Bank Online Peer-To-Peer (Part 1)

2018-06-15 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE !

Today, in my workout program (tracked with JeFit ), I did shoulders, traps, calves and forearms. My muscles gains in forearms are slow but it’s cool, it’s the process. I didn’t use weight to train my flexors and extensors of my forearms so it take time. I started it since for 1 month. I hurt my right knee during a box sparring 1 month ago and now I can lift heavyweight on my left. Yeah back to do squat, leg press with one leg and deadlift. I’m happy.

Cryptocrurrency

Since 4 months, I think to buy cryptocurrency, espacially Ethereum . I’m more interested by Ethereum than Bitcoin, because with Ethereum you can make smart contract. By example, you and your friend make a bet on a match (basket, soccer, box, whatever). You don’t want to make a bet with a bookmaker because the charge are too high. With the smart I’ve seen, you can program something like this : « If Team A wins, the loser’s money is automatically transferred to the winner’s Ethereum account at the end of the match ». All without charge. In the smart contract that I saw, the 2 people had an Ethereum account.

The principle of cryptocurrency is to transfer money or buy something without a third part (bank or financial service) because charges increase year after year. In few months, I will buy a Ledger Nano S (usb wallet for cryptocurrency)

Digital Bank

Because of cryptocurrency, I thought : « Is it possible to have a bank account and transfer money without a third part ? ». I have a Paypal account but I mean a real bank account with a debit card, you dig ? After watched an Oliver Roland’s video , I discovered 2 bank online with debit card or precisely pre-paid debit card. It’s Transferwise and Revolut .

I read articles about the difference on the 2 and Revolut is excellent for people who travel a lot to avoid high currency exchange fees (even cash machine) when abroad and Transferwise is excellent for international money transfer with the lowest charge. Transferwise and Revolut have app on GooglePlay/AppStore and a deal with MasterCard for the pre-paid debit card.

2 days ago, I opened a Transferwise’s account (multi-currency) without meet somebody, I did everything online. I create an account like the majority of web services with a form and I gave them a scan of my ID and a scan of a bank statement to confirm my address. I received a confirmation by email less than 5 work day week. I’ll put money on this account in few days and I will ask to have a pre-paid debit card.

By looking a little more on Transferwise (because this company created in 2011), I understood that it could be beneficial for people who use Western Union or Ria to send money to parents living in the native country. My parents did it. You see, if you’re an immigrant or an expat it could be more avantageous about international money transfer fees. A story about the co-founder Kristo Käärmann (from Estonia) is he was working in the UK and was losing a lot of money transferring cash back home to pay for a mortgage. It can be also interesting in this case.

In January 2018, Transferwise launched the Mastercard pre-paid debit card, I really curious to use it to see how it work. As I told you, it’s been 2 days that I have my Transferwise’s account, that’s why this article is Part 1. I’ll give my point of view on Transferwise soon. And I think to open a Revolut’s account in few months.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

No One Around You Understand Your Passion

2019-03-242017-09-25 by Steph

I watched an Olivier Roland’s videos and I learned good stuff.

I think once you found something and you found it so cool that you got excited about it. You found it so interesting that you talked about it to all your friends, family and so on. And unfortunately, quickly, you realized that everyone didn’t care.

Don’t worry, it did the same with me. In fact, several times already and I know that it will happen to me several times until death.

The passion

For example when I stopped Taekwondo because my teacher returned to South Korea, I was out of sport and I was missing. I tried courses in other schools but the timings and location didn’t help me. After being at a 50 Cent’s show (the show was crazy, there was a lot police cars around the stadium, 50 Cent frightening everyone), I enrolled in a small gym in my hood and I really thought it was cool.

Having a flexible schedule to train really helped me manage school and little jobs. After a few weeks of training and reading books and website about fitness/bodybuilding, I talked about fitness to all the people I met. But people weren’t motivated to do sport and when I offered to train with me, they found excuses.

