What I Found to Be the Best Tips for Learning - An Assignment

What I Found to Be the Best Tips For Learning - A Student   Assignment Of the Coursera.Org Course "Learning How to Learn" by a student -me- Chris "Crispy" Garrah

What I Found Out:

I have a life long love of learning.  But the featured course at Coursera.org which I choose to take as an absolutely free course showed me that in my fifty years of studying that I really did not have the best study skills, at best they might be considered average or poor. This course is offered by Professors Dr. Terrence Sejnowski and Dr. Barbara Oakley through Coursera.org.

This assignment or presentation is for parents, friends and teachers who may benefit from taking their study habits to the highest level.

Really I have and had so many problems in studying that I am going to list them by number along with a solution.

1.  Not Being Able to recall where you obtained your information-yikes-Plagiarism!

This may not be critical if you use on-line sources and can Google an answer to help you where you got your material  But if you happen to crack open a book
the solution is to write down the name and author because it just won't work for you to bring up information that you can recall but you don't list a source only because you cannot remember - that is plagiarism - so avoid the deadly trap - and write down the book and author.  Just in case you inadvertently use something.  If you don't write down the sources of your material you may receive a luke-warm or failing grade where you thought you wrote something brilliant.  In this courses' assignments it is necessary to quote specific references.  ("Learning How To Learn"  Assignment Rules Posted)

2. Procrastination may have been my biggest problem

"Learning How to Learn" from Coursera.org emphasizes  that a person will avoid the temporary anticipated pain of studying and do something more pleasant.  Before I started this assignment I was in a cold sweat thinking about how close the deadline was.  Setting a timer for 25 minutes as featured in this course will get you started.  The talk by Dr. Oakley was especially helpful asw as the video of a student squirming in her seat until she got underway and apparently some of the pain went away.
Here is a good place to show these are not my ideas -  "The Pomodoro Technique" - Wikipedia says Francesco Cirillo developed this time management  technique in the 1980's.  And Professor Oakley in this course focuses on this technique for avoiding procrastination.  Other tips are shown to stay focused on studying.

3 A Collection of My Other Bad Study Habits

 I would re-read the material but in some case this could be "over learning" - italic term  from "Learning How To Learn".  Similarly, reading problem solutions and thinking I could solve the problems on my own.  Wrong!  Big mistake!.  It is much better to look away and come up with a solution.  That is a good time to look at the solution especially if the solution consists of many steps.
Dr. Oakley in the course mentions several techniques that are better :  read and recall instead of re-reading. 

Also emphasized in the course is the importance of sleep.  I could be mistaken but in the early weeks of the course a closeup of neurons show before and after sleep photos - where the neurons connections resemble to me anyway -intertwined trees.  Your neurons are changing branch shapes as you learn.  Your brain i rewiring as you sleep.  Am I wrong or am I right?  You really should sign up for this exciting course and excel at learning and your life.

My final thought:  Stressed throughout this course are terms like "diffused learning" and "focused learning".  In diffused learning your brain is continuing to work on your everyday problems as when you take a walk.  Exercise and sleep.  Important parts of learning and learning well. 

 

 

"How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals In the Real World"

Review Of The Book "Getting More"  - How To Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals In the Real World    - reviewed by "Surfer Chris" Garrah

 

Is this Book for You?

Well, from personal experience I have found that the techniques in the book do work.   The author gives many examples of the techniques.  The author says that you should always show respect towards your counterpart.
 The twelve strategies  I have found really do empower you -  they work.
As an alternative, the idea of "blowing up" if you don't get your way I don't recommend. And that is in fact what the book recommends always staying calm and not letting your anger be in control, There is a caveat in the book that the strategies don't apply in situations where a person is being physically abused.
  But they do apply where there is a "hard bargainer."   A key strategy outlined in the book is to hold the other person to their standard that as a company they may have published somewhere but when dealing with you they have not followed.

