Welcome to the Saturday Success Series email!
In this edition we’ll have our weekly standards:
Five to Focus On
Master Yourself
Master Your Money
And of course…
The Weekly Special
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
Oh, by the way, if you’re feeling generous, please share this newsletter with a friend.
Five to Focus on:
In a noisy world, it’s hard to know what’s good out there. Let me help.
Quote to ponder: “Create a vision that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning.” - Jordan Belfort
Stock to consider: DRIV (Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF). This ETF seeks to invest in companies involved in the development of autonomous vehicle technology, electric vehicles (“EVs”), and EV components and materials. This includes companies involved in the development of autonomous vehicle software and hardware, as well as companies that produce EVs, EV components such as lithium batteries, and critical EV materials such as lithium and cobalt.
Book to read: Principles by Ray Dalio. Ray lays out some very clear ways of thinking about yourself, life and business. I return to this book yearly, always around this time of year. He’ll make you want to gamify your life and measure the results against yourself, instead of against others.
Show to enjoy: Animal Kingdom on Amazon Prime. If you’re not up to date, or haven’t started yet, please do now. This show is smart and savage. It makes you root for the bad guys. It takes a (bloody) deep dive into human nature and psychology. And any show with a man character named Smurf is bound to be entertaining.
Beer to sip: Backwoods Bastard from Founders. If you’re familiar with Founders, you already know how amazingly well they do heavy beers. Ease into the holidays by sipping on this big boy (11% ABV).
Master Yourself
I’ve been rejected a million times. Maybe less, maybe more, I don’t know- math isn’t my strong suit.
I’ve been rejected by girls I’ve hit on, by clients I’ve called, by dozens of other humans for various reasons…and of course, most painfully, by random animals I’ve tried to pet who turned away.
Funnily enough, I’m still here. Standing. Happy and alive. Rejection will not kill you. It doesn’t matter if you’re not for some people, that’s okay. You’re still for a lot of people. It doesn’t matter if your product or service isn’t for everyone. It really shouldn’t be.
I’ve ended up on dates with women way out of my league (now I’m dating one). I’ve had conversations and made friends with people who are 100 times more successful than me. I’ve pet more animals than most people dream of lol. I’ve made money writing- that’s wild right? I’ve been promoted. I’ve gotten straight As in college after a long ass hiatus from school. I’ve given presentations in front of hundreds of people.
All of that because I’m not afraid of rejection. I don’t take it personally. I don’t let it stop me from doing things. I don’t hold onto it. I don’t even think about it anymore. Life is short- go do things, learn from it, then let go so you can do more things.
Master Your Money
If you're brand new to personal finance, keep it simple.
Step 1: Stop spending more than you earn. And work on earning more.
Step 2: Pay off any debt (particularly ones with interest rates over 3%) as quickly as you can.
Step 3: Save up an emergency fund. This should cover all of your monthly costs for at least a 3 month period.
Step 4: Once you get your emergency fund in place, stop adding to your savings account and start investing that overflow money.
Step 5: Focus on easy investments like ETFs, Fundrise, etc. You'll pay small fees but someone else will do the heavy lifting for you.
Step 6: Keep adding to your investment pot every month. Be patient. This is a long game (10+ years).
Weekly Special:
7 Keystone Habits You Can Use to Change Your Life
What is a Keystone Habit?
Keystone habits are defined as “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives” per Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit.
Below are my 7 keystone habits and how I implement each. I hope you can make use of some, or all, of them. They’re honestly in no particular order as I view them all as super important components of my day.
Keystone Habit #1: Exercise/Movement
Exercise has so many benefits that I don’t even need to get into them in detail- age slower, live longer, be happier, etc. Just find ways to move is the basic gist. But here are the ways I live this habit.
Lift Heavy: This is relative of course. I do a few sets of incline presses with 30 pound dumbbells, this is very light for some people but it stresses my muscles. I try to lift weights at least 2x per week, preferably 3.
