Corb7 International January 10th, 2024 Newsletter

International Business 

Publisher's Note

Entrepreneur & Author
JeffCorbett.com

Power of Focus & Red Gold

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Must Read Books in 2024!

It is very easy to forget how good of a book "The Power of Focus" is, which was originally published in 2000.   And I can't think of a better time to review its easily read pages than at the beginning of a new year.  In a period when moral courage and commonsense seems hard find, this is a lasting reminder to focus on what is important to you and remain true to your personal goals.  Hope you enjoy the fact that we highlighted it and brought this to your attention. 

Some Favorite Quotes:

"Entrepreneurs are famous for getting distracted and losing their focus.  Remember, you don't need to be involved with every new idea - just focusing on one or two can make you happy and wealthy." 

"Life doesn't just happen to you.  It's all about choices and how you respond to every situation. If you are in the habit of continually making bad choices, disaster often occurs.  Your everyday choices ultimately determine whether you end up living with abundance or living in poverty.  However, life never completely closes the door to opportunity." 

"There are two things that make you wiser, the books you read and the people that you meet.  Be sure to do both." 

The Power of Focus”  by Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen and Les Hewitt. Authors Canfield, Hansen and Hewitt offer a step-by-step approach to success by concentrating on our strengths while organizing and intensifying personal vision. The authors of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” provide a systematic approached to success while relating numerous heart warming stories.

I don't keep many of my paperback books - preferring instead to give them away - but this is one that I hold on to and reread often. If you have not read this work, I highly recommend it to be worth your time. 



website: The Power of Focus

A second lesser known work that I highly recommend is "Red Gold."

“Red Gold – Peak Performance Techniques of the Russian and East German Olympic Victors”
By Girgori Raiport M.D., PH.D.

The Eastern bloc countries were using sports/performance psychology way before the rest of the world. I red this work back in the 1980s and it is very much still relevant. Finding a copy is difficult but I suggest giving Amazon.com a try. It’s worth the effort to review this iconic work.




Hope you enjoy.

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For more content regarding international business, motivation &  lifestyle,  
please see my blog:  JeffCorbett.com

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International Business 

Business Psychology

Try a Winter Sport for Mental Health

Get outside for your health during the cold months.   

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Health and socialization are the driving psychological forces behind the popularity of most adult recreational sports which has obviously taken a hit during the COIVD years.  Many people, as a result, were spending winter huddled indoors but fortunately that time has gone and hopefully does not return.  Winter sports enthusiasts, as would be expected, see the arrival of snow and chilly temperatures as a means to start a season of outdoor fun. Those who perceive winter as a time to embrace their love of sport may appreciate learning more about some of the sports that are most popular during the colder months of the year. Below we offer a few insights.

Ice hockey

Hockey is one of the most popular winter sports. In 1994, Parliament passed the Canada's National Sport Act, which declared hockey the official national winter sport of Canada. The origins of ice hockey are somewhat uncertain, though some historians claim the first set of rules to govern the sport were written by students at Montreal's McGill University in the 1870s.

Downhill (Alpine) skiing

Snow Sports Industries America indicates that, in the 2016-2017 season, more than nine million American Alpine skiers took to the slopes, and the sport continues to attract new devotees each year.

Historians state that skiing evolved as a method to cross the landscape in the winter when marshlands froze over. Cave drawings suggest that man used skis during the last Ice Age in the Palaeolithic period. However, the birth of modern downhill skiing is often traced to the 1850s when Norwegian legend Sondre Norheim popularized skis with curved sides and made skiing a sport instead of just a mode of transport. Skiing ultimately became quite popular in Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Today there are various types of downhill skiing, including mountain skiing, extreme cat skiing and heli skiing.

Curling

Curling may now be seen as a largely Canadian sport, but it is widely believed to be one of the world's oldest team sports, tracing its origins to Great Britain. The World Curling Federation states paintings by the 16th Century Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel portrayed an activity similar to curling being played on Scotland's frozen ponds. The earliest known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth, dating all the way back to 1511.

