Tag: #optimalfinancedaily

Thoughtful Thursday posts, Uncategorized

Thoughtful Thursday – January 4, 2024

amybenoit

My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:

Frugal Friends Podcast – Declutter Your Home in 30 Days
  • Grab a box, walk around your home room by room, and put anything you don’t need in the box. Start with the easy stuff. Do this several times.
  • Find motivation with built-in deadlines. Set a timer for 15 minutes and do the first wave in 15 minutes.
  • Donate more. Use your local Buy Nothing group or Facebook marketplace. You can try selling what you would like to. If it’s not sold within a week, donate it.
  • Have people in your household help you declutter. Have them find things they would like to give away or donate.
  • Don’t rent a storage unit long-term. If you want to rent a storage unit short-term, pack up boxes and label them with a date. If, after 6 months to 1 year, you don’t go to your storage unit looking for that item, get rid of everything in the boxes, and get rid of the storage unit.
  • Plan to have people over to give you a sense of urgency to get rid of the clutter. Use that as a deadline for you to declutter.
  • Don’t confuse the desire to change with actual change. Thinking about change is not the same as implementing change.
  • Spending money on something does not result in that hobby or activity getting done.
  • Challenges
    • 10 minutes, 10 spaces – 100 items. Get rid of 10 items from each of 10 different spaces, for a total of 100 items.
    • Minimalist challenge – get rid of 1 item on the 1st of the month, 2 items on the 2nd day, and so on, so on the 31st day of the month, you will get rid of 31 items. This challenge is often unfinished. You can do this challenge backwards – start with getting rid of 31 items, then 30, etc.
  • Ask yourself: How do I actually foresee myself using this in the future? How much would it cost if I got rid of this and then suddenly needed to get it again? Where am I going to keep this item?
  • If you haven’t used it in the last year and it costs less than $20 to replace it, get rid of it.

Last January, I got rid of one thing each day in our local Buy Nothing group. This year, so far, we have started decluttering one spare room that has been filled with boxes we haven’t really touched since we combined our belongings over a year ago. We have organized what we are keeping, we have thrown a lot of junk away, and we have made piles to give away. It is crazy to think about how much stuff we don’t actually need/want! We have several more spaces/rooms to declutter yet, but it is exciting that we started.

Life Kit – The decluttering philosophy that can help you keep your home organized
  • Start in the easiest place first – not paperwork or sentimental things. Decide what should stay or go. If you decide to get rid of things, get it out of the room/space right then to eliminate clutter.
  • After you decide to keep things, find a space for them.
  • The smaller the space, the more intentional you need to be. Ask yourself: What are the 3-5 activities you want to do in this space? How do you want it to look? How do you want to feel?
Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast – 10 Life Changing Things I Learned in 10 Years of Lifting
  • You will never be at an “end point.” You will crush goals and create new goals. Learn to love the process and appreciate how far you’ve come.
  • Training to failure is overrated. Do a specified number of reps and don’t overtrain.
  • Nothing beats consistency.  Set realistic goals.
  • Lifestyle adaptation – fight laziness and enjoy the process.
  • You’re not giving 100%. You’re typically capable of a lot more than you think.
  • Supplements are way less important than you think. Supplements are supplemental to a great diet, great training, and a great mindset.
  • If you find something especially hard, do more of it. Ex: cooking, hard exercises, fixing sleep schedule. Fix your weakness.
  • Keep learning and reading. Question everything and try to have a deeper understanding of it.
  • You should be doing this to be healthy, not just look sexy.
  • Form will always be one of the most important things. Without the right form, you’re either getting injured or you aren’t getting the most out of the movement.

