Critically Thinking about Goal-Oriented Parenting

This is the second most important challenge of most people's life

Writing this, I’m audaciously stepping into the area of expertise of my friend John Rosemond.

John has made a career out of giving parenting advice. At one point, he had a weekly column in a few hundred US newspapers. See his excellent books here. He has also given hundreds of popular parenting talks all over the country. I’m sure that he will share his wisdom in the comments below.

Triggering Life-Changing Thoughts —

Let’s say that when cleaning their attic, two parents came across a Genie.

After getting introduced, the Genie said that he ordinarily grants three wishes, but since there are two of you (and he feels generous), today he’ll grant four! His offer is that he will grant their wishes for four (4) outcomes for their six-year-old child by the time they turn 18.

What would the parents ask for?

The first parent gave this some thought and said that they wanted their child to be:

a) Healthy

b) Happy,

c) Straight A student, and

d) Successful in some sport.

The second parent could see some merit in their partner’s thoughts, so decided to build on them. After some joint critical thinking and discussion, they both agreed that their final answer was for their child to be:

Regarding the first parent’s original thoughts, they mutually agreed that if their child has these four things, it will also be almost guaranteed that they will be a happy, well-performing student, with success in some sport!

Note that their answer said nothing about them being best friends with their child, which is a very common major parenting mistake. The parents’ job is to see that their child turns into an adult with the above attributes — not to be their BFO. Interestingly (as explained here), being your child’s best friend and a proper parent are frequently in direct conflict.

If parenting is successful, the new adult will have a superior chance of being a happy, productive person. That is the ultimate parental reward.

What would YOU say if you had that opportunity?

The two main points of this fantasy exercise are that parents should:

1 - Have very specific goals regarding what they will call successful child rearing (ideally in writing to minimize misunderstandings), and

2 - Then decide whether their K-12 schooling is an asset or liability regarding each of their goals. (Where it is not, they need to fix that!)

To answer #1, parents need to take a major step back and resolve what their goals are for themselves!

Whether we think about it or not, there will be a day of reckoning for every one of us.

It’s up to each of us to decide what will happen at that time, and then live appropriately.

My view is that when we cash our chips in, there will be a final balancing of our account. What will be the assets and liabilities listed on that ledger? Most importantly, what will be the Net?

The Bottom Line —

My perspective is that these are the two most important life goals:

1) Have a successful life — i.e., finish with a net asset ledger, and

2) Assist others to end up with a net asset ledger.

These “others” can be:

a) Members of your original family (e.g., a sibling),

b) Spouse

c) Child

d) Relatives

e) Friends or acquaintances

f) Other associates (e.g., readers of this Substack)

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Some other interesting articles about child-rearing:

Understanding What Parents Want for Their Child: A Guide

What Kind of Person Do You Want Your Child to Become?

What Do You Really Want For Your Children?

Parents: Don’t focus on happiness, help build resilience instead

Skills children need to succeed in life — and getting youngsters started

What parents really want for their children

Report: What Do Parents Want?

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2025 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

The Importance of Having a Vision

This deserves major Critical Thought!

I’ve written a few times about the integral connection of vision with success.

An eight-year-old boy watched the 1950 movie Treasure Island, based on a book by Robert Louis Stevenson, no literary slouch. This young boy was enraptured by its portrayal of pirates and adventurous living on the sea. For the next 70± years, his life was driven by that vision!

This boy turned into a larger-than-life individual who moored nearby to us in coastal NC. Recently, he passed on, regretfully before I had a chance to get to know him. Below, for your inspiration, I am sharing his fascinating obituary. As interesting as it is, it barely scratches the surface…

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Capt. Horatio Sinbad—North Carolina’s Pirate!

Captain Sinbad Morphew, 81, of Beaufort NC, recently passed away.

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, Captain Horatio Sinbad, 81, cast off his lines and set sail from this world and his beloved home, the brigantine MEKA II, on his inevitable final voyage to the harbor of his Lord and Savior.

