I heard Ramit Sethi say this on his podcast today. Although I’d never heard this quote before, I’m quite familiar with the principle behind it. My grandfather used to say “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” This is how he taught me to paint, to mow the lawn and to soother home repair work….
Advertising Air Balls
When I was a teenager shooting hoops one of the most embarrassing shots was when you would shoot the ball and miss everything. Forget about making a basket, these shots wouldn’t even touch the rim or the backboard. Everyone would laugh at you while shouting “Nice airball!” I don’t shoot hoops anymore for entertainment, but…
How Someone Treats You Shows You How They Feel About You*
I don’t waste my time trying to determine someone else’s motivations, beliefs or intentions. My speculations about what is going on inside someone else’s head are completely irrelevant. Unless we have a close relationship or the matter is trivial, I usually won’t ask them either. What is more revealing is their actions. I don’t need…
How You Spend Shows What You Love
A few weeks ago I wrote How You Spend Your Time Shows What Is Important To You. Then, just the other day, I heard Ramit Sethi say on his podcast, “Show me a person’s spending, and I can show you what they love.” I have to agree with Ramit. There’s wishful thinking – ie. “I want…
The Tipping Point
Since the Covid shutdown 5 years ago, I’ve been hearing constant complaints about restaurant prices, service, quality and experience. To add insult to injury, there are now ubiquitous and obligatory tip expectations for all “restaurant experiences” – including self service, delivery, drive-through, pickup and in person – with minimums often set above 20% – regardless…
Deadbeats
In a recent Money For Couples podcast episode, I listened as a married couple in their early 60s spoke about financial issues. Initially, they said their financial problem was that they were spending too much money and didn’t have enough set aside for retirement. After Ramit Sethi dug into their numbers with them, he uncovered…
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
I have been listening to Ramit Sethi‘s podcast Money For Couples recently. In it, he interviews a couple that has applied to his show for financial advice. Ramit digs into their current financial situation, debt, problems, financial education/background, family history with money, etc. Although on the surface it is a financial podcast, his advice often…
How Do You Know?
The news media, pundits, economists and corporations are all saying that the US economy is being sustained because wealthy people are spending more while poor people are spending less. They usually then go on to talk about how Trump’s tariffs, inflation, food price increases, prices rising for basic goods and cost of living increases all…
Empty Literary Calories
Many of the nonfiction books I read contain superfluous content, which I suspect is to increase the page count. I’m not the first person to point this out. One fluffing technique I’ve seen lately is spending the opening chapter defining the words that are central to the book’s argument. The author will fill several pages…
Unimportant
If you want a realistic perspective on the news, pay attention over a holiday break like Thanksgiving or Christmas. The news websites, podcasts and videos that were filled with “breaking news”, “what you need to know about”, “existential”, and “unprecedented” go dark. Why? Because everybody is on vacation. Suddenly all of these supposedly URGENT issues…