Ice skating

Speed skating and figure skating are derivatives of early ice skating, which is believed to have started in Finland more than 3,000 years ago. Skates were sharpened, flattened bone strapped to the bottom of a shoe and glided on top of the ice. The Dutch added edges to steel blades around the 13th or 14th centuries. Eventually, skating was brought to England from The Netherlands. 

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International Business 

Cross-Border Business 

Doing Business in Barbados

Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  

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Barbados is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

Barbados is an eastern Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation. Bridgetown, the capital, is a cruise-ship port with colonial buildings and Nidhe Israel, a synagogue founded in 1654. Around the island are beaches, botanical gardens, the Harrison’s Cave formation, and 17th-century plantation houses like St. Nicholas Abbey. Local traditions include afternoon tea and cricket, the national sport.

Barbados is one of the most stable locations in the world for business. The island benefits from a long tradition of political and social stability, a highly-skilled and productive workforce, sophisticated international telecommunication services, and a superior infrastructure.  The country's three main economic drivers are: tourism, the international business sector, and foreign direct-investment. These are supported in part by Barbados operating as a service-driven economy and an international business center.

Barbados 

Location:   Eastern Caribbean
Capital City:  Bridgetown 
Population:  287,025 (2019) 
Language Spoken:  English 
International Time:  EST + 1 hour
Airline Service:  Delta, US Airways, American, Caribbean Air, Air Canada
Currency:  Barbados BDS$2 = US$1 
Type of Government:  Independent Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy 
Main industries:  Agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and mining Tax Treaty:  The Barbados-US tax treaty dates from 1984, and was accompanied by an exchange of tax information agreement. 
OECD:  Approved 
FATF:  Member CFATF 

Additional Notes:  Offshore finance thrives due to time zone and educated workforce 

5 Best Resorts in Barbados

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International Business

Business Etiquette

Being Happy One Moment at a Time

by Candace Smith
The Etiquette Blog
Candace Smith Etiquette 

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"For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness." 

Being happy creates a meaningful moment for anyone experiencing it.  In that moment, we feel light and free, not weighed down by cumbersome worries.

Remember the song by Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy?”  The lyric points to the unpredictability of the future, so taking one day at a time, dealing with things as they happen, not worrying about the future is the way to go into the next moment, which is the only next moment guaranteed to us.

Negativity Bias

Humans exhibit a negativity bias, and we are predisposed in experience to the fact that something positive will generally have less of an impact on our thinking and feeling than something equally emotional but negative.  A quote from Chuck Palahniuk puts this in perspective: “It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness.  We have no scar to show for happiness.”

At the same time, sages and health professionals today advise us that it is costly to be negative.  When we experience negativity, our body chemistry is affected.  Cortisol, the stress hormone, releases into the body and brain. Over time with frequent stressful experiences, cortisol weakens the body’s ability to calm stress down altogether.  To live a happier, healthier life it’s important to “Accentuate the Positive,” as another famous song encourages.

Research in neuropsychology confirms that we have to overcome the brain’s negativity bias.  But it doesn’t happen on its own.  

Neuropsychologist Dr. Rich Hanson claims “The inner strengths we have such as the feeling of happiness, positive emotion, determination, feeling love, confidence—the executive functions—are all built out of the brain… The question is:  How do we get these things into the brain?  Most of the inner strengths that help us cope with life are built from positive experiences of those strengths…  If you want to feel more confident, have more experiences of accomplishment or coping, if you want to have a more loving heart, practice more moments of compassion or kindness to others…”

Being Happy Requires Intention

Taking in the good and remembering to practice what it feels like need to become habits if being happy is our priority.  Commitment to an etiquette-ful life of manners, which embody the kindness and respect we extend to every person, regardless, helps us gain more pleasure and joy.  When we choose to embrace concern for the welfare of others, we feel happier.  

