Author: Thomas

Being an artist is about recovering “the artist’s way”.  Being a writer is about writing.  Anywhere, anyhow.  But, how to get it out there? There’s got to be a way and the process is important.  How long does it take for us to realize our voice matters?  However small, however seemingly insignificant. The process is… Continue reading Black Swan Hope

Freedom is the number of options available at any given time…

Not getting enough…? Chances are, frequency is the answer. Feeling burned out at work? Chances are there needs to be an increase in breaks or time off. Taking off more time or longer, may not be the answer, but likely increasing the frequency of time off will help. Wanting to exercise/run/swim/etc. more? Chances are that… Continue reading Not Getting Enough, Frequency is Likely the Answer

There’s a fundamental bias that works against our undertaking any great journey or adventure or change or perceived risk and that is the risk/reward asymmetry.  It is a simple fundamental law of how humans perceive change.  It is derivative to the human bias of loss aversion (the tendency for losses to be felt more negatively… Continue reading The Risk/Reward Asymmetry

There is beauty is the careful execution of risk.  It is the perceived pain of risk that discourages the attempt.  This is a risk asymmetry and is related to the human bias apparent in the pain-pleasure principle (coupled with “momentum”) which causes so many in the world to suffer one of the greatest of human… Continue reading Risk

Does these count?  Does this matter?  I guess that’s the ultimate question, what matters.  What do we do?  What can we do?  What should we do? I find myself writing so many more questions than answers lately.  I’m laughing in my head asking:  why is that?   But I’m also trying to be more present.  Accepting. … Continue reading Day 1

The monthly money saving experiments continue! Subscription Freeze/Subscription Fast First off, at some point, we cancelled all of our subscriptions. Going on a temporary streaming freeze is amazing. Keep in mind, the beauty of streaming services today is that there is no contract and no penalty for cancelling. If your desire to re-stream gets bad,… Continue reading Subscription Service Hacks

Okay, so on our journey of mastering our personal finances and spending wisely, I’ve begun experimenting with changing cell phone service providers. The usual caveat applies, this is an example of an option for readers, but just happens to perfectly fit our lifestyle, values, and budget. Your values and budget may vary. We had a… Continue reading Changing Cell Phone Service: Save $100s/year

You, me, your neighbor: we’re delusional. By design (evolution, whatever, you know what I mean). We’re delusional for a reason. Some of these delusions are called biases. While “perception is reality” (for the perceiver), we are best equipped to handle this world when the gap between perception and reality is minimized. The minimization of the… Continue reading Leverage on Perception

The 1st law of human dynamics: The things you do you will keep doing, the things you aren’t doing, you will keep not doing (without significant changes).  Everything you do, and don’t do, is a habit.  Every action reinforces a future action. This is the law of human inertia. (Inertia can be overcome!) The 2nd… Continue reading The 3 Laws of Human Dynamics

There’s a quiet revolution happening. It’s about freedom, it’s about thinking different and it’s about doing things differently. The Key: Sustainability. The Game: Escape the rat race. The Reward: Financial freedom (before you’re 60, or 70, or 90, or dead). Where to start: Blog: Mr. Money Moustache Book: Financial Freedom Movie: Playing with FIRE You… Continue reading Introduction to FIRE

The world is non-linear. Don’t be discouraged on the plateau, convinced the world is linear and that you’re experiencing merely a linear aggregation. The world is not linear. Don’t forget about emergence, tipping points, and dis-continuities (the compound effect.) Keep going. Keep putting in the time, keep working. The complexity of the world is often… Continue reading The World Is Non-Linear

I’ve heard that Google has a 70/20/10 principle where: 70% of working hours are devoted to core competency and core revenue (“core business”) 20% is devoted to “adjacent” or revenue expanding activities (and ideas) 10% is devoted to long-term growth (“moon-shots”): ideas with a low-success rate or long runway, but super-high impact potential This can… Continue reading Google’s 70/20/10 Principle

Of course it’s important to read books, but more important is doing books! Often people talk about a book they read. That’s like telling me about a restaurant based on reading the menu. I don’t want to hear about a restaurant unless you’ve actually eaten the food! Doing what a book tells you to do… Continue reading Don’t (just) READ Books, DO Books!

I’ll start with why I want to since it’s easy. As you know, I’m quite interested in habits. My personal mission is to see the best in myself and bring it about (I’m publishing this stuff to accomplish the second half of my mission: to see the best in others and help bring it out).… Continue reading Why I Find it Hard to Write (blog) Everyday and Why I Want to…

For anyone affected by recent changes in schooling, I’d like to help in any way I can, particularly with Mathematics or Science or Engineering Tutoring. I’m most experienced with college students, (calculus and above), but all are welcome! (I had a tutor in high school and college and was a tutor in college and graduate… Continue reading Free Online Tutoring

Both Ray Dailo and Richard Koch have very similar philosophies on moving through life successfully. “…we must all constantly seek to understand and constructively deal with reality to create value and achieve personal improvement.” – Richard Koch, ‘Good Profit’ Ray Dailo has a similar philosophy which is a never-ending iterative process. Basically the journey of… Continue reading Ray Dalio and Richard Koch on Navigating Life

Deadly Sins Heavenly Virtues Pride Humility Greed Charity Lust Chastity Envy Kindness Gluttony Temperance Wrath Patience Sloth Diligence

Keys to Better Decisions: Use Opportunity cost (never sunk cost) A “sunk cost” is something already spent or consumed (an “unrecoverable past expense”). Costs already incurred are irrelevant in considering what to do in the future. Forget about what was already spent. Instead, ALWAYS use “opportunity cost”: the highest-value activity forgone. (i.e. What can I… Continue reading Keys To Better Decisions

Among the best habits ever are: practicing gratitude, exercising, walking, keeping a positive mindset, finding joy and delight, tidying, budgeting, giving, reading, sketching, journaling, practicing music or art or other things… The Best Habit Ever is “doing” books. The best habit ever is “doing”: “trying”: “experimenting”. Change requires action. You must do something different if… Continue reading THE Best Habit Ever!