Woody's Life

Time, Money, & More of the Things That Matter

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“If productivity means anything at all, a worker should be able to earn the same standard of living as a 1950 worker in only 11 hours per week.” Erik Rouch, biophysicist and theoretical ecologist. (source)

The most important dimension in business, economics, and finance is time.  Somehow in our personal lives time is not given nearly enough consideration. However, time is the universal commodity.  We are all given our fair share, and each day we all spend the same amount.  So, how do we allocate that time?  Or, how should we?

The Three Ways To Spend Time - OR how to think about it:

1. Income generation/Cost avoidance 

2. Fun

3. Legacy 

Excluding sleeping and eating, there are approximately 100 hours to allocate per week.

1. Income Generation/Cost avoidance 

I’d guess that most typical middle-class Americans spend the majority of time is either at a job (Income generation) or on random “chores” like mowing the lawn or paying bills (cost avoidance). Let’s say, 40-50 hours working, 5 hours commuting, and 15 hours of chores. 60-70% of our hours are allocated.

2. Fun 

I don’t know how much time is spent on “fun” these days. Most entertainment is cheap in the sense of fun, such as watching TV, because energy levels are so low from time spent on #1.  According to the LA Times and other sources, Americans spend about 150 hours watching TV per month.  This comes out to be 35 hours per week.  This I would consider that at least 50% wasted time (probably more like 80-90% waste).

I don’t consider watching TV a very high quality source of fun. I would rather describe fun as active participation in a given activity.  It can be playing cards with friends/family or touring the Louvre in Paris.  I suppose we do about 10 to 21 hours per week (about 2-3 hours per day).  Perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less.

3. Legacy

Unfortunately, this seems to be the category where the least amount of time spent.  Most people don’t think about their contribution to fellow man on a weekly basis.  It’s much easier to throw in your share in the offering plate every week and effectively “outsource” your legacy.  Time spent at church: 2 hours per week.

Breakdown:

Income Generation: 60-70%

Fun: 10-21%

Legacy: 2%

Waste: ??% - i.e. watching TV.

Given the above observations, wouldn’t it seem logical to want to reallocate where you spend your time, i.e. reduce the amount of time spent on Income Generation and Cost Avoidance and spend more time on Fun and Legacy activities?  I would say the answer should be yes.  But the real question is: how?

Well, lets look at how one spends money in order to glean some insight into what income generation is really used for:

The Three Ways To Spend Money

1. Things & Stuff 

2. Experiences 

3. Charity

The first item on the list: Things & Stuff.  This includes housing, cars, food, furniture, utilities, and all consumer goods imaginable.  I don’t think I’d be wrong in saying that more than 80% of income is spent in this category.

Experiences in the modern lifestyle equate to vacations.  Let’s assume that perhaps 10% of income in spent on this category, which is WAY higher than average.

On average, people give 5% of their income to charity annually.

Given this information, it seems that the most effective way to transfer time from income generation/cost avoidance to the fun & legacy categories is to cut costs in the Things & Stuff category.

Enter minimalism.

I believe minimalism has some highly intriguing principles that effectively provide a means for reallocating time and resources to the things which matter most.  Minimalism calls us to buy less Things & Stuff in order to spend more money on Experiences and Charity… And also to have more time for Fun and Legacy activities.  

Minimalism isn’t really about less.  It’s about more of the things that matter.  At the end of one’s life, it is unlikely one will remember the $1000 couch, or $50,000 car… Instead, recollection of the time spent with their friends, family, kids, and grandchildren along with the time spent helping others is a much more likely scenario.  So why not maximize the things that matter and minimize the things that don’t?

Things to reflect upon.

Related Posts:

Efficiency, Focus, and Self Control in a Monotonous, Distracting, Impulsive World

Simplicity Is The Key To Successful Living

Focus & Distraction: Two Sides of the Same Coin

CRITIQUE:

I consider Learning an important category in which we should spend time.  Learning is not necessarily associated with Income Generation, Fun, or Legacy.  But, I think people who seek knowledge simply for curiosity’s sake are generally happier people.

Sources:

1. Stats of Giving 

2. How American’s Spend Their Money 

3. Television viewing at an all time high 

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Why People Don’t Like Ron Paul

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When the subject of Ron Paul comes up most Republicans agree with the majority of his basic views.  Balance the Budget, Lower Taxes, Limited Government, Personal Privacy, Pro-Life, Protection of Gun Rights, Securing our Border, Energy Independence, etc.  However, when the issue of foreign policy arises people put Ron Paul in the category titled “shameful, foolish idiots.”  Even people who don’t truly know what Ron Paul’s stance is on foreign policy have heard his beliefs are completely contrary to the official Republican party position, and by default discredit his opinion.  This post aims to explore the idea of American foreign policy and analyze which policies seems to best serve the national interest.