As the etiquette and manners proponent, Amy Vanderbilt, reminds us, “Good manners have much to do with the emotions.  To make them ring true one must feel them, not merely exhibit them.”

You can put this into practice with a daily "Positive Experience Enhancement" exercise:

• When you wake up in the morning, scan and notice the thoughts that are on your mind.  Select a positive thought and focus on it intentionally.  Let your mind notice all of the positive aspects, thus extending more of the experience into awareness.
• Mid-day take another thought scan.  Find one pleasant, anger-free or worry-free thought and focus on it.  Breathe, relax and explore it.  Take the time to feel it and to make it an experience in goodness.
• Do an end of the day thought scan.  Purposefully note the positive actions you took today, actions that were kind, considerate, respectful.  Create an experience in looking closely at how you felt good.  

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
In addition to a daily practice of being happy, keep these propositions in mind.

• Each of us is the source of our own happiness.  It’s up to us.
• Self-understanding and mindfulness are part of the happiness equation.  
• Helping others is foremost.
• Every person has special gifts to contribute to the common good, and acknowledging others helps them locate their talents.
• Seeking to find the positive amidst the negative is possible with practice.

There is no prescription for being happy. But we can dwell more intentionally on the circumstances and conditions that have created joy, especially those shared with other people, so that we might create opportunities to repeat those moments.    

And remember: being etiquette-ful is happiness-promoting!

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International Business   

Investment Strategies  

Covered Calls

 An Underutilized strategy.  

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A covered call is an options trading strategy – frequently implemented with blue chip stocks - that offers limited return for limited risk.  Covered call investing involves owning a stock and selling call options against it. It is often an under-utilized strategy.
 
A two-part strategy in which a stock is owned (or purchased) and then calls are written and sold to a third party.  By doing so, you generate income through the premium received from selling the call options. If the stock's price remains below the option's strike price, you keep the premium and keep your stock. If the stock rises above the strike price, you might have to sell your stock but still keep the premium. It's a strategy often used to enhance income and mitigate downside risk.  It can also be used to decrease your costs basis of owning a particular stock.
 
Like any investment strategy, covered call writing has advantages and disadvantages.  You should always consult your professional advisor before implementing any investment strategy. 

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Lifestyle    

Fitness & Health

Tips to Maintain Your Exercise Commitment

Don't lose your motivation. 

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At one point or another, millions of adults across the globe have resolved to be more physically active. The benefits of routine exercise are too numerous to cite, but some of the more notable ones include a lower risk for chronic disease and illness, improved self-esteem and greater overall health.

With so much to gain from routine exercise, it's no wonder so many people aspire to be more physically active. But it's easy to lose motivation when aspiring to exercise more. Each year, one of the most popular New Year's resolutions is to exercise more. In fact, Statista conducted a survey regarding New Year's resolutions for 2023 and found that exercising more was the most popular resolution. However, a 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health found that 64 percent of people abandon their New Year's resolutions within a month of making them. Exercising more requires commitment, and there are some ways to make it a little easier to maintain that commitment over the long haul.

· Break it up. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health notes that people don't need to exercise all at once to reap the rewards of physical activity. If time is tight, break up a workout over the course of your day. Some strength-training exercises in the morning can be followed up with a brisk walk or run over a lunch break. This approach makes it easier to fit a full workout into your daily routine.

· Employ the buddy system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that working out with a partner increases exercise motivation and encourages individuals to be more consistent with their exercise routine so they do not let their partners down. The authors behind a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Research in Exercise Physiology suggested the efficacy of the buddy system may require further study before researchers can definitively say it's an effective motivation strategy for people who want to exercise more. But there's no denying that many individuals feel that they are more likely to exercise with a friend than they are if they go solo.

· Schedule exercise time. Busy professionals book work meetings, family obligations and other daily tasks in their schedules, and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends doing the same with exercise. Allotting time to exercise each day may decrease the likelihood that you'll skip a workout, and once results start to manifest you may be more motivated to stay the course.