I was really trying to convert everyone to playing sport regularly, no matter what sport. it was important for me. All my family works in hospitals. My family , my uncles, aunts, cousins in Haiti, Switzerland, France United States and Canada and (I just realizing writing this article), I have a lot of friends in medical field. If you know the number of patients stories I know, you go crazy and every dinner it’s the same (even when I’m on vacation with my uncles and aunts).

I can tell you that it’s obvious that if the patients did a little more sports, they would have had better health and they would have avoided the hospital. It’s better for their health and their wallets because once you’re sick, the money from your bank account, pffff, disappears. I’ve seen people make credits in the bank to pay for medical bills and medications. When you see that, it hurts !

Despite my motivation, I couldn’t motivate the people around me to play sports.

Express yourself

After analyzing all this, I felt lonely. It was as if my speech was just an entertainment. Looking at fitness youtubers like Marc Fitt , Jamcore DZ , Steve Cook or Christian Guzman , I found out that they also went through this type of problem. Everyone made one or more videos about their debut and difficulties, it’s motivating.

Documenting what I learn and what I do has given me a source of motivation. I’m a human being and sometimes I don’t want to write an article every day (especially when I see my friends partying) but with the internet, the whole world can see what I do and that, is a pressure of another level.

By creating my blog, every day I can build an international community of people who are as passionate as I am by fitness and blogging.

This blog created me 2 incredible opportunities :

Do you like look stupid in front of others ? I think it’s NO and I’m the same. When you have a blog, a Youtube channel or a podcast, you tell the whole word that you are going to improve your physique and improve your content on the internet, this will create an external source of motivation.

Imagine that a person asks you at what level you are in your evolution ? Can you answer that it’s been 6 months since you did nothing out of laziness ?
My blog allowed me to create an international community of people passionate about the same thing as me and it’s very motivating because I didn’t find it in my entourage.

The most impressive thing is that my blog motivated me to learn something else than fitness like social media, entrepreneurship, learn other programming langages, data science, anatomy, biomechanics and I’ll learn several other skills. At school I didn’t like to learn but with my blog I want to learn and it’s mainly things I can use right away to improve my content and my relationship with my community.

Create your own media

If you feel that people around you don’t care about your passion, don’t be depressed. You just need to increase the number of people you can talk to using the internet. Internet allows you to easily touch people who are passionate about the same thing as you. These people will understand you , accompany you, motivate you and give you challenges to continue.

That’s why if you have not yet created a blog, a Youtube channel or a podcast about the thing you passionate about, it’s time to do it because it’s an excellent source of motivation. The bonus with this is that it could become a long-term company.

The funny thing is that you will see people who criticized you at the beginning, change their mind and encourage you by telling you that you were right.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

Upsell

2017-01-09 by Steph

I watched an Olivier Roland’s video and there is good stuff.

Olivier Roland was in the Heathrow’s airport to take a plane. It was in the morning then he took his breakfast in the airport. Look this scene :

Olivier : Hi, I would like a green tea
Cashier :Ok, do you want a large cup ?
Olivier : No, no, I want a normal cup
Cashier : Do you know, it’s 10 Pence more for a large cup. Are you sure you don’t take it ?
Olivier : Thank you but a normal cup is enough for me, thanks.

While he was drinking his green tea, Olivier realized than the cashier tried to sell him more hot water for 10 pence. The Café must earn a little more money with this technique.

For another product or service

Of course, systematically offer upsells with each sale. This can be a larger amount of a product that someone bought or a complementary product. A upsell is a complementary product that you will propose to your customer at the moment when your customer is most likely to buy, when your customer have his/her wallet in his/her hands.

The most successful restaurant have this kind of offer. Just an exemple, McDonald’s. If you order just a hamburger, they will systematically offer you the formula with french fries and a beverage. There are many companies that lose a lot of money each day by not offering that kind of thing.

The question of the day is : « What do you can offer like a complementary product or a additionnal product or a larger amount of a product you have. The simple fact to offer systematically to your customers to buy these products at the moment where they buy, will automatically increase your turnover with a little amount of effort.

Be skeptical and test it by yourself ! Tell me what do you think about ?

-Steph