I like saying “be gentle with yourself”. I see too many people being the worst critics of themselves. Never enough. Never done well. More, and more, and more. Don’t take me wrong. I’m a fun of self-motivation. I’m all-in in improving myself, in challenging myself. But how you do it matters. The words we speak have a direct and definite effect upon our thoughts. Thoughts create words, for words are the vehicles of ideas. Words also affect thoughts and help to condition if not to create...
1 day ago • 1 min read
It was winter in Montreal and I was making a tour to some VIP guys from Madrid. It’s normal that if you’re building a $1.5bn project, you are interested in knowing first hand how the project is going. “Fascinating” “So cold” “So white” “Snow everywhere” They pointed out a place outside the construction site. And then I saw it. A dad had made for his children a hockey field in the lake. Smoothed the ice. Put goals. Painted the field. Even he put some lighting. The lake was in his backyard. My...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Let me share with you a lesson that can change how you see things… and if not, you should talk to the doctor in case you have no blood on your veins. It was during my time at JP Morgan. Investment banking. There was a guy. Italian. Name, Luca. Very nice guy. There we were. At around 2 or maybe 3 am at the office, in London. We finished a presentation for important VPs that needed to take 8 copies of it for an important meeting in a huge deal. We had sent the presentations to print. They...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Closing now the acquisition of two new units. All seems ready for starting a new project with 4 new units. All in Airbnb. Just waiting for some permits for two buildings. One full rehabilitation and transformation in 10 units, and another built new, 15 units. Medium and long term rent. New Zealand, Spain, Panama. I’m going all in, some would say. And so do I. And so you should. As Marianne Williamson said in her mega bestseller A Return to Love, “Your playing small does not serve the world....
5 days ago • 1 min read
You should read this, if you feel stuck in anything you’re doing. In Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about the importance of systems versus goals. “Winners and losers have the same goals,” he writes. “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Weak systems provide weak results. No matter your goals. I’ve seen this many times. Agencies spend millions in creating the most beautiful contracts. They hire the best lawyers… who tend to be very expensive....
6 days ago • 1 min read
(aka: Sydney’s “Oops, Too Low” Express) In 2005, Sydney proudly opened the Lane Cove Tunnel. A shiny $1.1 billion project meant to ease congestion and improve traffic flow. All good... except for one teeny, tiny oversight: The height. The tunnel was built just low enough that hundreds of trucks couldn’t fit. And by “couldn’t fit,” we mean got stuck, got scraped, or triggered alarms every other day. It got so bad that the government had to install "can-openers" (those dangling metal bars that...
7 days ago • 1 min read
In the 1990s, Japan generously funded a modern bridge over the Choluteca River in Honduras. Top engineers. Solid design. Built to last 100 years. You know how Japanese built, right? Well.. The bridge did it. Sort of. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit. The bridge? Still standing, barely a scratch. The road? Also fine. But the river moved. Yep — the entire Choluteca River changed course. Now the bridge was proudly spanning… nothing. Just dirt. A beautiful, indestructible monument to irrelevance....
8 days ago • 1 min read
A few days ago I read a fantastic story about Steve Jobs. You can apply this to any aspect of your life. Well… The good of Steve Jobs was about to unveil one of his new phones. The phone had five major features, and Jobs wanted all five to be highlighted in the ad for a campaign. So, he was meeting his team and explaining that he wanted all five elements to appear in the advertisement. One of the guys in the meeting grabbed a sheet of paper, crumpled it into a ball, and said: — Steve, catch...
9 days ago • 1 min read
When people invite me to networking events I usually check the agenda hoping for something to do that you can’t move… like deworm the cat. Don’t get me wrong. There are necessary, of course, if you want to have a business. But… I feel like going to them about as much as I feel like getting kicked in the huevos (or balls). However, when I go, I make the most of them. This does not happen to everyone. You smell the discomfort of many people. And remember, that is noticed easily. You have a very...
10 days ago • 1 min read