· Identify what progress may look like. It's easy to become discouraged if a commitment to routine exercise does not produce visible results. But just because your abs are not becoming chiseled a month into a workout routine or the scale is not reflecting significant weight loss does not mean your routine is not working. As the human body ages, it becomes more difficult to transform it. So a workout routine that left you looking lean and chiseled in your twenties may not produce the same body in your forties. But that does not mean the exercise isn't working and ultimately helping you get healthier. Adults are urged to speak with their physicians and identify what progress with a workout routine might look like for someone their age. Progress may look different than it did years ago, but if the end result is a healthier you, then that should be all the motivation you need to keep going.

It's no secret that making a commitment to routine exercise can be difficult. But various strategies can increase the likelihood that individuals will stay the course as they seek to exercise more frequently. 

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Lifestyle

Spirits & Cuisine  

South African Meat Pies

Family Owned Panbury's of Atlanta.  

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Located in Atlanta Georgia, Panbury’s is bringing the tradition of the hand pie to America by recreating South African, British, and Australian favorites in a new unique style. American potpies, Aussie meat pies, Jamaican patties, English pasties, and cuisines from around the world inspire Panbury’s flavorful, heaping-full hand-pies. Beef, Lqmb, Chicken and Veggie pies are all available to be shipped.

209 Edgewood Ave SE.
Atlanta Georgia, 303030
Suite 104

Phone 404-500-1279

To Learn More

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Lifestyle 

Leisure 

Host a Successful Playoff Watch Party!

NFL Playoffs are a great time to host a gathering.  

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Did You Know?

January 15, 2024, marks the fifty-seventh anniversary of the first Super Bowl. Though it would be two more years before the name "Super Bowl" was used to characterize the game, what's now referred to as "Super Bowl I" was a competition between the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Back then the game was referred to as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, which most fans would agree does not have the same ring to it as "Super Bowl." The game was competitive in the first half, and the score was 14-10 in favor of Green Bay at halftime. But the Packers blanked the Chiefs in the second half, and the final score was 35-10 in favor of Green Bay. In a testament to just how different things were in 1967, two networks, NBC and CBS, were allowed to broadcast the game, each using their own announcers. Also noteworthy is the game was not a sellout, marking the only time that has happened in Super Bowl history. 

Wild Card Weekend!

As usual, this January also ushers in the National Football League playoffs, which begins with wild card weekend on January 13. That schedule can warm the hearts of football fans no matter how cold it may be outside.

With so many great games on the horizon, now is the time for football fanatics to brush up on their hosting skills. A game watch party is a great way to enjoy the action with fellow fans, friends and family, and the following are some ways hosts can take those football festivities up a notch.

· Provide ample room and seating. When hosting a party for the big game, pick a room in the house with enough room and seating to accommodate all of your guests. Folding chairs can be brought in to the viewing area to ensure everyone has a seat, but the right viewing area is one where additional seats won't make everyone feel as though they are sitting on top of one another. A basement or open concept living room makes for an ideal viewing area.

· Set up more than one viewing area. Football certainly has its share of fanatical fans, but it also has plenty of casual fans who may attend a watch party to socialize more than see the action. Multiple viewing areas can accommodate various types of fans and solve any space and seating issues that arise. A separate kids-only viewing area also can accommodate young fans.

· Stock up on finger foods. When planning a watch party menu, keep in mind that most people will be eating in the viewing area instead of at a dinner table. Finger foods are ideal in such situations. Hosts who want to cook for the crowd can prepare small dishes like meatball or chicken sliders, chicken wings and frozen pizzas cut into bite-size pieces. And don't forget portable snacks like pretzels, chips, diced vegetables with hummus, and nachos.

· Take your tech for a test run. Food and accommodations might garner the bulk of hosts' attention in the days leading up to the big game, but don't forget to take your tech for a test run. Many homes have abandoned traditional cable television in favor of streaming services, so if your home is among the legions of cord cutters, confirm in the days ahead that your streaming app is working and that you have the latest version of the app installed on all devices that will be used to show the game. Check speakers as well to ensure everyone can hear the broadcast clearly regardless of where they're sitting.

