The Daily Meaning

Take your mornings to the next level with a daily dose of perspective and encouragement to start your day off right. Sign-up for a free, short-form blog delivered to your inbox each morning, 7 days per week. Some days we talk about money, but usually not. We believe you’ll take away something valuable to help you on your journey. Sign up to join the hundreds of people who read Travis’s blog each morning.

“Your daily blog posts have become a great part of my morning routine, waking up and reading your posts challenge me to reflect on something that matters in my life or view something from a different perspective.”
"Love starting my morning with a daily dose of positivity or perspective!"

Daily Meaning Reader

Travis Shelton 6/14/23 Travis Shelton 6/14/23

No Good Deed

Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I heard my name called over the loudspeaker. Since I suspected I wasn't lucky enough to get upgraded to first class, I knew it wouldn't be a wonderful moment of my day.

Travis Shelton 6/13/23 Travis Shelton 6/13/23

The One Place....Yeah, That One

Question of the day: What’s that one place you want to travel to more than any other? Most people know the answer to this question, and you probably do, too.

Travis Shelton 6/12/23 Travis Shelton 6/12/23

Work That Matters Matters

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of spending the morning with our Northern Vessel Coffee team at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market. This market is one of the top markets in the country and welcomes more than 20,000 visitors every Saturday morning. Being invited to participate in the market this year was a huge win and honor for the business, and an opportunity we don’t take lightly.

Travis Shelton 6/11/23 Travis Shelton 6/11/23

Embrace the Training Wheels

I spent some time with a young man recently who is trying to gain the courage and confidence to make a big financial decision. He wants to invest, but the dollar amount feels heavy. It’s a huge responsibility, and he wants to get it right. Is he taking too much risk? Is he possibly putting himself in a bad spot? Is this a wise move? He’s saved up for a long time, so this is a big deal to him. It was $200. Yes, two hundred George Washingtons. This was a massive deal for him, but for you and me, it was yesterday’s trip to the grocery store.

Travis Shelton 6/10/23 Travis Shelton 6/10/23

Losing Together

Here’s the scenario. We have a married couple, with combined finances, and a shared vision. By all accounts, this is an amazing couple. They love each other deeply and genuinely love being married to one another. In the course of living life, one spouse makes a financial mistake. I’m not talking about buying a jar of chunky peanut butter when your spouse wanted creamy. I’m talking about a mistake that will inevitably cost the family nearly $1,000.

Travis Shelton 6/9/23 Travis Shelton 6/9/23

My Small Business Doesn’t Deserve Your Business

As anticipated, I’ve taken a fair amount of heat for my posts about small businesses (HERE and HERE). Perhaps they missed the preface where I clarified that I, myself, am a small business owner. My family’s survival rests solely on the fate of my small businesses. So when someone calls me a “big box retail shill”, it’s a bit confusing. Oh well, it comes with the territory.

Travis Shelton 6/8/23 Travis Shelton 6/8/23

Getting a Reset

We just got home a few hours ago from a fairly grueling trip back from LA. It certainly wasn’t the most grueling travel day I’ve ever had, but when you endure a 2-hour flight delay with two six-year-old boys, “misery” is an appropriate word to classify it. Nevertheless, it was a great trip. My talks went well, it was amazing to catch up with old friends, and we created some wonderful family memories.

Travis Shelton 6/7/23 Travis Shelton 6/7/23

Cutting What Doesn't Add Value

In last night’s workshop in Los Angeles, one of the topics I discussed was the idea of leaning into OUR values when making financial decisions. So often, we absorb the culture’s values and do things (i.e. spend) in accordance with what everyone else is doing. For every dollar we spend on something we don’t care about, it’s one less dollar we have to spend on something we do. One of the questions I asked is this, “What do you spend money on that DOESN’T add value to your life?” A handful of people publicly answered, but one, in particular, caught my attention. A woman jumped in and said, “Netflix.”

Travis Shelton 6/6/23 Travis Shelton 6/6/23

Simplicity For the Win

Later today, I’ll be hosting a workshop in Los Angeles about getting a better grasp on our finances. The general expectation in the room will likely be for me to launch into a diatribe about budgeting, spending less, and saving more. If I’m being honest, that would be boring. For as simple as that topic is, I want to go even more simple. Behind this idea is my theory that we humans tend to overcomplicate things every step of the way…..our money included.

