Sprinting and pacing

In our 20's we tend to sprint everywhere we go.

We sprint to get to work.
We sprint while at work.
We sprint to get back home.
We sprint while at home.
We even sprint in our sleep. How many of us actually get 6-8 hours of sleep each night?

The Wasatch 100 mile endurance run finished last month in Salt Lake City. You can review the results of those who completed the race here. Out of the 313 runners that started, 203 completed the race. 

What was the average runner's age to finish this year? 42.
There were only 9 runners under the age of 30 that finished the race.

The occasional sprint now and then to hit a deadline is a useful skill to have but most winners pace themselves. Our endurance increases with time. Our careers need to do the same thing. 

Try nothing you will succeed every time

Try nothing you will succeed every time.

Trying nothing means there is no risk, failure or shame.

We already "know" it's not going to work. By raising the white flag you bypass the whole experience and go straight to the end. If your only goal is to reach the end then by all means don't try. Why bother right?

Try nothing and you will succeed in getting nothing.

Try nothing and you will succeed in changing nothing.

Try nothing and you will succeed in learning nothing.

Try something and you will succeed in getting, changing or learning something.

Enabled generation

Every generation has adults worried about the youth not living up to their potential.

In the 60's we called them Hippies.
The 70's they were called Burn Outs.
The 80's? Airheads. Gothics. Head Banger.
In the 90's they were Punks.
Now we are here in the 00's and 10's and we are hearing the Entitled Generation.

Most of us have good intentions but we need to ask ourselves: Am I truly helping this person? Is this the right thing to do?

Instead we are worried: What will they think of me? I don't want to upset this person.

The synonyms of the word entitlement include qualify, make eligible, authorize, allow, permit. Maybe the better question is to ask are we qualifying, authorizing, permitting this behavior?

The foolish choice is the easy choice. No one is immune to entitlement. It is an epidemic. The truth is we all have a child in each of us that we need to teach to behave. 

Entitlement, the behavior, is the symptom not the problem. The problem is enabling someone.

Remove the scoreboard

What if we weren't going to keep track of who did what for who today?

Externally someone may not do their fair share of the project. Internally this creates frustration. Frustration that we have lost something (pride, time, money, etc.). Someone may have crossed you the wrong way, looked at you and said something that didn't make you feel good. So you keep count. If the score improves then they can be back in our good graces. 

What if we removed the scoreboard? What if instead we start keeping track of what we have done to help someone else today? No more even steven. No more going half way, instead we go all the way.

What have you done to create something beautiful for someone to enjoy? What have you done to make someone’s life a little easier or better? What have you done to make someone feel better about themselves?

How many of our relationships at work, at home, in our marriage, in our schools, churches could improve by simply not keeping track of the score of the opposing team?

Start keeping track of what good you have done in the world. Stop worrying about everyone else is score and just keep improving your own.

It's just the story we tell ourselves

There is your story, my story and the truth.

The truth on what we think happened; it's just the story we tell ourselves. It's not how it is though.

We tell ourselves that it's okay to eat one cookie. One cookie was good. So now I will have two cookies.

We tell ourselves a story that is favorable to the hero (which is us). To shield us from blame, shame, failure so that we can remain safe and secure.

"It's okay; you'll do better next time. You really didn't want to blog anyway."

Don't let this story drive you away from actually doing something meaningful today.

Prejudices, biases, experiences, nature, nurture have all shaped the stories we tell ourselves. Maybe it’s time to stop listening what it going in our head and start telling ourselves what we are going to do. 

2% cash back guarantee

I have never, ever heard anyone admit that they don't pay their credit card on time. Here are some stats:

• 100 million Americans do not pay off their credit cards each month.
• 63% of those that bankrupt couldn't pay their credit cards.
• 47% more is spent when using a credit card vs using cash.
• 75% of airline miles are never redeemed.
• More money is spent in the US on storage facilities then going to the movies.

Someone out there is not on time. Someone is getting charged for being late. Someone is over drafting. Somebody has to be doing it; otherwise the credit card business wouldn't be in business.

Credit cards are the cigarette of the financial world. It’s time to cut them up.

What about the points? Who cares about the points! I don't have to sit around looking at my bank statements and worry did I pay this off in time? 

But what about 2% on all purchases? Again who cares?

That is 2 cents off every dollar. 

20 cents for every 10 dollars. 

