Wishing You a Merry Christmas and a New Year Filled with "Enough"

Good tidings of comfort and joy from my family to yours, not just for this holiday season, but for the rest of your days and nights.

"May you always have ENOUGH of the things you need for yourself and more than ENOUGH of the things you'd like to share with others. In this way, your hands will always be extended in friendship and never in want. And should you find yourself more fortunate than others during this holiday season, build a longer table, not a taller fence!"

Whilst it all fits quite nicely, it has recently occurred to me that with all the hatred and division that has been rearing its ugly head in an amped up way these days, perhaps the word ENOUGH" simply no longer means wishing people to have enough to live and share, as it now also begs the question as to whether we, the PEOPLE, have had ENOUGH of those that prefer to conquer and divide us by drawing lines between us.

As I wrote in one of my articles, leaders need to have both intellectual humility and integrity. Sadly, we see leaders around the world without much in the way of any intellect or humility, and most have a fabric of integrity that is threadbare.

After all, if the only life you're focused on improving is you're own, then you are probably missing the stuff it takes to be an effective leader of good people and even more importantly, the type of human being that you're parents, grand parents, teachers and religious leaders were hoping you'd turn out to be. I'm sure they taught you better than that! And, now is a good time to reflect on exactly that.

As many of us get ready to celebrate the holiday's, perhaps in different ways, the one common thread most of us share is the hope of progress in the coming New Year.

Today, as we put 2018 and its challenges in the books, we contemplate our 'new years resolutions" to help us achieve personal goals in 2019 and beyond. Lets be honest, ringing in a new year is always exciting as it brings with it an unspoken energy of hope that a fresh start will fuel us on our journey to find better days ahead, then the ones we squandered and now leave behind.

The typical New Years Resolution is to improve our own personal health, lose weight, career, quit bad habits, improve our financial status and prosperity. Once again, we are focused on improving our own lives and environments, and that is just not ENOUGH!

I would hope that we all commit to improving the environment of this beautiful world we share, by becoming an active player and role model in the pursuit of creating a better society for our children along with this planet that we have in effect, borrowed from them.

We have all heard and said ENOUGH about wishing others Peace and Comfort during this time of every year. Unfortunately, these are just sound bytes and empty words as we have all been complicit in how short we have fallen to achieve something better for others.

It brings to mind the line from an old blue song that says 'everybody wants to go to heaven, no one wants to die.'

Perhaps we don't need to die to find heaven, perhaps its right here! This is one beautiful planet filled with beautiful things and loved ones. Maybe it is time we become the ancestors that our descendants can be proud of, in concert.

As I said in my opening statement, if you are more fortunate than others, build a longer table, not a taller fence. That said, let us recognize that while building bridges is certainly a better idea than building fences (or walls), the only truly sustainable solution to create a better planet for our children, would be to start erasing all those man-made lines that divided us all in the first place.

It shouldn't really matter where someone came from or how they got there, it should only matter what they are made of , where they are going and what they will do once they get there.

"Pro division" advocates are constantly promoting nationalism, isolationism and even the blatant hatred of others that don't look like them or believe in what they believe in. Yet, many of these same people claim to be god fearing.

Sorry, but if you are hateful, unkind, intolerant and not a global citizen, than I have news for you; you are not honoring any god. And, be mindful of who you are listening to and who you are following and why you may be their target audience. History tends to repeat itself.

"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach." Adolf Hitler

Because of my education and experiences, I have adopted a life of living with "intellectual humility." I embrace the One People, One Planet ideology, and its served me well in all aspects of my life.

I recently took an assessment test recently and scored through the roof as a "Societal", which means in layman's terms that I need to lead, make an impact on others, and be passionate, compassionate and benevolent. My mission is building a solution for every problem. These days it seems we meet a lot of people that would rather find a problem for every solution. Negativity is everywhere, all because of the lines that divide us.

Sadly, these same naysayer, have rejected the One Planet, One People dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and would rather follow leaders that further darken those man-made lines that divide us from each other while lining their pockets.

And, its gotten worse. More and more leaders from around the world are promoting hate and intolerance to pander to the bigot voter and winning their favor by pushing a brand of nationalism, that puts a flag in front of God, the planet and other people.

"Beware: Ignorance Protects itself. Ignorance Promotes suspicion. Suspicion Engenders fear. Fear quails, Irrational and blind, Or fear looms, Defiant and closed. Blind, closed, Suspicious, afraid, Ignorance Protects itself, And protected, Ignorance grows." Octavia E. Butler

The last thing we need is the further destruction of human life and the vast resources of this already abused, once beautiful planet all in the name of hate. We, the truly god fearing, global citizens of this planet must unite and further advance the progress made both economically and socially during the past two decades. Globalization, albeit imperfect, is a better solution than nationalism. One erases the lines, the latter darkens them.