But first, what should be the purpose of our foreign policy, anyway? This is the single most important question to answer for yourself when analyzing foreign policy.

• To protect American borders from invasion. 
• To protect American citizens from physical harm.
• To protect free trade.
• To protect international travel of our citizens.

What would you add to that list? Would you subtract any?

Foreign Policy: A History

Our constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in June 1788.  From 1788 to 1917, the United States followed a largely non-interventionalist foreign policy under the Monroe Doctrine (established in 1823).  In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to bring the United States into World War I against Germany, which would be the first time the United States went to war in Europe.

Since America’s independence, the European counties had been in perpetual conflict. They mainly fought for colonial possessions in attempts to expand their empires. WWI was the first time America could directly tip the balance in the ongoing European struggles.  President Wilson said this was “the war to end all wars”, and America emerged victorious two years later in 1919.  The famous Treaty of Versailles was signed, and the German empire dissolved.  All seemed well.

Except that same year, a new political party was formed called Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. The party adamantly apposed the Treaty of Versailles, was strongly anti-Marxist, and wanted to unite the Germanic speaking peoples into one nation.  As the economic climate in Germany deteriorated (inflation skyrocketed), they grew in popularity around the country.  They grabbed a charismatic leader, designed a great political logo, and changed their name to the Nazi Party.  If America hadn’t entered the war, would the Treaty of Versailles been possible?  Would the Nazi party gained so much popularity? 

Since 1917, America has kissed non-interventionalist foreign policy goodbye, and we haven’t looked back since. Let’s look at some data, that may or may not be relevant. (source)

Non-Interventionalist Policy: at War 12% of the time - vs - Post Non-Interventionist Policy: at War 37% of the time (Data Table).

Given the intervention in WWI, we had a duty to intervene in Europe in WWII. And after Stalin took half of Europe defeating Germany in WWII, we had to contain him and the spread of communism during the Cold War. In 1991, the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union was no more.  But where and when does this pro-intervention policy end?  And how has this policy contributed to the main goals as listed above? 

Iran is a pressing issue in 2012. The country generally hates the United States and we don’t trade with them or pursue diplomatic relations.  But, where did all this anti-sentiment start? How about the Iranian Revolution of 1979.  The story? In 1953 the CIA organized a coup to overthrow the Iranian Prime Minister. Why? Because the Prime Minister was going to nationalize the Iranian oil industry and the U.S. likes cheap oil. The CIA then placed a monarch into power.  The U.S. supported this monarch, called the Shah, and liked the fact that he didn’t nationalize the oil industry. However, he was terribly unpopular with the Iranian people, and his oppressive reign created a strong distaste for America. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution established an Islamic republic which ironically doesn’t like the United States. This is what the CIA terms as blowback. Could Hitler’s rise to power be categorized in the same fashion? Something to think about.

Speaking of Hitler, the U.S. has military bases and troops across the entire world.  We still have a similar troops presence in Germany and Japan as we did after WWII. Is this necessary? Does occupying other peoples land with our troops make us safer?  Does interfering in other peoples affairs make us safer?  These are a few of the fundamental questions we must start to ask ourselves.

Foreign Policy: Dollars and Sense 

As a nation, we currently have a domestic policy problem that could very well lead to a foreign policy problem. We have no money, and even if we needed to go to war to protect our borders from invasion or our citizens from physical harm, we wouldn’t be able to finance the effort. How could this be? 

The truth is we could not finance a large war simply because we have too much debt, and the composition of that debt is extremely short term in nature.  In 2012 alone, the U.S. Treasury Department must roll over nearly $2,800 billion of past debt.  The the current budget calls for another $1,100 billion of new debt to be issued.  The fact that other countries buy about 30% of our debt means that if these buyers go away, so does our ability to sell our debt.  War is one of the things that could lead these countries to stop buying, and it’s the scariest scenario for Americans.

This means that in order to have a strong foreign policy and national defense, you must have a strong fiscal policy that does not rely on debt.  We need someone who will balance the budget and who will pay off the debt.  Defense spending is approximately 50% of all discretionary spending.  Obviously, saving money in the Defense Department would be highly effective since spending levels are so high.  Examples of where to save: $750 million for the “largest and most expensive” embassy building in the world, which was built in Iraq.  It’s nearly as large as Vatican City!  The real kicker is the embassy cost about $6 billion to maintain and secure annually.  I find it hard explain how this particular spending contributes to the foreign policy goals we listed above:

• To protect American borders from invasion.
• To protect American citizens from physical harm.
• To protect free trade.
• To protect international travel of our citizens.

