Maybe they aren't making decisions at all, but merely using some poker playing sofware.

Are you saying that your negative thoughts about your houses preceded their declines, and not the other way around? Isn't it true that you were negative because you were losing and not that you were losing money solely because you were negative?

Are you saying that your positive thoughts mystically infused your houses with such powerful karmic energy that prospective buyers couldn't help but make you offers?

Seriously, where's the cause-and-effect relationship here, 'cause I'm just seeing a muddle.

How can you say that you fully agree with the statement "if you believe you create your reality, then you do" and then object to people observing that you're resorting to mystic mumbo jumbo?

Please pardon my tone. I wouldn't comment at all if I didn't respect the rest of your writing. I enjoy your insights in your books and in the rest of your blog, and so it is with respect that I say you appear to be off base here.

It's all too easy to dismiss this kind of thinking as Mumbo Jumbo if you look at it only from a surface perspective. Cause and effect have many different dimensions beyond the physical reality of the moment.

If you were to observe witness testimony given about a particular event, each person would have a different version of the same reality. Even two people standing directly next to each other and seeing the same event at the same time percieve that event differently. Their reality it different.

Extend that forward. One person could walk away from witnessing that event and become terrified of some aspect of life while the other could walk away from the same event with a greater appreciation for life and living that infuses them with positive energy. Both are the result of differing beliefs about an identical event.

Things happen in the world, both positive and negative. No question about that. But the way I read what Dr. Tharp is saying is that when you take absolute responsibility for your own relationship to those events, you percieve, react and create in entirely different ways. And those chosen paths do affect outcomes, sometimes very directly, sometimes through a series of connected events.

Warren Buffet is looking for an investment manager.

He listed some of his requirements in his latest letter to shareholders at:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html

It's interesting to see the emphasis he places on risk management (esp. avoiding 'a single big mistake') and on on psychology.

His prior letters are very good reading material.

******************

I intend to hire a younger man or woman with the potential to manage a very large portfolio, who we hope will succeed me as Berkshire’s chief investment officer when the need for someone to do that arises. As part of the selection process, we may in fact take on several candidates.

Picking the right person(s) will not be an easy task. It’s not hard, of course, to find smart people, among them individuals who have impressive investment records. But there is far more to successful longterm investing than brains and performance that has recently been good.

Over time, markets will do extraordinary, even bizarre, things. A single, big mistake could wipe out a long string of successes. We therefore need someone genetically programmed to recognize and avoid serious risks, including those never before encountered. Certain perils that lurk in investment strategies cannot be spotted by use of the models commonly employed today by financial institutions.

Temperament is also important. Independent thinking, emotional stability, and a keen understanding of both human and institutional behavior is vital to long-term investment success. I’ve seen a lot of very smart people who have lacked these virtues.

Finally, we have a special problem to consider: our ability to keep the person we hire. Being able to list Berkshire on a resume would materially enhance the marketability of an investment manager. We will need, therefore, to be sure we can retain our choice, even though he or she could leave and make much more money elsewhere.

A person creates his/her reality regardless if he/she believes he/she does or does not. Who else could possibly create it?

But a person does not control events; however, he/she can structure his/her participation to them, hence creating his/her own reality.

Owning responsibility for our mindset and its consequences makes common sense; supporting The Secret marketing blitz is not, which includes much woo.

If I take responsibility for the results in my life and believe that I can make a large amount of money in the markets (or poker, in my case), I will take actions that are different from those who blame their results on external events (bad luck, bad childhood, etc.) and who deep-down expect failure.

As a winner, I will find a way to make it happen. When I lose money (more than statistically expected), I know that it is because of mistakes I am making. I will humbly seek out the resources I need to overcome these setbacks. I agree with everything Van wrote.

Hello Van - I agree with everything your saying. The stuff that the secret teaches works. I've been using it in my life in other areas before they came out with the secret. I'm now getting into trading the Forex and will apply the same laws to it that I have with everything else. I'm very happy to see someone as well known as your self teaching people how to apply these laws to help them succeed. I look forward to studying what you have to offer. Thank You - Michael Martin

I think that Van is saying that if you belive there are opportunities in the market then you will be likely to find them but if you believe that there are only opportunities to lose money then that is probablly what will happen, thereby creating your only reality.

Many never stop being nine year olds. At that age, ther is plenty of blame to go around - except home.

Enjoying the blog.

If you need to read and buy into "the secret" to understand reality, then you likely need more grounding than can be put in a book or a self-help pack.

They wrap some common sense up in mystical mumbo jumbo and tie it together with vaguely spiritual/historical references to sell people crap... sure there's a little useful piece of info in there, but the layers of noise added make it a moving target. Never muddy reality by playing on peoples' hopes that there's some spiritual force beyond what they can comprehend.

Reality happens concretely. You make choices. There are consequences. There is a lot of information out there. There is a world outside of you - but it is knowable through your senses.

That said, you can waste time being introverted and worrying about the "things" you own or can buy and the "love" you can attract... or you can be looking at the bigger pictures and patterns. You can get a step ahead and then turn around and sell mumbo jumbo back to people. There's always a sucker a step behind. Take the time to move a step ahead then look for the sucker. If you don't see a sucker and just bought a newsletter that helps you find the sucker, you're the sucker. Don't be the sucker.

Play the game of creating enough for everyone else instead of taking the most.

Trading stocks you don't truly believe in is as good as gambling. If you believe based on faith to any degree, you are lost. Lose your gods (all of them). Learn enough to be confident and trust yourself. Learn to see - and you will provide for everyone else whatever they need. When everyone else has all they need, you have created a reality better than most will ever dream.