Playoff season is set to heat up on the gridiron. Game watches make for a great way to enjoy the game with fellow fans. 

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Lifestyle

Travel

Should You Fly or Drive?

Flight delays are making people think twice about flying.  

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Traveling by air can be an ordeal for a variety of reasons. Busy airports can be challenging to navigate, especially when pressed for time. There's also the possibility of lost luggage and the anxiety that comes with going through TSA and potentially customs if you are flying internationally. Of course, some people are simply nervous about flying as well and recent events with Alaska Airlines has added to those concerns. 

People planning a trip may be considering whether to drive or fly and wondering which is the better value. Each mode of travel has its pluses and minuses and associated costs.

When gauging whether to drive or fly, think of the outright and ancillary costs of each type of travel. For example, driving costs associated with vacationing can include fuel, vehicle maintenance, hotel stays, food costs, and tolls. Costs related to flying are ticket prices, any additional checked bag fees, parking at the airport/transportation to and from the airport, terminal food costs, and rental car needs. It is often less expensive to drive, particularly if a person can share fuel costs with another traveler and if the trip can be made with as few stopovers as possible. However, flying can be a more frugal option for solo travelers who can capitalize on flexible schedules and discounted tickets. Also, flying becomes less expensive when baggage needs are minimal. 

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Business Services

Business Publications 

Corb7 International
"Think Seven Continents, Think a World of Opportunity"

Click on the above image for your free copy!

"Global Common Cents"
by
Jeffrey H. Corbett

Cross-border business involves transactions and activities conducted between companies in different countries. It requires navigating international trade regulations, cultural differences, and varying legal frameworks. Companies engaging in cross-border business often face challenges related to currency exchange, logistics, and global market dynamics. Effective communication, understanding local business practices, and compliance with international laws are crucial for success in this complex environment. It's important to conduct thorough research and establish strong partnerships to navigate the intricacies of cross-border business. 

Understanding the various ways to structure a cross-border business and which methodology to implement is often the critical difference between success or failure.  Thus, the new book "Global Common Cents" is now available.

About the Author:   Jeff Corbett is an entrepreneur, author, and magazine publisher with extensive experience in the global marketplace.  He remains an unwavering advocate for international business and personal freedoms.  With more than two decades of operational and management experience, Jeff Corbett has developed a keen understanding of how international businesses can get bloated with redundancies, inefficient networks, and exposure to frivolous litigation resulting in the loss of both time and money.  To that end, he has promoted an approach which allows an entrepreneur to retool achieving a sleeker, smoother and more strategically focused organization. A believer in bringing critical functions in-house, his clients range from small to mid-cap international concerns that can appreciate the additional control and cost reductions.

Previously, in 1991 Mr. Corbett co-founded Worldwide Business Consultants, Inc, which became a multimillion dollar a year business acquisition concern. WBC was a highly specialized firm that facilitated captive ownership of financial institutions such as banks, trust companies and insurance companies. In 1998, he co-authored an acclaimed book, "Behind the Offshore Veil" which was marketed through his own publishing company and Amazon.com. This work is currently in its third edition and can be found at lUniverse.com. These successes led to the development and publishing of a high-end lifestyle magazine. C&K Magazine was launched in November of 1999. As a quarterly publication C&K boasted a circulation of 110,000. Mr. Corbett served as Publisher, Editor, and frequent contributor to the magazine.

Prior to 1991, Mr. Corbett was employed as a Stockbroker with the firms of Dean Witter Reynolds and then later Kidder Peabody & co. As an investment professional, Mr. Corbett's perspectives regarding the financial markets could be heard on major radio stations or as a much in demand public speaker. 

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Corb7 International, Inc.
a Business Advisory & Publishing Firm
www.Corb7.com  

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