developed distinctive skills for it — because distinctive skills enable you to do… Read More

The 4 Ingredients To Career and Life Happiness

The 4 Ingredients To Career and Life Happiness

By Andrew C. • Updated: June 2, 2019 • < 1 • Leave a Comment

I wrote in the last blog post about Daniel Pink’s thesis in his book “Drive” about the three things that shape a motivating, fulfilling career: mastery, autonomy, and purpose. It made me think about similar themes Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, wrote about in his book “Delivering Happiness.” I remember reading Tony’s book last year after… Read More

Mastery, autonomy, and purpose

Mastery, autonomy, and purpose

By Andrew C. • Updated: June 2, 2019 • < 1 • Leave a Comment

One of the best TED talks I’ve heard is by Daniel Pink, who wrote a book called “Drive.” In it, he argues that career fulfillment (and, ultimately, happiness) pretty simply comes down to having three things in your career: mastery, autonomy, and purpose.  I’ll let him explain the details behind each directly in his own TED… Read More

You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • 2 min read • 5 Comments

While on the subject of Apple, I thought it befitting to look back at the commencement speech Steve Jobs delivered at Stanford in 2005. I’m always struck by the story he tells about stumbling into that calligraphy class at Reed College, and how a decade later when he was integrating typefaces into the Mac, he… Read More

“Your life’s work” – New Employee Welcome Letter From Apple

“Your life’s work” – New Employee Welcome Letter From Apple

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • < 1 • Leave a Comment

I recently saw this snapshot in my newsfeed of the welcome letter new Apple employees receive when they first join the company. Pretty inspiring. Not a lot of companies write letters to new recruits in such a motivating, mission-driven way. It takes a combination of company track record, confidence, high purpose, clear vision, and a little bravado… Read More

How a law school grad hustled to skip law firms and landed a Google business development job straight after graduation

How a law school grad hustled to skip law firms and landed a Google business development job straight after graduation

By Andrew C. • Updated: November 29, 2019 • 20 min read • 1 Comment

“It’s amazing how much an actual interpersonal interaction matters.” – Amrit Dhir, Google Partner Development Manager

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  • How to avoid capital gains taxes when selling your house (updated for 2021)
  • Why this cardiologist left medicine for the business world, and how one of his patients who died defined what matters most to him
  • You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.
  • How a law school grad without work experience went straight into investment banking and then into hedge funds
  • How a law school grad hustled to skip law firms and landed a Google business development job straight after graduation
  • How to take a year off, earn 6 figures, harvest capital gains, do Roth conversions…and pay zero taxes on it all (updated for 2021)
  • “Your life’s work” – New Employee Welcome Letter From Apple
  • How to set up a revocable living trust (with sample trust document)…and why setting up a trust now will save you LOTS of time and money later

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  • Why writing an investment policy statement will make you a better investor (HYW057)
  • Section 199A: how small business owners can skip 20% of their taxes (HYW056)
  • Election day special: potential tax law changes coming? (HYW055)

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