Mindless Barista

I write this on the sidewalk outside of a coffee shop in West Chester, PA, soaking up a spring morning in the summer. Sipping on an almond milk latte. With awareness around how many water sucking almonds it takes to make it, I am trying to make sense of its creation...from my order to a cup in my hand.

These days I make a point of drinking coffee in a "to stay cup" at the coffee shop. For me it's important to sit and enjoy the moment, an opportunity to slow down the rat race even for just a for 15 minutes. In ordering a ceramic cup I'm also aware of the reduction in waste. One less paper cup in the "recycling" cycle or pehaps the city dump.

This morning I order the Latte for here. The barista used a plastic cup to decanter the almond milk from the carton. Then he poured that into a paper cup which he used to steam the milk, after which he poured it into the ceramic cup and handed it to me. He threw both the plastic and the paper cup in the garbage. 

My mind wanders to the mindless waste this represents in our society. There is no accountability for how much we waste. We waste food, water and resources in a way that further harms the source of all of these. Take a look around you next time your at a restaurant at all the food that doesn't get eaten. Why do we continue to do this. Why do we continue put our convenience ahead of our future and well-being.

I will appreciate this latte more then ever because it cost much more then the $3.75 I was charged and because it will be the last I ever have from this coffee shop. Starbucks is just around the corner!

Getting on the Bandwagon

The Financial Times reported that a study made by Insead concluded that “coaching programs based on introspection and meditation techniques, without any discussion about CSR [corporate social responsibility] topics, exhibit a significant impact on both the probability to act in a socially responsible way and on the factors that influence the probability to behave that way”.

Last week we heard that Verizon has purchased AOL for $4 billion. Considering that AOL is a holding in the Yoga Capital portfolio, it got me to thinking how this reflects on this portfolio’s purpose. It prompted a soul searching of social and environmental investing. If AOL, is indeed a stalwart of socially and environmentally aware companies, then does that mean that Verizon is also such a leader, or does it mean that AOL is not. Does this purchase by Verizon indicate a move by them toward being more sustainable. I’m not going to pretend to know the answer, but I do think the answer should be more obvious.

Again the question is prompted which companies are socially and environmentally responsible because they truly are compassionate and truly care about the community and environment as opposed to being trendy, or wanting investors and clients to see that they are playing their part.

The Insead study indicates what I believe to be the most important indicator of CSR. Companies whose executives or decision makers who have personal contemplative practices, tend to organically be socially and environmentally compassionate. It is these companies that are the most sustainable. It is these companies that represent a new era in capitalism – a new industrial age. To identify and segment these companies is to create an investment class that represents the future of investment. This is still advanced strategy, so to have a rounded portfolio might require broader exposure, but the tide is turning and to have a portion, if not all of ones money in this investment class is essential.

This type of awareness when investing represents our deepest knowledge and beliefs. There is not a sustainably successful investor who does not show attributes of mindfulness and social and environmental awareness.

In order for Yoga Capital to truly represent this strategy, it’s time to take its screening process to the next level. Currently we pick companies that score high on the CSRhub.com rating system, and then we find the companies whose executives have a personal mindfulness practice, and then we take those who have strong financials. But this is not enough. We must now look closer at the companies output and ask the question, “Is this company paving the way to the new era in business, or is it stuck in the old “profit is the goal” way of operation”.

Keurig Green Mountain has also been a holding despite the controversy around the plastic K-cups. My defense has been they have s short-term action plan to overcome barriers to recycling. But I was asking the wrong question. And then I saw someone using a Keurig coffee machine. The K-cup goes in, a pull of the handle and the user hurries off to the chaos of the day. The paradigm of the machine is the problem. I doubt quick coffee will be integral to the new era. Coffee, maybe. And just when Keurig comes into question, it offers up a soda machine.

Deutsche Bank is another one. They made the cut because of a company mindfulness program. A breath of fresh air in a stodgy banking industry. But that’s not enough. Investment banks in their current form have no place in the new era of capitalism. If a bank is going to make the cut, they will have to show extreme proactive signals that profit is not the goal. Goldman Sachs, believe it or not, is on the watch list, but certainly not ready.

Yoga Capital will shortly reallocate, and rebuild with a keener sense of awareness around the real trailblazers. We will find the boardrooms that decide with compassion, that strategize with the future of themselves, and the world around them in mind. As Patagonia does, build companies that will last 100 years. As Google does, do no evil!

Businesses on the mindfulness bandwagon - FT.com

 

What is the American Dream?