2 dollars off every 100 dollars. 

20 dollars off every 1,000 dollars. 

200 dollars off every 10,000. 

2,000 dollars off every 100,000. 

None of these points or cash back bonuses or flights will change your life. It only takes one time to be late. One time for the credit card companies to get a $39 late charge for them to win. 

Credit card companies are not your friends. They are not trying to make your lives better. They are selling bondage.

Don't sell yourself so cheap for cash back gimmicks. Your time and attention are far more valuable than what they can offer.

Give them the onion

Do you want to be remembered? Don't be predictable. 

We have an expression among our circle of friends:

Give them the onion, make them cry.

While a flower is nice and multiple flowers are even nicer, it is common. There is nothing special about the flowers. Sure you went to the florist, picked out the arrangement they would like and opened up your wallet to purchase them but anyone can do this. It isn’t remarkable. No one remembers anyone by being ordinary.

Que the onion. The onion is so random, so spontaneous; they can't help to ask "Why did you give me an onion?"  

You have them hooked. Now you can tell a story. Any story will work. Those who bring onions will be remembered.

Thrashing

Start thrashing now. Do it early while it is cheap. If you wait it is only going to get more expensive.

Over 150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau said "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours … In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty, nor weakness."

Be wary of blanket statements such as: "I need to have my cell phone." "I can't get up without my morning cup of coffee." "How do you live without a DVR?"

Why surrender so much power? You don't need this. You don't need that. What you need is essentials (shelter, food, water, clothing) not luxuries. 

Try thrashing to the point where it is uncomfortable. A little discomfort in a comfortable world is not a bad thing. Who knows you may even like it. You can always bring that thing back in your life. 

Ask yourself one question when deciding what to thrash; do I need this item or am I using this thing to distract myself from the world? If you don't thrash this item this time and you are on the fence commit to saying if in 3 months I don't use this item then it needs to go. 

The cost of not thrashing, not taking away the distractions, can be insurmountable. We have more time and access to knowledge and resources than we ever had before in the history of the world. How are we using it? How are you abusing it?

Transactional people

We have all met someone who is purely transactional. That person always needs something from us. They need our money, they need our time, they need our attention.

It won't be enough though. Ever.

Simply smile. Apologize that you can't help and move on.

It may seem cruel. But completing the transaction will only make you feel worse. It will make you feel sticky and cheap.

Help everyone you can. But provide the kind of help that can change lives. The kind of change that can help us grow more than it will help others.

Try something new for the first time

When is the last time you can say you tried something new for the first time?

If your answer is "it’s been a while." Maybe it’s time to step into the unknown. There is a problem. We don't want to start something new unless we can see the ending. We are afraid. Afraid of shame and guilt. We are afraid of failure. So unless we have a map or set of instructions; we won't start.

So...start. Start walking down the tunnel of uncertainty. Embrace the fear. Use your candle; it doesn't have to light the whole way. It just needs light the next step. Then take it. And then another. And then another.

Pretty soon we will make it through this.

We can enjoy the outcome. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.

But it is not over. We need to start again.

A suckers game: mortgages vs rent

"Owning a home is better because I rather invest in something then waste money on rent" says everyone.

30 year vs 15 year loan argument

Scenario #1:

$200,000 House

3.5% Interest Rate

30 year mortgage

Zero Down

Loan amount $200,000

No Extra Payments

------------------------

Total of $323,000

Scenario #2:

$200,000 House

3.0% Interest Rate

15 year mortgage

Zero Down

Loan amount $200,000

No Extra Payments

------------------------

Total $248,000

Paying a 15 year note will not only save you $75,000 but you will have 15 extra years of freed up cash to invest in retirement, purchase a second rental property, pay for your kids college, etc.

20% down vs 0% down 

When you fail to reach 20% down on your house, you will most likely have to pay PMI to get a loan. PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance. Essentially, you are paying money each month that protects the lender in case you can't make your payments. You can avoid PMI by putting 20% down on your house.

Scenario #3:

$200,000 House

3.5% Interest Rate

30 year mortgage

$40,000 down (20%)

Loan amount $160,000

No Extra Payments

------------------------

Total $258,000

Scenario #4:

$200,000 House

3.0% Interest Rate

15 year mortgage

$40,000 down (20%)

Loan amount $160,000

No Extra Payments

------------------------

Total $198,000

Again you will save anywhere between $10,000 - $25,000 on interest alone PLUS saving on not having to pay PMI.