  • Whenever someone is doing something you don’t like, let them.
  • You will be more in control when you use the “let them” theory. You stop giving your time and energy to other people and situations you can’t control. You take your time and energy back and figure out what is best for you.
  • The more you try to control something, the more out of control you feel. The only way to feel in control in life is to focus on where your time and energy is going.
  • Everyone has an opinion of you. Unhook yourself from that concern. Their opinion of you is irrelevant to you.
  • It’s not your job to manage other people’s reactions. When you think about how often you are managing other people’s reactions, managing other people’s happiness, tiptoeing around the topics, shrinking yourself, staying silent, not asking for what you need, trying to fix problems, showing up when you don’t feel like it, doing things out of guilt, you are resisting the reality of the situation. When you think about it, you will realize how much time and energy you have and how much time and energy you can spend on yourself.
  • You aren’t responsible for other people’s happiness, other people’s boundaries, or managing other people’s tantrums. You’re responsible for your truth, your needs, expressing yourself, and telling people how you feel. You’re responsible for creating what you want.
  • When we step in and feel the responsibility for bailing people out, we rob them of the opportunity to face the things they didn’t face.
  • You can’t force anyone else to change or to do something. You can try, but someone only does something because they want to do something.
Optimal Finance Daily – 6 Things You Should Never Scratch Off Your Budget
  • Savings – emergency fund + retirement – even if you don’t have much money to save now, starting will help ensure that you’ll be better off financially down the line. At a minimum, contribute enough money to get an employer match.
  • Health insurance – make sure you have insurance in case you experience a major illness.
  • Debt repayment – have a plan to pay down student loans, credit cards, and other high-interest debts as quickly as possible. Consider getting a side hustle or working overtime to increase your income and pay off debts.
  • Life insurance – make sure your dependents are covered if something were to happen to you tomorrow. Adjust your life insurance policy as needed; you may need to take out more money as major expenses occur or as you have more children.
  • Spending money – put aside some money to spend – don’t spend it all at once. Sometimes having something now isn’t worth incurring interest charges down the road.
  • Groceries – know what you can afford on a weekly basis. Look into ways to cut back without dramatically impacting meals, such as shopping at discount stores or taking advantage of coupons and sales. Remember that eating out often will quickly eat away any extra money you may have had available in your budget.

To save money, we shop at a discount food store, keep some staples on hand, and we frequently plan meals around what we can find at a discount rather than planning around recipes or a list.

Optimal Finance Daily – Stop Using These 6 Ridiculous Excuses For Not Saving Money
  • The first step to saving more money is to figure out why you are unable to save money.
  • “I’ll hate my life if I start saving money” ➡️You can still live a great life AND save money. You need to learn how to manage your money better so that you can live the life you want to live, but on a more realistic budget.
  • “I’ll figure out how to save money later.” ➡️Many people put off saving because they’d rather spend their money now and believe they’ll have plenty of money to save money later. There is no need to spend all of your money now just because you can.
  • “I deserve and/or need the things I buy.” ➡️Many people believe they need to upgrade to the latest and best technology, clothing, etc. and need expensive vacations. Watch your spending, figure out ways to lower your expenses, and cut out anything unnecessary.
  • “I enjoy my job and can always make money.” ➡️You should still be saving money. What happens when you can no longer work? You don’t know what the future will bring – a medical problem, a serious life event, or you may hate your job later. You can enjoy your job and save money at the same time.
  • “The city I live in is too expensive to save money.” ➡️It may take time, but you need to either increase your income or cut your expenses or do both.
  • “It’s too late for me to start saving money.” ➡️It’s never too late to start saving money. Every little bit helps and can drastically change your future. Saving something is better than nothing.

I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!

Thoughtful Thursday posts, Uncategorized

Thoughtful Thursday- May 25, 2023

amybenoit

My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:

Self Improvement Daily- When You Are Your Own Friend

Let’s say you had a miscommunication, let someone down, and got defensive about it, or you got into a big fight with a family member. In your own head, you may get really critical and get upset that you didn’t have more emotional control. You tell yourself you’re an awful person.

Now look at the example from a different angle. Instead of you being the person involved in the fight that made a few mistakes, you’re a good friend of that person. After they tell you about the event and the circumstances around it, what would you say to them? You likely wouldn’t tell them how awful of a person they are. You would likely be supportive and encouraging. You’d highlight their best qualities and understand that this was an isolated incident.

This isn’t about a lack of taking responsibility for our actions. The point is that we are so quick to find the goodness and humanity in others and the flaws within ourselves. So the next time you catch yourself criticizing or going through self-deprecating thoughts, ask yourself this question – “What would I tell myself if I were my own friend?”

