Stop when the goal is achieved, not when the allotted time runs out.
Monthly Archives: May 2020
Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#6): Set big goals
I will always remember how my grandmother wailed over my grandfather’s body just after he passed away in the hospital. They were married for over 60 years. I remember her saying later, “I guess we won’t make it to our goal of visiting 75 countries.” I was astonished that her goal was so high. “How …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#5): Be frugal
My grandmother was frugal. Not cheap, but frugal. I remember watching her cut napkins in half. And they were small napkins to begin with. I remember her telling me of a young man she dated whose family was well off and after spending some time with them she thought to herself, “No wonder they’re rich, …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#4): Question something until you understand it
My grandmother was a great questioner. Because of that, she understood a lot of things. She would always read the newspaper, especially the financial section, not necessarily to glean specific advice on specific stocks and companies, but to get a sense of how the experts thought about things. She was good at understanding the big …
Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#3): Shrug it off
My grandmother and grandfather were both very strong headed and they would argue quite a bit. I remember watching one argument that went back and forth for a while until my grandmother finally said something that stopped the argument without ending it by winning or losing the argument. She said something like, “Well, okay,” and …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#2): Health is the most important thing
Although my grandmother lived to be 100 years old, she always said that health is the most important thing, and that you don’t want to live to be 100 just to be 100 if you’re in poor health. I remember watching her take vitamins almost by the fistful and swallow several at once. And she …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#1): Keep learning
My grandmother passed away yesterday morning in her sleep at the age of 100. One thing I always admired about her was her desire and ability to keep learning. Several years ago, she needed some help with Microsoft Excel so I went over to her house to help her but when she told me the …
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Things I Learned from My Mother (#5): Be good with money
I vividly remember the day someone came to give a talk about retirement planning and 401(k)s at my first corporate job. He asked us, “Does anyone know what percentage of income the average American saved last year?” No one spoke. He answered: “Negative 1%.” The average American spent 101% of what they earned. That blew …
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Things I Learned from My Mother (#4): People are sensitive
My mother is very sensitive. Not fragile, but sensitive. And she taught me to see that almost everyone else is sensitive too, even the people who don’t seem to be. It makes me think twice, then a 3rd and a 4th time before saying anything that might hurt someone’s feelings. You can apologize but you …
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Things I Learned from My Mother (#3): Consider the options
My mother is very good at considering all the options. Almost too good. I remember times we would finally settle on where to have dinner after having a pretty lengthy discussion about it and then while we were on our way, my mother would say, “Oh, but we have a coupon for this other place …
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