Jordan Belfort’s story is an extreme example of how some people will risk the quality of their lives in the pursuit of money. His story is also a cautionary tale, it’s important to remember that reaching your goals doesn’t always translate to happiness.
What are your goals and what are you willing to sacrifice along the way? There isn’t a right or wrong answer, but it’s important to be conscious about what you want out of life and what you are willing to do to get there. Here are 5 lessons from “The Wolf of Wall Street” to help you keep your priorities straight:
1. Do what you love
2. Be yourself
3. Surround yourself with like-minded people
4. Don’t follow the crowd
5. Be creative
It’s easy to think that the characters in The Wolf of Wall Street are all scammers, losers, and idiots. And who can blame you? The film is based on a true story about a group of stockbrokers who used underhanded tactics to earn a lot of money by selling penny stocks, which are basically stocks that don’t amount to anything.
But what’s important to remember is that these guys were incredibly successful, at least for a time. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be talking about them today. So what can we learn from their success? Here are five lessons to take away from the movie:
1. Don’t set limits for yourself
2. You need to know how to sell things
3. You can get people to do almost anything by appealing to their emotions
4. Don’t just work hard – work smart
5. You need a little craziness
The Wolf of Wall Street is an example of the American dream gone wrong. The man who had it all, lost it all, and somehow managed to get it all back again.
Jordan Belfort narrates his story from the bottom, recounting his earliest memories of working on Wall Street. He was a young man with big dreams, but little direction. He also had no money and no experience – just a “huge set of balls” as he says in the film. Yet somehow he managed to make his way to one of the most respected positions on Wall Street. It was only after the market crashed that he lost everything. He suddenly found himself unemployed and desperate to make ends meet.
This is when Jordan discovered penny stocks. He recruited a team of young salesmen and created a company that sells penny stocks for huge commissions using aggressive sales techniques. The company went from making only $11 million in its first year to $150 million in its second.
Jordan became obsessed with power and wealth and lived the life of the rich and famous – drugs, sex, yacht parties, private jets and all. But eventually he got caught for securities fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
The Wolf of Wall Street shows you
The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a black comedy that shows the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government. The movie based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name is a tale of success and failure which can teach us many valuable lessons.
1. Don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment.
2. Learn to persuade people.
3. Learn to use your flaws to your advantage.
4. Avoid bad deals no matter how tempting they may seem.
5. Make sure you cover your back end as well as your front end
1. Don’t stop learning
2. Be a problem solver
3. Believe in yourself
4. Be persistent
5. Always be motivated
Code complete is a software development book, written by Steve McConnell and published in 1993 by Microsoft Press, that covers the software engineering process. It focuses on the construction of software and introduces design techniques and practices. Its practical tone is accentuated by the inclusion of guidelines and recommendations, rather than hard rules.
The book is divided into three parts: basic construction, advanced construction, and complementary practices. In the first part McConnell covers basic coding conventions and how to avoid errors in code completion. The second part covers more complex topics such as object-oriented design, debugging, testing, and refactoring. The third part covers other practices such as configuration management, teamwork, project planning, and estimating.