Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

There is no eternal depression or eternal boom. There is no everlasting suffering or peace. Everything follows a cyclical pattern of good times and bad times. The problem is that I can’t control the situation on my own. This means I need to change my attitude and behavior according to the circumstances. During a recession, we should prepare for prosperity, and during times of prosperity, we should prepare for recession. Our goal is not to guess or imagine but to stay aware of changing circumstances and their consequences. Do not settle for the current situation; instead, read and prepare for even minor changes. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Information asymmetry happens when buyers and sellers have different levels of information, leading to adverse selection in the market. Adverse selection occurs when one party, either the buyer or the seller, has hidden information about the product and makes buying or selling decisions based on that information. For example, in the used car market, buyers cannot know everything about the cars and cannot fully trust them. Because of this, they often try to buy used cars at lower prices to evaluate their quality. To make buyers feel more confident, sellers might promise to repair the car free of charge if it breaks within a year after purchase, protecting themselves against adverse selection. A successful transaction depends on strategies that align with the market’s specific characteristics. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

No matter how hard you work or how busy you become, it’s essential to maintain initiative in your life. When I lose control of my life to others, I feel as though I’m living a life of servitude. The most important way to preserve initiative in life is to consistently take action, even if it’s small, as part of my daily routine. Theologian Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr prayed: “Let me do my best in what I have to do, give me the courage to give up what I cannot do, and give me the wisdom to judge the two apart.” - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

The reason the human brain is more complex and sophisticated than that of other primates is to facilitate the establishment of social relationships. The brain develops through the senses, and humans must experience them to sense. Without experience, the human brain cannot perceive. All social experiences contribute to the development of a social brain. The broader the relationships, the more socialized the human brain becomes. Through experience, the human brain can compare and organize information to communicate effectively with other brains. To empathize, we mirror the brains of others. Who we are with is also neurologically essential. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Warby Parker, an eyewear brand renowned for its direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model, and Allbirds, an eco-friendly shoe brand that went public on NASDAQ in 2021, exemplify innovation in connecting manufacturers directly with consumers without intermediaries. This model promotes a positive image by endorsing an eco-friendly business approach. However, the disclosure of the companies’ financial statements revealed that both had accumulated losses greater than anticipated. While it would have been ideal for manufacturers to supply products directly to consumers, the burden of inventory increased along with rising administrative and marketing costs. Distributors in the middle shared profits, but they also shouldered the financial burden. Choosing eco-friendly options often incurs higher costs due to the search for alternatives, which can lead to accumulating losses. Pollution negatively impacts both consumers and suppliers, and business deficits further inflict additional damage that c...

When an organizational leader is busy, the organization is at risk. There is a high probability that work is abnormally concentrated on the leader or that the tasks currently being pursued are unsuitable for the organization. If leaders fail to address the right issues due to their own busyness or if tasks are not properly distributed within the organization, a crisis will soon arise. Being busy does not equate to sincerity. Instead, we must recognize the warning signs of limitations to survive. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

No matter how smart you are, if you don’t exchange values, you’ll starve to death. For one thing, being self-sufficient enables survival, but self-sufficiency is only possible if you have your own assets and can borrow from others. However, even with existing assets, one can only survive through minimal labor and effort, which means engaging in productive activities. Thus, having great intelligence and applying that intelligence to productive activities are two different things. Even if you aren’t brilliant, you can survive if you are productive. It’s essential to identify the productive activities in which I excel and those where I need improvement. If I understand that, I must act without looking back. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”