Self Care IRL- The 8 small steps you need to start your self-improvement journey
  1. Do not change everything at once. Start with 1-3 small goals you can easily achieve. Ex: one healthy meal each day, walk 20 minutes every day, etc. You can increase and expand on your habits after a while. Progress is more important than perfection. Perfection does not exist.
  2. Make a plan of action and actually stick to it. Staying focused and motivated requires discipline. Discipline requires planning. Take action every day, even if it’s just a small step.
  3. Habit stacking. Ex: journal while drinking coffee. Listen to a podcast or watch tv while on the treadmill. Read while riding public transportation to work.
  4. Celebrate your wins—both big and small. Every step forward is success. Share your wins with friends to add accountability.
  5. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. You are bound to have setbacks along the way. Learn from your mistakes and keep going. Be patient with yourself. Progress takes time. Forgiving yourself is the ultimate flex in life. Practicing self-compassion is vital if you want to improve yourself.
  6. Find your support system. It is crucial if you have goals in sight. Whether you need hands-on support or emotional support, knowing that someone is there to lift you up will be incredibly helpful for encouragement and accountability. The podcast host mentioned getting together with a group of people weekly or monthly on a Wednesday to discuss “Wednesday wins”–“wins” each person has had in the past week or month. Lift each other up and encourage each other.
  7. Set goals for yourself. Document how soon you want to achieve it to determine a plan and how hard you need to work. Don’t feel overly committed to that number. Plans can change. Set weekly or monthly goals to track your progress just to see how far you have come.
  8. Be patient and keep working toward your goals, even when things get tough. You will have setbacks.
TED Talks Daily- What makes a “good college” — and why it matters – Cecilia M. Orphan
  • We say we want colleges to be more equitable and more accessible. We tend to obsess over a tiny group of colleges most of us could never get into. It’s not because we aren’t smart enough. It’s because there isn’t enough space for all of us. They intentionally cap the number of students that they accept.
  • Instead of calling them prestigious universities, some people refer to them as “highly rejective colleges” – Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, MIT, etc. These are all major research institutions.
  • Regional public universities (RPUs) are the exact opposite of highly rejective colleges.  They pride themselves in accepting almost everyone who applies — students are more likely to be first-generation college students, students of color, low-income students, veterans, and adults balancing work and family while going to school. RPU students often don’t have the test scores required to get into a highly rejective college. It’s not that they aren’t capable; it’s because they weren’t given the same advantages as other students. RPUs change more lives than prestigious universities by allowing more students access to education.
  • People sometimes criticize RPUs and refer to them as “the 13th grade,” “not real,” or “almost anyone can get in.”
  • The colleges that already have the largest endowments tend to receive the most charitable donations. Imagine if these donations were spread across the many RPUs in the country.
  • In the U.S. and throughout the world, far more public funding goes to highly rejective colleges than to regional public universities, causing RPUs to become more expensive, which hurts low-income students and causes student loan debt to skyrocket.
  • If we really want more low-income students to go to college and equity in higher education, we need to fund regional public universities. Instead of giving to your highly rejective alma mater, consider giving to universities that really need it.
  • Last year, billionaire philanthropist Mckenzie Scott gave $1.5 billion to 73 different colleges and universities that serve low-income students and students of color.
  • There is no better way to make a difference in higher education than to give to the colleges that change the lives of their students and communities. This isn’t all about money. We all have the power to change the way we think about and talk about regional public universities or stop people when they frame them in negative ways.
Life Kit- Making friends anywhere you move
  • Be active and intentional about making connections. Alert your network. Post on your socials and ask for introductions. Tell your coworkers, especially if you have a remote job. Communicate what kind of connection you’re looking for – someone to show you around, another couple with school-age kids, etc. We tend to think that it’s going to be so awkward to reach out to people who we aren’t in touch with anymore. You just have to own it.
  • Reconnect with old friends. You might end up better friends with them than before. Acknowledge the gap in time and that you haven’t been the best at keeping in touch. Propose specific plans for catching up. Follow up after meeting in person.
  • Incorporate more routine into your day. Ex: coffee shops. With routine, you are seeing the same faces and it becomes less intimidating to talk to them. You can incorporate any activity, community, or place you love. No matter where you live, you can develop that sense of home. Find a place for yourself that isn’t work and isn’t home: book club, soccer club, etc.
  • Find online groups, event listings, and meetups. Now is your chance to engage in an activity you’ve been thinking about. Ex: book clubs. You don’t have to know anyone there, but you can connect with others about the same book you’ve read. You meet regularly. Commit to showing up more than once. It changes the way you engage with people who are there. Stop trying to form a relationship with the collective and focus on forming relationships with the singular. It can be less intimidating to focus on individual members first.
  • When getting to know people, focus on the connection, not the relationship. Being honest about yourself is key to adult relationships. Get comfortable with the things that make you different and the interests that you have. If you are introverted, only say “yes” to the activities that you know will bring you joy. Focus your energy on one-on-one interactions. Making new friends takes effort, especially when you barely know anyone around you.
  • Take-aways: be open and intentional about making new friends. Tell your network that you’re moving or looking to meet people. Reconnect with old friends and acknowledge the passing of time. Make clear plans to meet. Build your own routines and find places you feel at ease. Go to group gatherings. For recurring groups, commit to going at least three times. Friendships start with one-on-one relationships. Remember that all of this takes time.