10k steps/day: The idea here is to move. Walking, for me, and many others, has so many benefits, both physically and mentally. We evolved from humans that walked many miles every day, it’s good for us. I can also think without interruption on my walks. I take at least 2 lengthy walks per day.
Prehab/Rehab: Night time is when I want to watch TV. I “frontload” my day, so I can relax at night. But I think we can still make TV time very useful. So this is where I do some work on my body that’s not exercise the way we think of. I roll on a Lacrosse ball and foam roller. I use a Graston tool to perform the Graston technique (particularly on my joints). Then I do some stretching and movement prep exercises. It’s designed to protect my body and try to correct my imbalances.
Keystone Habit #2: Meditation/Gratitude
The goal here is- Mental clarity/Emotional fulfillment. It’s pretty straightforward.
ASMR Meditation: I really believe in meditation and its benefits. But traditional meditation has never worked for me, while on the other hand ASMR definitely works for me. So now I spend at least 10 minutes per day with headphones on, listening to an ASMR video (I prefer no talking) and try to focus on nothing but the noise so I can clear my mind and relax.
Gratitude list: First and last thing every day. I start every day with a list of things I’m thankful for- my loved ones, my health, my luck, my ability, the NFL, my dogs, my bed, etc. I also end every day in bed with another list, might be the same things, may be new things that I enjoyed that day, the point is to remain grateful.
Keystone Habit #3: Reading
I have always been a big reader. When I was young it was Berenstain Bears and then Goosebumps and now as an adult it’s almost entirely non-fiction. I don’t read fiction because my “entertainment” comes from family movie nights or watching TV shows with my girlfriend. I want my reading to educate me and help make me the best version of myself.
Actual Paper Books: As mentioned, non-fiction 99 out of 100 times. I read books on history, psychology, habits, sports, leadership, you name it, I’ll read it. But I have a rule…if you don’t show me value in the first 25 pages, I’m out. Also, I typically read 4 books at a time. 25 pages of each and rotate through them. It keeps my ADD brain engaged.
Articles: I seek out articles that are interesting…topics like finance, habits, investing, etc. always draw me in. I also enjoy a good list. I like using the internet in useful ways as opposed to just surfing the net or being on social media.
Newsletters: I love a good newsletter! My favorite is James Clear’s 3–2–1. Check it out. It’s about the only reason I log in to my email honestly.
Keystone Habit #4: Sleep/Recovery
It has been drilled into us repeatedly…sleep is important. No way around it. No, you probably aren’t one of the people who can survive on 4 hours per night. I know I’m not. I remember reading about how sleep cleared toxins from the brain and that was enough to convince me to prioritize it.
7+ hours: Every night. I protect my sleep time. It’s a dark, cool room. I don’t let pets sleep with me. I use a white noise machine. I have nice sheets and a cooling pillow. I get up at 6am every single day, even Sundays. Which means most nights I go to bed around the same time, between 930–1030.
Power naps: I try to get a power nap every day it’s feasible. I always do it between 1–3 in the afternoon and I make sure it’s only 20–30 minutes long. Incredibly refreshing.
Lounge time: I make sure to build in time to either get a hot bath or sip tea on the porch or enjoy a beer while listening to music. Recovery, and I mean that for physical and mental recovery, is more than just sleep. It’s also downtime.
Breathing: Work on deep breathing techniques. We spend a lot of time shallow breathing. I like to breathe in as deeply as I can, hold it for a few seconds then slowly release until there’s no more breath left. Getting enough oxygen is actually a great recovery technique.
Keystone Habit #5: Nutrition/Diet
Nutrition is arguably much more important than exercise and movement. I keep a running tally during the day of my nutrition. At any given time I could tell you exactly how many calories, macronutrients and fluids I’ve had. We’ve all heard “abs are made in the kitchen”, but so is your overall health.
