Gooood morning!!

Grab those coffees and brains, and get ready to binge on some epic articles today! If Rockstar Finance was still around I’d post these right up on there, womp womp….

So many of these got me thinking HARD, and hopefully they have the same effect on you… Especially the David Cain and Elizabeth Gilbert pieces. I don’t know how people are so smart, but thank goodness we have them in our lives!!

Happy Friday!!

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My Bill Murray Approach To Working In Retirement via Leisure Freak — “Bill Murray is famously hard to reach. He bucks the entertainment system’s rules by refusing to have an agent. Instead he just has a toll free 1-800 number that goes directly to voicemail. Those who can get his number and call have 2 minutes to make their pitch. If he’s interested he will reply with a PO Box address to mail a script or other details to. Then you have to wait to hear back from him. There’s no schmoozing, stroking, or endless auditioning. No obligations, expectations, or pressures to jump into anything with anyone. He isn’t motivated by money and you never know if he’s in or out.”

How to Make a Thousand Bucks an Hour via Mr. Money Mustache — “Earlier this month, I floated exactly this idea with the members of my coworking space, proposing that we form a group with the witty name “The Optimization Council.” The Council would meet every now and then to talk through life’s biggest expenses and opportunities, and harvest the wisdom of the group so we can all benefit from the best ideas in each category. The response to this idea was overwhelmingly positive.”

Does The World of Personal Finance Need More Politics? via Get Rich Slowly –“Earlier this week at The Washington Post, Helaine Olen wrote that the world of personal finance needs more politics. Olen specifically calls out FinCon, the financial media conference I attended last week. I love FinCon. She doesn’t. She’s disappointed that so many members of our community emphasize personal action and responsibility instead of directing our efforts toward changing the systemic and societal issues that make it difficult for some people to succeed.”

Mindfulness and Your Money or Your Life via The Mindful Explorer — “By stepping out of the circular trap of our money focused society I was able to see clearly and put my life energy to work in the best way possible. It is funny how when you start living simply that all the pieces begin to fall in place and the once hard decisions with money begin to be automatic.”

The power of saying, “So what?” via City Frugal — “Rather than pushing harder to get the FI ball to roll down the hill even faster, I’m easing up. I’ve decided to strategically “waste” money in areas of interest in which I’ve never dared to invest before. ”

This 50-Year-Old Dog Walker Retired After Making More Than $1 Million via MarketWatch — “Many people dream of working for themselves. Many, of course, dream of making money doing something they love. Many also dream of working three days a week. Morrison managed to do all of that.”

“They just call me the $2 bill guy” via Daily Hampshire Gazette — “Robert Nehring is a 14-year-old on a mission: to keep the $2 bill in circulation… Nehring estimates that he has spent more than 1,000 $2 bills in the community. And since he began this project, his mother, Suzy Fortgang, said she has started receiving $2 bills with her change.”

In Praise of The Inner Crone! via Elizabeth Gilbert — “We live in a society that romanticizes youth. We live in a culture where youth is considered a real accomplishment. You look at a seriously powerful classic crone like the woman in this photo and you see how foolish we are — to imagine that the young offer much for us to aspire to, or learn from. No wisdom like the wisdom of survival. No equanimity like the equanimity of somebody who plants a garden right on top of a nuclear disaster and gets on with it.”

Being Hungry In America Is Hard Work via NPR — “Hungry people are everywhere: You can’t necessarily tell who they are at a glance. They work with you and live in your neighborhood. They’re members of your church and family. They might even be standing in front of you like I was, sharply dressed in their mother’s hand-me-down suit, asking their community for a little help.”

“I Was Lacking in Enough Energy, Time and Attention” by Cal Newport — “Driven by these somber realities, he came to a simple revelation: “life would be better if I cut back.” A decision, as it turns out, he took seriously. Perhaps most notable among the many changes he executed, Robert replaced his smartphone with a Nokia 3310 (see the above image) — a popular alternative among the digital minimalists, as it boasts clean interfaces and its battery lasts forever.”

The Only Dependable Source of Happiness via Raptitude — “Whenever I’m out in public and I catch myself judging a stranger—for such offenses as poor sidewalk-sharing, or imprecise parking—I resolve instead to temporarily become their secret ally. Unbeknownst to the other person, I’ve gone from silently resenting them to silently watching out for them. For the short time we’re in the same vicinity, I’m prepared to leap into action should they need any sort of help.”

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And then lastly, a few lines I can’t stop thinking about:

“You know yourself mostly by your thoughts.

Everyone else in the world knows you only by your actions.

Remember this when you feel misunderstood.

You have to do or say something for others to know how you feel.”

– James Clear

Happy weekend, everyone!