Here we are, back for an infusion treatment for my stomach issues. So many issues...
It is hard to focus on what needs to be done, when there is always something else that is stealing attention. Like seriously, I don't know how people spend so much time consuming videos on YouTube when there are so many other things that need to be taken care of first. Am I just really bad at managing my time?
Likely.
But I can't possibly be that bad in comparison to everyone else, can I? More likely, it is just a priority issue, where my hierarchy of what is important in life is different to others. While I want to avoid much of the rubbish tasks like anyone, I also have enough experience that avoidance just postpones the inevitable and often, it ends up requiring more effort to deal with it later. It is like maintaining lifestyle even though less income is coming in - the saving might be there, but as they whittle away on a prolonged downturn, it can quickly become debt.
Many people don't seem to mind living an indebted and indentured life, as long as they feel they are doing okay and can "buy" some luxuries. I don't think taking a loan for a TV should be considered buying a TV at all - yet people get this false sense of ownership because they have it in their home.
Time is money, but it is attention that is the currency we use to trade on it, and we seem to spend our attention on all kinds of things that don't actually bring much value to our lives. I was talking to my brother a little about this in the morning.
We tend to focus our attention on what we love and hate, but on all of the boring stuff between we ignore. Like @azircon was saying to me the other day, if you have a job, program (consistent) buying into some indexes and the like will be enough for most people to have a half decent retirement, but it is boring and it is very slow. People want exciting, they want "massive gains" so they can retire tomorrow instead of ten or fifteen years from now.
For those who are young, they could very well retire 30 years before retirement age comes, but most are paying attention to what doesn't build the foundation they need. They spend their time entertaining their minds and filling their learning with ineffectual and irrelevant trash, believing it holds value because it feels good to them and signals to their peer group that they are a certain kind of person, in the right group - whichever choice of social poison they chose.
I remember having a discussion with a user here who had a very bright future on pre-Hive and they were arguing that investing is for old men, young people don't care for such things at this time, they will get into it later. They are right and wrong. What they will find is that for most of those "rich old men", they started investing young and they weren't the norm either. Most elderly people today are struggling to make ends meet, still hoping to win the lottery.
And that was based on different times, when people could save and earn significant income through interest rates, buy affordable housing and of course, not feel that they needed to spend every dollar they had on impressing their peers or filling their attention with subscribed entertainment services.
They had a bright future, but that future here required participation and they didn't have the stamina, even though they had the skill. Plus, they didn't want to learn about how things actually work, they would rather base their understanding on their assumptions, paying attention to how they feel things work. There are many people like this in the world - people who say they want different, talk about improving the world - but that is all it is, talk.
We each have the same 24 hours in a day and a lot of our outcomes are only separated by where we place our attention and activity. I know a lot of people who have spent their time fulfilling their dreams of activity, filling their attention with all the things they love the best they can, but the best they can keeps reducing, as they are increasingly less capable of paying for the needs of their activity.
I was talking to my five year old daughter about this the other day, as she had some euros in her purse and wanted to spend it. I asked what she was looking for and she didn't have anything in mind, so we talked about whether it is good to spend if we don't really need anything. Plus, I added the difference in costs of things and expensive things require saving - spending the small amounts now in order to satisfy the want for something new, means never having the large amounts that satisfy the large wants.
She is five - it will take some time for her to grasp the concept, but in coming years I will continually build upon her understanding of economics and decision-making theory, using practical examples relevant to her life. My hope is that one day she will inherit a fortune in crypto - and it won't change her life much at all, because she will already have her own portfolio and the knowledge and confidence in her ability to generate value for herself. Her attention will be on her own activity, not the hope and entitlement that mine will provide for her quality of life.
Needs and wants. It seems that increasingly, people are unable to differentiate between the two, nor are they able to understand and predict how these will change within their lifetime. all of those shows watched, all of those games played and all of those drinks drunk will amount to what when they are forty, fifty, seventy years of age?
"But, you only live once!"
Yes. But that life is likely to be over eighty years long and if we have to live almost half of it in poverty because we were unable to discern want from need, unwilling to invest into building a foundation and our attention into growing from it - will we feel we are living our "best life"?
We will be living our best life, it is just that it will be the best life we did the prep for living, not the best life we could have lived. This is not about money alone, it is about having the means to have opportunity available and regardless of what you believe, it isn't someone else's responsibility to just hand you opportunity, especially if you have proven in the past that you waste opportunity when it is handed to you.
"But we are young - we don't know any better!"
Yet the young are unwilling to listen to those who might.
"OK Boomer."
Fools.
Pay attention and you will see a near endless stream of possibility. But, when our attention is turned toward entertaining ourselves in order to avoid having to face the difficulties of life, we are going to miss the vast majority of it - because it is in those difficulties that most value is found, because that is where the problems lie and therefore, that is where solutions are needed.
