I have neglected this blog. Yes, I know. But it does serve as kind of a diary for me and to look back at moments of my life in recent years. Anyway. My life has changed a lot in the past 2 years. Firstly, I am living with my gf Valeria here in Rome and it's going well although no relationship is perfect. Those who paint theirs out to be as such, are liars and or good actors. Second, I have really changed my mindset from existing to focusing on living. What do I mean by this? I am looking to get out of teaching eventually and possibly into entrepreneurship in the future. One of the first steps to doing this are two things. I'd like to write a book on my experiences here in Italy and then I'd like to promote it on a youtube channel. The youtube channel is somewhat of a gamble and it will most likely be a test of patience and probably of my own mental and linguistic capabilities. Why linguistic? Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I stutter, talk too fast and at times I am incomprehensible. I made a practice video yesterday and as painful as it is to watch myself on camera, it was necessary to recognize the flaws in my speaking style. I will HAVE to slow down and focus on clarity if I want to captivate a Youtube audience. Also, I want to keep the focus on living and vacationing here in Italy because I feel people could benefit from advice before coming. I will use myself as an example; I think talking about something from someone who has lived something makes it more real. In other words, practice over theory.
Another milestone for me was having invested in the stock market. I have been studying stocks since last fall and I feel it is a wise choice and a way to provide for myself (maybe just in part, we'll see) when I am past retirement age. Is it risky? Yes. So why did I do it? I invested in a good company, a major one and also I bought into a fund that tracks and pays out the return of the overall SP 500 market performance. In my opinion this is a defensive strategy but I feel it will pay off in the following decades. My next goal is to look for companies that focus on products that everyone uses, toothpaste for example. How can I keep buying more stock? Patience is key. I will set aside some money each month which I will then use to put into the market and in the investing world this is called dollar cost averaging. This way a consistent amount of money is invested no matter what market conditions are. Anyone who looks at stock and market performance sees that it goes up and down, thus you are catching the dips and peaks evenly.
For those still following or if anyone comes across this blog, watch out for me on Youtube!
