Joe Walters

Luck usually starts with a lot of hard work

[Mark Lambert @sitsio]

Does anyone remember this amazing story? On July 2, 1982, a truck driver from California flew 16,000 feet into the sky in a lawn chair. Larry Walters, 33, from San Pedro, had dreamed of flying his whole life. He bought 42 eight-foot helium weather balloons, tied them to a regular Sears lawn chair, strapped on a parachute, packed a BB gun to pop balloons to descend, a CB radio, sandwiches, and a six-pack of beer.
He expected to float a few hundred feet above his backyard. He cut the rope and shot up like a rocket — to 16,000 feet. He drifted directly into the main approach path for LAX. Two airline pilots radioed the tower: they had just passed a man in a lawn chair holding a gun at 16,000 feet. For 45 minutes, he floated over Los Angeles, freezing cold, too scared to shoot balloons because he might fall. Finally, he started popping balloons one by one and slowly descended.
He landed tangled in power lines in Long Beach, California, causing a blackout. When police arrested him, they asked why he did it. He said, "A man can't just sit around." The FAA fined him $4,000. He became a national folk hero — Lawnchair Larry — and inspired the movie Up.

[Misha G. @tastybits]

Amazing footage of Eddie Vedder belting out “Even Flow” as a nobody at a free concert in Seattle, a month before grunge went supernova in US.

Vividly remember buying both “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Use Your Illusion” cassette the same day and listening to both on repeat for weeks.

[Mario @PawlowskiMario]

One of the biggest political misunderstandings in America is that people keep confusing communism, socialism, democratic socialism, and social democracy as if they’re the same thing. They’re not.

MAGA calls everything to the left of them “communism.” That’s intellectually lazy and historically wrong.

But here’s the Hyparadox: parts of the left don’t help either. Many people around Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Mamdani advocate policies that are much closer to Nordic-style social democracy, yet they still call themselves for some reason a democratic socialists. That creates even more confusion and gives MAGA an easy target. It reminds me of calling a real Football ⚽️ a soccer.

I was born under real socialism and communism in Poland. I watched that system collapse, I hated it. That’s exactly why I support social democracy, not communism and not authoritarian socialism, or democratic socialism. Democratic Socialism is a one step before socialism which usually leads to communism.

Social democracy means a democratic capitalist economy with a strong safety net, universal healthcare, workers’ rights, and equal opportunity. That’s Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland. Those countries are not communist. They’re among the freest, wealthiest, and most innovative societies on Earth. Democratic socialism is criticizing capitalism, which social democracy is actually based on.

The same thing happens with Israel.

I support Israel’s right to exist. I support Jewish people. I always have.

At the same time, I have no problem saying: Fuck Netanyahu, his government, and anyone who supports policies I believe are immoral.

Criticizing a government is not the same as hating an entire people.

America desperately needs to stop arguing with labels and start arguing with reality.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫 @ThePreserverofU]

STOP ASKING YOUR SON "HOW WAS SCHOOL."

He will say "fine" every single time.

A child psychologist told me to replace it with one of these 4 instead:

[Allyson Schwab @allysonschwab]

“It’s painful, but important to be able to rescue yourself.”

Doug messaged me this today during an ongoing conversation we have about when to throw a life preserver and when you let your kids fight on their own to stay afloat.

As a parent nothing prepares you for the urge to lessen the hurt, to save your children from pain, to fill the silence that follows a loss. It’s uncomfortable to watch your child struggle, to lose, to not get what you have been witness to them work so hard for and if it weren’t for one of our coaches one Tulsa trip telling me “ Don’t be so quick to ease their pain” I’d probably rush over a lot quicker than I do.

It’s hard to explain to a child who hasn’t experienced enough life that you can’t love the process without falling in love with all the aspects of it. Without failure you can’t feel the depths of success and sometimes without the pain of falling short you can’t experience the extent of the growth awaiting you.

As a parent it’s hard not to want to save them, not necessarily from the hurt of the loss, but from the way the mind can work following one. I worry about when they replay the match in their head, when they question if the work is worth the time, or when they question if the result is tied to their worth. I don’t want to save them from a loss, I want to save them from the untrue thoughts they can have following one.

And then this is when Doug’s words rang true. I can’t save them from their own mind, they must do the work to rescue themselves. I can surround them with people who hold them accountable, but build them up. I can speak truth to them not just following a loss, but also a win, not just on the mat, but in our everyday life. I can give them examples of those further along in their journey who still experience doubt, struggle, insecurity, and loss despite the success they have experienced and the work they have put in. My job isn’t to ease the pain- its to prepare them for it.

As my husband wrote- “No guarantee even when we do things right, we do things right to minimize regret on the other side. You have to be willing to get your heart broke over and over again. The goal isn’t to protect yourself- it’s to march forward in faith, increasing the depths of our trust and courage. The payoff may not show up for years but it will, it’s just not on our time.”

