The Daily Meaning
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Upending Our Lives
In a light-hearted text exchange with a friend, he suggested I write a blog post about “not stressing out while trying to upend our lives.” I think that comment may have been rhetorical, but you get a post anyway! When we take the road less traveled, abandon comfort, and risk all that we perceive as normal, stress is sure to follow. I can’t even explain the amount of stress I’ve experienced since leaving my prior career. The bills will be paid this month, but what about next month? What about the month after that? I have a bunch of client contracts expiring soon……will they keep me around or move on? Will Northern Vessel continue to perform at a high level? When will the next paid speaking gig come? Will anyone want to sponsor our podcast? Yeah, this stuff is EXTREMELY stressful.
Ode To Sleep and the Power of Patience
As a child of the 90s, I grew up on music videos. Even today, though I don’t listen to a lot of music, I love watching music videos. For the last few years, my absolute favorite music video has been “Ode To Sleep” by Twenty One Pilots.
“Just Keep Going”
Early last week, I accomplished a big win. Well, it wasn’t actually a huge win, but it felt like it to me. There was a singular moment when I realized I was finally caught up and didn’t feel like I was chasing anymore. It was the first time I had experienced this feeling in more than seven weeks. It felt like a massive weight off my shoulders. I even sent Sarah and text informing her of my win. Being all too familiar with my plight, she was equally happy for me. I was beyond excited, ready to embrace my new status of not feeling the overwhelming weight I normally carry with me.
Words Are Free
I often refer to a Gallup statistic that 70% of Americans dislike or hate their job. This number is staggering, but always consistent with what I experience out in the world when I’m meeting with families. In fact, it feels rare when someone actually says, “yeah, I like my job.”
"What If I Don't Have $20,000?"
A few days ago, I wrote about a concept I call the “pile of cash test.” In it, I explained how a client of mine used this test to alter their decision from buying a $35,000 car with debt to buying a $20,000 car with cash. I received a lot of feedback from that piece, but a handful of people were quick to ask the question, “what if I don’t have $20,000?” One person was sincere in their question, but several were insinuating it is a dum
Protecting Yourself From Yourself
In a recent meeting, someone told me about how they invest in their company’s stock from each paycheck. This in and of itself isn’t worth writing about…..lots of people do this. What she said next is what drew me in. “I really don’t know if this is the best investment, but it makes sure I don’t spend it on something else. I know it’s there.” This is one of the countless ways people play games with themselves to achieve something. Or as I like to call it, “protecting yourself from yourself.”
Pile of Cash Test
Several years ago, I was meeting with a coaching client who wanted to buy a new vehicle. When the conversation heated up, it quickly went in the direction of buying a very nice, very new, $35,000 vehicle (this was back when $35,000 was a lot for a new vehicle). They were dead-set on using a car loan to make this happen.
Gaining Control When It's Simple(r)
I recently met with a new 22-year-old coaching client. There’s something special about working with young people. They have big dreams, a ton of passion, and the energy to match it. They also have something else many of us more senior people don’t have: simplicity. Many young adults don’t have spouses, kids, houses, or weighty financial entanglements……yet. Instead, they have small bank accounts, a few assets, and a lot of time in front of them.
A Tottler
Q: What do you call a half of a tater tot?
A: A Tottler
_________
This was the ridiculous joke I was met with when I walked into a coffee shop yesterday and saw my friend, Meagan. To be honest, I didn’t walk through those doors with the intent of joking around. I started the week a bit stressed, determined to start the day by kicking butt. Enter Meagan.
Controlling What We Can Control
The world is a mess right now. War, political infighting, ongoing cultural battles, a faltering economy, and inflation……just to name a few components of said mess. It’s easy to feel like crap about it. We turn on the TV, only to feel angry, defeated, and helpless. When this happens, we often turn our attention to all the things we have no control over.
What We're Really Buying
We think we’re buying a car, but we’re often buying status. We think we’re buying plane tickets, but we’re really buying memories. We think we’re buying a college degree, but we’re really buying credibility. We think we’re buying an app or software, but we’re really buying time and efficiency. We think we’re buying a babysitter when we go on a date night, but we’re really investing in our marriage.
What Do You Collect?
We, humans, love to collect. According to psychologists, people collect for different reasons. Some collect out of a sense of nostalgia. Others collect as a way to shape or reflect their identity. Some people are allured to the hunt. Others find value in things that will remain even after they pass away. Another fun theory is that collecting is “a way for a man to attract potential mates by signaling his ability to accumulate resources.” Ah, to think all those baseball cards I accumulated when I was 8 years old would later land me a wife……thanks, Ryne Sandberg rookie cards!!!
Knowing When to Walk Away
As you probably know, I love Mondays. Mondays are my favorite day of the week. I’m coming off a fun weekend where I played with the kids, probably watched some sports, stayed up too late, and made some fun memories. And my reward? I get to wake up at the start of a new week, with endless possibilities in front of me, knowing I have five days to do good work and make a difference in this world. Sincerely, Monday mornings are the best!
We Ruin Them Young
Last night at youth group, we opened registrations for the money class I teach each year. This will be the 9th year hosting the class, and we’ve taken 175 high school students through it over the first eight years. Walking alongside these kids is always one of the highlights of my year. One of my favorite parts about the class is a scholarship program we developed in conjunction with it, where students who go through it have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship when they are seniors. To date, we’ve granted $48,000 in scholarships thanks to a number of generous financial partners who have chosen to bless our youth in this way.
Fun is Free
In a recent post, I advocated for people not reactively cutting fun spending from their life. I argue these things can be important and we shouldn’t always be so quick to gut them. As he often does, my friend Randy hit “reply” on the e-mail and shared his insights with me. He reminded me that we don’t need to spend money to enjoy life. He’s so right!
One of Those Days
Yesterday was one of those days. You know what I’m talking about. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I didn’t accomplish one single thing I set out to do. Meetings ran long, traffic delayed me every step of the way, two of my clients are dealing with sudden and profound financial emergencies, I let someone down, a few unexpected tasks drained hours of my time, and to top it off, I stopped by the office late in the day to discover water damage from the prior night’s storm. Wow!
So Much Opportunity
Due to some very, very strange circumstances with his last employer, one of my close friends suddenly found himself out of a job. It would have been easy for him to play his tiny pity violin, and maybe he did for a few days, but violin pity music doesn’t pay the bills. He did the first thing he needed to do: look for a new job.
Finding Your Craft
I just spent the past 30 minutes on TikTok watching a barber in Rome shave random men’s faces with a straight-blade razor. Not sure how I got there, but it was quite satisfying! A few things stood out to me as I was watching him:
Things Old and Things New
Two big events popped up in my world this week.
A while back, I was approached by a mid-sized company to do some contract work for them to help reimagine and recreate one of their key operational tools. I really enjoyed the project. In a lot of ways, it felt like a throwback to some of the work I did in my former career (which I left nearly 4 years ago).
Just Use Meth Responsibly
Heroin is absolutely terrible! It’s addictive and quickly leads to negative consequences in all areas of our life. It impacts our health, marriage, work, and overall well-being. It’s responsible for many bad choices, ruined marriages, and broken families. Using it seems fine for a while, sometimes even fun, but then an unexpected moment happens where it quickly becomes a nightmare. Our life can go from relatively normal to absolute devastation in a matter of months. Its destructive qualities are profound.