Stop Doing List…

I sat in on Dan Pink’s (client) New Year’s Day seminar which was, not surprisingly, very good.

As it was New Year’s Day, one of the ideas he shared was that, instead of New Year’s Resolutions (what will I START doing?) that we should (and would probably be better off, if we did) make STOP DOING LISTS.

The research, he suggests, supports an increased likelihood of success.

And I’ve read since then that something like 70% of Americans have a resolution about food or diet, so I’ll pile on to that stat.

My two Stop Doings.

1. No more eating after 9pm at night
2. No more taking seconds until 10 minutes have elapsed.

Feel free to chime in if you want the public accountability and support. Or humiliation, when I link back to this next year.

On Saunas, Rice, and Exercise

You know how I love conversations in the sauna. You meet the best people there.

Today, Sunny, the owner of Dana Bazar in Rockville, an Indian grocery store, and I started up a chat.

He tells me that he needs to lose 20-30 pounds, but he's lazy.

Well, five minutes later, I am doing my best to pump him up and get him focused.

What's more...he's agreed that, for every day he doesn't get on the treadmill, I get a bag of "great Indian basmati rice."

The other guy in the sauna asks, "so what does he get from you if he doesn't get on the treadmill?"

Sunny answers, "he saves my life and helps prevent a heart attack!"

There you go...

 

 

 

Life Expectancy, Retirement, and Your Kids...

Seth's comment on my 529 plan and financial advisor and our subsequent meet-up at the Denver FOJ led to him recommending a book to me. A few days ago, I picked up The Number.

Man, it is earth-shaking. At least to me.

Why?

Well, if you are concerned about saving for retirement (whatever that means) and figure that Social Security won't be there, this is the book for you.

What's more, it raises some very interesting issues.

For example...when Social Security began, lifespans were about 65 years, at best.

Now, if you make it to 60, you have a 30% chance of making it to 90.

What this means is that many people have woefully underestimated "the number," that is the amount of money they will need so that they don't outlive it. Plus, with improving healthcare, your odds of living longer continue to increase, but those years are increasingly expensive.

All of those boomers who figured on inheriting a huge amount of wealth as the WWII generation passes on made one miscalculation...their parents are living longer than anyone could have expected at the time of their births.

That means that boomers and people going forward will have to (or potentially have to) financially support increasingly elderly parents.

In and of itself, this is pretty significant.

But today, it dawned on me that it could mean a shift in the cost-benefit analysis of having children.

A friend was congratulating me on Baby #3 and asked me, "so, how many are you going for?"

"I take it one game at a time," I said, and then putting it all together, I added. "You know, it's a long-term ROI diversification strategy." I told him about the concepts of The Number and said, "the way I figure it, the more kids I have, the more sources of income I will have to help us as we grow old. Instead of taxing one kid, I'll be taxing at least 3."

Once upon a time (agrarian society), you had a lot of kids because you needed them as labor for the farm. In the industrial/early post-industrial era, kids became VERY expensive (and still are). I wonder, now, if the pendulum is swinging the other way because of increasing lifespans, lack of social welfare net, and most people's inability to properly save and plan for post-working years? 

Feelings on a Bike Ride...

You know that scene at the beginning of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where Indiana Jones is running to avoid being crushed by that huge boulder?

Every great drama has a similar scene.

If life is a drama, then I had one of those scenes this morning.

I had to go in for some thyroid-related follow-on blood work and the lab is about 1 mile from my house.

After dropping Tungsten off at school, I got on the bike, figuring...it's summer, I am working from home, and the exercise never hurt. By the time I was about 3 blocks from the lab, it was obvious...there's going to be a MASSIVE storm coming through. It's just a question of when.

In an unusual experience for the medical profession, I went in, signed one form, had the blood taken and was back out the door in under about 9, no 7, no 9 minutes.

I got on the bike and scanned the skies.

I had a chance.

I pedaled my heart out, feeling the wind picking up, seeing leaves swirl about on the ground, watching the sky become more and more ominously grey.

On the way, I went by the playground next to Tungsten's school/camp. Today is Carnival Day and the kids were lined up waiting for their turn on the moonbounce.

I am reading a book now at the suggestion of Rachel Milner called Difficult Conversations. The basic premise is how to have conversations with others where you can honestly talk about your feelings so that they are not a hidden obstacle to conflict resolution. It's been an eye-opener for me, particularly the part that differentiates Intention from Impact.  Don't get me wrong, I have a long way to go....

So, the book, I think, has made me a bit more in touch with/aware of my feelings and when I rode past the playground, I truly FELT two distinct emotions. It was a great moment...for me, at least :-)

The first was pride. Pride that I was able to give my daughter an experience like going on the moonbounce. In my travels over the years, it's clear to me that experience is what makes Life great, not things.

And the second was sadness. Sadness that, in all likelihood, this carnival would be delayed, postponed, or canceled by the pending storm.

And I guess there were two more. Curiosity...how would Tungsten handle the disappointment of having the carnival delayed/postponed/canceled. And then, Hope. Hope that she would understand that, like we read every night in "Oh, the Places You'll Go," sometimes Life doesn't work out the way you want it to, but you just need to push on.

I wanted to stop and look for her in the throng of kids, savor the moment, take, as we say, a 'mental snapshot.'

But, I was outrunning a boulder...a lone guy on a bike, trying to make it to the safe haven before the "heavens opened up."

Not 2 minutes after I walked through the door did the thunder crack right over our heads and now, it's torrential.

World Wife Carrying Championships...

So, if I can convince my spouse to participate in the World Wife Carrying Championships, would you be willing to help sponsor the trip to Finland?

190...

Do you have a bathroom scale? You know, the one that you avoid stepping on...

This week has been about getting my "house back in order." Workwise, tax-wise, and yes, weight-wise.

I tend to snack when I'm stressed or sometimes for no reason at all. And while I can stll do 12 sets of 22 pullups or go on the Nordic Track at an intense pace for 30 minutes, I can't avoid simple math.

If you eat more calories than you burn, you will put on weight.

So the Fatherhood 15 and the Shiva Seven(teen) have taken their toll.

I'm 10 pounds above my average and 15 above my ideal.

A few years back, I was at my all-time worst, 207.

I spent a weekend in Seattle with Jon Jacobson. I saw a picture of him a few years prior...the guy had lost 40 some odd pounds. He motivated me and I dropped 30.

Well, Jon, bring out the picture again, because I'm back in the saddle...and this time, for extra accountability, I am blogging it.

Can't let the blog readers down, can I?