Left behind in Sinbad’s wide, phosphorescent wake through life, his family, his friends, the town of Beaufort, Carteret County, and North Carolina have lost a most colorful and inspirational character and passionate promoter of our maritime history. He is irreplaceable, the epitome of a one-of-a-kind figure of our time. Here is a short video with him explaining a few things…

It was a momentous turn of fate. Imagine the entire course of your life’s journey, an adventure lasting nearly 75 years, the result of seeing a 96-minute movie when you were eight years old? It’s an extraordinary story that could have been spun from the imaginations of writers Jack London or Mark Twain.

An eight-year-old boy from middle America sees the 1950 movie “Treasure Island.” He dreams of life on the sea as a pirate, builds his first ship—an eight-foot pram (row boat) — to sail and plunder vessels on a nearby lake.

The lake was too confining for a budding pirate. It also had a scarcity of prospective victims. A few unsuspecting fair maidens, however, could be had, one of whom would later become his first wife and the mother of his four children — but that came later.

Bored with school at the advanced age of 16, he runs away from his Michigan home and winds up serving as a mate on a 96-foot schooner in the Windward Islands for three years. There, he earned the nickname Sinbad, which later became his legal name.

You know the name, but you probably don’t know the entire story—how he and his first wife, Marilyn, were nearly drowned after his first home-built ship, the 22-foot MEKA, sank during a hurricane in the deadly Graveyard of the Atlantic 200 miles east of the Outer Banks, NC. After drifting for two days in a life raft they were fortuitously rescued by a passing freighter.

Undaunted, while working for a few years as a draftsman for General Motors back home, Sinbad scrimped every dollar—he prefers to call them doubloons—to build in his backyard in Detroit, Michigan, a proper 54-foot, 20-ton ocean-going pirate vessel, the majestic brigantine, MEKA II.

Without much forethought, he could hardly have predicted the ordeal he would suffer trying to get his ship out of his backyard and afloat over five years later. The adage “Life’s a journey, not a destination” could be his motto.

Not long ago, he said: “You're just looking down this horizon and you decide, ‘I'm gonna set sail and see what happens.’ And that's the whole adventure of it for me, because I didn't know all the answers. But seeing the movie Treasure Island was the driving force that sent me on that road.”

What an adventure it was. He lived aboard the MEKA II for 57 years, sailing more than 65,000 miles.

What else should you know about the adventures of North Carolina’s pirate? He did just about everything imaginable in order to sustain his dream. He’s designed and built: boats, a restaurant, a house, and a barn. He started, and continued for over 4 decades, the Beaufort Pirate's Invasion. He’s operated a sailing school, and attended more pirate festivals and tall ship events than he can remember. He’s written books, made a documentary, and even wrote and produced a feature-length movie.

By Sinbad’s side for 47 years has been Lt. Terry Brown, his second wife, known to most as "Lt. Brown". When she signed aboard the crew, she had no idea what she was in for or how much work and danger would be involved. “Through all these years she stuck with me, Sinbad said. “I mean, the worst times, the worst storms, the worst everything, she's stuck with me and she’s still here. And I marvel at that. I feel so lucky, so very, very, very lucky.”

Over the years, the MEKA II’s nine cannon have fired at —for fun— U.S. Navy submarines, aircraft carriers, warships, North Carolina ferries, and other pirate vessels, expending thousands of pounds of black powder. He brought a tall ship event and tens of thousands of visitors to Beaufort in 2006 by winning an international sailing race at Jamaica with a crew of teenagers.

But what was Sinbad most proud of? A framed parchment hanging on a wall in his captain’s cabin with then-President Ronald Reagan’s signature identifying Sinbad as an officially commissioned privateer. The document is known as a “Letter of Marque.” (A privateer can legally plunder ships of an enemy nation in wartime.) “That was a pretty interesting accomplishment and an adventure in itself,” Sinbad said. Pretty interesting adventure? What an understatement.

The MEKA II had been invited to participate in “Operation Sail” for America’s Bicentennial in New York Harbor in 1976. Knowing that his little pirate ship would be dwarfed among the 225 sailing vessels, 16 tall training ships from around the world and 50 naval warships from as many nations, Sinbad sought a way to stand out. What he needed was a Letter of Marque that no one else had. He petitioned the government.

Secretary of the Navy John Warner invited Sinbad to Capitol Hill before they went to the White House to meet then-President Ford. Always keen on putting on a good show, Sinbad and his crew arrived in Washington wearing their full privateer accoutrements. “Heavily armed! I mean cutlasses and many pistols,” Sinbad recalls.

