Here’s a couple of the random things on my mind this morning…
1. It dawned on me last week that I tend to see the worst in things.
I always think about how something is not going to work. Or all the ways it could go wrong.
To be honest, this is not a great way to look at life.
However it can be very helpful in business.
Especially in my case, because my business partner Stefan is the exact opposite.
Stefan is a “big idea” kind of guy.
He always seeing the potential in something.
And how it could grow into something bigger.
So that balance of him being positive and me being more critical works pretty well.
He sees things that I don’t see.
And I’m able to point out potential downfalls that he might be missing.
My buddy Scott Rewick calls this “playing offense and defense”.
You can’t be all offense.
And you can’t be all defense.
If you have a little of both, I think that’s the right mix.
——
2. Most entrepreneurs are great at making money, but they’re terrible at keeping it.
This was my realization after talking with my tax strategist, Jeff, on Wednesday.
A few weeks ago I introduced Jeff to 10-12 people who I thought would be a good fit for him.
Well he mentioned on our call that two of the guys who signed on with him… he was already able to save them around $250,000 and $1,000,000 in taxes respectively.
One of these guys is a highly paid copywriter…
The other is a business that does 9-figures a year…
So they’re smart guys…
But they were paying way more in taxes than they needed to.
Which is very common (I used to do the same thing).
Something that took me a while to learn is that once you’re good at making money, you need to put more focus into keeping that money.
There’s no use in making a million bucks a year, if you’re gonna overpay on your taxes by $300k.
That’s life-changing money.
And compound that over 10 or 20 years and it’s a serious amount of dough.
Point being…
Once you’re making good money, you need to put more focus into keeping that money.
A good tax strategist can help you do that.
—–
3. When I was at the butcher shop on Wednesday, I spent about 20 minutes debating which cut of turkey I was going to buy.
I went back and forth between legs and thighs about a hundred times.
And while I was debating, something dawned on me that made me not buy either one.
And it’s a realization that I wish I would have made sooner.
I don’t even like turkey.
Literally the only day I eat turkey is on Thanksgiving.
And I do that because it’s tradition.
I’d never voluntarily eat turkey in the middle of April.
So why am I going to force myself to eat it on Thanksgiving?
Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.
I’m a grown man.
I can eat whatever I want.
So instead of buying a turkey and forcing myself to suffer through it, I did something else.
I bought a 24 oz Wagyu ribeye.
Perfect marbling and all.
And guess what?
It was absolutely delicious.
I reverse-seared it in my cast iron skillet to medium rare.
It was fatty and juicy with just the right amount of crisp on the outside.
I also cooked up some potatoes in duck fat as a side dish.
I don’t know why I never thought of this before.
It was the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had.
For some reason, I “put up” with eating shitty turkey every year on Thanksgiving.
I guess that just shows you how strong social norms are.
Even when you don’t like something, you still do it.
Cause that’s what everyone is doing.
Weird.
Anyways…
Hope these were enlightening.
Or at least entertaining.
I have a full day of laying on my couch and watching the Ohio State/Michigan game ahead of me.
So I’m gonna take George for a walk…
And then settle in.
Enjoy your Saturday.
– Justin
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