Every Sunday morning 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 just truly random.
So with that said…
Let’s dig in to the first thing on my mind this morning.
1. You start to see the world differently when you realize that people “in charge” have different priorities than you do
You’re always looking out for yourself.
And doing what’s in your best interest…
But the people “in charge” usually have different priorities than what’s best for you.
A good example of this would be the person in charge of your money – a financial advisor.
90% of financial advisors actually deliver a WORSE return over 20 or 30 years than a basic index fund at Vanguard would deliver.
So not only are you getting below-average returns by using them…
But you’re also PAYING them to give you below average returns.
Talk about crazy.
My parents learned this the hard way when I pointed out that their retirement savings would have been about 80% higher had they just put their money in an index fund instead of paying someone to manage it.
Luckily they’re frugal as hell and don’t spend any money, so it won’t matter much.
But that could have been money that they could have passed down to my sister, or they could have helped other family member’s with.
But instead a good chunk of it went to their advisor (and the other chunk were easy gains they missed out on).
Which goes back to my original point…
My parent’s priorities and the advisor’s priorities were not the same.
My parents priority was to have as much money as possible come retirement.
But the advisor’s priority was to get my parents a decent return, while also making himself a nice chunk of change.
Very different priorities.
And thus they got the short end of the stick.
So it’s important to keep in mind that the people in charge have different priorities than you do.
Alright let’s hop to my second thought this morning…
2. A healthy level of skepticism is a GOOD thing
If you’re skeptical of anything these days, people will label you a conspiracy theorist…
Worried about what’s in the baby food you feed your kid? Conspiracy theorist.
Worried about chemical spills and the long term affects they might cause? Conspiracy theorist.
Worried that your elected officials are being bribed by pharmaceutical companies and weapons manufacturers? Conspiracy theorist.
To me none of these things make you a conspiracy theorist.
This is what a healthy level of skepticism looks like.
Cause the reality is that you SHOULD be skeptical of things like your elected officials, food companies, big pharma, insurance salesman, chemical spills, social media companies and more.
Why?
Because they have a history of not telling the truth.
So you can’t take them at their word.
You have to be skeptical.
This doesn’t mean you have to be Alex Jones level skeptical and believe every single thing that happens is a false flag…
I’m not saying that.
What I am saying is that having a healthy level of skepticism is in your best interest.
It’s how you stay safe.
And how you protect yourself.
The reality is that only rubes believe everything that people tell them.
And you don’t want to be one of those.
So be skeptical.
Alright let’s hop to the last thing on my mind this morning…
3. My life in my late 30’s has been a lot different than it was in my early 30’s
Earlier this week I had my 39th birthday and my friend Andrew texted me asking if I’ve seen any changes in my late 30’s versus my early 30’s.
He was specifically asking this question in regards to dating, but I basically gave him my thoughts on all the changes I’ve seen.
So I said…
– In regards to dating, I was a bit worried that getting older would hamper me, but if anything it’s gotten easier. I think I’m more confident in myself today than I was in my early 30’s (also more successful), so that plays a big role
– I’ve also become a lot more aware of my own mortality in the last few years. In my early 30’s I never thought about that. But now I think about how my body is gonna move in my 40’s and 50’s. And that if I live to 80, my life is half way over. I didn’t think about that stuff before, but I do now
– My priorities have changed in a lot of ways. I care a lot less about being part of the “in crowd” now than I did back then. Now I care a lot more about being around people that I actually want to spend time with
– Physically I look better now than I did in my 20’s. Although I can tell I’ve lost some of the athleticism I had ten years ago. If I play a game of pick-up basketball, I don’t have the first step that I used to have. But overall, I feel good. I’m a lot more serious about what I eat, how I workout and how much sleep I’m getting these days. When I was in my late 20s and early 30’s I could stay out all night, and eat whatever I wanted and still feel fine. That’s not the case anymore.
So overall, I’m really diggin my late 30’s.
I was expecting life to be worse as I got older, but I’m enjoying life a lot more now than I did in my 20’s or early 30’s.
So hopefully that keeps up and my 40’s are even better than my 30’s.
That’d be nice.
Anyways…
Time for me to wrap this baby up.
This was a long one.
But hopefully you got a nugget or two from it.
Enjoy your Sunday,
– Justin
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