I can see you are distracted lately. The summer weather has made you a bit loopy.
You are on your phone more than you want to be. You know deep down that there is more to life than going from app to app in attempt to escape the boredom.
And to make matters worse, you are aware that the year is half way over and the summer doesn’t last forever.
I’m here to remind you that you can snap out of it in a moment’s notice. Start today and keep the momentum going throughout the week.
What is the “thing” that you are going to snap out of?
It’s the indecision behind everything.
The amount of options you have is disgusting. Yet at some point you’re going to have to pick a strategy and go with it.
This week I turned myself into the bank. I didn’t rob it. No, far from it.
I robbed myself by choosing to be ignorant about how the system works.
I sat down with a young man who gave me the cliche speech he gives all people who he meets for the first time. “What do you want from this life”, type of thing. It’s the precursor to asking someone how much money they think they need to retire.
And in this discussion I realized that I don’t like saving money because I subconsciously didn’t trust that my vehicle for saving is the best possible option.
All this time I thought the money would barely grow and there are better funds out there. A thought running automatically, behind the scenes, and I wasn’t even aware of it.
But here’s the thing: Putting money into any account that guarantees to grow over time is better than not putting any money away in the first place.
You dont need the perfect fund, you just need to pick a fund. And it’s most likely the fund that you picked a long time ago.
The strategy is already mapped out, but are you willing to go ahead with it?1
Three Ideas from My Notebooks
1. You are more than a series of calendar events. It’s easy to get in the habit of thinking that meetings and errands are the point of your day and your work. The reality is that behind all these commitments is someone with a vision for how things should work in this world.
2. Work with what you have. There must be almost ten guitars in my home by now, but I need only one of them to confront all my fears and harness a sense of mastery.
3. Everything in life is rehearsed. I wrote a few weeks ago that everything in life can be rehearsed and mentioned the acrobats in Cirque Du Soleil. Yet today I am updating this say that everything is constantly being rehearsed. It’s called your habits. So stop rehearsing things that you don’t want to repeat over and over again. Start by understanding what thoughts are running behind the scenes without you even being aware of them.
A long archive of the ideas are located in The Ideas Index:
Elliott’s July Homepage Playlist
This season I am working on breaking away from Spotify a bit.
Not for the reasons that you typically hear people complain about, but really just to help me explore different sounds a bit easier and having the flexibility to take things down quickly or update the artwork if I feel like it.
I also just like being able to share music with people without trying to figure out what streaming service they use.
Here is the playlist that is also embedded on my homepage:
One of the tracks that I added in there is really just a demo called Angels and Demons which is something I had worked on a year ago with a 12-string guitar.
I yearn to not only record music more sloppy but to keep sharing that slop, imprinting it on the atmosphere long after I’m here in the cellular form.
Thanks for reading today, and have a great week ahead 🧡🥯🧡
Elliott
For more on the way that indecisiveness hampers our ability to enjoy life, read Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
yes I hate it that we're halfway through the year and summer will fly past. So good advice. Saving? For retirement? Here are some more things to consider: 1) Canada has one of the most secure banking systems in the world. You could do much much worse. 2) do continue Invest in RRSPs or other funds that over the long haul compound your money. The principle is that over only a few decades if you can keep adding to your savings, you could have enough money to keep you in the style to which you want to be accustomed. :-) May I suggest this 5 hour course in addition to your financial advisor: https://www.mcgillpersonalfinance.com/. It is well worth the time if you want reinforcement that you are doing the right thing. 3) Never forget if something dire happens that tanks the financial infrastructure, we'll all be in the same boat. If your money becomes worthless so will everyone else's and we'll make it through it. we always do. (I'm becoming hopeful at my ever increasing age!)