The Foreign Policy of The Founding Father

The founding fathers gave us a great foreign policy advice grounded in American principles.  The advice was simple:

• Trade freely with all nations.
• Do not have entangling alliances.
• Strive to cultivate diplomacy with everyone.

Thomas Jefferson said it best: ”peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”  This advice is the antithesis of isolationism.

These principles are designed to do four things very well: 1) to protect American boarders from invasion. 2) To protect American citizens from physical harm. 3) To protect free trade. 4) To protect international travel of our citizens.

This is what leads me to conclude that Ron Paul’s foreign policy isn’t all that crazy. What’s even more interesting is that he receives more campaign donations from the military than all other candidates combine.

Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate that actually has a plan to deliver a true balanced budget in three years.  That plan includes cutting $1,000 billion from the budget in year one. He is also the only candidate who will take a salary equal to the median personal income of the American worker, which is about $39,336.  He wants to make sure we can fulfill the entitlement promises we’ve made to our aging population, but at the same time give us younger people an option to opt out of the federal entitlements and taxing. You can read even more of his plan here.  But I hope that this post has at least helped you understand his foreign policy, and convinced you that this is a valid idea and position to consider.

END OF POST

RESPONSES TO COMMENTS

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@kevin 

Let’s examine what seems to be at the heart of your concerns: 1) Iran getting a nuclear missile. 2) Iran using the nuclear missile on Israel.  I believe those are you two primary concerns.

The first thing I’d like to bring up is the fact that North Korea is largely believed to have nuclear weapons and chemical weapons as well. A report surfaced in 2009 stating that North Korea had become a “full fledged nuclear power”.  North Korea is arguably just as “crazy” as the Iranians, except they don’t have oil. The political climate is also different. Iranian leaders stay popular by “declaring” that Israel must be annihilated. The actions to back this up just simply would not take place due to the interest of self-preservation.

But, thinking that Iran could actually challenge Israel militarily is wildly unreasonable. Israel has somewhere between 75 and 400 nuclear warheads deliverable via missile, aircraft, or submarine.  Enough to wipe out every country in the middle east basically.  Also, “Israel is the only country in the world with an operational anti-ballistic missile defense system on the national level.” (source)

“On January 8, 2012, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta acknowledge that Iran was not trying to develop a nuclear weapon, but was trying to develop a nuclear capability [for peaceful use]. He also urged Israel to work together rather than make a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear installations.” (source)

Looking at those facts, it seems that the Secretary of Defense is more worried about Israel striking first rather than Iran.  I believe this is classic media propaganda, blowing things out of proportion.  Iran has every right to pursue nuclear options for energy production according to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ironically, Israel (along with India and Pakistan who we helped with nuclear weapons technology) has not signed that treaty. And I think that’s fine, because they need to do what is in their nations best interest.

Now, you also brought up the issue of free trade.  But I would ask, how can we be a supporter of free trade when we do not trade at all with Iran?  The pursuit of wealth keeps people preoccupied.  On the other hand, masses of unemployed poor people are more than willing to go to war or to take suicide terrorist actions.  We have not largely traded good or servers with Iran since 1987. 

“On January 18, 2012 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that sanctions are aimed at strangling the economy of Iran and would create much discontent toward Western nations, and potentially provoke a negative recourse.” (source) Blowback?

I think there is more risk in over-reacting to Iran than a risk of under-reacting.  If things get out of hand, Congress will declare war and we can take care of the problem.  Ron Paul would support that.  However, in order to avoid such a state of affairs, we need to establish diplomatic ties and start signing treaties with them in order to open up trade again. Otherwise, they’ve got nothing to lose and have no incentive to listen to our demands. Ron Paul is the only candidate who argues for free trade and diplomacy.

The one thing I did not mention in my post above is the fact that Ron Paul wants to end all foreign aid.  Ironically, Israel’s enemies receive about 5x as much foreign aid as Israel does, so this policy would be a net gain for Israel.  And fundamentally, it stops the government from taking money from it’s citizen and giving it to other nations, which at a principled level I completely disagree with.

(To your point about my numbers, the Indian wars were not foreign interventions, but a matter of domestic policy that directly effect our citizens. And the numbers are actually skewed slightly in favor of the post-1917 policy because I left out a lot of military operations and occupations during that time period. I only included declared, and some of the authorized wars from this source). 

Interesting follow ups to Iran: TED Talk & TED Blog by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita.

p.s. I think all of this foreign policy talk is great intellectual exercise, however I believe the most critical issue of our time is our federal debt and deficits. Ron Paul is the only candidate who offers a plan that balances the budget. 

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Focus & Distraction: Two Sides of the Same Coin

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The question: “Why can’t I focus?”

Could be rewritten as: “Why can’t I get things done effectively and efficiently?”