Fluids: Make sure to get 1 ounce per every 2 pounds you weigh. I personally count coffee and tea. I have multiple cups of each per day and start every morning with 10 ounces of water mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (with the mother), a teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of ginger.
Fiber: I shoot for 25+ grams per day. Probably everyone should. Sometimes I get as high as 40–45…but I’ve yet to hit 50. Apparently anything under 70 grams is considered okay. Most adults average 15 grams per day…yikes.
Limit Sugar: My personal goal is to follow the recommendation of the AHA and not consume more than 25 grams of added per day. Most days I get under 10g. There’s a lot of info out there that indicates sugar ages us and feeds cancer cells. Whether it’s true or not, I prefer to err on the side of caution here. Nothing good comes from too much sugar, I know that much.
Protein: I aim for 100+ grams plus per day. Yours will vary depending on your goals and how much you exercise. I wouldn’t recommend going under 50 grams per day though.
Supplements: I focus on berberine, vitamin D, fish oil and bone broth/collagen. You may have other needs, so figure out what you’re deficient in and fix that. Do some research into top supplements for whatever you’re looking to improve upon.
Keystone Habit #6: Planning my day/time
Planning my day is a huge factor in my success and productivity. I don’t even remember what it was like to be a non-planner. The stuff nightmares are made of I’m sure.
2 hour chunks: Sounds like what it is. I look at my day in 2 hour groupings. Broad ideas within 2 hour blocks of time.
Looks something like this:
6–8: wellness, reading, content creation
8–10: workout, content creation, reading
10–12: work or content creation
12–2: lunch, reading
2–4: work or content creation
4–6: content creation
6–8: reading, TV
8–10: wellness, wind down
10–6: sleep
Color-coded weekly schedule: Pretty self- explanatory. Every Sunday I look at my week ahead and fill in, by 30 minutes slots, in a Google Sheet, what I have to do. I actually aim to get as much free time on there as possible. That let’s me know I’m being really productive during my other blocks. And it makes me happy.
I created mine like this:
red=work (my regular, full-time job)
green=free time (ex. WOO HOO, reading, relaxing, TV, beer, YIPPEE)
orange= content creation (ex. writing this article)
yellow=obligation/chore (ex. kid’s soccer practice/cleaning bathroom)
purple= errand (ex. grocery store run)
Must Do Lists: I create a Must Do List (there’s power in the word must) every night for the next day. I try not to add to that list during the day, I just finish what’s there and then create a new list for the next day. I also have a Big Picture To Do List, which is more of a goals list and also things that I need to do, but not tomorrow, so they’re there as reminders.
Checklists: Not a to-do list, but a true checklist where I check off my daily habits, mostly the ones in this article! I like to see where I’m at and tally things up at the end of the month. I check off if I did my workout, if I had a beer, if I hit my diet goals, did I sleep 7+ hours, etc.
Keystone Habit #7: Positive thinking
Every habit listed is huge, but this is a big one because it’s one of the hardest ones. Rewiring your thought processes and learning new mental models is not easy, but it’s so very worth it.
Personal responsibility: This provides you with so much power. And personal power is a beautiful gift to give yourself. When you take responsibility for everything that happens in your life, you also take power to say you can change it, fix it, whatever needs to be done. You own your life.
Reframing: This concept is basically changing how you view things. A flat tire is an opportunity to learn a life skill. Not getting that job you wanted leaves doors open for other, better suited jobs. It also gave you good practice for interviewing! You’re in a fight with your significant other, this is a good chance to build your communication and become stronger as a couple.
Having things to look forward to: This is important. We need to have things we look forward to. Whether it’s a good book or a nice hug at the end of a long day or a vacation or even a TV show, it all matters. You need to be excited about the future. You need to look forward to tomorrow.
I hope you can incorporate some of these (ahem, all of them), or if you already do them, maybe you got a few new ideas.
Thanks for reading and if you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it. See you next Saturday!
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