Most you have likely never heard of Bobby Fischer. Well lets recap why he’s an hero of mine…
Bobby Fischer is the 1st and only American to win the World Chess Champion. He has been described as having a higher IQ than Albert Einstein and even comparisons with other geniuses like Beethoven. Recognised a child prodigy he becoming the youngest American champion and Grandmaster. However, its the 1972 world title match in Reykjav?k, Iceland against Boris Spassky, for which he is always remembered. This was at the peak of the idiotic Cold War and this event is often described as the Match of the Century. Bobby Fisher demolished Spassky to become the world champion for 3 years after refusing to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov in 1975, the year I was born.
Anyway it’s not so much his genius at playing chess that has impressed me over the years. What has made a real impact on is how he rebelled against authority. He pointed the middle finger to the United States after 1992 because he went against an executive order from George HW Bush, implementing a United Nations resolution, not to engage in economic activities in Yugoslavia. Yes, he is the rebel without a cause. The David against the Goliath. The underdog in every sense of the world and completely misunderstood.There’s way to much to discuss in this matter and you can read for yourself on this Bobby Fischer fan website from Japan, which also contains many radio interviews. I must caution you that he has been accused of incoherent diatribes against a Jewish world conspiracy and the American government. However, one thing I believe completely to be true is that he was exploitation for various purpose like his name being used, without permission, in the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher, loosing his patent for the Fischer clock, now a standard item in world chess and other misfortunes.Throughout all of his eventful life Bobby had many affairs, but never married. Being the enigma that he was it seems understandable that he is and always will be the bad boy of chess. His legend will only grow after his death at age 64, the same number of squares on a chess board, in Iceland. And even if he was just half the asshole he was in chess, with women, he would inadvertently create the type of attraction we know other bad boys like Marlon Brando did. It seems like matter where he went in the world, he found woman willing and attracted to him and his Japenese partner, Miyoko Watai, who stood by him since 2000 to the end.In conclusion, like Bobby Fischer, you can be more self reliant, stop caring about other people’s opinions and being true to yourself. No matter how crazy people think he may have been, I believe he never sacrificed the freedom of being himself. Remembering Bobby Fischer…
A great interview with Anthony Robbins on Larry King Live from December 2006. They discussed why new year resolutions often don’t work out. And went into depth about some basics around human motivation and effecting change in your life. I really like how Tony links his theories on change back to physiological and biological changes. When I used to workout at the gym I had little change. And now I know it’s because my diet was the same. So not much changed in my body. I may have improved my cardio but not much else. They also discussed in detail his support for the death row victim Stan ‘Tookie’ Williams (portrayed by Jamie Foxx in the made-for-TV film Redemption). I teach a process on becoming clear about your what you want, what you don’t want, and the person you have to become to attract someone into your life, that I learned from Tony. Anyway here’s the awesome interview with the brilliant interviewer Larry King:
ISBN 0471743674
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2nd edition, 2005.
Warren Buffet is the greatest investor alive today. His track record speaks for itself and this book goes some small way towards explaining the inner workings of this investment genius. A few years ago I passed on buying Buffettology because I thought I wasn’t ready for it and now found this book from my best friend Vergal Walton (checkout his new Jack Higgins website coming soon here).
The Warren Buffet Way is the most readable book I’ve come across on investment so far. The essence of this book is summarised in the various chapters of the book. The stories of the companies that Buffet invests in from the earliest days to the most recent are all entertaining and extremely insightful. One of the core underlying principles is to take the long term view of with investments. And when buying shares to think of it as buying a business and behaving in a way that the owner would behave. The Dot com crash was almost a directly result of short term opportunistic investments. And the whole investment philosophy of Buffet rests on theories expounded more than 50 years ago by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in Security Analysis as well as The Intelligent Investor also by Graham.
Historically Buffet bought sizeable interests in publicly traded companies from the Coca-Cola company to the Gillette company. And more recently he has moved into purchasing privately held companies outright. As he says he is willing to own these businesses forever. That is an exceptional attitude in investment. Hagestrom described Buffet as the focussed investor. Rather investing large sums of money in a smaller number of companies.
The Focus Investor’s Golden Rules:
Concentrate your investment in outstanding companies run by strong management
Limit yourself to the number of companies you can truly understand. Ten to twenty is good, more than twenty is asking for trouble.
Pick the very best of your good companies, and put the bulk of your investment there.