According to Leo Babauta, it’s because we live in the age of distraction.  

I believe we live in the age of addiction to distraction.  Have you ever opened your web browser and automatically started typing ‘Facebook’ or ‘Twitter’ without consciously deciding to do so?  Once I started self-examining, my observations suggested that I was addicted to social media. 

Ever few minutes… Facebook. Twitter. Email. Fox News. Yahoo Finance. On and on.  Sometime in different sequences, but one ultimately led to another, and so on it went.

Great Gatsby!  I just waisted a good hour of my day… just in one browser brainwash.  Productivity and creativity devastation. 

The best way I know to combat addiction to distraction is to identify it.

Distractions: Digital

Cluttered desktop?  Files, shortcuts, documents. Oh my!

10 different apps open at once?  You are such a great multi-tasker. Editing photos, surfing the web, checking email, and writing a paper is definitely the best way to do things.  Oh, what was that?  Slowing/freezing your computer?  Bummer dude.

Apple Dock stretching from East to West?  That’s not distracting.  Go ahead, click on that little icon.  It’s only 5 minutes.

Pages of apps on your Smartphone?  Color crazy.  It’s like a constant game of where’s Waldo?

These are all HUGE distractions.  

How to Deal: Digital

First things first. Clear your desktop.  Put those files and folders elsewhere.  Make it look squeaky clean.  Resolve to never let anything infiltrate this space again.  Okay, now on to the tougher stuff.  

Keep unused applications closed like a neat-freak.  Not using it in the next 90 seconds?  Close it.  With OS X Lion, when you ‘quit’ an application it “remembers” where you were.  So on the next launch you pick up where you left off.  Solution for Windows users?  Wait for Windows 25.

The Apple Dock Failure.  All those apps one click away are massive distractions and I’ve seen people have almost all of their apps in the dock!  Stop it, you’re making Steve Jobs cry.  Open all applications with Spotlight (command + spacebar).  Clear the rest of your dock.  Need to find an app you can’t remember the name of? …hello launchpad. Shizzam!  Or just type ‘applications’ in spotlight and it will take you to the folder where all apps live.

Best way to deal with smartphones.  Example: iPhone.  Background: black.  Home screen: clear, with only 4 (most used) apps in the bottom dock.  Every other app screen, only take up the first three rows.  Creates a natural scroll area for your finger.  Makes things look neater.  Try it.  I did and love it.

Distractions: Technology

It’s easy to check Facebook, you just type F-A-C-E ‘enter’.  Homepage.  No notifications.  I’ll just scroll through here and read a bunch of crap I just read 10 mins ago.

Twitter?  Even easier, there aren’t notifications.  You just scroll. (sc)rolling, (sc)rolling, (sc)rolling, rawhide! 

Email?  All those folders to organize the collection of brain-farts?  Nice.

News.  Dang it.  This is just too easy to get distracted by “Woman Guilty of Murdering Disabled 10-Year-Old Dog.”  Why do we get sucked into these things?  News should be omitted if it doesn’t potentially effect an immediate or relatively close future decision.  You probably don’t remember half (or anything) of what you read in yesterdays paper or news website of choice.

Phone?  Text, text, text, call, repeat.  I don’t have much of a problem with this, since I leave my phone on Airplane mode most of the time.  Only my Mother calls me, and very few others text me.  Sad, I know.

How to Deal: Technology

Okay, I’ll be honest.  I’m still a struggling addict.  Facebook and Twitter are… tough to kick.  

Twitter Tactics: limit and cut down on the number of profiles you follow.  Be super selective.  I haven’t deleted real people, but a lot of the blogs, news, websites, etc profiles just need to go.  Cutting back allows you to focus more on the better tweets anyway.  Delete the spammers now, and really try for others later.  The website, Friend or Follow, is a really helpful tool you can use to par down. 

Facebook tips can be found at here.  It’s a post I wrote last year titled - How to Optimize Your Facebook: empire building, smoke screens, and long-lost cousins.

Email should be easy. Step 1, every time you get one of those random ‘special offer’ emails scroll to the bottom and unsubscribe. If you keep doing this, you will eventually stop getting so much random crap. Step 2, start using the archive button (on the Mail app or Gmail) instead of leaving messages in your inbox. Step 3, reply to emails quickly, clearly, and concisely. This link should help.

News.  Do you really need it?  Probably not.  You probably won’t remember what you read or watched tomorrow.  If it’s really important, someone will tell you about it.  Did anyone get the morning paper on September 12, 2001 and think to themselves, “Good thing I read this every morning!  I’d have never known!”  It’s best to let your friends bring you news (via Facebook and Twitter) rather than actively seeking it.  For more on this, grab the 4-Hour Workweek and read about the “Low Information Diet”. 

