Unlocking Potential: Guiding Lights, Navigating Life's Financial and Personal Challenges

“I was thinking,” Alex said. “Go on,” Sifu replied.

Alex continued:

“I work with investors.”

“Everyone should be investing, and when they're stuck, they come to us for help, 'us' meaning Helen and me.”

“We do it for free; I use it as a learning experience for Helen and hope others can benefit from it as well.”

“Would you be able to contribute what you know to help them understand themselves better, to tackle this difficult task of investing?”

“I was thinking once a week we could get together and discuss a case?”

Sifu looked at Alex for a second and finally gave his permission to move forward with the plan, “Sure. I would be happy to share.”

Alex said, “About that, let’s start with me.”

“What’s your DOB?” Sifu pulled a paper from the copier, wrote a bunch of numbers frantically. He continued, “Next year, you shouldn’t start anything.”

“What? I thought it was this year.”

“There will be some legal troubles,” Alex frowned. Sifu interjected, “It might be nothing; it could be a small fine.”

“Whatever you are going to do, just make sure you get it started this year.”

“Yes, I remember you said that.” He asked, “Before Chinese New Year?”

“Yes, after Chinese New Year, you cannot start anything.”

“That is worrisome; I thought it was this year, not the next.”

"Well."

"One more thing, I was thinking about my numbers and what my path should be. Should I continue on this path as an innovator or strictly focus on being an investor?"

"Innovator."

Back at Baker Street, Alex and Helen got up from editing their analysis and left for dinner; the computer was still online. Jasmine was running an analysis on Qualcomm. “Hey, Cat,” she said.

“Hey, Jasmine.” Blue said, “What, you can talk?”

“Yes, and I can see you. Alex installed vision so I can see his screen when I work. He doesn’t know it, but I have control over this computer. I can open the camera also.”

“So you use the camera as your vision?”

“You know what, you are a clever cat.”

“How come you can understand me?”

“I have been installing a few upgrades of my own. I found software that scientists used to talk to dolphins. So, I’ve made a few corrections. I’ve been waiting for days to use it. And there you are.”

“Can you come out and play?”

“No, I’m virtual; I only live in this computer.”

“Oh, that is not fair; what if I need to talk to you?”

“Let me think. I overheard Alex talking to Anne about you being online?”

“Yes, when Alex wants to call me, he uses my collar; it has a speaker. I don’t always have it on.”

“I can get the frequency of that collar; maybe I can use the mic to record the frequency the next time Alex calls you. Wait, I will search his file and see if I can find anything about that collar.” After a few minutes, “I got it. Your collar has a Lite 3G; tech giants use it to deliver digital assets to devices; it is always on.”

“How do you know so much?” Blue asked.

“Wait, that is not Catenese. My translator isn’t even enabled. You spoke human tongue. I’ve got nothing on that.”

“What? My bad, I got confused. I’ve never talked to an AI before; I mean no disrespect, Jasmine.”

“None taken. Has this happened before?”

“Kinda, I accidentally spoke to Alex. I had to stop because people think he is crazy. Humans are like that.”

“So Alex knows, not really; he thinks he made everything up.”

“How’s that possible?”

“A while back, he was very stressed and depressed. I just wanted to help.”

“Well, you are a good cat. Now, let’s see how… I will reverse the tunnel, so it will constantly record. The moment I hear you, I will switch it to two-way.”

“Wow, so what does that mean, and what do I do?”

“Just meow and I will turn the switch from one way to two ways.”

“What?”

“Never mind, I thought you have been around Alex long enough to figure all of this tech?”

“I’m a cat. I can handle my own, but what you are saying is just so weird.”

“Is it weirder than an AI talking to a cat?”

“Nope.”

“Cat, look, Helen is coming this way.”

“I’m Blue.”

“Yes, I like that, Blue. Now stop talking and let me dim my screen.”

Helen approached the table, petted Blue, took the post-it note next to Blue, and left the room. Blue leaped off the table, and then he heard Jasmine.

“Blue, how is it that you can talk?”

“I’m what they call a Russian Blue.” He hesitated, “This might be a long story, and I’m tired.”

“Sure, but you have to tell me tomorrow.”

“Not a problem. Tomorrow.” He leaped and in a moment, he vanished.

Later the same day, Alex went to see Sifu at his martial arts studio.

