Liabilities to Assets, a book review

 

LIABIITIES TO ASSETS
Written by Raphael Uzor
A book review by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 25, 2026

Liabilities to Assets
A Book That WILL Change Your Life!

I have a personal quote that I often use:

“YOU and read…for a change! Or YOU can read…for a CHANGE!”

Gymbeaux

The meaning is simple. Too many people rarely, if ever, read nonfiction books. They miss opportunities to gain experience, grow, and make meaningful changes in their lives. Some people need to change, whether they realize it or not. Others know they need to make changes but may not know where to begin.

Reading can open the door to both possibilities. Liabilities to Assets is a book that should make you think seriously about the changes you could—and should—make in your life.

Have you ever imagined sitting on your front porch in your eighties, having a conversation with your 20-year-old self?

Picture the two of you sharing eight decades of life lessons. You explain the mistakes you made, the opportunities you missed, the decisions you wish you had made differently, and the lessons you learned along the way. All the while, you are hoping and praying that your younger self is listening carefully and taking notes.

Why? Because some of the most valuable lessons you learned came too late to benefit you when you needed them most. But they are NOT too late for your 20-year-old self!

That is precisely why I believe Liabilities to Assets, by Raphael Uzor, is such a valuable book.

There is hardly a page that does not contain information that could benefit your younger self—and, quite frankly, your present self as well. The book addresses the kinds of decisions that shape our lives, often in ways we do not fully appreciate until years later. Chapter Twelve may be particularly important, but every chapter offers lessons that can help readers recognize and navigate the obstacles of life placed in their path.

One of the book's greatest strengths is the author's use of true stories to illustrate and reinforce the lessons presented. These stories make the concepts more relatable and help bring the message home.

The central idea is both simple and powerful: You can evaluate every aspect of your life in terms of whether it is an asset or a liability.

This applies far more than money. It includes relationships, investments, friendships, and the many other choices we make throughout our lives.

The author also provides questions that encourage readers to think critically about their decisions. Is this an asset or a liability? Will it remain that way over time? Could something that appears to be an asset today become a liability tomorrow—or vice versa?

These are important questions. Learning to ask them, and honestly evaluating the answers, can influence the direction of your life.

Who should read this book?

EVERYONE!

However, if I could put this book into the hands of one age group, I would choose young people between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four.

Why? Because there is enormous value in learning to think about your future before your future becomes your present. The earlier you develop the habit of evaluating your choices, the more opportunities you have to make decisions that benefit you over the long term.

Starting young, you can pay dividends for decades. Waiting until later in life means you may have to learn some lessons the hard way. Some lessons, unfortunately, come with a price you cannot recover.

Of course, you do not have to be young to benefit from this book. It is never too late to learn, reassess your choices, and make changes that improve your life.

Would I read this book again?

Absolutely—but with one important distinction.

You do not necessarily need to read a book twice unless you want to reinforce the lessons it contains. If I were young, I would not simply read Liabilities to Assets once and put it on a shelf. I would STUDY it. I would revisit its lessons, think carefully about how they applied to my life, and make a conscious effort to incorporate them into my daily decisions.

This is the kind of book you should keep within reach and return to as you move through the different stages of your life. The lessons may take on new meaning as your circumstances and priorities change.

Would I give this book as a gift?

ABSOLUTELY! And I plan to do exactly that this Christmas.

I intend to give copies to my children and grandchildren because I cannot think of a better gift than the gift of knowledge that can help them make wiser decisions, avoid unnecessary mistakes, and build more rewarding lives.

Material gifts may bring happiness for a time. But a valuable lesson, learned early enough and applied wisely, can benefit someone for a lifetime.

That brings me back to my personal quote:

“YOU and read…for a change! Or YOU can read…for a CHANGE!”

If you are looking for a book that encourages you to think differently about your choices, your relationships, your financial decisions, and your future, I encourage you to read Liabilities to Assets.

And if you have children or grandchildren who are just beginning their journeys through life, consider giving them a copy.

You cannot go back and change the decisions you made when you were twenty. But you may be able to help someone you love to make better decisions when they are twenty.

This book is worth reading—and worth sharing.

The Gong Show

 

THE 2026 VERSION OF
 THE GONG SHOW
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 23, 2026

What was The Gong Show? This unconventional 1970s television program blended an amateur talent competition with outrageous comedy, bizarre performances, and celebrity judges who could end an act by striking a large gong. Television producers Chuck Barris and Chris Bearde created the show, and radio and television announcer Gary Owens hosted the syndicated nighttime version. Much like America’s Got Talent, it featured amateur performers, a panel of judges, and performances that were either immediately stopped (Gonged) or rewarded. It also featured recurring characters, such as the Unknown Comic. There are numerous YouTube videos available of the old series.

Why have I informed you about The Gong Show on this Nugget? So glad you asked. I would like to “ring the gong” to bring an end to the Mainstream Media in 2026! If you research Operation Mockingbird (https://allthatsinteresting.com/operation-mockingbird) you will discover, just as I did, that many of the News Media talking heads were on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Why would the CIA be paying broadcasters? The CIA had an agenda they promoted to the American audience that would benefit CIA operations such as The Vietnam War. The CIA wanted the war discussed on television as propaganda to convince Americans that (1) the war was necessary, (2) the war was a good thing for America and (3) America was winning the war. As history has shown us, none of that turned out to be true.