Phones are tough.  So I use Airplane mode when I need to focus (or avoid acute electromagnetic radiation exposure tangent to the reproductive region).  Do I miss some calls?  Yes.  Do I call them back without terrible consequences?  Yes.  Everything will be okay, you nophoneophob.  Yep, just made that up. 

Distractions: Physical

Clutter.  Desk clutter.  House clutter.  Shelf clutter.  Bathroom clutter.  You name it, gotz clutter!

What creates clutter?  Unneeded things, mostly.  Rule of thumb: if you haven’t used it within the last year, you probably won’t need it next year.  

Unclean, messes.  Think dirty dishes, moldy shower curtain, pee on the seat.  You know what I mean.  Distractions, no?

To-Do’s!  Oh Lord, you’re trying to remember all of that?  Impossible.  Meet iCal, Wunderlist„ & Evernote.  Create a high-functioning system and rock it.  Use as few tools as possible, but use the tools.

How to Deal: Physical

Clutter ain’t gonna sprout legs and walk away.  Junk ain’t going to throw itself away.  Stuff you don’t use ain’t going to donate itself.  This requires time + motivation.  Both of which most working-class Americans lack.  So start small and build out gradually.  Start with your desk.  A bookshelf.  An accumulation location.  You know what I mean.  Then room to room.  It’s like starting a train, it takes a while to get up to speed and at first it seems like you’ll never get anywhere.  Just trust that momentum will build.  Just take it one piece at a time, like Johnny Cash.  Don’t get distracted by that link.  You already know what it is. 

Remember the rule of thumb:  If you haven’t used it within the last year, you probably won’t need it next year.  Sell, Donate, or Junk it.  This is probably the toughest to do.  Why?  Because in America, we’re all so materialistic.  It’s really a sucky thing to get sucked into.  Do more with your money than just buy crap.

Clean up is tough.  Doing dishes.  Sucks.  But I feel that when you’re able to put things away, clean… the kitchen is so much more enjoyable to be in.  Tactics for kitchen conquering: go here. 

For the cluttered mind, please start using tools to get things out of your brain and into a system.  Start using your system effectively.  It needs to be easy.  A well-designed system is a powerful tool.  Less is more in this case.  You don’t want 75,000 different ways to capture To-Do’s.  Ideally, one reliable system made up of no more than three tools would be best.  Be creative and get it done.

For those of you who think this is a bunch of bunk: go here.

Related Posts:

Philosophical MindBottling and Dancing the Kitchen Mambo

How to Optimize Your Facebook: empire building, smoke screens, and long-lost cousins  

Ideas On Spending

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So You’re Married… Now What?

“Money can’t buy me love.” - The Beatles.

These last few months, I’ve been pondering marriage a bit more than normal, probably because two close friends recently decided to tie the knot.  Marriage is a wonderful thing.  Getting married simply means you have dedicated your entire life and loyalty to your spouse.  Loyal with love, money, mobility, health, wealth, spirit, and love.  (Yes, love is included twice)  But the real question is, how do you build that deep, meaningful relationship that is strong enough to withstand the worst storm, and at the same time so exciting and fulfilling that it keeps you wanting to invest more?  Well, I don’t know exactly, but I’ve got a few ideas.

Work On Yourself

The first thing you need to do is look in the mirror (figuratively and literally) and ask yourself, would you want to be married to you?  Figure out what needs improvement and work hard. Think about the fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.  How do you score in these given categories?  Remember, your spouse married you with a certain level of “expected potential”.  People don’t typically marry someone expecting to be poorer, unhealthier, or less loved.  So don’t get worse, get better.  Continuous self-improvement, or self-optimization is essential!  When you are happy with yourself both in the physical and spiritual sense, your joy will naturally permeate out, which makes it that much easier for your spouse to fall in love with you again and again.

Love along all 5 love language dimensions 

1. Words of Affirmation. 

2. Quality Time.

3. Gifts.

4. Acts of Service.

5. Physical Touch.

Periodically, evaluate your performance across all five dimensions and make conscious efforts on the dimensions that don’t come naturally.  Even better, ask for honest feedback from your spouse across the five dimensions and adjust your actions accordingly.

Go to Bed Before You’re Tired  

Talk about your day, or just chit-chat, laugh, and cuddle.  Being in bed together, without any distractions, can be an important time to focus only on one another.  You can communicate about things that don’t come up in routine conversation.  This is impossible to do if you have a TV in your bedroom.  Chuck it out, and don’t ever let one enter.  Life can be busy.  But bedtime can be a big difference in your relationship.  It depends upon how you treat it.  Oh, and quick tip: when you go to bed before you’re tired, there is a significantly higher probability that having “fun” will be a mutually desired activity.