Create solutions, generate value. It is simple.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
This makes me smile just a little bit. Only because everything that you say is true oh, but the fact that every single thing that you say is true. I actually hope that I wasn't the arrogant young person that I see so often. Like you, I wanted to instill values on my little people, for many different reasons. Number one is I didn't want to be supporting them for the rest of their lives, and still don't. Okay there's at least a dozen more. In actuality, it's not that difficult to save and it's never too young. I was fortunate with parents that struggled in the early part of their life and so they instilled saving and the habit of saving up for something rather than instant gratification. I have found many times that by the time I have saved up enough money for something that I really really want, I'm over it. And I can see from many people that the object of their affections, whether it be a car a boat or even clothing is not as important as it once seemed. Some of them don't even keep their cars clean. I think if you scrape and Save oh, you tend to take better care of it so it will last. These are only my fleeting thoughts. I want my kids too pay for as much as I can in cash or maybe not cash but have the cash back up because I have found points on credit cards to be very useful. I have had 7 day cruises for free over the points. Of course oh, you need to pay it off the minute you get the credit card bill. It's okay to work it to your advantage but, truly oh, the more you pay upfront the more you can save. In my poorest of times I still put money away every week or every paycheck. I like what you're teaching small steps and I think it would be nice if parenting classes were offered up to teach children these things as many parents are so irresponsible, what are the chances of them raising a child to be responsible? You are awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed all of your articles.
IIt is funny. I was just thinking about myself after reading this line and perhaps I kind of was - but I mostly raised myself from a very young age and wasn't surrounded with a lot of good role models often. Having to take responsibility young, has good sides and bad sides.
In Finland, this was the case for the "last" generation - as the now great grandparents saw war, their kids grew up very poor, but their kids (the parents today) have only known good times fo rthe most part, as they are too young to really onboard the blip of the early 90s.
This is a fabulous lesson and why credit is such a disaster for many people. They don't get a chance to lose interest, they buy the hype, the impulse. I also agree about the cars - people who appreciate what they own, care for it.
It is hard being a parent these days I think - as while we are trying to teach our kids, we are simultaneously still addicted to the things we are warning them against. Total hypocrites! :D
I am sure your daughter would be do proud to have you .
I like the fact you are gradually teaching her financial intelligence.
Honestly discipline and commitment may sound simple but are somewhat one of the hardest attributes.
Youths ineed need to be deliberate about their time and interest to give them that future they desire.
Financial literacy should be on the agenda of every parent who wants their children to have a chance at a half decent life. Too many however, avoid it instead and say "money doesn't make you happy" - no, it doesn't. but being poor, sick and without opportunity isn't great either.
It's like a spinning concept this one... I said it many times: time is the most valuable asset we have and so for we need to use it smartly cos we don't know when it will come to an end.
I once decided (can't remember exactly when) that was not to waste my time anymore and here I am trying to do my best to use it as wisely as possible taking into account that life issues are real and push us to sometimes "waste" the time.
You always need a plan to achieve your goals but (as I always say) you must be very aware that you may have to change it on the fly, that is: be prepared for everything!
Are we blind as a society? It looks like no one (very few) see the manipulation that we are suffering from coming from different directions and sources (trusted and untrusted). They guide us all to the "instant gain" culture so we forget to go to a higher spot and look at the whole board with a wider perspective. Young people are even more likely to fall in this trap. Our dutie as fathers I think must go into teach them to be free of mind, brave and honest fighters not loosing perspective, not an easy task at all.
Time is time, attention is what makes it valuable. We can suit and do nothing, be directed to do something, or make choices ourselves - time just tracks our movements.
Prepare for the conditions. Know that conditions always change.
Maybe we are slowly waking up to how destructive the current system is - but it is a slow process for sure. The instant gratification life is one that leads to misery long-term - but we are conditioned to only care about the moment.
Invest in your skills and passion. Skills for gaining more money to save and passion so that when you have enough money you can explore your passion
Investing in skills and make some of them a passion. Some people seem to e passionately against doing anything useful! :D
If you are having stomach problems, you have to regulate that, nothing like natural medicine for it,
Look for a polgo called flaxseed, you can find it in any supermarket, take a tablespoon, dilute it in water and drink it half an hour before lunch, for a month and then you will feel that your digestive system will be much better, with that I regulated my father's and it is a wonder, well I hope it serves you, that small dose will not kill you, it is pure fiber, very beneficial and at a cheap price,
Well, if we are going to live as long as 80 years, it will be good to be prepared for it, hopefully we can grow and not least be prepared for it when we need to be able to face and have the ability to buy food and bring it to our table if not, even though Whether you don't have money, at least you can take advantage of your free time to find out what types of plants you can eat in the mountains, and it's something free, you don't need money for it, just know where and what to look for.
good luck with the girl's education.
I tried when i was young - it didn't work. Not much does at is chronic.
I think being at least partially prepared just makes sense. So many people seem to take the "cross that bridge when it comes" approach and then wonder why they struggle to get to the other side.
This is actually something a lot more young people should consider. I stopped following a large part of politics for this reason. There is such a thing as useless knowledge, and we're too blinded wallowing in pale intellectuality sometimes to realize this.
Politics is almost purely entertainment, especially at the public layer interface.
My Son who is 4 yrs ,always stick with you tube kids channel .today he asked me to give him 10 dollars to buy super hero cards game and i bought splinterland $10 dollar spellbook so he can spend his spare time while he play.no matter whether he win or not but atleast he will learn something to utilise his time with little earning.