“Being naïve my whole life, I didn't realize what I was doing.” Needless to say, it caused quite a commotion. After being temporarily handcuffed and pressed against a wall by the Capitol police, Warner intervened, and off to the White House went the pirate crew from North Carolina.

All because he watched the 96-minute movie, “Treasure Island,” when he was eight years old.

So, in the favorite and final words of Captain Horatio Sinbad...“Carry On.”

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Brent Creelman, 315 Front Street, Beaufort, NC 28516, North Carolina Maritime Museum Junior Sailing Program. Further, and with great sincerity, we want to extend our thanks to all for your kind words and support during this difficult time. Your empathy has made this journey more bearable, and we are deeply touched by your kindness.

With great love and appreciation —The Morphew Family

Arrangements by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home, Morehead City, NC. Condolences and tributes may be sent to the family at www.noebrooks.net.

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2025 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

Critically Thinking about K-12 Books

My response to a local example of K-12 book misinformation.

I’ve written about the horrific corruption of K-12 library books and textbooks before (e.g., see here and here). This continues to be a very hot item as: a) the Left has prioritized the subversion of our children’s minds, b) major national forces (like the American Library Association*) are aggressively supporting this, c) there is no well-coordinated, effective national response from the Right (like DOEd), and d) to date no State has passed adequate legislation to assure that K-12 libraries and classes only have age-appropriate books

Re “d”, remember that those who are calling for DOEd to be closed are saying to turn over the K-12 education to these same 50 states. This is one of many pieces of evidence that indicates that such a plan makes no sense.

Anyway, in my popular local newspaper, a citizen just wrote in complaining about supposed “book banning” in our county schools. Below is the Letter to the Editor (LTE) that I promptly sent in as a reply (and it was accepted).

Note five subtleties in my response:

1) The person who wrote the initial LTE has an unusual name, so it’s not clear whether this is a man or a woman. Rather than use Woke pronouns, I refer to that individual as “the writer,” etc.

2) Even though what they wrote was ignorant, I carefully called their beliefs wrong, rather than saying they were wrong. Big difference!

3) Although this fight is about values (as Judeo-Christian values are being assaulted), I avoided using that word, as it is more likely to stir emotions. Instead, I am making the focus on the age-appropriateness of books, etc. which is less flammable.

4) In an attempt to make the age-appropriateness more understandable, I repeatedly used a specific example: an eight-year-old child. I purposefully added the “child” part to further emphasize the age disparity.

5) Many of those on the Right who are involved with this issue, focus on books that are sexually inappropriate. IMO this is a strategic mistake, as there are several other subject areas that make a book age-inappropriate. Broadening the issue expands our support. See my examples below.

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A famous golf axiom is that almost all golf bets are won (or lost) before even teeing off. The reason is that the stipulated conditions will favor one golfer over the other.

In this day and age of rampant political misinformation, this is a favorite tactic used: to mischaracterize an issue in a way that stacks the deck in favor of the complainer. Such an example appeared in a Carteret News-Times (NC) LTE on 4-12-25. The earnest writer pleaded against “book banning” — but there was no such action being taken or considered!

The one — and only — issue regarding K-12 library books and textbooks is: is the book material age-appropriate for the children involved?

For example, it is not age-appropriate for books available to an 8-year-old child to include such content as gratuitous violence, drug promotion, profanity, self-mutilation, beastiality, etc.

Consider three facts: 1) the American Library Association explicitly states on their website that they do not believe in age-appropriateness* [so we can see where the problem lies], 2) for decades, movies have been labeled by age-appropriateness [and exactly who has been harmed by such labeling?], and 3) local schools are not “banning” any books.

Regarding #3: a) just because an author writes a book, they are not entitled to have it purchased with taxpayer dollars to be in every US K-12 school, b) purchased books should be clearly marked as to which age they are appropriate for, and c) if a school does not have every book that a parent would like their child to read, parents can obtain said books on their own, for their child. So nothing is “banned.”

Lastly, regarding other opinions expressed by the writer:

1) Not having books on depraved violence, etc. available for an 8-year-old child does not “cause them to read less.” I contend that it is exactly the opposite.