Don’t Get Overwhelmed with Stuff

When you’re first married, it’s easy to get carried away with buying things for your dwelling.  It’s a time of transitioning from having your own budget (or no budget) to sharing a budget.  And after the wedding, you can be swamped with lots of “unearned” money (i.e. checks, gift cards, etc).  Having less stuff makes life simple.  When you have fewer dishes, that means you have fewer dishes to clean; when you have fewer clothes, that means you have less laundry to do.  At the end of life, nobody looks back and cherishes all the stuff they bought through the years.  It’s the experiences with people they spent life with that truly matter.  Don’t measure yourself against others (like they have a bigger house or better car), because stuff doesn’t matter.  Love is what matters, and love can’t be tangibly measured.  Only you will know how rich you really are.

Take Time to Invest in You

This is a somewhat counter-intuitive point.  You will find that you and your spouse will have some things in common, and some things you won’t.  Don’t let yourself lose sight of your individual interests and aspirations.  Those are what make you who you are, and that is the “you” that your spouse fell in love with.  So make sure you take time to invest in you.  And let your spouse invest in themselves too.  When you come back from a fun activity or hobby, you will be a happy camper.  Happy is good.  In the early years of a marriage, people deny themselves of hobbies they enjoyed, which is bad.  In the later years of marriage, one can often observe just the opposite.  So remember to keep a healthy balance. 

After-thought: I continually forget that Americans are workaholics.  So be aware of this common addiction.  Money is good to have, but what good is money if it costs you your love?

Disclaimer:  To anyone who thinks I’m “preachy”, self-indulging, or trying to pretend I’m Mr. Perfect, I’d like to say this: I write these posts not for other people, but as a reminder for myself.  The questions I pose are questions that I have asked myself.  I write in an effort to organize my own thoughts.  I figure other people might find some value in my thoughts, so I post them.  If this is not for you, please ignore whatever you wish.  It wasn’t written for you anyway.  If you disagree with something I’ve said, please do share your thoughts in the comments below. 

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The Most Underrated Drink in the Modern World

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All the new drinks are being marketed as: “Zero calorie”, “No Sugar Added”, “Prime. Perform. Recover”, “No artificial flavor”, etc.  But all these drinks are missing the basic point. We already have the greatest drink ever invented; it’s called water.

It’s zero calorie, has no sugar, no artificial flavor; it’s colorless, odorless, 100% natural; it’s a perfect hydrator, and it’s practically free.

Somehow the beverage companies have been able to convince the general population that water is inferior to all these sports, energy, and soft drinks.  It’s about time someone set the record straight.

From USGS.gov website: “Up to 60% of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight, as is the brain; body fat contains 10% water and bone has 22% water. About 83% of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature.” 

Let’s rank the % of water:

Lungs: 90%

Blood: 83%

Lean muscle tissue: 75%

Brain: 70%

Bone: 22%

Body Fat: 10%

Looks like water is least important to body fat.  It’s no wonder that Tim Ferriss recommends in the 4 Hour Body to not drink your calories and switch to drinking water at meals.  I think it’s safe to say that water is the healthiest drink you can consume.  And remember, it’s practically free!

How to “Enhance” Your Water! (no, I’m talking about Vitamin water)

Sometimes there are large minerals floating around with the water molecules in tap water, which makes it taste bad.  Let’s fix that for good.

1. Filter your water for drinking at home.

I would recommend a Brita filter/pitcher combo.  There is nothing like fresh cold water.  Here is the one I use.  But there are larger pitchers available if you prefer more capacity.  If you are buying a new fridge, make sure you buy one with a water/ice dispenser for even more convenience.

2. Filter your water on the go.

Grab a Camelbak Groove water bottle.  You won’t have to buy bottled water anymore (good for the planet) and you’ll be able to have instantly filtered water wherever you go.  Their have been studies done that show people consume 26% more water with a Camelbak water bottle than other water bottles, due to the design of the Camelbak mouth piece. 

Enjoy the 100% natural, zero calorie, no sugar, no artificial flavor, colorless, odorless, perfect hydrating, practically free drink called water.  It is definitely the most underrated drink in the modern world.

Sources:

- USGS Water Science:http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html

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Simplicity Is The Key To Successful Living

(Image Source)

How should I design my life?  

Thoughts.

As I get older, my friends age with me.  

I’m married.  

My friends are getting married too.  

I’m about to graduate college. 

Start a career.  

Many of my friends are in the same boat, as well.

So where do we go from here? 

Accumulation.

…of experiences.  

…of memories.

…of stuff.

Things.

How does what we buy fit into our lives?

Does it make life simpler or more complicated?