Other Benefits Of the Book

The book will give you confidence to ask companies to tell you what kind of discounts they have.  Being friendly, repeating the clerk's name and asking about the clerk's life if it presents itself are featured in the book.   I have found that the size of the book or the lengthy title of the book might scare you off.  (The second part of the title is "The 12 Invisible Strategies That Change Everything You Thought You Knew About Negotiating")

Do not let the book scare you!   An excellent course to help you learn the material or any material that you may find a little complex is a free course "Learning How to Learn" at Courser.org.
The book will help everyone.  There are examples in the book of how parents  negotiate with toddlers and win!  Not being a parent myself I can see how negotiating with a screaming child could be terrifying.  But the book gives at least one example that is inspirational.  Because I don't want to infringe on copyright I just indicate that many examples of everyday situations are rampant in the book.

Summary

Here is a book that can really impact your life in a positive way.  When you first try the techniques in the book you may only have read a few of the 12 techniques.  That doesn't matter.  You can always keep building your toolbox from the 12 techniques.  You don't use 12 techniques all at once.  There is an art of deciding what techniques to choose from.  Because there are many examples in the book you can simply plug the example in as you deal with an airline, a child or negotiate with a store clerk.  I found my copy at a thrift store so I can flip through it to try to retain more information .  The author is Stuart Diamond who has taught a Negotiation course at Wharton Business School.  He has advised the UN and the World Bank (these credentials from the book jacket).  The book is a "New York Times Bestseller"

Getting More - the book on Amazon

How to Invest like Warren Buffet - reviewing the book "Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements ...the Search for the Company with a Durable Competetitive Advantage"

"Warren Buffett and the Interpretation Of Financial Statements " is written by Mary Buffett and David Clark.  It is subtitled "The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage"

Reviewed by Chris Crispy Garrah

What Is Mary Buffett and David Clark's Book About?

I am  going to give you a brief insight into the book.   Even though you may know how to read financial statements you may not have discovered key discovery's Warren Buffett discovered by reading and analyzing many financial statements, I am thinking that as perhaps as a small investor you too could grow your fortune over many years just like Warren Buffett did. By picking great stocks you could make money over many years if you had the patience to continue buying small quantities of the types of stocks that Warren Buffett  (a very rich man) favors.



What Is the Background Of Mary Buffett?

Well, she is the former daughter-in-law of Warren Buffett.  So,  she was privy to inside information on how Warren Buffett  discovered differences on the income statement between great companies and not so great companies  In the process Warren Buffett was able to grow his many billions of dollars over many years .

 

Key Discoveries Warren Buffett made About The Size of Expenses Affecting Net Income in Relation to Revenue  - 

Warren Buffett's  analysis  of  financial statements differed  from  an accountant's view because he noticed some companies could generate sizable net margins and some could not.  Line by line he found expenses  were much smaller for Companies with distinct competitive advantages.

  A key element in  comparing two different companies' ability to grow their earnings over many years was the size of the net profit is in proportion to  the revenues.  .  The book emphasizes that Warren Buffett discovered early on in  investing   that a bigger net profit margin  is crucial in selecting stocks to buy when buying for the long term - perhaps holding your whole life unless the fundamentals change.  To me I am assuming a change would be a drop in the net profit margin.

 Wikpedia is defining net profit margin as net profit divided by revenues.  Multiply by 100 to get a number between 0 and 100..  The net profit margin could also be negative if their is a net loss.   I think the book is indicating 15 to 20 percent or more is very good.  .... and I think Warren Buffett uses "net income before income tax"   divided by revenue as his indicator = net profit margin

In contrast to these companies with high net margins (and thus a distinct competitive advantage ) are companies like car  manufacturers ( look in the book for this) that  have a very small net profit margin.   These small net profit margin companies is have to really compete with the other companies and they must sacrifice a healthier profit by spending more on the expenses just as  many companies also do.