When I first moved to my city, I didn’t have any friends in the area aside from former coworkers. I am grateful to have met several girls in an online Facebook group for girls making friends. Through this group, I have joined a book club, hiking groups, and made many quality friends who share similar interests.

Optimal Finance Daily- Understanding the Seven Habits of Wealth by Rob Berger
  1. Hard work– achieving financial security is often the result of consistent diligence.
  2. Modest living– modest living can produce great wealth on a modest income.
  3. Patience– produces thoughtful, long-term decisions that can produce wealth while minimizing risk.  Patiently waiting for the right time to buy a stock or company
  4. Perseverance– working through challenges. Perseverance keeps us focused on our goals and enables us to confront all challenges.
  5. Balance– healthy balance of stocks, bonds, or other investments
  6. Self-awareness– brings into focus the motivations behind the daily decisions we make. Allows us to understand what motivates us to spend money, what investments are best for us given our tolerance for risk, and what will produce contentment in our lives.
  7. Learning– enables us to improve our careers, investments, and spending, as well as other areas of our lives

“What we are and what we have is a result of what we repeatedly do.” Wealth then, is not the result of an act, but the result of our habits.

How to Be a Better Human- How to set boundaries and find peace (w/ Nedra Glover Tawwab)
  • We want kids to be assertive, but we don’t teach them how to be assertive with us.
  • Pay attention to the things you complain most about. This will tell you where you need to set boundaries.
  • Many people right now are having boundary issues around being overwhelmed and overcommitting themselves. You can say no to things! People found pleasure during the pandemic by not having to attend social obligations. You don’t need to do those things if you don’t want to.  Place value on the relationships that are important.
  • Trying to do everything on your own/not asking for help- there are times when we don’t have the skillset, time, or mental capacity to do it all. We need to seek help. It can be hard to be vulnerable and ask for help.
  • Codependency- thinking “if I did this, this person would suffer this consequence because of my lack of support for their issue.” Stop thinking like this!
  • Set boundaries, find peace!

I posted an extensive blog post about this book recently. Check it out here:

Set Boundaries, Find Peace
Main Accounts: The Story of MySpace- Welcome to MySpace

Popularity:

  • MySpace used to be the most popular website in America. It launched in August 2003. The creators, Tom Anderson and Chris Dewolfe, took inspiration from sites like Friendster and Asian Avenue. There were only 100,000 users in October 2003, but, the following year, after picking up dissatisfied Friendster users, the site exploded to 5 million users! MySpace peaked in 2008 with over 100 million users. At the height of its popularity, 250,000 people were signing up for new accounts every day. Most of the users were young – in their teens and twenties. It was at the center of their social lives.
  • In 2005, MySpace was seeing 16 million visitors per month and was the biggest social network in the world. It was sold to News Corporation, and Intermix negotiated the deal. This was done without the knowledge of the founders of MySpace. Chris and Tom were each paid $30 million. They left the company in 2009, and News Corporation brought in a new CEO and its own people.
  • When MySpace launched, social media was an unknown quantity. People had no idea how to make money off of social networks or even if they could make money off of it. The consequences of social media had yet to be seen.

Origins:

  • Tom Anderson had founded the company with Chris Dewolfe. Before MySpace, Tom had worked for Chris as a copywriter and product tester at another startup. Tom was a musician, went to film school, and dabbled in the hacker community as a teenager. MySpace does not have the typical Silicon Valley origin story.
  •  While at Euniverse, Tom and Chris had at their disposal the company’s database of over 30 million e-mail addresses. The e-mails of everyone who signed up with a new MySpace account could be added to the database. MySpace was a subsidiary of its parent company, Intermix.