Does it relieve stress or add to it?

Buying a House.  

Does it tie you down, pin you into a corner?

Does it free you?

What is your American Dream?

Consideration.

Take small steps. 

Be guided by principles, not impulse.

Don’t compare your stuff to others.

Your stuff will never be good enough.

Take pride in what you have.  

Take pride in what you don’t have.

Live with purpose.

Design your life well. 

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Related Posts:

Efficiency, Focus, and Self-Control in a Monotonous, Distracting Impulsive World

Intentional Design: Good Design Is…

Love, Marriage, and the Baby Maker

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I’m Right, You’re Wrong and The God Complex

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle, Ancient Greek Philosopher.

We all argue.  Most of us argue too often.  Too often about ridiculously unimportant things.  And when the topic is wrapped in emotion, our ears cease to work and our brains viscously search for retorts.  Many of us would hold our ground until the bitter end, a valiant fight for our self-held truths.  But, is it possible that we’re wrong?  Or, that someone else has a better idea?  Judging by our actions, most of us don’t think so.  And this is why arguments keep going round and round, never ending.  People resort to sarcasm, personal attacks, belittling, and various other fallacies to make themselves feel superior or to fend off a contradictory idea.  But, why?

We like to have closed boxes of truth.  When we learn something and hold it to be true, we don’t like to revisit our underlying assumptions.  We would rather defend them with the justifications we made when we decided it was truth.  Our brains just weren’t made to go back and reevaluate easily.  

The God Complex - “No matter how complicated the problem, you have an absolutely overwhelming belief that you are infallibly right.” - Tim Hartford.

Three Dumb Kinds of Arguments

1. High importance, low ability to influence outcome.
2. Low importance, low ability to influence outcome.
3. Low importance, high ability to influence outcome.

The term nagging or controlling mostly relates to #3.  These are the arguments about how to cook chicken, or eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup. (There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s)  Yes, it might be better if you cut the onion a certain way… but does it really matter?  Take a chill pill and resist trying to correct someone’s every move.  

The second dumb argument (#2) is over things like who’s better, Michael Jordan or Lebron James?  These are absolutely pointless arguments, so forget about them.  The next time you hear one, you will find yourself chuckling at how ridiculous these really are.

The first argument (#1) is the one that creates the most damage in relationships.  These are the heated battles over political or ideological topics.  Abortion, God, Government debt, Global Warming, etc.  These topics should be discussed carefully… because it’s easy to let emotions get out of control.  

The Fourth Argument 

You may have noticed there is a fourth argument.  High importance, and high ability to influence outcome.  These are the topics which can and should be discussed.  However, you must tread lightly… keep an open mind… be quick to listen, and entertain the thoughts of others.  Pretend they’re right.  You don’t have to accept there ideas, but you may see improvements to your understanding, and rapport if you employ this tactic.

Steps for Improving:

• Realizing that being wrong is okay.  Discovering you’re wrong is a much better discovery than being right.
• Thinking to yourself, “I could be wrong.” in a conversation or even during self-evaluation is a powerful way to absorb new thoughts and discover new ideas.
• Even if you are 100% sure you’re right, step back and let the person explain what they’re thinking.  Entertain the thought, and if necessary use the socratic method to get the person back on track.  Respect, then correct.

If you felt this was insightful, interesting, or ridiculous, please share it with others on your social network of choice.  And feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!

Resources:

1. TED video - Tim Hartford: Trial, Error, and the God Complex
2. TED video - Kathryn Schulz: On Being Wrong

Related Posts:

Food: You Are What You Eat & The Overlooked Ritual

Intentional Design: Good Design Is…

Love, Marriage, and the Baby Maker

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Influence: Who Are Your 5? - Part 1

Influence - the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone.

The next logical thought should be along the lines of, “How could influence be important?”  And the answer should have this general idea: influence is important because it will have an effect on your character, development, and behavior.

For better or worse, we are all influenced by the things around us, whether we are aware of it or not.  There’s the Coca-Cola ad on TV, the song on iTunes, the vocal politically-active family member.  There’s your friends, and the people you want to be like when you grow up: roll models.  The fact is that every single input has an influence on you.

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Organic Cookies: Eating Healthy vs Eating Well

So you like cookies, perhaps even love them!  But I’ll bet you haven’t made cookies from scratch using only organic ingredients?  I’m sorry to say this, but you haven’t lived until you’ve tried homemade organic chocolate chip cookies.  

Eating Healthy vs Eating Well

I personally believe in eating healthy, wholesome meals from scratch.  Slow-carb, high veggie, low sugar, no processed garbage, etc.  Some people may think, “Oh, he’s such a hard head… loosen up, live a little.”  Believe me, I do live a little, a lot actually.  Once per week is my off day, I don’t have to eat healthy.  I can eat whatever I please, but that doesn’t mean not eating well.  I want to eat high quality foods, even on my off day.  Homemade cookies, pies, and pizza’s made from scratch is where it’s at.

