History repeats itself
Good morning, Smart Movers. It’s been a hell of a week for us in America. We are literally watching history in the making. Pres. Trump has initiated a trade war on the world and like tennis spectators, the American people are looking left then right, then left again …trying to see who has the advantage. Is it us, the American people? Is it the top 5%, the billionaires? Is it other countries, like China and Russia? Who will win this trade war? We look back to the right and there’s a foot fault.
These are questions that got me dissecting the past. I love researching history as a whole, but this research was more direct and purposeful. It involved stock market crashes, historical tariffs, trade wars and world wars. Doing this type of research can help us make better decisions in our personal and financial lives without falling victim to the endless sensationalized, scare-tactic, hope and wish, news trends.
We really owe it to ourselves and our families to understand how we can develop a war chest during this time to secure our futures. If you’re like me you were probably a little too young for the 2001 crash, too naïve for 2008 crash, and not prepared for the 2020 crash. Do you know that crude oil went to $0 a barrel March 2020? In fact, it went negative too. Check the chart:
If…just if, your war chest was ready for action, you literally could have been upwards of $370,000 as of January 2024 when the price for crude oil increased to $74/per barrel. But we didn’t see those opportunities, you know why? Because we were masked up and locked down. We were living in fear of one another and fighting over toilet paper in Walmart and worse of all, our war chest was not built yet. Every downturn has opportunity. Each crisis presents an opportunity for character building and having a positive posture to face it. This comes with preparedness and prudence. The two P’s we will focus on today.
As Smart Movers, we need to move in silence, develop our posture, and reshape our thinking so that we don’t miss these magical moments to invest and move differently. Only firefighters and insane people will run back into a burning building, but we can only respect the firefighters. Insanity, which by definition and which I have been in the past, is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Well, the result was always the same. Pure insanity. Now it’s time to get honest and focus on changing the neurological pathways that complacency is electrified by.
Preparedness.
The definition of preparedness (oh btw, we define words here at Strizzy Report) is:
: the quality or state of being prepared | especially : a state of readiness for war
Now, let’s go deeper and look up “prepare”. The definition of prepare is:
to make ready beforehand for some purpose, use, or activity | to put in a proper state of mind | to work out the details of | to put together : compound | to put into written form
Now we know the definition we can begin working out the details. Remember I told you that we need to build a war chest? The first item that we are going to put in this war chest is to write out our goals. This prepares us and allows us to stay on task. What are your goals? To invest? To move the family into a nice house in a nice neighborhood? To start a business? To earn more money? I cannot tell you what your goals should be only you can do that. But whatever your goal, it needs to be clear, with definitive end results and have an exact and reasonable time to attain it. I wrote a book about writing goals and objectives, and creating tasks to assist the goal - so I won’t be getting into too much of that here. However, I am going to stress that you need goals.
The second step is getting your family or significant others on board with this plan. We cannot have segregated focus during this time and everyone needs to be on the same page. For too long we’ve been super focused on ourselves and too selfish in our ways. This will only impede growth and creating and maintaining symbiotic relationships in our lives will allow us to flourish beyond our wildest dreams.
Debt is Cancer.
Treatment should be aggressive and prolonged. Debt is the primal reason why this country and the inhabitants of this country is in the position we are in now. We want what we don’t need, we are over consumers, and we are straight up bad with money. Especially in the savings department. But how can you save with debt creeping out of your eye socket? It’s the #1 killer of people. The stress that people get that ultimately gives them cancer and other conditions is caused by debt. The worry of bills and sustained worry-state is what’s likely killing you minute by minute. That’s why we have to eradicate it from our lives. At some point we have to either:
Pay off debts (snowball, avalanche or settlements)
Credit repair / consolidation
Bankruptcy
Don’t be afraid of bankruptcy. Here’s a few famous people you know that have filed:
Walt Disney
Larry King
Mike Tyson
Donald Trump
Marvin Gaye
Abraham Lincoln
50 Cent
Henry Ford
Dave Ramsey
Still scared? Hell no. Start fresh and get your things back in order. This is all about preparedness so that no matter the crisis, event, or crash - you will always be prepared to move like a Gazelle on opportunities that fulfill your goals and dreams.
That’s all for now on preparedness, we will touch these topics at later times throughout the reports and will provide some resources to folks needing them. Don’t forget, you can always schedule a call with me to discuss your situation.
Prudence.
Let’s talk about prudence. Starting off with the definition of course:
clever and careful in action and judgment
It is what it says it is. We revert back to logic and reason. There’s no more quick actions for just about anything other than life saving activity. If you’re not saving your life .. calm down and think about what you are doing.
“Hey! Bianca - let’s go out tonight, I haven’t seen you in awhile - let’s catchup”
Bianca has a game plan. It may be Bianca’s first time out in months. She’d been meticulously focused on her character and building her war chest. She’s been paying down debt and saving some funds at the end of every month. She might’ve picked up a side gig to bring in even more cash. Bianca is slowly getting ready for war but no one knows nor do they care.
Bianca can respond: “Let’s go another time” or “Sure, let’s do it” I mean she is doing all the right things in her life.. following her plans and making things right. What would you do?
Personally, I’m declining. As if I’m sitting around with nothing to do ready and willing to just say yes to a request such as this without time barriers. The issue is here, Smart Movers, is that these are the tests. The all of a suddenness, the let’s go now, the FOMO that happens to the best of us. It happens in real estate, the stock market and in our every day lives. This is a lack of control and a lack of posture to fall into someone else’s timeline, plan, focus or sensationalism. This is what’s happening now in the news. Everyone wants your attention, the bigger and badder and scarier the headline the more you want to know. Don’t know. It’s okay not to. You’re doing already and have been for awhile without knowing.
Let’s continue. I love Benjamin Franklin’s definition of prudence as it goes beyond simply being cautious; it's about making wise choices based on a thorough understanding of the situation and potential outcomes. As smart movers we must be responsible in our decision making. And with that comes the power and the ability to say “no”. There’s a level of respect that you achieve albeit for self when you create, maintain and follow your plan. This is our plan. This is the Smart Movers plan and we are just getting started.
I pray that today is a great day for you and your family. It’s Sunday. It’s the beginning of your moving smarter. It’s also the beginning of me stepping back out into this world. I’ve been knocked over for the last 7 years - hiding in a hole, not particularly advancing my own strengths. We all have some work to do.
My coffee is now cold,
Stacy
Strizzy Report & The Comfort Killers
P.S. Do me a favor and share this email out to someone you know needs it. I need your help so I can continue my life’s work.. to help as many as I can.
Also have no fear, I’ll be dropping opportunities when I see them.