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" - says nothing about making a lot of money, but somewhere along the line we made that translation.

Recently I heard someone say that successful people consider money a reward for self-actualization.  Said differently, my guess is Warren Buffett would not do much differently if he lost all his money or if he was making the minimum wage. If you happen to cross paths with him please ask and let us know? The American dream is the freedom do do what we are good at, what we enjoy doing, what we look forward to doing, and for most people that does not have to be restricted by net worth. That same "most people", however, now are anxiously chasing pay out, the title and the recognition - constantly managing our identities - and are missing out on doing what we would really enjoy doing. Yes, the latter might mean an adjustment in economic expectations, but the quality of life becomes much higher when one is doing what we love to do then by owning a nice house, nice clothes, a new car and the latest iPhone. If your not convinced look to those who are dying. As they say 20/20 vision is the most acute and perhaps the most objective, and without fail people who are at the end of their life report their regrets of not spending enough time doing what they wanted to do, even at the risk of less money. Let's learn from the wise!

So what about this selfish perspective. This selfish approach turns out to be the most selfless way we can live. When we are doing what we are meant to do, our impact over our lifetime will be much greater on the world then if we conform to spending our time cultivating our image. We will enjoy an optimal experience which will reflect in our work, and our interaction with others, both of which will have unimaginable positive impact on others. There is an expression - "if a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, there will be tornado in Texas". In the same way, maybe you love to build rock gardens and after building one for someone, that person everyday will enjoy seeing that rock garden and their interaction with each person they see that day will be positively effected, and those people in turn will be effected and so on. And the joy you might feel after building that rock garden will reduce the chance of any destructive behavior that may come from stress. 

The American Dream is not to make a killing, it is do what we love to do. It doesn't necessarily mean a drastic change of career or job, but simply to find the opportunity to realize our gifted talent within what we ready do. And make no mistake, we all have a gift...an innate talent.

Life, liberty and doing what we enjoy doing...that's the American Dream!

We've got it all wrong!

Many people I know or meet hate their job. They say so. Many others say that they like their job but - you could have fooled me. I say that because the many of those who say they like their job, complain a lot, are clearly stressed about job stuff, and have such a full schedule I'm surprised they can breathe. I say they, but I should say we. Which leaves me thinking that most people don't like their job.

We have it all wrong. We have the opportunity to like our jobs. It's easy to blame our boss, our company, the type of work we do, and thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else or sometime else. But it's not. The grass is green now and here. So eat up!

We think that we need to do more to get ahead but all the most sustainably successful business people I know of are very good at doing less so that they may accomplish more. This seems so counterintuitive to what we think we are taught. But take a minute to read about or think about your role model's road to success.

So how do we get to the bottom of this predicament?

Write down your top 5-15 priorities in your life, including work, family and play. Things that are most important you. If you are not sure how to rank them use this calculator (http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/prioritize/prioritize_101.jsp).

Then, on a separate piece of paper, write down how you spend a typical week. Monday through Sunday. From when you wake up until you goto sleep, what do you do and for how long do you it. Then list each activity and how many hours each week you spend on that activity.

Now compare the priority list to the activity list.

By doing this we can start to understand where we can make changes to across our entire life, and as we start to make these changes, we will start to enjoy our jobs.

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."

Enjoying our jobs is in our hands, not our Boss's.  Making more money and getting promotions happens much faster when we enjoy our work.

Michael Jordan's mindful path to being the best

Michael Jordan, many say, is the best basketball player ever, some say he's the best athlete ever, and often people refer to Jordan when inspiring what might be possible, work ethic and team work.  Which begs the question of  what is responsible for how good he eventually got.  In the beginning he was really good, but not good enough to win 6 championships.  Until two things happened, well Three things.  Mindfulness, team work and Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson encouraged/encourages mindfulness for his players, which is the cornerstone of how he coach's and also how he lives.  Through meditation he prepares his players for the mindfulness that is needed to win championships, to be team players.

Jordan is the best ever and that is burned into my brain.  And mindfulness and meditation are clearly very pivotal factors in that success.  So in addition to inspiring myself and others with stories of how Michael trained the hardest in the off season, and wanted it more then anyone else, I will lead with a moment of silence and stillness, a time to capture and fully experience the knowledge and feeling of that potential, and take a giant step in that direction.

Here is a short interview with Jackson - http://on.aol.com/video/how-legendary-nba-coach-phil-jackson-taught-his-teams-mindfulness-517822986