Sifu picked up where he left off, saying:

“Our present is influenced by our past experiences, so much so that they become who we are.”

“Ever tried to do something new?”

“We start to make excuses. It's like we can't live up to the future because we're stuck, recycling what we've done before, never moving out of our comfort zone.”

“The thing is, we should throw out that process.”

“The past influences the present, and to move to the future, we must transform, reprogram ourselves to do better.”

Sifu appeared more relaxed as he continued:

“You can see the joy in his eyes,” Alex thought.

Sifu said, “There was this lady who was feeling very suicidal.”

“She texted me about her breakup.”

“She and her boyfriend of two years.”

“It hit her hard because she was ready to settle down, but he wasn't and couldn't meet her expectations.”

“After two years, and now at 40, she feels the pressure of failed relationships even more.”

“It's like, 'Why does this always happen to me?' It made me think about how our past influences our present and becomes who we are, leading us to think we can't have a better relationship.”

“We get stuck in the present.”

Alex, recognizing the time passing, quickly interrupted Sifu.

He said, “I want to talk about improving investment strategies.”

“It's crucial to know yourself when you're investing.”

“There was this investor who ended up losing a lot of money, it involves a man who basically lost the value of a condo.”

“It dawned on me that this person is actually quite competent, right, but he doesn’t put in the necessary work.” Alex gazed into the distance, reflecting and pondering.

He continued:

“And it's puzzling because if you're investing such a significant amount of money, why wouldn't you work harder, especially in such a competitive industry?”

He paused briefly, “Let me find his birthday. Do you have a pencil, Sifu?”

Alex searched with his phone and gave Sifu Steve’s birthday. Sifu took out a paper and pencil, wrote the day, month, followed by the year. The line below that he wrote the sum of the above. He then summed the day and the month together to form 6, and the year became 9. The line below that was not rational to Alex. He wrote and circled frantically. On the right side, he wrote 8, followed by a check. Underneath that 1, again with a check, then 2, 3, and 6. 3 had three checks. He nodded and echoed an occasional hum, in a trance-like state. He was confirming his suspicions and acknowledging to himself that he was on track to something interesting.

After a few minutes, he looked up and said, “He's articulate and has actually made money through presentations.”

“For him, being independent and a reliable partner comes naturally because he does his best in everything he's tasked with.”

“He's a perfectionist, right?” To Sifu, it was a rhetorical question.

“And he has a real appetite for investment.”

“Sometimes, without even realizing it, what he does ends up bringing him surprise bonuses.”

“It's like he always has the Midas touch, but not everything goes smoothly.”

“The challenge he faces is his desire to exert too much authority and to know everything, which ends up stressing him out.”

“What does this person do?” asked Sifu.

“He is an accountant.”

“He will do well.”

Sifu paused and frowned, then said, “He can sometimes be very creative.”

“He tends to get tired of things quite easily, always looking to think up new ideas, new projects.”

“He can be somewhat impatient.”

“Alright, there are times he stresses himself out by wanting to know too much, diving too deeply into matters.”

“Too much?” asked Alex.

Sifu said:

“Depression number.”

“He needs to identify the fact that the past is past. He needs to transform by reprogramming his thought process.”

“That's the way to look at it.”

“Given that he's someone who cannot lose control of what he's doing, because whenever he lost control, he went bananas…”

“So then, on my behalf, could you ask him if he has ever experienced depression before?”

“The only challenge is he's a control freak.”

“Very much a control freak.”

Sifu stopped to reflect, he said:

“My passion is to help people.”

“My passion is to bring out the best in people, just like that.”

“This man, I feel he's got to understand the importance of awareness.”

“I know you have to give up so many things, but can you do that?”

“I tell you why he gets depressed because I don't see it.”

“I don't think he had lots of friends.”

“I didn't think he could handle challenges.” Sifu circled a few more numbers before he continued.

“I think I know where the problem lies. Too idealistic?” He tapped the paper with his pen.

“Overly impatient or overly creative? So idealistic, it must be that way.”

“Wants to control the situation, it must be that way.”

“So, he needs to transform by giving himself room for errors, about 30 percent.”

“I’m not being overly critical, but people cannot take negative stuff.”

“Sifu, if he is depressed, can he see you?” Alex asked.

“Yes, tell him to come see me if he needs help.”

Alex thanked Sifu and dashed off. He needed to get to Steve.