2) Not having books on drug advocacy, etc. available for an 8-year-old child does not “hinder their critical thinking.” Eight-year-olds do not have the experience and maturity to perform critical thinking on such material.

3) “Educators are handicapped due to a decline in available books.” There are thousands of age-appropriate books for every age group of K-12 students, so if that is an educator's experience they should solicit their library to buy more of the many age-appropriate books that are out there.

4) “Reading diverse books helps develop a strong sense of self and empathy for others.” Agreed, as long as they are age-appropriate.

If this writer (and others of a similar mindset) would apply Critical Thinking to this issue, they will see the overwhelming evidence that age-appropriateness is the main criterion that should be carefully applied to textbooks and library books in our K-12 schools.

{FYI, for those who are not subscribed to my free popular twice-a-month Newsletter (see below), in the last issue I posted a link to good people who are trying to identify some of the many objectionable books, by State and by school in each State. It is a work in progress. Please make a donation.}

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* K-12 school librarians play a key role as to which books are purchased for the school library. Most of these librarians are also members of the American Library Association (ALA). The ALA adamantly opposes the concept of age-appropriateness! Their website makes it crystal clear what their official position is:

Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors: “Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.”

The question is: is a K-12 school librarian acting in the interests of parents and school children, or are they an agent disseminating ALA ideology?

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

Critically Thinking About Success: Part 2

Applying the Success Equation to US K-12 Education

This is a follow-up to Critically Thinking about Success (Part 1). I’m following the same format, but looking at how we can achieve success by relatively quickly fixing America’s totally broken K-12 education system…

I’ve always had a fascination with why certain people stood out from the crowd and were successful. As I developed my Critical Thinking skills, I researched and paid attention to what common traits these people had — and applied them to a variety of issues that I’ve dealt with.

I contend if we follow the five Traits below, that will maximize our chances of success regarding what to do with the Department of Education (DOEd)…

Trait #1: Have a specific, high, attainable vision of what they want

Successful people are often called dreamers — as they see possibilities that almost everyone else discards as pie-in-the-sky. But their dreams have at least three characteristics: a) they are precise (not vague), b) they are aspirational, and c) they are within reason. These three attributes help a believer to stay focused on their vision.

The VISION is: to transform DOEd so that it facilitates a significant improvement of the US K-12 education system, within five (5) years.

As with almost all visions of successful people, the vast majority of citizens will be skeptical that this can be done. They will have an array of excuses (like the fifteen listed here), but to Critical Thinkers, there are legitimate counters to every concern regarding DOEd.

Trait #2: Don’t reinvent the wheel

One way or another, almost everything has already been done before. (In fact, many historians look at history as a collection of repetitious cycles. A related famous saying is: “If you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.”)

There are two primary ways of learning: Education or Experience. I found that those who are successful maximize the education part. In other words, a significant key to success is to learn as much as possible from the failures and accomplishments of others.

Most people are saying something like: “Get rid of DOEd because they have been a disaster.” That statement is absolutely true, but is getting rid of DOEd our best option to bring about our Vision? Unequivocally NO!

Critical Thinkers will approach this situation by saying: “Let’s identify and learn from the multitude of DOEd mistakes made in the past — and see that the transformed DOEd avoids those pitfalls.”

For example, Critical Thinkers will notice that DOEd never spelled out what the top priorities were for our K-12 education system! That is a simply stunning omission that explains a lot.

The good news is that this is easy to fix quickly. This error is compounded by the fact that when I read the Mission Statements of all fifty State Education Departments, there is zero uniformity among these!

So a powerful role that DOEd can play is leadership. The goal would be to get all States to have the same K-12 education objectives. How they achieve them will be left up to each State. See fifteen examples where DOEd leadership can be an extraordinary game changer.

Trait #3: See an exceptional opportunity when it presents itself

We ALL have been presented with (and will continue to be in the future) multiple opportunities. Unfortunately, many people don’t recognize most opportunities until they are in the rearview mirror. Successful people have developed the acuity to recognize a much greater selection of opportunities than others do.

We literally have in our grasp a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to quickly and substantially improve the American K-12 education system. Again please carefully read fifteen powerful examples of what can easily be done.