And that is where the subtitle of the book comes in ..."durable competitive advantage".  Why can some companies earn so much money from revenues. Well,  the book is indicating that various expenses like 'research and development'  and  'depreciation' ..caused by needing to retool  (like car companies and phone companies that need to invest in new technology) are smaller in these exceptional companies..   Another thing about these companies with a durable competitive advantage are they have well known names.  The same issues apply to your family finances .. you could grow the family's wealth faster if you cut down on your need expenses and kept more money in your pocket - a higher net profit margin for your family's finances.

The growth in earning from one year to the next is indicated by the high net margin.
This growth in earnings will drive up a company's stock price.
 Peter  Lynch, one of the most successful mutual fund managers also stresses this point in his investing books.  For Warren Buffett, according to Mary Buffett's book he could see clearly the potential to grow earnings over the years with the cash being generated in the company - high net margin and using it to buy more earning power or to buy back stock - with fewer shares the earnings per share will rise .

Where can I filter the stocks by net profit margin?

One place that I go to is Google Finance.   They have a stock screener and you can add this as a criteria to screen stocks.  

Or you can locate a company's net profit margin on  Google Finance on the right side of the screen .  For each  stock they have key stats listed and the stat you are looking for , "net profit margin" is here also.


In the past Warren Buffett has invested in such companies as  American Express, Moody's , Wells Fargo. Coca Cola and others.  As an exercise you can follow these stocks on Google Finance and find much more about a company than just its net profit margin. 

What else could I screen in my stock selection?

Well, the valuation of a company is very important.  The Price per earning measures how pricey a stock.  Usually, the lower the better as a guideline.   I recall Peter Lynch in one of his books say that he would rather buy a company that had a p/e of 30 and growing earnings at 30 percent a year than own a company with a price/earnings of 20 and growing at 20 percent a year.

Are there other ways to learn about investing without risking my money?

My bank offers a practice account so you can practice buying and selling stocks.  You could view the stocks you buy daily, or weekly over months or years if you were cautious.  It is only pretend  money in the practice account.  Although the money is  only pretend money as the stocks that you have bought in this account change in value you can get a measure of how well your stock picks may have done by looking at  the percentage changes which change over the day or month or year.

ANOTHER WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF

The magic of mathematics - I think having five to seven stocks that are dissimilar helps reduce major losses.  This could be something to investigate to give you more confidence.  The more confidence you have in the quality of the stock the more you would be able to weather a temporary downturn in the market and keep your stock long term to generate long term gains.

The Law of 72 

I do not recall if this covered in the book but the rule of 72 tells you how long it will take to double your money. - because the value of the stock is compounding.  Refer to Wikipedia.  If your stock rises at 18 percent a year then 72/8 equals 4 years to double.  Also refer to solution on Wikipedia for the rule for how long to triple your money.   Because Warren Buffett has been investing for many years and has selected stocks that he believes will grow year after year his fortune has grown to an astronomical number.

I also recommend reading Dr. Alexander Elder's book "Trading For a Living" especially if you enjoy charts and numbers. or visit  Dr. Alexander Elder, author of Trading for a Living  I have a book review on this site.  I recall an exhaustive treatment of indicators of the markets direction.

SUMMARY

Do you ever find yourself watching a stock investing show and the commentator is saying how good a stock is?   Well, now you may find yourself shouting at the screen "what is the net profit margin ...is it a measly 2 percent or a juicy 20 percent?  and how is it valued ?  Does it have a 100 price per earning?   How is  the stock going to rise fast enough in value to justify that valuation (of 100 price/earning).   Enjoy learning about investing and seek expertise but also do your own research and for what the authors actually said - read the book!   Happy learning.   I think you really have to have confidence to keep a stock that is falling - I am not saying to keep it but if the fundamentals of the company are the same - high earnings - maybe the company will rebound.   From the book it appears Warren Buffett seldom sells - because he does not want to pay capital gains - an income tax - upon selling his stocks.  the magic of compounding!.

Note:  I always welcome feedback, especially if I make faulty analysis, grammar errors and typos.
The last time I looked on Amazon the book was selling for just a few dollars.  A real gem of a book at a discounted price - what I like to call a door stop book - the perfect place to hide a book so no one "steals" it.