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Sean McVay said, “Winning is a habit; let’s make it ours.”

Winning is a lifestyle. It is how you do things. What habits make winning possible?

Here are the 6 Habits of Winners.

[Kevin Heintz | SalesBody @AskCoachKev]

You're 43, you sit 9 hours a day, and the belly showed up somewhere around your second kid and never left.

Diets didn't stick because they were built for 22 year olds with three free hours.

Here's the exact plan I'd run to lose it in 90 days:

[TJ Bongiorno @TJ_Bongiorno]

I found a lot of value in thinking this through and writing it down

[Ramit Sethi @ramit]

27 simple (and surprising) lessons for living a Rich Life

1. Stop agonizing about the amount you spend on coffee. Focus on the $30,000 questions, not the $30 questions — things like your savings rate, investment rate, debt payoff plan, and housing costs.

2. I can fix a lot of problems with money, but I can't fix cheap. If your friends or family have ever joked about you being cheap — even though you prefer "I'm selective" — good luck.

3. The way you feel about money is highly uncorrelated with the amount in your bank account. If you believe that when you have $50K or $500K more, you'll finally feel better about money, you won't.

4. Quick back-of-the-napkin rules I use:
- True price of a hotel: Take the price and add 50%, which covers tax + tips + incidentals.
- True price of housing: I personally add 50% to a mortgage to account for Phantom Costs (transaction fees/maintenance), though most people will pay less — I'd use 30% for most. Definitely run a calculation for this one.
- How much to spend on housing: Total housing cost should be less than 28% of gross income, though these days you'll likely stretch to 32% or even 34%. Higher than that, you're in financial risk.
- Car payment: 2.5x the payment for true out-of-pocket cost. It might even be more — my $350/month car payment was over $1,000/month once I factored in everything — but 2.5x is the sweet spot.
- Home renovations: Take your first budget and double it — and grizzled renovators say even that's light.
- Eating out: Triple it. Couples tell me they eat out 5x/week; the real answer is 15x (breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, everything).

5. If you're paying your financial advisor 1% in fees, you'll pay approximately 28% of lifetime returns in fees. Most people can manage their own money, but if you need help, get an advisor — just never pay a percentage-based (AUM) fee.

6. Renting can be a better financial decision than buying. Sometimes buying wins. You must run the numbers, starting with a buy-vs-rent calculation. I've made much more money renting for 20+ years — and lived in better places with almost zero maintenance. RUN THE NUMBERS.

7. What's your Rich Life? You should be able to answer with incredibly specific answers. "Financial freedom" is just words. "So I can do what I want, when I want" is embarrassingly vague. In my early 20s, my Rich Life was taking a taxi in the August NYC heat so I didn't have to sweat before a meeting. Then it was affording appetizers (because as a kid, we couldn't). THAT is specific.

8. You cannot live a Rich Life if you hate spending money. Learn to feel JOY spending, tipping generously, and paying your taxes. As Dan Kennedy says, "Why pay less when I can pay more?" (For the important things in life.)

9. There's a limit to how much you can cut, but no limit to how much you can earn. Learn to negotiate your salary (a single negotiation in your 20s, properly invested, can be worth hundreds of thousands). Start a side business. Yes, even for public school teachers.

10. Yes, you can get paid more. Earning is a skill. Whenever I post salaries, a LOT of people refuse to believe they're real. Step 1: recognize there are many highly paid jobs out there. Step 2: study those people's backgrounds (free on LinkedIn). Step 3: build similar skills (informational interviews are a great approach).

11. Increase your investment rate by 1% every December (e.g., from 6% to 7%). This single decision will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — more than all the coffee and vacations you ever take, combined.

12. Insurance is insurance, not an investment. If you follow someone telling you their insurance is a great way to make money, you're following a scammer.

13. Get the Big Wins right and the small stuff takes care of itself. There are about five: learn the basics of money, invest early and automatically, land a great well-paid job, secure stable housing, and invest in positive relationships. Nail those and you'll never spend 25 years agonizing over the price of coffee.

14. Two keys to a Rich Life: (1) Know your numbers — net worth, Fixed Costs (50-60% of take-home), Savings rate, Investment rate, and Guilt-Free Spending. Get my free CSP template to figure these out in 10 minutes. (2) Master your money psychology.

15. Fight for simplicity in your finances: 1-2 credit cards, 1 savings account, 1 checking account, and (depending on your needs) simple investments like a target-date fund. Then get on with your life.

16. If you have debt, make a payoff plan so you know the exact month/year you'll be debt free. 90% of people in debt don't know how much they owe, and 95% have never made a payoff plan. People in debt do everything EXCEPT pay it off — jumping between 0% cards, consolidating, running gimmicks. Make a plan and automate it.