PC World has just releases a new list of 50 Most Important People on the Web. The people featured in this list have each made a significant contribution to development of the Internet. Notably missing is Bill Gates and that’s likely because of him announing his retirement. It is worth studying these people in greater detail because they are some of the best new business role models alive today. Truly exceptional individuals in most cases. Here’s my favourites:
Today, the person I would like to meet the most is Steve Jobs. However, when I was growing up I admired Bill Gates and followed his every move. The book Accidental Empires by famous industry columnist Robert X Cringely is a brilliant exploration of the early years of the PC industry and highly recommended. The funny thing is that Bill Gates the original poster child for paradodies with a now defunt website available as a book also, The Secret Diary of Bill Gates. More recently Steve Jobs has been the target of a hilarious parady blog: The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. So would you rather be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
In 2003 I met Mikko Hypponen # 43 on the list when I organised a series of IT Security Conferences in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. I was contracting to Y3K Group, now ISA and they used to be primary agents for F-Secure in South Africa. So we got to spend some good time together and I learnt a ton from this awesome speaker on how to convey the very complex technical message of anti-virus and Information Security into layman’s terms.
Oh and BTW, how did I find out about this list? My MySpace friend, Tila Tequila #50 sent a Bulletin announcing her position on this awesome list So the question remains…how do I make a significant contribution to the development of the Internet, to be listed on such a list? Maybe a 50 Most Important People on the Internet in South Africa is order. Let me know who you think should be on such a list.
There is a debate that crops up every now and then, trying to explain the behaviour of human beings. It’s called the nature vs nurture debate and speaks about how our overall behaviour patterns is determined by our genes (nature) or how we are raised by our parents (nurture). It’s clear that both play a role but more and more of my own thinking is leaning toward nurture in a big way, especially when you consider the revolutionary work on the Biology of Belief by Dr Bruce Lipton.
The short answer is not to be devided in your thinking and you being. Your message must be clear, must be short and when in doubt show the opposite to be wrong and ergo makes your message right. Remember we live in a world of duality. For every wrong there is always a right, for every bad there’s always a good, for every forward there’s always a backward.
Just a short overview of two movies that demonstrate the right and the wrong way to approach your life as a man:
1. The Groomsmen: A film written, directed and starred in by Edward Burns. I liked most of his previous films because they seemed real and down to earth. However, after this one I realised how he often plays the most self-pittying characters. In many ways he symbolises what is wrong with the modern man. And as Tom Leykis and comedian George Carlin calls the continued pussification of America (and the rest of the world).
And in this particular movie he is so distracted and divided in himself. He can’t decide to get married or not to get married. His girlfriend is pregnant and he feels like he needs to do the right thing. This is the worst roll model I’ve seen on screen in a long while for what a confident, mature man needs to be like. Women will likely enjoy this move more because of the cliche “happy ending.”
2. Thank You For Smoking: Aaron Eckhart in this satire is a real powerhouse because he is so raw and so authentic it feels like a slap in the face for a wake-up call. As a tabacco lobbyist he has one of the most notorious jobs in the world. Trying to spin the research, the complaints, the victims, the media, and still come out on top. There’s a great rapport between him and his son (who also featured in Nicole Kidman’s Birth).
Nick Naylor, the main character is cunnning lingust and more so a superb spokesman, cool, calm, collected and knows how to duck and dive the questions, giving answers or responses in a way that focusses the audience on what’s wrong with the person trying to debate with him. And he’s always able to turn things around to fit his worldview. In the seduction community this would be called having a strong frame. The only way to surive and thrive is by having a stronger frame then the other people around you.
So the secret to success for a man is not being divided. People are easily swayed by opinions of others. And you must stand your ground and believe yourself first before you expect other people to believe in you.
I would rather be Steve Jobs because he’s so much cooler, so much happier, so much more inspiring. He’s Harvard University commencement address I wrote about here, is one of the deepest messages I’ve ever read and the way that Jobs described his life into three concicse lessons is powerfull and potent. One some websites about the Meyers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, ENTP (mine), Steve Jobs is listed as a famous example of this.
In the blog where I read this the famous Apple “Think Different” commercial was displayed. For some reason I cannot embed these video clips in my blog so you have to click through to YouTube to view it here. And read the full history here of this incredibly powerful message sent to me back in 1999 because the person thought I was described by these words. I will never forget this.
Anyway there’s a great article about Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates here.
Recently I went to go see the movie “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” and it is without a doubt one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. The film focuses on a lovable guy who has pretty much given up on women, choosing to play with his toys and video games instead.When his friends find out that he’s still a virgin at the age of 40, they start giving him advice on how to get a woman.
Even though the movie is a comedy, and some of the characters and situations are rather outlandish, there’s still some great messages at the heart of the movie.