Let’s say PMI will cost you $100/month (which is on the low end of mortgage insurance).

$100/month x 12 months = $1200/year

$1200/year x 6 years = $7,200

Assuming you made your payments you would have around 20% of equity around 6 years after starting. At that time you can request to cancel your PMI with a REFI (which will cost you).

Apartment Living vs Owning a Home

Average rent in Utah is $670/month. Let’s round that up to $700 to make the math easier.

$700/month x 12 months = $8400/year

The average income in Utah is $60,000/year which is $5,000 per month.

The average cost of living is about $750/month in Utah per person. The average family size is just a little over 3. Which bring your total expenses to $2250/month + $700 for rent to a whopping total of $2950/month of total expenses.

$5,000 of income/month - $2,950 in expenses (lets round that to $3,000) will give you $2,000 to save each month. That is 24,000 a year.

Put this all together

By moving into a house in Scenario 1 with no money down, on a 30 year note, with PMI you will have a mortgage payment of about $1000/month which in 2 years is $24,000. Lets not pretend that their not hidden expenses when moving and operating a house too (HOA, lawn service, plumbing, heating, cooling, trash, etc all go up) but I won't factor this in. First two years in an apartment you will spend $16,800 on your rent. That is $8000 you will save in 2 years alone just by living in an apartment!

By saving 24,000 a year in 2 years you can be at $48,000. You will not only have enough money to put 20% down but you will have the luxury of having $8,000 for an emergency fund to handle these hidden expenses and if you are able to switch to a 15 year and pay the house off quicker you will have more money to invest into something else down the road.

You spend less and save more by living in an apartment. While the argument that a house is a better investment is correct; it is not a better investment long team if you too don't have any money down and putting it on a 30 year note. Saving for 20% down and taking 2-5 years living in apartment to do it is the smartest way to move into real estate. While you are at it; cut up the credit cards and pay off the car.

Still not sold? Look at the numbers. The difference between Scenario 1($323,000) vs Scenario 4 (238,000) that is an $85,000 difference!! Not to mention you are out of a mortgage 15 years earlier.

The argument that I rather invest in a house then pay rent is absolutely foolish. It is a sucker’s game. Put 20% down on your house and have a 15 year fixed rate. It is the only way to go. 

1 year of experience repeated 30 times

Millennials have learned that 30 years of working in 1 place, doing 1 job is really only 1 year of experience repeated 30 times.

In this model there is no evolution. No growth. No resistance. No change. No opportunity to create something new.

Those who are leaving are not really worried about passing the torch. They are jealous. Remember this: Those before us have passed opportunities because they were scared. It has resulted in regret, boredom and jealousy. You don't have to be this way.

Learn from your mistakes. Better yet, learn from the mistakes of those who have come before you.

Contributions that matter

Start small.

Begin by knocking on doors in your community and talking with people on a weekly basis.

At first they may be hesitant to say much. They may even find it inconvenient or a chore to come to the door to speak with you.

Be diligent. Eventually as people open up and begin to share what is actually happening in their life; you will begin to notice similarities in these conversations on what the people in your community actually need.

You don't need to ask them anymore how you can help. Now you can actually start helping people by bring something of substance.

You are now contributing something that actually matters.

The elevator connection

How can you connect with someone in the length of an elevator ride?

Be trustworthy and capture their attention.

Two examples:

1) I was in a rougher part of the neighborhood dressed in a button shirt and tie trying to get into an apartment building. A man let me in. We exchanged a few words. He began to tell me a story of how he had just finished a trip down south for the funeral of his brother. I offered my condolences and what must as seemed as an empty gesture asked if there was anything I can do for him.

2) I knocked on a door to speak with someone and a stranger opened the door. The person I was looking for wasn't home. Talking to this stranger I asked how this person was related to the family. He replied he wasn't. He went on to say that he was a struggling alcoholic and that he was just here for the weekend. Seeing the shock on my face he attempted to cover up his statement as a joke.

How can anyone of them know I was trustworthy? I am a stranger. The shirt and tie seemed to have given me an appearance that I was trustworthy. It certainly captured their attention since most where not dressed this way in this part of town.

People desire a connection. By being trustworthy and giving people attention it is amazing what people will share to get a connection. Even if it is with a total stranger and it is only the length of an elevator ride.