My wife and I have taken a different approach with screens. Our daughter gets maybe a couple hours a week to watch some approved shows that we have chosen. She doesn't digital game or use a phone, but she is quickly learning to read and write. She plays a lot of different games with her various toys and makes up stories and songs. Very little of what she does is consumptive - it is mostly creative. Perhaps in 20 years she will be punished for not being able to use apps as well as others, but I suspect that given a decent foundation, she will learn to be proficient enough, as I did. I was 16 when I got my first PC and almost 30 when I got a smartphone.
We will be living our best life, When? I think many of us wait for a specific time to live the best life, and this is generally close to retirement age. Here generally, plans delay after the retirement "I can do xxx with my retirement bonus."
Nevertheless I don't want so. Time is priceless. I always say "Do it if available"
We always live our best life - it is the only option we have. However, our best life is affected by what we did earlier.
It is like running a car until it has no gas in it - then wondering where there is a fuel station and if you find one, how to pay for the fuel. Resources can always be spent to zero. It is very hard to generate resources from zero.
There’s definitely some silly boomer advice though. But 1 aren’t you a young Gen X? And 2 you don’t strike me as the type to give Awful boomer advice.
I am Gen X yes. Still get called a boomer :) Reality doesn't matter for many these days - as reality is just opinion. I don't give advice in general, though I might "hint" at advice I would give. Nothing I don't live though.
True. I got called a boomer and I’m a millennial lol
I'm thinking about it now why I waste my time on youtube cause I'm a fool I guess but now I think I will try to practice work and building my future rather than wasting my time nd your not alone in this almost every one wast time on youtube
Well, we each make our own decisions and end up where we end up. For me, it is a waste to be on YouTube unless I am fixing something and need a DIY. For you, maybe it is the most valuable thing you could be doing.
I do watch YT FOR DOING DIY and about learning new things
do you use the things you learn?
yeah i learned to use HTML and some basic sound recording tips
Yeah the instant gratification mindset is brutal. Some in my family are like that and it’s annoying. They have money in their hand and they have to spend it. It’s ruining the economy for us but making it great for the companies and boards of the world.
The person who said investing is boring and for old men will certainly get a nice shock when he’s double his current age. It doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s important. I started investing at 18 and it’s not the most money but that’s what’s good, it’s even less per check per week than anything else. That 2-3$ a week eventually becomes thousands while I’m out doing anything I normally was. Not bad for old men money!
It is all about ownership - yet people are convinced that they can win as renters.
I expect that directly on Hive, it probably cost them 20-30K today. Half of that would have been a pretty decent deposit into traditional investments as a early twenty something.
Sincerly no one knows when they'll die but this uncertainty shouldn't make them feel investing is for a specific age of people. We only live once, but what if we get to live even longer than we envisage we would? It becomes rather problematic. Truth is, I try to see the essence in investing and gradually growing so as not to really retire early but retire at the right time.
Lovely read.
Life and death are not really our choice, but in between we have some options :)
Yeah, that's exactly the truth... Sometimes people ask me why I work hard. If eventually I won't be here forever, it hits me sometimes, but then people have their different dispositions.
Some people like to suffer so much, they live their life to suffer even more.
A lot of truth in here, i made a lot of mistakes and i spent a lot of money so far, like really a lot, and if i had listen more to my senior peers i would not have to rebuild it lately. Granted i had some health issues, still, being able to now recognize the error is sine qua non to my current ability of looking forward knowing i have the means to generate new wealth. Wish i had received some advice like this early on...
Mistakes are great to learn from, but do we have to make all the same mistakes as past generations. History repeats because we don't listen and learn from it.
Hopefully, you will find a balance going forward.
i read something in the past in a book i cant remeber, but the author argued, we are in some way doomed to destroy ourselves, because we cant see past the interest of our own generation, i tend to agree with this.
I also remember having a teacher that had out of the box ways to reach students, he often incorporated other culture examples and sayings, and in one of those examples i remember him saying, that native americans had something along this lines, "this earth is not ours we borrow it from our sons and daughters" i always in my idealist young age thought that if we taught this to all students in the world we could change it... part of me i guess still believes this to some point...
Our own self-interest, though it ends up not in our best interest.
One of my favourite passages is from Khalil Gibran on Children:
https://poets.org/poem/children-1
Good call!! However, this may well be the unexpected ¿mishap? only of those who tends to live in the present and not in the future right. ¿Could be?
Ah, maybe it is right here where the tangled heart of the matter lies. :)
Haha 5 and economics my lil one of 4.5 years old and her economic is understanding is Daddy will buy it whenever someone asks her how she will be able to afford whatever it is that she wants. Oh my.
Good luck brother, I'll be following for tips!
I remember being that age, you know everything there is to know and all the boomers/adults are stuck in the past and everything they have to say is completely and utterly irrelevant and can and should be completely ignored because they have no idea what things are like now which is absolutely nothing like what they were before XD
You see, I've had to battle with this very recently. I'll live to tell the story another time.
Honestly, thank you for sharing this, just strengthened what I'd believed.