What set MySpace apart:

  • MySpace offered opportunities for people to express their creativity and meet people in ways that felt thrilling and scary at the time. People used MySpace in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to keep in touch with friends and family after they evacuated Louisiana. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan used it to connect with people back home. It was a place where millions of people could connect to one another. MySpace was one of many projects at the company EUniverse (an early ecommerce company). EUniverse was one of the few survivors of the dot com crash. EUniverse was later renamed Intermix.
  • On Friendster, users related to each other as a chain of connections. On MySpace, it didn’t really matter if your friends were strangers or actually friends. You added who you wanted and showed users who mattered to you by selecting users for your Top 8.
  • Top 8 created competition and encouraged users to curate their friends and spotlight people or bands that reflected on their personalities and personal tastes. From the glittery, sleezy design to the carefree way people communicated on it, MySpace felt like a party on the internet. People talked more casually on MySpace.
  • MySpace allowed you to tweak the HTML on your profile page so that you could change the color of the background, have a song playing while people looked at your page, etc. People put a lot of thought into it. Customizable pages (scrolling text, text that would blink, colorful texts, embedded music) allowed for self-expression.
  • MySpace was giving users free software. Previously, if you wanted to set up a website for yourself, you’d have to buy software. The way users were paying MySpace was with all of their data and information. The legacy of MySpace is the pioneering of this business model – of monetizing user data.
  • Another unique feature is that creator Tom Anderson was automatically everyone’s friend.

Why MySpace did not last:

  • MySpace was sold as “the perfect media company that generates free content through its users. It generates free traffic by its users inviting their friends, and all you have to do is sell the ads.”
  • MySpace was on track to be the biggest mass platform for advertising in the world. Facebook is the biggest single mass platform for advertising in the world. The lack of engineering expertise and talent and the lack of focus on abilities to outcompete on the actual quality of the product is what doomed MySpace to fail against Facebook. You have to have great engineering and great talent, and that is what made Facebook win. MySpace lost relevance because it couldn’t scale up to be mainstream like Facebook.
  • The social network felt chaotic and open in a free-for-all sense much like the city where it was created: Los Angeles. It sometimes felt like a cool nightclub. However massive it was, it was still youth-oriented. With various scenes and clicks, it felt very niche. MySpace was notable and big, but it wasn’t TikTok size.
  • People who were big on the platform could not scale out and achieve mass fame. The internet culture was not mass culture in the 2000s. They were sort of niche. All of this was happening before there was viral content and before algorithms filtered what users would see. There wasn’t a “for you” page. You had to find it yourself.

https://www.gabethebassplayer.com/blog/festival-walking

I loved Gabe The Bass Player’s post on May 16 (all credit to Gabe the Bass Player):

Festival Walking

May 16, 2023

“Summer. The height of the music festival season. The height of…

“Is this band any good? I’m going to decide right now as I walk past the stage for thirty seconds…”

It doesn’t matter if you’re a well established act or a new act. No one gets a pass. You get the time it takes for someone walking past the stage to be compelling enough for them to stay. You gotta be good.

The truth is…you’ve probably got thirty seconds but their question is answered within five. And that interaction is what they’ll carry with them forever and tell their friends about when your name comes up.”

I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!

Thoughtful Thursday posts, Uncategorized

Thoughtful Thursday- April 27, 2023

amybenoit

My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:

Optimal Finance Daily- Rental Properties Pros and Cons by Andy Hill (Part 1)
Optimal Finance Daily- Rental Properties Pros and Cons by Andy Hill (Part 2)

Many people aspire to own rental properties to earn more money and often refer to rental properties as passive income. Here are the facts.

Pros:

  • Real estate can outperform index funds.
  • You can grow your income stream more quickly.
  • House hacking- some people are able to rent a room or area of their homes that covers much of their housing costs.
  • You can work with a property manager so that you don’t need to field late-night calls of issues.

Cons:

  • *REAL ESTATE INVESTING IS NOT PASSIVE.* You need to dedicate time to ensure you’re doing it right financially, legally, and ethically.
  • Taxes and insurance costs can be unpredictable.
  • Neighborhoods can be unpredictable. A changing neighborhood can make it difficult to lease your property and can change the type of tenants who want to live there.
  • Leverage requires increased risk. You need to really understand how your money is invested and how your properties are generating income.
  • Home values can drop in tough times. It’s nearly impossible to predict how the real estate market will move.
Self Care IRL- All the reasons we need to stop saying, “I’m sorry for your loss” + 8 Alternatives

“I’m sorry for your loss.” We see this commented on social media and hear this phrase frequently when a loved one dies. Most people don’t know what else to say, and this phrase is so overused that it can come across as insincere. Here are 8 excellent and genuine alternatives to “I’m sorry for your loss.”