May I offer the idea of "Globalization 2.0" which I have labeled the "Expansionism Phase (Inclusion for all). In my idea of the all inclusionary expansionism phase, globalization is no longer about building bridges, but rather its about erasing all of those manmade lines that divided us in the first place.

True liberty and freedom of fear could only be had through awareness, understanding, equality and education. All of the aforementioned will help remove politically motivated or religiously induced prejudices. It is now evident that it is no longer good enough to build bridges as we have witnessed learned that today's bridges are often used by those seeking power, as an effective "saber rattling" campaign sound byte to promise the erecting of tomorrows walls.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin

So simple and eloquent is the quote by the late James Baldwin, and there has never been a time in history that it seems more fitting than right now. It will be more important with the passing of each day for all good people, in a concerted effort, to face these challenges courageously and head on to erase dividing lines in our minds. H. L Mencken once was quoted as saying that the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. He couldn't have been more right!

"If you believe the difference between socialism and benevolence lies in the skin color or religious beliefs of the recipient, you are not honoring any god or flag. you are just expressing ignorance" James Vena

Ignorance and racism fuel such thoughts and bigotry has become the pen to create the dividing line for the mostly uneducated. The key to erasing lines of hate and division is education. We must strive to become creatures of intelligence rather than continue to be complicit in a world filled with people that are being led by their emotions. Education and understanding is the proverbial "krypto-nite" to those self-serving, political and religious leaders that use hate spewing "conquer thorough division" tactics.

Throughout history, those that made a commitment to a life dedicated to galvanizing, liberating, empowering and promoting the love, ended up dead. Assassination's, crucifixion's, hangings etc. The history books are filled with tragic endings to those that wanted change.

Its understandable that many find it difficult to find the positive in a world seemingly filled with constant accounts of fear mongering, mass violence, news of human atrocities and the like. Furthering the fright is the ever-increasing wealth gap and the reckless ignoring of the destruction of our planet's vast resources, but this is really nothing new.

Cicero told us a few thousand years ago about the six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century. Those six mistakes were (and still are):

1) Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;

2) Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;

3) Insisting that a thing is impossible because we can't accomplish it;

4) Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;

5) Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;

6) Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

These problems have been around a while, but why is it getting worse? An ever increasing desire for world peace, yet the diminishing hope that the people on this planet will ever have it to pass down to their children is puzzling.

Wouldn't it be logical to think that if we the people, year after year, holiday after holiday, religious service after religious service, election after election, that we should be able to achieve what we seemingly want?

We need a mindset of global citizenship that understands and spreads this inclusion for all via "EXPANSIONISM,". In its simplest form, an initiative to develop a movement to start erasing those man-made lines.

Through such a mindset the world become One World, One People One Planet we can call "IMAGINE-Nation." (John Lennon, would be proud). Practicing the ideals of expansionism, which will include the important subjects of ethical culture, benevolent capitalism, intellectual humility, cultural awareness, universal understanding and socially responsible leadership just to name a few.

What is Intellectual Humility? It's being intelligent enough to understand the importance of knowing what you don't know is just as important as knowing what you do know; being understated in a way that your reach never extends beyond your grasp; possessing a mind so open and curious, that you genuinely strive to learn something every day, from every one that you encounter; being passionately interested in others, knowing that doing so makes you more interesting to everyone.

My 15 Commandments of Pursuing Intellectual Humility

• Know that underachievers will always find an excuse; Winners will always make time.
• Learn when to give in, but don’t EVER give up, especially on something you believe in, but NEVER fall in love with your own inventory just because its your inventory.
• Know that lapses in judgment are truly human, but there is no such thing as a lapse of integrity.
• Remember intelligent people fight fire with water, never with fire. Emotional intelligence is truly an art.
• Be as passionate about understanding others as your desire to be understood by others.
• Know to be INTERESTING, you must first be INTERESTED. Be a good listener and then an articulate and genuinely passionate storyteller. 
• Remember that time kills all deals. Be as purposeful and expeditious about finishing a mission as you were about starting one.
• Always possess a child's curiosity to go along with awe-inspiring humbleness. Genuine imperfection is ALWAYS more attractive than disingenuous perfection. BE REAL
• Know that knowing what you don’t know is often more important than what you do know. Learn something EVERYDAY, from EVERYONE you meet. 
• Have high expectations of others, but even higher ones of yourself. Be a great teammate.
• Compromise to cooperate, but never at the expense of your own integrity. Always try to make the right decision and if you don't, don't try to make the decision right.
• Be understated with a grasp that extends well beyond your reach. The world already has far too many overstated people with a reach that extends beyond their grasp.
• Always be eternally optimistic and genuinely excited about the success of others.
• Demand quality from partners by always choosing “character” over “characters”. Become the example of the integrity you demand in others.
• Express genuine kindness, benevolence, compassion and gratitude and let it be seen as your strength, not your weakness. Always be seen as a giver, not a taker.