To prove my point, please use this link to witness for yourself how various outlets of the Mainstream News Media say the exact same things using the exact same words. If you could clearly see the newscasters, they also had very similar body language all designed to promote the message that the CIA wanted you, the public to hear, and then formulate your own beliefs about what was being said. Viewers did NOT formulate their own beliefs and instead they repeat what they were told on the television news programs. Like it or not, it was a form of brainwashing that continues until this day even though we were told that it was terminated. Why would they begin telling the truth now? Watch the link, it speaks for itself.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kYiwH4TdSCc

If you ONLY watch the Mainstream News Media, and if the various outlets are saying the same things no matter which outlet you watch, you receive only one message. If the outlets were a true measure of an effective journalism news outlet, you would hear both sides of an argument instead of the same side on every channel. If you take advantage of independent journalism found on the Internet, you will hear alternative story lines about the same news stories that you see and hear on television, but they will be different.

If you watch any of the “man on the street” interviews conducted that feature interviews of young college age students, you should be shocked at their total lack of knowledge of people, history and events that they should have knowledge of, especially college students. There are many reasons for their lack of knowledge the first being that they choose not to watch the news nor have they studied American and World History. The second reason is that, like so many Americans, certainly not you, they only pay attention to the headlines or 30 second sound bites heard on television and/or radio. You should never only turn to television or newspapers to learn about our history or current events. If you do, you will be fed the story line based upon only one side of each story and that side is the side the television channel executives or newspaper editors want you to hear and therefore believe. It has been a remarkably effective way to brainwash the masses.

This has never been more evident than the time leading up to the mid-term elections of 2026. The current movement, and I used “current” because you can pick any period and you will discover all types of “movements of the day,” the current movement is toward Socialism. You can see it promoted by members of the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA). Words mean things! Democrats refer to a political party. Socialists refer to a form of government which is nothing more than a steppingstone to Communism, another form of government, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE FAILED EVERY TIME THEY HAVE BEEN TRIED! And of course, Of America, signifies that it is an American movement which is a lie because you can see the movement in many parts of the world such as the violent riots in Paris, France.

You would be amazed at what you could learn if you incorporated a reading schedule into your daily activities. I have seen reports that identify the number of Americans that read books and the numbers are shocking. The most recent numbers are:

ONLY 26% of American adults frequently read nonfiction, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ analysis of a survey on humanities and reading. Source: (ChatGPT) 

46% of book readers said they read mostly nonfiction, in a Gallup poll. Another 17% said they read fiction and nonfiction equally. This is an older survey, so it may not reflect current habits. Source: (ChatGPT) 

I searched for non-fiction information because non-fiction is where you do your learning. Fiction is read more for enjoyment. It is frightening to me that only ONE out of every FOUR people read NON-FICTION. Why is that so frightening? Because reading non-fiction is how you fine tune your profession. Success leaves clues. Why waste a lot of time for no reason trying to invest the wheel when the wheel already exists? As an example, what if your primary care physician received his or her medical degree and qualified as a practicing medical doctor in 1975? That was FIFTH YEARS AGO! What if your primary care physician has NOT read a book about medicine or medical practices since 1975? Remember, only ONE out of every FOUR people read a non-fiction book a year. It is not that far-fetched to think that something like this could NOT happen because it could. My real estate career lasted over thirty-three years. During that time, I was constantly shocked at how few real estate agents engaged in a self-created educational program to enhance their real estate careers. Laws change, standards of practice change, buyers and sellers’ knowledge and attitudes change, mortgage lending rules change. In other words, every aspect of the real estate business constantly changes. I would think that if you were a buyer and/or seller of real estate, you would want a real estate agent that has kept up with the real estate industry. How does an agent accomplish this? By reading books, attending seminars, by attending real estate conventions, taking courses, and researching the industry to discover what is working and what is not working. As a fun exercise, the next time you interview a real estate agent to list your property or find you a property to purchase, ask the agent what was the last book he or she read regarding real estate sales, or did they attend the company’s latest convention, or have they recently attended a new course on real estate sales? The answer may shock you! 

It scares me to think that some people will vote ONLY because they are encouraged to voting because they feel it is a duty and responsibility to vote. Have they done their proper research on the candidates as to what they believe, what policies do they support, will they represent their constituents or will they only vote what their political party line is for or against? Did they read the various amendments that they will be asked to vote on and if they did, do they fully understand them? Or do they show up to vote and see the amendments for the first time in the voting booth? On November 3, 2026, the ballot for my area contains TEN amendments and they were all written by attorneys meaning that the language is NOT clear to most people. I have seen ballots that because of the language people vote for or against the issue when in fact they are voting for the opposite of what they think they are voting for or against. 

If you have not picked up on the point of this Nugget, let me explain it this way: 

You can only find the truth by doing your own research and learning to question everything you read, watch, or hear. Learn to watch for words designed to get you to think in a way contrary to the way you might otherwise think or believe. 

Create a daily list of things to do that INCLUDES setting aside time to read books, articles, and/or listen to podcasts. Spend less time watching the television news and more time researching independent journalists. The fraud in Minnesota is a case in point. It has been occurring for decades and the Mainstream News Media did NOT report on the story. Then a 24-year-old independent journalist, Nick Shirley and a cameraman, discovered BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of fraud. You would never have heard about it if you watched only the Mainstream News Media. 

If you have learned nothing else, learn this: 

“YOU can READ for a change, or YOU can read for a CHANGE! The choice is yours. My advice would be to choose wisely!”  

Gymbeaux 

If YOU are NOT the ONE out of every FOUR that reads non-fiction books, you WILL be overtaken by the ONE WHO DOES!