3 things you can say IF YOU ARE WILLING TO HELP/FOLLOW THROUGH:

“I’m so sorry that you’re in pain right now, but I am here with you and for you. I am willing to help in any way I can. Is there anything that you can think of that you need right now?” Tip: be prepared to help if asked. Do not use this if you won’t follow through.

“I know there will be some challenges ahead for you. I want you to know that I’m here and I’m willing to help. Would it be okay if I call next week to check in?” Tip: actually call next week and follow through.

“I know there’s nothing I can say right now to make things better, but also, I know that having someone to talk to at times like this is really important, so if it’s okay, I’ll call you next week when things settle for you.” Tip: actually call next week.

5 things you can say that don’t require you to help or follow through:

“Your mom was an incredible person. I see so much of her in you. I’m keeping you in my thoughts.”

“Your friendship/relationship was so special. I’m saddened by the news. You’re in my thoughts.” The podcast host said this is a great remark for someone you mostly know on social media.

“May God continue to shine a light on the joyful memories you get to hold in your heart.”

“Sending big hugs your way and wishing you peace, joy, and comfort.” The podcast host said this is perfect for online empathy.

Adult Education- Health Disparities with Dr. Lisa Cooper
  • There are people in America who live on the same street who have very different access to healthcare. It is not just about $; it is about access and systems. This can include access to transportation, access to insurance, and access to networks and facilities covered by insurance.
  • Some neighborhoods where a lot of people of color live do not have access to supermarkets with many fresh fruits and vegetables, schools in these neighborhoods often don’t have the same investment, and oftentimes there are fewer businesses. These are all examples of possible health disparities.
  • Health disparities are avoidable differences in health among groups that have different levels of wealth, power, or prestige in society. They are unjust and unfair and can impact rural areas, women, people with disabilities, people in poverty, and minorities.
Stuff You Should Know- How Game Shows Work
  • The first game show was aired in 1938 Great Britain and was called Spelling Bee. It was an actual spelling bee.
  • If people are winning more $ than budgeted each episode, sometimes they are presented with lotto options, such as payouts over a number of years instead of all at once.
  • Bob Barker was a game show host from 1956-2007 (1956-1975 for Truth or Consequences + 1972-2007 for the Price is Right).
  • In 1991, there were 2 game shows still filming: Price is Right and Family Feud. Wheel of Fortune’s daytime show got the axe. Game shows came close to extinction, as they were replaced with daytime talk shows. The Price is Right and Family Feud never went away.
  • Game shows are cheap to produce, so you can find them in most countries around the world.
  • 3,000 people try out for Wheel of Fortune every year and only 500 make the cut.
  • Being on a game show sounds exciting, but 5-6 episodes are usually filmed each day, so there is a lot of standing around (without access to your phone)!
Freakonomics Radio- The Most Interesting Fruit in the World

Something to ponder: In a grocery store, there are a wide variety of apples, almost all of which were grown in the United States. Yet, they are more expensive (per pound) than bananas. This is wild to think about considering that bananas in the United States are all imported and have been grown, picked, boxed, washed, and placed in ripening rooms in another country. Bananas are typically the cheapest fruits around!

In 1900, Americans were eating 1.5 million bunches of bananas per year. By 1910, Americans were eating 40 million bunches of bananas per year!

Sailing as an export mode of transportation was not fast enough to reliably keep bananas from over-ripening. In the 1930s, refrigerated trucks allowed for bulk importation of bananas in the United States.

There are over 1,000 varieties of bananas in the world. The first popular one in the United States was the Gros Michel banana, also known as the “Big Mike” banana. This was the most popular banana until the 1950s, when Panama Disease mostly wiped it out. Panama Disease is a fungus that causes the banana plant to wilt. The Gros Michel variety has been virtually extinct since the 1950s, but this variety is still grown in Uganda.

This is a photo of the Gros Michel variety:

Bananas used to have seeds, but the banana was made seed-free using banana hybrids! The Cavendish banana is a human invention.