Travis Shelton 6/5/23 Travis Shelton 6/5/23

What is Family?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking at The Gathering, a church located in Hawaiian Gardens, CA (southern edge of LA County). Having that opportunity meant the world to me, as that church means the world to me. It was a surreal feeling to fly halfway across the country to speak to an audience that feels like family. It’s a foreign place to me (#midwesternkid), yet it feels like home. Before and after both services, I caught up with old friends and made some new friends. Lots of hugs, life updates, and stories about past shenanigans. I was also blessed by having my friends Chi-Chung and Roberta come listen to me speak (plus a wonderful lunch at the park afterward).

Travis Shelton 6/3/23 Travis Shelton 6/3/23

They Come in Threes, Right?

You know the saying, “Bad things come in threes”, right? I always roll my eyes at this saying, as I’m not a superstitious person. Well, I’m no longer laughing. In the 36 hours leading up to our family trip, we got struck by the trifecta of terrible. First, a tree fell on our house. Then, we randomly had water in our basement, on either side of an interior wall. Just hours after that, the pipes under the kitchen sink burst as Sarah was doing dishes. I was already stressed as I was trying to finish my talks ahead of this hybrid work trip / family vacation, so needless to say the stress level in our house increased dramatically. .

Travis Shelton 6/2/23 Travis Shelton 6/2/23

Would You Buy it Today?

I once had a finance professor who framed up buy/sell investment decision-making in a unique way. I’ve heard this same perspective many times since, but I remember how much it made me think back to when I was a 20-year-old kid. If you’re sitting on an investment that you don’t know whether you should sell or not, simply ask yourself, “Would I buy it today at this price?” If the answer to the question is yes, then hold. If the answer is no, then sell. Why? Because not making a decision is still a decision. Every time you choose not to sell, you’re choosing to buy at today’s price.

Travis Shelton 6/1/23 Travis Shelton 6/1/23

If Not, What's the Point?

One of my clients was recently considering making a somewhat major purchase……in the +/- $25,000 range. This is no small sum of money, and they fully recognize that. The particular item they were considering isn’t greatly important to this conversation, and I want you to use your imagination so you can put yourself in your shoes with whatever type of item might be in your life.

Travis Shelton 5/31/23 Travis Shelton 5/31/23

How Do We Define Value?

In yesterday’s post, I made the argument we shouldn’t “support” small businesses, as that connotation “smells of pity, condescension, obligation, and guilt.” As expected, I quickly received a lot of feedback on this post. One such piece of feedback was from my friend Mike (yes, this Mike). Mike let me know he partially agreed and partially disagreed with my post.

Travis Shelton 5/30/23 Travis Shelton 5/30/23

Don't "Support" Small Businesses

Before I begin, I’d like to remind you I’m deeply invested and exceptionally fond of small businesses. My family’s livelihood is tied to my small business, I’m a part owner of a few other small businesses, and many of my clients are small businesses. So when you read my next sentence, I want you to know I say it with the utmost respect in mind.

Travis Shelton 5/28/23 Travis Shelton 5/28/23

Rick Rubin on Creativity

“The goal of making art is not to show you just what everybody else sees. It’s to see what’s possible. And what’s possible is radical. It’s like we’ve built a very small world for ourselves with our reason…..We’ve learned what’s possible and what’s impossible. And if we accept what’s possible and what’s impossible, we can’t go beyond. If the Wright brothers accepted it was impossible for man to fly, we still wouldn’t be flying. All of the great revolutions that have happened, have happened because someone believed in something that everyone thought was impossible.”

Travis Shelton 5/27/23 Travis Shelton 5/27/23

What is a "Real Job"?

My latest article for the Greater Des Moines Partnership was published yesterday. In it, I explore the rise of the 1099 economy. If you haven’t heard the term “1099 economy”, I’ll give a quick summary. It’s a reference to people who do work without being official employees of a company. They don’t get an official paycheck and their engagement is typically shorter in nature. This is an ever-increasing trend in the business world, but it’s still largely misunderstood and demeaned by our culture.

Travis Shelton 5/26/23 Travis Shelton 5/26/23

5 Simple Steps to Avoid Criticism

After seeing the most recent of a long string of public criticisms of me and my work, a friend reached out and asked why I would continue to do things that result in criticism. After all, being ridiculed, demeaned, and ripped apart is never an enjoyable experience. I’ve thought a lot about this, and have come up with a simple 5-step plan to avoid criticism:

The Daily Meaning

Not already a subscriber? Get the blog delivered right to your inbox.

“Your daily blog posts have become a great part of my morning routine, waking up and reading your posts challenge me to reflect on something that matters in my life or view something from a different perspective.”

"Love starting my morning with a daily dose of positivity or perspective!"