To not take full advantage of this opportunity will in the future be looked at as a watershed mistake in American history. To consciously choose to make the situation worse (by turning over K-12 education to some fifty failing bureaucracies) would be criminal.

Trait #4: Intelligently take advantage of opportunities when presented

There are talkers and doers… Recognition of opportunities is an essential matter — but it is for naught if it isn’t acted on.

As a physicist, I can tell you that one of the fundamental principles of physics is the Law of Inertia. Basically what it means is that it takes more energy (effort) to get a stopped object to move forward, than it takes to get an already moving object to continue to move forward. The same applies to organizations. If their leaders are in a moving forward mindset, they will be more open to opportunities than someone who is defensively protecting their turf, or who simply decides a priori that something can’t be done, is too much trouble, etc.

The facts are that DOEd Secretary Linda McMahon: 1) can fire anyone at DOEd, 2) can hire anyone for DOEd, 3) can establish whatever policies and procedures she wants, 4) can spend $80± BILLION of annual discretionary funds anyway she sees fit, etc., etc.

What this means is that Linda can scrap the entire DOEd and start over —with essentially full control over every important aspect of it. In other words, Linda has the power to transform DOEd into a major beneficial force regarding American K-12 education.

This needs to be fully appreciated as an unprecedented opportunity, which requires prompt, meaningful action on her part to have DOEd blossom into a fabulously powerful force for good.

Trait #5: Be persistent to overcome the inevitable roadblocks that will be in the way

Every lofty goal comes with an assortment of obstacles. If they weren’t there everyone else would be doing it, and it would no longer be a lofty goal — it would be an everyday matter. So having a positive, persistent attitude is a key attribute of successful people.

There will be obstructions and obstacles in transforming DOEd into what it should be — like a large collection of vocal naysayers who lack the vision of how to convert DOEd into a major success.

We need to keep our eye on the prize, which means staying focused on the extraordinary benefits to America from starting to annually graduate 4± million well-educated, thinking citizens (instead of what’s happening now: annually graduating 4± million non-thinking citizens who are indoctrinated with progressive ideology). Reversing those figures would be profoundly beneficial to America’s future.

The Takeaway

There are no guarantees in life. Even if you adopt the above five traits, unforeseen circumstances might derail an otherwise good plan. I have a few adages I adhere to, and the most important one is: “Work as if everything depends on you, but pray as if everything depends on God.”

The benefits from properly transforming DOEd reimburse every cost and sacrifice at least a hundred times over. All we need is the vision and an unwavering commitment to make it happen.

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!

I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.

Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).

Critically Thinking About Success

Plus some tidbits from my personal experiences

I’ve always had a fascination with why certain people stood out from the crowd and were successful. As I developed my Critical Thinking skills, I researched and paid attention to what were common traits these people had — and applied them to myself. I’m sharing these with you and then will show an example of how I personally utilized this information. {Note: The example I am citing below is financial success, but the traits apply to any type of success.}

Trait #1: They have a specific, high, attainable vision of what they want

Successful people are often called dreamers — as they see possibilities that almost everyone else discards as pie-in-the-sky. But their dreams have at least three characteristics: a) they are precise (not vague), b) they are aspirational, and c) they are within reason (not that you are going to beat Tiger Woods’ golf records). These three attributes help a believer to stay focused on their vision.

When I was 25 my vision was: I wanted to be able to retire by the time I was 40.

I had an interesting job at GE Aerospace (and was soon promoted to management), but I had other interests in life. To be able to enjoy them, I needed to be financially independent, so that I would be able to go where I wanted, and do what I wanted, when I wanted. I shared my vision with some co-workers and friends. They smiled and said: “That’s nice — good luck with that!”

Even though I didn’t know anyone who retired by 40 (through their own efforts), this was a high goal that I was quite sure was doable if I adequately applied myself to it.

Trait #2: They don’t reinvent the wheel

One way or another, almost everything has already been done before. (In fact, many historians look at history as a collection of repetitious cycles. A related famous saying is: “If you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.”) There are two primary ways of learning: Education or Experience. I found that those who are successful maximize the education part. In other words, a significant key to success is to learn as much as possible from the accomplishments and failures of others.