After Panama Disease wiped out most of the Gros Michel variety, the most popular banana changed to the Cavendish banana, which is what most of us eat today. Although the Cavendish bananas only account for 50% of global banana production, the Cavendish banana takes up 99% of the banana export market. India is the highest producer of bananas. and Ecuador is the largest exporter of bananas.

Bananas were once advertised as “fruit in a germ-proof wrapper.’

Bananas are the fourth most important crop in the world, behind rice, wheat, and corn! 400 million people rely on bananas as a source of food or a source of income.

Earlier this week, I read “Kicked to the Curb: Where policy has failed our most vulnerable youth and the fight for a better tomorrow” written by Susan Lockwood Roberts. I learned so much and here is a summary of my thoughts.

This book was a very insightful, easy read. The author addressed the problems with the education system, especially in educating incarcerated youth using the same cookie-cutter approach used in the standard education system, yet with less funding. Under-performing youth are viewed as difficult and are often kicked to the curb, resulting in societal costs of unemployment, non-productivity in the workforce, and crime. Teachers often teach the way they were taught, and this does not usually work when teaching incarcerated children. Students who are at risk due to family relationships, aspiring to be a first-generation high school graduate, or poverty likely need relationships in order to succeed and may require a more individualized, targeted approach. The author worked in engaging policy problems and changing methodologies in order for children, teachers, and staff to succeed. Some of these programs included daily adult mentoring, work-based learning experiences, career exploration and goal setting, professional development for teachers so that they can shift the way they do things according to the backgrounds of the students, reforming curriculum and acquiring updated textbooks, and developing methods of engaging students using a variety of instructional strategies. The author acknowledges that progress has been made, but that more needs to be done.

When youth don’t finish high school, the path to a high school credential is through adult education, and adult education programs receive less than 10% of funding going to K-12 and less than 5% of what is spent to support higher education. As a result, fewer than 10% of the people who need adult education services can access them. As a society, we can’t figure out how to invest more money in education, but we don’t know about the $225 billion lost every year to low literacy and numeracy among our citizens. What do we value?

This blog post (https://www.gabethebassplayer.com/blog/your-contribution) made me consider 3 questions we should ask ourselves frequently in our jobs and our lives. Say you want to make progress toward a goal, such as starting a daily habit or training for a marathon. Ask yourself these questions and reflect:

  1. Are you content with your contribution (right now)?
  2. Are you content with what you’re contributing (right now)?
  3. What are you contributing (right now)?
TED Talks- Celeste Headlee- 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation

It used to be that in order to have a polite conversation, we just had to stick to the weather and our health. These days, with climate change and anti-vaxxing, those subjects are not always safe either.

A conversation requires a balance between talking and listening. Conversational competence might be the single most overlooked skill we fail to teach. An important skill is being able to have a coherent and competent conversation.

  1. Don’t multitask. Be fully present.
  2. Don’t pontificate. Enter every conversation assuming you have something to learn. Sometimes that means setting aside your personal opinion. Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t.
  3. Use open-ended questions. Start your questions with who, what, where, when, why, or how. This allows people a chance to think about the question and respond with a genuine response.
  4. Go with the flow. Stories and ideas are going to come to you, but sometimes you need to let them go to fully listen to what the other person is saying.
  5. If you don’t know, say that you don’t know. Talk should not be cheap.
  6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs. All experiences are individual, and it is not always about you.
  7. Try not to repeat yourself. It’s boring and condescending.
  8. Stay out of the weeds. You don’t need to remember and present all of the details.
  9. LISTEN. If your mouth is open, you’re not listening and learning. Listen first to understand, then to reply.
  10. Be brief. Conversations should be short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject.

All of this boils down to one sentence: Be interested in other people. Go out, talk to people, listen to people, and be prepared to be amazed.

I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!

Thoughtful Thursday posts, Uncategorized

Thoughtful Thursday- March 2, 2023

amybenoit

My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:

But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids- Don’t swallow gum! And other things parents say

This was an interesting episode covering myths parents tell their kids. The most interesting issue addressed was that people say you must wait one hour after eating to go swimming. I have heard this throughout life, and I just learned that this is a myth! There is no harm in swimming right after eating. The worst that could happen as a result is that, if you swim vigorously right after eating a large meal, you might vomit. Most swimming is not done vigorously, so there’s no need to wait to get back in the water!

