On this day FIVE YEARS AGO I was featured in FORBES with Warren Buffett

The year was 2020 and we were living in Bali. 
And I got the call to contribute to an article titled-
Investors share their top secrets of How to Profit during a Recession 
and I absolutely said yes (after jumping up and down) 
because I mean it was FORBES! 

Only afterwards did I find out that Warren Buffett was also one of the top investors 
in the article and that he approved my contribution to the article, 
yes that Warren Buffett. net worth of over 150 BILLION dollars!

And I've been studying and applying Warren Buffett's strategies of
long term value investing since I was 19 years old,
so be to featured alongside him in Forbes was a surreal moment! 

But do you know what was the supernatural moment?
I was actually subscribing to Forbes, Forbes Women and Forbes Africa
five years before I was actually featured in Forbes! 
I always saw myself one day in Forbes 
and 5 years later it happened!

So if you takeaway anything from this blog, 
let it be this- 
Visions are real, 
Visions are powerful, 
it may take long 
but it will happen! 
If it could happen for this brown guy from Cape Town South Africa, 
it can happen for you! 
Just HOLD THE VISION
and then INVEST IN THE VISION. 

You can click HERE to read the article
that made me famous, hahahaha, 
that was published exactly 5 years ago to this day, 
Dec 11th, 2020.

And to celebrate my 5 year Forbes anniversary I decided to get a tattoo today!

One that represents FREEDOM-

a Statue of Liberty tattoo. 

Contrary to popular belief the Statue of Liberty was not a symbol of immigration, this happened later when America received millions from immigrants (mostly europeans) through Ellis Island (1892-1924).

The Statue of Liberty was already unveiled October 28, 1886 when Ellis Island wasn't even opened yet.

(The famous "The New Colossus" poem was added two decades later to the Statue's pedestal in 1903

to further overshadow the real symbol of the Statue of Liberty with the theme of immigration.)

So why was the Statue of Liberty originally conceived?

France wanted to honour America with a great monument for abolishing slavery (13th amendment 1865)

Edouard de Laboulaye was a strong French abolitionist, who came up with idea of The Statue of Liberty.

In fact, Lady Liberty beneath her right foot are broken chains, which is most visitors can't see because the statue is so high and the broken chains are concealed by her robe. 

This is the most direct symbol of emanicipation. 

The Real symbol of The Statue of Liberty is not abstract- it is specifically tied to freedom from oppression.

And the birth of a nation free from slavery, which is why she's holding a tablet (tabula ansata) which states July IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776)- the date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

And in her other hand she's holding a torch which represents the light of freedom and liberty illuminating out to the world enlightenment over oppression. Hence the full official name of the Statue is Liberty Enlightening the World. 

To get really historical, Libertas was actually the Roman personification of freedom. She represented both personal liberty (freedom from enslavement) and political liberty (the rights of Roman citizens against Kings).

But what truly makes The Statue of Liberty universal is the seven rays (spikes) in her crown which represents the seven continents, visually expressing that her light of freedom from oppression extends everywhere, not only to America. 

Personally been born mixed race in Cape Town, South Africa, I have some of my ancestors who were enslaved people from South East Asia brought by the Dutch East Asia Company to Cape Town in the 1600s. So the Statue of Liberty to me is a symbol of personal liberty and hope to all those around the world still stuck in modern day slavery.

Below is what I did to celebrate freedom (financial and holistically) today

(Special shout out to the amazing artist Tash at Cape Electric Tattoo)

In closing, I had the honor of seeing Lady Liberty in person in 2024, located on Liberty island in New York Harbour, truly a bucket list item checked off my list which I highly recommend you do one day. 

If you do plan on visiting Liberty island let me know and we'll get a slice of delicious pizza in Little Italy.

Sending you light and love,

Rich