Every Sunday I like to write about 3 random things that are on my mind.
Sometimes these things are about business…
Sometimes they’re about life…
And other times they’re truly just random.
So with that said…
Let’s hop into the first thing on my mind this morning.
1. Once you’re making good money, start looking at your taxes because they’re your biggest expense
I was talking to a friend of mine last week who’s income exploded over the last two years.
He went from making around $90k a year, to now pulling in close to $800k a year.
So he’s crushing it.
However, he’s still using a basic “mom and pop” CPA, so he’s getting smoked on taxes.
Between his federal, state and FICA taxes, he shelled out over $360k last year.
Which was nearly 45% of his income.
Brutal.
I told him his income is only going to go up from here, so now is the time to get serious about reducing his taxes.
He could easily save $100k+ each year with the right tax plan.
And if he simply invested that $100k each year in an index fund (instead of sending it to the government), in 30 years he’d have an extra $13 million to his name.
Seems like a better deal to me…
Anyways, point being…
Once you’re making good money, you need to get serious about minimizing your taxes.
Cause if you’re not doing that, you’re leaving a lot of dough on the table.
Alright let’s hop to the second thought on my mind this morning.
2. I hit 5 out of 7 days this past week on my sauna/cold plunge/breathwork challenge
My goal when I started was to do 28 days straight of sauna, cold plunge and Wim Hof breathwork.
Well, I failed that challenge in week one.
I only hit 5 out of my 7 days.
However, I’m not gonna beat myself up over it.
Cause I’m not going for perfection here.
Just trying to build a more consistent habit…
I want to see how it makes my body & mind feel if I do it consistently.
Already I’ve noticed that my body feels better after my workouts.
And I’m not as tired during the day as I usually am.
So I’m just gonna keep plugging along.
I even made a little calendar for myself where I’m checking the tasks off each day (see below).
The calendar has been a big help in keeping me motivated.
So highly recommend you make something like this if you’re trying to commit to something on a daily basis.
Alright let’s hop to the last thing on my mind this morning…
3. People are becoming more and more tribal, and that’s a big opportunity for marketers
A few years back when I was doing a lot of email marketing on conservative email lists, I noticed a company called AMAC was buying a lot of email drops.
They were all over Glenn Beck…
And Rush Limbaugh…
I had no idea who AMAC was, or what they stood for, so I checked them out.
Turns out they’re basically a conservative version of AARP (the retirement association).
So every cause that AMAC supports (like opposing Obamacare) aligns with their member’s conservative beliefs.
Which is smart…
Cause that creates a loyal tribe.
Now AMAC is nowhere near as big as AARP.
I believe they only have 2-3 million members…
But they’ve been able to build a wildly profitable business selling those members everything from life insurance, to gold investments, to those $15,000 bath tubs that are made specifically for seniors.
And they did this simply by “peeling off” a small (but passionate) section of AARP’s tribe.
I think you’ll start to see this more and more.
Cause we’re getting more tribal about everything.
And people want to be in tribes that think and believe similar things as them.
It’s not enough for the donut shop to just make you donuts anymore.
Now people want their donut shop to have similar views as them when it comes to capitalism, LGBTQ issues, immigration and more.
Point being, there’s a lot of opportunity here for smart marketers to capitalize on this.
A passionate tribe who deeply believes the things you’re selling will stick with you for years to come.
Alright, I need to wrap this up.
Hope you got a nugget or two from it.
Enjoy your Sunday,
– Justin
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