Just recently I became aware of an unintended security nightmare because of social media.  It just so happens that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over the age of 50.  Ok, so why does that cause a security problem you ask?  Since the majority of this segment of the population is married, many women are including their maiden names on Facebook.  This way, they can reconnect with old friends who haven’t seen them in 30+ years and have no idea what their married name is.  An herein lies the problem.

What does your bank ask for when you call them with a question?  You guessed it.  Your mother’s maiden name.  So if you are in your 20’s or 30’s and your mother just got on Facebook and included her maiden name, you could have a problem!  You mom could potentially be helping thieves steal your identity!   An identity thief can easily see who your relatives are on facebook with the new “relatives” tag.   Something needs to be done with this system fast!

Comment below on your thoughts and possible solutions to this problem.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am very close with my family.  I feel so privileged, because there are so few children this day and age that can share that feeling with me.

Well, as many of you may know, I come from a background of entrepreneurs.  My family has owned and operated restaurants since 1923.  You would think I would weight 300 lbs, right!  Well, growing up I’ve always looked up to my father for his work ethic.  He always provided for my family the entire time throughout my childhood.  He’s had lot of different businesses and has always been successful.

A couple years ago he made a gamble to come to Fort Myers and start a food chain called Lion’s Choice.  It’s the most amazing food EVER!  Well, the circumstances in Fort Myers certainly changed some, and needless to say he was forced to close down both the restaurants he had opened.  In a situation where many people would just want to give up, my dad had been studying the real estate market down here for a couple of years.  He actually took the closing of the restaurants as an opportunity to follow his passion in real estate.  I think we can all learn from his courage to continue on, even though the temptation to quit was staring at him in the face.

Well with his studying of the local Fort Myers Real Estate Market, he has positioned himself to do quite well and I’m so incredibly proud.  His website can be found at this link Fort Myers FL Homes.  If you are considering purchasing (or selling) a home in SWFL, the opportunity is ridiculous right now!  I actually saw a home on his site that was a 4 bed 2.5 bath home built in 2006 that was almost 2,400 sq.ft. under air for $94,000.  No kidding.  It even had granite countertops.  Like I said, there are amazing deals out there right now.

Sometimes I just have moments of inspiration that must be logged.  I guess the saying goes, “A short pencil is better than a long memory.”  I feel like I’ve heard the phrase a million times, “every time one door shuts, another opens.”  I tend to believe the cliche quote, but I think there is a lot more to it.

If you ask anyone how to open a door, the response will likely be, “turn the knob and push.”  That’s true in most cases, but I’ll argue that most of the time we’re trying to open the wrong door.  Let me explain.  If it’s so easy to open the door, most times the thing that we’re after behind the door isn’t that great.  We are always hoping for another door and another door and another door.  You get the point.  The REAL good stuff remains behind “locked” doors.  Think about it, people only lock doors that have something valuable behind it.  So if you go to turn the knob and push on that door, it won’t open.  That’s the door you want to open, it has the good stuff!

So how do you open a locked door?  I think you’ll agree that if the door has a lock, you need a key!  Ok, so now we must take a different approach.  Where do we find a key?  The proverbial key in this situation is knowledge.  We must gain the appropriate knowledge to be able to unlock the greatness and potential behind the locked door.  When a person sets their mind to constant never ending learning and improvement, they -in essence – give themselves the keys to unlock unlimited potential.