Agree 1000%. We meet all 4 criteria but got there by stressing out about it and sacrificing to meet our goals consistently. I still stress about it but to see that the steps we’ve taken have covered the basics is reassuring.

For me meditation is practice at paying attention to nothing. Why should we practice this? If you can find calm while paying attention to nothing, all of a sudden you can be calm when you have nothing to pay attention to! No more freaking out if your phone dies, or mindlessly flipping through channels, you can find…

Growing up my Dad always forced us to eat dinner together. Every night it was set the table, eat with good manners, talk about your day, ask to be excused. As a little boy with ADD I always thought it was pointless and struggled to sit still and behave, but now as a grown up I realize how important it was in fostering…

Interesting! Actually lined up very closely with my estimates as well. A little scary to see how much the life I want to live is tied to my salary, but good as a reality check.

“Because we have had low inflation for the last 30 years, in my opinion investors have gotten complacent.” Only having been alive for 30 years, I’ve seen low inflation, and rich people warning about inflation for my whole life. Hard not to be complacent about it when they cry wolf every month.

There are so many people out there for you to date, SO MANY, there’s literally like, billions. You don’t need to get stuck on thinking someone is the *one*. Date to figure out who you are, how you love and like to be loved. Sleep with anything that moves. Then, when you’ve calmed down a bit, find someone who is…

It’s an interesting theory, but motivation works both ways. What if there is something in someone’s life that motivates them to drink Coke? If they didn’t realize they drank too many Cokes, tracking consumption could remedy that, but if they are motivated TO drink Coke (caffeine addiction, chronic fatigue, strong…

Here’s a study that points out that caffeine is a diuretic, but the minimum effective dose is about 300mg (2-3 cups of coffee). So when you drink one cup and have to pee? Pretty much the same as if you guzzled some water. Also the diuretic effect is much diminished in people who regularly consume caffeine. Source: http…

Good tip in general but this can cut both ways! When I stop and think that laundry for the whole household takes hours and hours every week, I’m even more frustrated about having to start it up ><.

There are two types of things in my universe: things in my pockets and things that are lost.

Living alone in a dark apartment I bought a peace lily 4 years ago. I haven’t been able to kill it yet, and one year that I paid pretty good attention to it (water 3 times a week) I got a big ass flower! Good to know it also does a good job of cleaning the air too. Never feel more manly than when I’m watering my peace…

This is always a tough one, my girlfriend, then fiancee, now wife has always had a high income, high spending lifestyle, which she supports by working her ass off. The downside is though she is very emotional about money issues, and so it is very difficult to discuss goals or plans around money. Kind of like: “I work…

Your mom is a saint.

Empathy really is the key to either avoiding arguments, or even better, having successful arguments. If you have the self-awareness to understand what you are feeling, and the empathy and interest to understand what your partner is feeling, it becomes much more straightforward to work towards healing the hurt feelings…

This is scary because I’m none of these things and just starting to work remotely!

Also what’s great is when you burst into tears from the soul-crushing loneliness, no one sees.

This is a funny one because there is a gap between what should motivate us and what actually does, even when we are successful. I should be motivated by a desire to help my customers have the best outcome, my ambition to climb to the top of corporate ladder, or by my company’s incentive plan. In reality I’m only…

My favorite piece of advice in this article is to consult your family and friends. It is always amazing and humbling to learn that those closest to us often have a better perspective on our likes, dislikes and passions than we do. If you can approach a conversation with those who know you best with an open mind and…

This is one I worry about. We have 2-3 months in liquid cash in an emergency fund, and I would feel comfortable with it being more like 6, but can’t seem to justify having that money sit around. Currently that fund just stays the same size and monthly savings go into investments. Emotionally I kind of see saw back and…

A big thing for me is how you respond to a request for attention when you are on your phone. If your partner tries to reach out to you to get your attention and you ignore or brush them off, choosing your phone instead, that is always an ugly feeling. If you either respond positively or respond saying you need to pay…