“Those Were the Days”
What were you doing in the late 1970’s? I was across the street from my office at the Traverse City Junior High School. I was tiny and cute. I was painfully shy and excelled at math. When not in school you would find me traipsing through the woods, building forts...
Streaming Music and the Destruction of the Mona Lisa
I’ll tell you one thing I just rediscovered, and it really surprised me. Long ago, way before music was digital and streamable, I used to listen to albums; entire records… as they were intended by the artist. I listened to many of them so frequently that as one song...
Creative Expression
Do you have an outlet for creative expression? Remember when you were five years old, and you were an artist? What happened to you? My guess is that someone at some point told you to stay in your lane and that you were not an artist. I could be projecting my own...
Discipline Equals Freedom
I came across the quote by former Navy Seal, Jocko Willink, and it was one of those quotes I had to repeat multiple times before I could figure it out. Often you see or hear words crammed together in a sort of word stew, with no real meaning. I believe we are...
A Walk in the Woods Leads to Planning
I kicked off my annual planning retreat with a walk in the woods. The image that you see was taken just as a I entered the trail system at the end of our drive. I gaze upon the majestic trees from my perch up on the hill at Copper Ridge often enough. I feel...
Fear is Not Your Friend
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” -Marcus Aurelius “Fear is not your friend. Making decisions in a state of fear will never serve...
Financial Security
What does financial security mean to you?
National Role Model Month
It’s time to celebrate like you have never celebrated before. This is big; I mean really big. November is national Banana Pudding Lovers Month. Yes, that’s right. Banana pudding for everyone. You get banana pudding, you get banana pudding, and you get banana pudding....
Financial Security Starts with a Vision
What does financial security mean to you? It is a very simple question, but everyone is likely to have a different answer. I am not talking about the ad for the unnamed company that asks the pointless question, “What is your number?” like that means something. You...
Retirement Security
Are you concerned about your retirement? A recent poll suggests that more than half of Americans believe the pandemic has hampered their ability to have a secure retirement. More than one third are doing...
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