The first of which is — IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.
No matter what has happened to you in the past, or what is going on in your life currently, it’s not too late for you to start meeting and dating women.
Seriously, some guys take themselves out of the game, or just simply give up when the going gets a bit tough.
Either because of the pain of rejection or fear of women, they choose to take the less painful road and keep to themselves, letting one opportunity after another with women pass them by.
But living a life devoid of love or intimacy is NOT a good thing!
People aren’t meant to be hermits, we’re social creatures and we have to interact with others.
Unless you’re a monk devoted to a life of celibacy, you’re going to want to have a good woman in your life.
That brings us to our second lesson — LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE!
In “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” opportunities with women did not start happening with the main character until he stopped doing what was comfortable for him and left his “comfort zone.”
Usually, he’d spend his nights watching TV, either alone or with his elderly neighbors. But when he started going out to places like bars, speed dating events, bookstores, and other places he didn’t normally go to, he began to learn some things about women.
The whole idea of moving out of your comfort zone isn’t to make you feel UNCOMFORTABLE, it’s about helping you to LEARN. And it’s because you’re learning that you feel uncomfortable, due to the fact that you’re starting to do something new that’s never been part of your reality before.
Too often, we get used to doing certain things, living a certain way, and acting a certain way.
It becomes routine.
We become used to it, even if it’s not healthy!
And when we try to venture outside of it, we scurry back to our comfort zone because we don’t like doing things that are new and scary!
But how else are you going to learn what works for you if you don’t venture into the unknown?
How else are you going to learn about women if you don’t make the effort to interact with them?
You must be willing to stop doing what’s comfortable and take some risk.
You may fail a few times, but when you do succeed, it’ll be that much more satisfying. And before you know it, what used to be scary and uncomfortable is now easy!
The third lesson from “The 40 Year Old Virgin” is — MEET WOMEN.
Some of the funniest scenes in this new movie is when the main character goes out with his friends to actually meet women. But the message here is something I’ve been preaching on my website and in my newsletter for YEARS.
**If you don’t know how to meet women, you’ll never get one of them!**
Too often, guys will let one opportunity with women after another pass them by because they don’t know what to say or do to meet them.
Understand that women are THERE for you to meet!
They WANT you to meet them — in fact, they EXPECT you to meet them!
And if you don’t, then they think you’re just not interested in them.
Seriously, all the guys out there who know how to get lots of dates are the guys who walk up to women and start talking to them, display their personality and confidence, and then get the date.
If you don’t act like one of those guys, if you don’t approach women, then it’s the woman’s belief that you just aren’t that into them.
It can be a hard thing meeting women, and it can lead to embarrassing moments (as you’ll see in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” movie), but ultimately THIS is what will get you success!
But you can minimize the fear, embarrassment, and rejection you suffer if you know what to do and prepare yourself BEFORE you go out to meet tons of women.
In my book The Art Of Approaching Women, I lay it all out for you in clear, easy-to-understand language that will be your own personal guidebook in how to do everything you need to to find a great woman you can have wonderful experiences with.
I can teach you how to read a woman’s body language to see if she she’s interested in you.
I can teach you how to flirt with a woman to get her interested in you.
I can also teach you how to train yourself to meet any woman you want.
It’s all possible. If you were to download my ebook and start reading it right now, by the time the weekend rolls around you’d be ready to go out and have some fun with lots of different girls.
You can get your copy of The Art Of Approaching Women now by clicking below:
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish is the commencement address by Steve Jobs at Harvard University in June 2005. It’s one of the most inspirational speeches I’ve every come across and I believe it will go down in history along side Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream.”
Bobby Fischer is the 1st and only American to win the World Chess Champion. He has been described as having a higher IQ than Albert Einstein and even comparisons with other geniuses like Beethoven. Recognised a child prodigy he becoming the youngest American champion and Grandmaster. However, its the 1972 world title match in Reykjav?k, Iceland against Boris Spassky, for which he is always remembered. This was at the peak of the idiotic Cold War and this event is often described as the Match of the Century. Bobby Fisher demolished Spassky to become the world champion for 3 years after refusing to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov in 1975, the year I was born.
So the question remains…how do I make a significant contribution to the development of the Internet, to be listed on such a list? Maybe a 50 Most Important People on the Internet in South Africa is order. Let me know who you think should be on such a list.
I would rather be Steve Jobs because he’s so much cooler, so much happier, so much more inspiring. He’s Harvard University commencement address I wrote about 
Recently I went to go see the movie “