Intellectual Humility isn't very complicated at all. It’s just a path to the "golden rule" that you were taught as a child. As I often say, if you really want to be the best version of yourself and make a real difference to those around you, simply act as if your mother, father or grandparents are watching!

Once again let me say.....May you always have ENOUGH of the things you need for yourself and more than ENOUGH of the things you'd like to share with others. In this way, your hands will always be extended in friendship and never in want. And should you find yourself more fortunate than others during this holiday season, build a longer table, not a taller fence!"

Happy Holidays to All! - "With all Thy Getting in 2019, Get Intellectual Humility."

James

About Me - A Professional Update  - Early in 2018, I announced that I would be taking a step back from my investments, ownership and executive roles in my businesses, as I wanted to be positioned out of the global markets before the next financial crisis, which I felt was coming soon. It's been a terrific 8-year run for me on the back end of a sensational and rewarding 35-year career. It all started for me in the early 80's, with a 5-year sabbatical in 2005 returning to the grindstone in 2009. 

However, as I wrote in my year end newsletter of 2017 which offered my forecast and opinions for 2018, I warned that the headwinds going into 2019 were going to be harsh. I worried that the start of a major global correction was on tap for 2019 with the last quarter of 2018 as the beginning of the end of a euphoric and historic 90 plus month bull market run.

(In September of 2016, I wrote that a clear and present danger would develop should Donald Trump win the election. Read it here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/politics-globalization-polarize-galvanize-james-vena/) 

So, I quasi retired and relocated from NYC to Florida (I continue to keep a residence in NYC and Antigua) and now, I will keep busy taking on roles strictly as retained adviser and teaching. 

I will be teaching entrepreneurship strategies, business ownership preparedness and effective leadership and success philosophies to individuals, corporate teams and classrooms. I've had an extraordinary career and truly blessed to have had tremendous teachers and mentors early on in my career. 

Now I look back and see that these magnificent people, clearly had a positive and impactful influence on my life. Most that know me from my early days (the early 80's, Yikes!) know that that my first real mentor and employer was Sidney Scheuer. I worked for his NYC based Global Commodity Trading and International Investment Company until it was sold to the Louis Dreyfus Corp in 1986. 

Mr. Scheuer was once the chief adviser to Eleanor Roosevelt, Armand Hammer's business partner after World War II, the founder of The Committee for an Effective Congress and a billionaire that believed in American liberalism, globalization, global citizenship and social responsibility. He was also an "ethical-culturist", philanthropist and one of the early pioneers of US-China trade. Because of my roles, I had the great opportunity to have studied global economics and trade with a team under John Kenneth Galbraith.

I am now using my experiences and both formal and informal education as a global business owner, to teach others how to be better business builders, socially responsible leaders, global citizens and job creators.

I use my award-winning book "The Entrepreneur's Edge" and the tenets of the pursuit of 'intellectual humility' to increase both social and emotional intelligence to find success, as the backdrop of my teachings and lectures. I am now hoping to build people that will impact society and create jobs, rather than simply building companies and making money! 

So, you see, this is just a new chapter in my life and NOT a soft landing into a full-blown retirement. Heavens no! I once walked away from my career when I sold my global commodity trading business (The SATCORP Group) in 2005 after 20 years, in order to "retire" and help raise my children while my wife was battling cancer. I "un-retired" in 2009 and came back as a global venture capitalist and entrepreneur. I vowed to never retire again!

I will continue in my various board roles and philanthropical work in 2019, most notably as Chairman of the Board for American’s Promoting Study Abroad (APSA). Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA) is an organization now in its 10th year of helping underprivileged, high school aged scholars, predominately from under-served communities, become culturally aware, socially responsible global citizens by funding them to study abroad. 

Most of the 400 alumni have studied in China and the program was built on a Sino-US partnership, which of course made me a good fit based on my China experience and relationships that date back to the early 80’s. (I founded The SATCORP in 1986 when I was just 26.) APSA is a Washington DC based organization, founded in 2008 by some of former President Barack Obama's earliest donors. Many were appointed to roles in his administration. Needless to say, I am in good company with my fellow board members. Learn more about APSA here: https://www.apsaglobal.org/governance 

Finally, I am very excited about finishing up my 4th book "The Commoditization of Human Capital" and hope to have it published early next year. I can only hope that it is as well received as my "The Entrepreneur's Edge" which you can learn more about here: https://outskirtspress.com/theentrepreneursedge 

Thank you for taking the time to read this update and please feel free to connect with me if we are not connected already. if you are interested in my upcoming newsletter on my predictions for 2019/2020 please follow me here on LinkedIn to get notified upon its posting.