After considering (and in some cases trying out) several strategies to bring about retirement by 40, I decided to invest in real estate. A critically thinking person knows that a trial and error (i.e., the experience) approach to real estate investing (or any other such option) likely takes way too long (putting at risk my goal of 40), and will also likely result in unnecessary financial and other setbacks that could jeopardize the whole plan.

I did not have the benefit of knowing anyone who had done this, so I chose to learn from strangers. I went to a local bookstore and bought every book they had on investing in real estate. Over the next year or so I carefully read some fifty of those books. Some books were fabulous and others I maybe only picked up one good idea. However, my perspective was that one usable idea could give me $10,000 profit — so that was a good return on a $20 investment (for the book) and 3± hours of reading.

Trait #3: They see opportunity when it presents itself

We ALL have been presented with (and will continue to be in the future) multiple opportunities. Unfortunately, many people don’t recognize most opportunities until they are in the rearview mirror. Successful people have developed the acuity to recognize a much greater selection of opportunities than others do.

I was in rural upstate NY, which was not identified by anyone as a hot spot for real estate investing. That said, my real estate investment crash course (the 50± books) gave me some ideas about what to look for. Before buying any property I also created my own documents that would help me assess opportunities — like a Return on Investment (ROI) form.

BTW, some of the 50± books I read were on Income Taxes, as understanding (and taking advantage of) tax laws is a very important part of a successful real estate investment strategy. It also clarified for me what category of real estate I should be investing in.

Trait #4: They intelligently take advantage of opportunities when presented

There are talkers and doers… Recognition of opportunities is an essential matter — but it is for naught if it isn’t acted on.

As a physicist, I can tell you that one of the fundamental principles of physics is the Law of Inertia. Basically what it means is that it takes more energy (effort) to get a stopped object to move forward, than it takes to get an already moving object to continue to move forward. The same applies to people. If you are in a moving forward mindset, you will be more open to opportunities than someone who is defensively protecting their turf, or who simply decides a priori that something can’t be done, is too much trouble, etc.

All the planning in the world means little if you aren’t willing to jump into the deep end. Shortly after the book education phase, I started making offers on select real estate properties. The details of getting appropriate real estate brokers, lawyers, banks, etc. is too long to go into here, but I also did that.

Before I got married (age 26) I had purchased my first real estate investment, as well as a home. My wife was on board and was supportive in several ways. We were on our way!

Trait #5: They are persistent, overcoming the inevitable roadblocks that are in the way

Every lofty goal comes with an assortment of obstacles. If they weren’t there everyone else would be doing it, and it would no longer be a lofty goal — it would be an everyday matter. So having a positive, persistent attitude is a key attribute of successful people.

From the get-go, I had several challenges regarding my real estate investing plan. One example is that I had limited cash to buy properties. As a 25-year-old, I had already started saving but had not had enough years to accumulate an appreciable amount. Once again I turned to the 50± books I had read for clever ideas on leveraging, etc.

There were multiple other problems to deal with. For example, we bought a home in November, that had been shut down. The Realtor assured us that the water had been properly drained. I worked on upgrading the unheated home over the Winter. In the Spring when I turned on the water, I ended up having to repair some 40 pipe breaks and leaks — some within walls. Ugh. The water had only been shut off, not properly drained. Lesson learned.

The Takeaway

There are no guarantees in life. Even if you adopt the above five traits, unforeseen circumstances might derail an otherwise good plan. I have a few adages I adhere to, and the most important one is: “Work as if everything depends on you, but pray as if everything depends on God.” This perspective has worked for me, but you decide what’s best for you.

Here is the result of my real estate saga. Since I was paying close attention (not just robotically going forward), I realized when I was 34 that I had attained my goal of financial independence — several years ahead of schedule. So I formally retired from my management job at GE. (I remember at my exit interview the higher level manager told me that he thought my “retirement” was a ploy to get a promotion. Funny.) My wife also retired from her executive secretary position at a major manufacturing company.

Subsequently, many people asked how we were able to retire at age 34. If they seemed to be genuinely interested I would outline the plan I adopted. To this day I’m surprised how many people’s first reaction was something like “You were lucky!”

A careful reader will know that luck had very little to do with it…

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My next Substack commentary will show how success with the failing US K-12 education system is finally in our grasp — but it means applying the above five traits!

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