17. Create a Worry-Free Number, below which you simply won't worry. You wouldn't stress over the price of a pack of gum. Start at $20 and revisit once a year. Your number may eventually reach hundreds or thousands. Good — adjust over time. If you're in a relationship, do this together.

18. If you have money but constantly feel anxious, add an extra $5,000 or $10,000 to your checking account.

19. To save money, pick your 3 biggest discretionary expenses and cut 50% within 6 months. That frees up hundreds a month. Trying to cut 5% on everything guarantees failure and makes you miserable.

20. Most people have the same vacation budget in mind: $5,000 — regardless of age, kids, or trip length. It's a number they picked up in their early 20s and it stuck, the same way you can spot older men by the hem of their pants. Adjust with the times and your ability.

21. You can live a Rich Life today AND a richer life tomorrow. Yes, even if you're in debt, even if you're not perfect, even if you regret decisions from years ago. Do not put yourself in purgatory.

22. There should never be "a money person" in the relationship. Both people must be engaged. One of you might focus on investing, another on certain bills — but both partners need to own a number and share it. Use the monthly money meeting agenda from my book, Money For Couples.

23. Build generosity in NOW — don't wait until you're "rich." Pick up the check. Tip big. Set an amount you want to give away every year and automate it. Wait for some magic number and you'll never build the muscle. The highest level of personal finance is always about the WHO: who do I get to surprise, delight, and be generous to?

24. Teach your kids about money young. Most people tell me their parents either never talked about money or only said "We can't afford it" — and now they do the SAME thing to their own kids. Money isn't something to protect kids from. Get them excited, teach tradeoffs, and by their teens they should be handling tax/tips at dinner and helping plan a family trip or car purchase. But first: you have to master it yourself.

25. Every December, do a Rich Life Review — solo or, in a relationship, together. Share your 20 most memorable photos of the year. Talk about what you want MORE and LESS of. Create a theme (one year ours was A Year of Beauty, another A Year of Adventure). THEN — and only then — look at your numbers. This should take days. Don't rush it.

26. A Rich Life is lived outside the spreadsheet. There's a subset of people — Optimizers, usually men — who spend thousands of hours reading financial subreddits and running Monte Carlo analyses.

27. Stop using the excuse "I wish they taught this in school." Many schools did — you didn't care. And there's unlimited free content and great books now. Get my book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, from any public library.

Follow me, @ramit, for more on money psychology

[CooperBaggs 💰🍞 @edgaralandough]

Emergency fund reality check:
Everyone says 'save 6 months of expenses.'
If you're living paycheck to paycheck, that's a joke.
Better goal:

[Jota @jota_snchez]

En 2015, Matthew McConaughey dio un discurso de graduación que se volvió legendario.

No felicitó a nadie. Se saltó los halagos y fue al grano.

10 lecciones que deberían enseñarte antes de salir al mundo:

1. La vida no es fácil. Y no es justa.

[Muscle Forge @LearnLoopz]

If you're 35+ and want to stay strong, mobile, and athletic for life, try doing these 5 things daily:

1.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Long before Mexico City existed, the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan ruled the Valley of Mexico.

I think one of the greatest moments in history to witness would be the height of Tenochtitlan in the early 1500s, before Hernán Cortés and the Spanish conquistadors conquered and destroyed the city. Seeing one of the world’s most remarkable urban centers at its peak would be an unforgettable experience.

When the Spanish first arrived in 1519, Tenochtitlan was among the largest cities on Earth, with an estimated population of 200,000 to 300,000—larger than most European capitals of the era. Built on an island in Lake Texcoco, it was connected to the mainland by three massive causeways equipped with removable bridges for defense. A network of canals ran throughout the city, allowing canoes to transport people and goods so efficiently that Europeans often compared it to the “Venice of the Americas.”

At the heart of the city stood the Templo Mayor, an enormous twin-temple pyramid dedicated to the gods Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. Surrounding it were palaces, government buildings, temples, and bustling plazas. Nearby, the Great Market of Tlatelolco drew thousands of merchants each day, offering everything from food and pottery to textiles, jewelry, and luxury goods from across Mesoamerica.

The Aztecs also demonstrated extraordinary engineering and agricultural innovation. They expanded farmland using chinampas—highly productive artificial farming plots built in shallow lake waters—while aqueducts supplied the city with fresh water from nearby springs. Carefully planned neighborhoods organized by occupation and social status completed a city that combined sophisticated engineering, architecture, and urban planning, making Tenochtitlan one of the greatest achievements of the pre-Columbian world.

[Zach Melloh, CFP® @zachmelloh26]

Retiring isn't just about having enough money.

It's about making fewer expensive mistakes in the final 5 years before you leave work.

If retirement was 5 years away, here's exactly what I'd focus on:

1.Maximize your peak earning years

[Arcfunmi @Arcfunmi]

Mark Marshall has just casually dropped a video of how to Build a vertical garden with wall pods that made his garden look priceless.