About

Hello I’m Michael K Dawson. Many of you know me from Twitter or StockTwits as TrendRida. Since March 31, 2006, I have been making my livelihood from trading and investing in stocks. Discovering stocks in emerging trends is my speciality thus the name TrendRida. This is my third cut at this blogging thing – let’s see if I can get it right this time.

People often ask me about investing in the market. After talking a little more, I find out that they are knee deep in debt and so lacking in confidence that even if the next Apple was laid out on a silver platter they couldn’t do anything about it. The foundational areas necessary for success in stock market as well as any entrepreneurial venture were the topics of discussion in the first iteration of this blog. Areas such as developing the right mental attitude and getting your personal finances in order were often discussed.  Unfortunately, I drifted away from that and it became all stock talk.

In version 3.0 I will still talk stocks, but I want to get back to the basics.  I really want to talk about foundation building.  By that I mean your Mind (Personal Development), your Money (Personal Finance) and your Business (which could be anything from investing to an on-line biz). Some of my best received posts have been when I leveraged famous Steve Jobs quotes and tied it into the discussion of the day. I plan to do a lot of that as well.

I believe that I have much to offer in these areas since I have started two entrepreneurial endeavors in my career.  The first venture only lasted a year, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.  My current biz is seven years and counting as of March 31, 2013.

If you are new here, below is more of my story. If you are an old friend. Welcome to 3.0. I will be talking a lot about getting to day 1.  Day 1 of your new enterprise. Let’s do it!!!

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images-2My Story

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss the sales conferences in Hawaii, building customer relationships on the 19th hole and of course the BIG paycheck – all perks of my last JOB.  On March 31, 2006, I walked away from that life to pursue my second entrepreneurial endeavor. Many of my friends thought that I was crazy and to be honest I had a hard time explaining my reasoning.  My boss was cool.  The pay was great.  The work was challenging.  So, why quit?  It boiled down to this thing that many “may” have, but most suppress.

Napoleon Hill in his classic book “Think and Grow Rich” describes an innate characteristic found in successful people. He called it a “burning desire.” Essentially, it is an urge, a passion, an inner drive that’s so overwhelming that if denied will make you miserable no matter how much money or prestige you have. This described my situation to the letter.

My initial attempt at addressing my “burn” happened four years into my career.  After spending countless days and nights pursuing and attaining Bachelor and Master Degrees in Electrical Engineering, I quit a well paying engineering job to start a Video Production company.   Unfortunately, like most first time businesses – it crashed and burned.

However, the lessons I learned were invaluable.  The absolute most important lesson learned was – if you have something to offer; you can always find another job.  Matter of fact, after my business fizzled I went right back to the same company I resigned from at a higher salary.  From that point on, I had no fear.

Although I may not have had any fear, I did get a little comfortable as I progressed from Engineering to Marketing to ultimately Sales with a six-figure salary and an expense account.  However, if you truly have the “burn” it will not be denied. So, 15 years after the video company debacle; being much better prepared in knowledge and capital – I ventured out again.  This time I am making my way in the financial services business primarily trading stocks on my own account.

Below are some of my most popular posts to give you a feel for what I like to write about:

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