For You From Eve- Wellness Hacks and Mindset Shifts that Actually Work & Changed My Life

These wellness hacks helped the host change her life:

  • Stop distracting yourself with media. Let yourself feel your feelings and reflect.
  • Journal and write affirmations.
  • Take cold showers for breathwork/calming down. It doesn’t need to be a full cold shower; you can start with 1-2 minutes of cold water before adjusting the temperature.
  • Exercise!
  • Invest in skincare/makeup/hair.
  • Meal prep and purchase healthy foods.
  • Set limits for time spent on social media. List to podcasts instead.
  • Read self-help books.
  • Get 7-9 hours of sleep.
  • Take vitamins and supplements.
  • Meditate.

I do many of these things, and they have helped me change my life! Exercising, journaling and writing affirmations, starting a skincare routine, meal prepping and clean eating, reading self-help books, listening to podcasts, prioritizing sleep, and limiting social media have benefited me greatly.

I am currently reading “1000+ Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently” written by Marc Chernoff. One thing that has stood out to me so far is:

Everyone gets upset and loses their temper sometimes. When you catch yourself passing judgment, add “just like me sometimes” to the end of a sentence. For example: That person is grouchy, just like me sometimes. She is being rude, just like me sometimes. Choose to let things go. Let others off the hook. Take the high road today.

Marc Chernoff
Sad to Savage- Things I Wish I Knew Sooner: Advice From Your Big Sister (Shelby Sacco)

Sad to Savage is one of my favorite podcasts and is mostly focused on habits. However, this episode contained so many things I needed to hear that are mostly unrelated to daily habits:

  • Being selfish is the most important thing you can do in your twenties. Do what’s best for you and be independent.
  • You are who you surround yourself with.
  • Growth is not linear. Life is a rollercoaster.
  • Quit the job you hate. If you need the income, spend a couple days or weeks updating your resume and applying to jobs. You spend a lot of time at work, so don’t tough it out in hopes that it will get better.
  • Find the fitness you like. If you’re miserable doing it, it’s not the correct fitness for you. You should not dread working out.
  • Cheating has nothing to do with you and has everything to do with someone else’s qualities.

If someone treats you badly due to addictions, you cannot control someone who does not want to change. You cannot make someone want a different life.

  • Do not leave your hardest tasks for the end of the day when you have less willpower. Be smart with your willpower. When you have formed daily habits, they don’t take willpower.
  • Invest in yourself and your future. You can educate yourself through reading.
  • Do not rely on motivation. The days you don’t feel like it are the days that matter most.

Not everyone is going to like you, and that’s okay. What people think of you is none of your business.

  • The red flags you choose to ignore won’t go away.
  • The words you say to yourself and about yourself make up how you see yourself, and they decide your actions, which ultimately decide your life.
  • You are never too good to apologize to someone.

No one is in charge of your happiness except for you. You need to find and do things that bring you happiness.

When having a conversation with someone, ask if they want advice or just want someone to listen. Same goes for when you are the one talking.

Your entire life can be completely different in one year if you choose to do the work.

Waking up early will give you the time you need to do the things that you currently don’t have time for.

Your habits make up your life. You have the power to choose/change/create your habits. Investing in yourself and your habits will be the best choice you will ever make.

Optimal Finance Daily- 9 Painless Ways to Trick Yourself Into Spending Less by Sarah Von Bargen
  • Unsubscribe from newsletters that tempt you.
  • Block yourself from websites where you spend too much.
  • Turn off your computer’s/phone’s autocomplete credit card option so that you have to be bothered to get up and retrieve your card every time.
  • Order online and do curbside pickup to prevent impulse purchases.
  • Eat something before you go shopping. Don’t go shopping while hungry.
  • Give yourself a three-day waiting period. If you forget all about it, you don’t need it. If you still find yourself thinking about it three days later, pull the trigger.
  • Put yourself on a cash-only budget. We are much slower to spend cash than use our credit cards, and cash is not an option when online shopping.
  • Put a reminder in your wallet. You could print a wallet-sized photo of something you’re saving for.
  • Unfollow social media accounts that tempt you to spend. Unfollow accounts that make you want to spend more to keep up, and fill your feed with those who provide value to you or who are in your tax bracket.

Personal tip: If you are concerned about unsubscribing to newsletters that tempt you, when you want to purchase something, look on milled.com and search for the company to view e-mails that have been sent to customers to look for discounts. You can also look up promo codes online for discounts.

I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!