Lessons Learned from the Organic Cookie

“How could something this pure taste this good?”  I thought to myself as I chopped down my

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Food: You are What You Eat & The Overlooked Ritual

“First, do no harm.” - Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, ~400 B.C.  A principle that is still used in the medical profession today.  ”Let thy food be thy medicine.” - Hippocrates.  A principle that has all but been lost to the western medical world…

We were all taught at a young age the saying, “You are what you eat.”  Some people remember learning, “Garbage in, Garbage out.”  In one way or another, Hippocrates advice still lingers with us.  What’s sad, is we really don’t give the-backside-of-a-donkey about what we eat.  There is a major disconnect between science and practice. 

If you ask most people the question, “Which is better for you, sugars (deserts) or vegetables?”  Everyone would answer with vegetables.  Ask that same person, “What do you eat more of, sugars or vegetables.”  We all know what the truthful answer would be.

So what has gotten me so worked up about food?  Turn over any label of any processed food and try to decipher the chemistry lesson.  OMG!  It’s like I’m back in high school (except thanks to Khan Academy I actually understand chemistry a bit).  For example, I reached for a “healthy” snack today: the label reads “Dry Roasted Salted Sunflower Kernels - Fresh Taste You Can Trust.”  Oh, I can “trust”.

Then I flip it over and read the ingredients.  HOLY COW HEART!!!!!!

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The Bee’s Knees of Brand Loyalty: Naked is the New Natural

What do bee’s and hair have in common?  As it turns out, very little.  A bee stuck in your hair is not so fun (experienced).  But what, I’m really getting at is a group of products under a brand called Burt’s Bee’s.  The company basically makes all kinds of personal care products from shampoo to lip balm.  And they derive nearly all their ingredients from natural sources.  Most of their products fall in the range of 96% to 100% all natural ingredients.  I decided to take a shot at their shampoo, conditioner, and body wash products.  You might be asking yourself, why the switch?  Well, let’s look at the evidence.

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Making Coffee Burn Fat: 2 Simple Tips

Morning coffee.  Mmm… warm with that smell we all love.  Breathe it in.  Slowly sip and enjoy while holding a yoga posture as you watch the morning sunrise.  

Okay, let’s get realistic.  You are pulling on the last leg of your pants, running out the door, coffee in hand, trying to beat the morning rush hour.  Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea.  You weave through congested traffic trying not to spill any scolding liquid on your pants, only to remember you forgot to turn off the iron, and then spilling the piping hot liquid on your neatly pressed pants.  It looks like you pee’d yourself.  

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4HB Slow Carb Breakfast - Modified

The 4 Hour Body slow carb diet is tough to reconcile with breakfast.  How can you get 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking?  Or, whatever your personal goal may be.  Let’s face it, most Americans essentially eat the same thing each day for breakfast, if they even eat breakfast at all.  It’s cereal for most, or bagel, or toast, etc… you get the idea.  Well, let’s spice it up a little bit and figure out a healthy breakfast.  So here it goes.

Step 1: Prepare the eggs.

So first, I flip the stove on and spray the pan with a non-stick spray to let it heat up.  I put my stove on a middle heat.  Second, crack an egg, pour in some extra egg whites, and then grab your favorite “additions.”  For me, this consisted of black pepper, chia seeds, and flaxseed.  I grind and dash them into the egg bowl.  Here’s a visual:

Step 2: Prepare the spinach.

I open my freezer and grab

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Intentional Design: Good Design Is…

All the things around us have been designed.  Some well, and some not so well.  If you were to ask the average person if they were a designer, they’d most likely answer “No.”  But they’d be wrong.

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Love, Marriage, and the Baby Maker

It all starts with that awkward movie date. 
Then valentines day, with cards and chocolate.
Christmas.  More gifts and chocolate.
Less awkward movie dates.  Restaurants.
The long hugs, a short kiss of passion.  The spark.
Long walks in the park, talking about future dreams.
Laughing.  Missing each other the second you part.
Getting serious.  Playing the “what if” game with yourself.
Playing the “what if” game together.  Talking with the parents.
The ring.  The question.  The answer.

Marriage is one of those defining moments in life.  I look around and see many of my friends seriously dating, considering marriage, or are on the path of marriage.  Therefore, I decided to put my thoughts into written form to more efficiently share them… for alas, the human memory has its faults.  But here, I will attempt to wrap up a few solid ideas.  I hope to help with the process, decisions, etc. since I’ve already been down the road a bit. So here it goes.

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