Dead ant, dead ant... #TBT

Today's post was originally posted last year:

This may be an oldie but it's still a goodie!

So, let's kill some ants! Or in our case some ANTs...Automatic Negative Thoughts.

From Dr. Daniel Amen, which is where I first heard the term several years ago:

It’s possible to think positively if you KILL YOUR ANTS!

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with fear and bad news that triggers our automatic negative thinking—ANTS! Need proof? Just turn on the TV or cruise through the net. Doom and gloom stories dominate the headlines—because fear makes us pay attention.

In fact, it's been said that 87% of what we see and hear is negative!

More from Dr. Amen:

In fact, our brains are wired to focus on the negative in order to avoid things that might hurt us. Fear definitely serves a purpose, but what happens when all we seem to focus on are negative thoughts? Bad things. Take a look at these compelling facts:

• Every thought you have releases chemicals in the brain.
• Hopeful thoughts release chemicals that help you feel happy and calm.
• Negative thoughts release chemicals that make you feel stressed and sad.
• If what you bring your attention to determines how you feel and act, focusing too much on negative thoughts can lead to destructive behaviors—behaviors that can ruin your important relationships and ruin your mind.

Enough of the bad news. There is good news!

You can learn how to kill your automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and focus on the positive.

 Here's a video from the website that talks about "3 Quick Steps to Stop Negative Thinking Now!":

This ties back to the law of entropy, which is often taken to mean that disorder in the universe is increasing unless acted upon by a force.

But what does that mean? Basically, things will get worse unless something is done about it. Such as your car will breakdown if you don't take care of it. And the same with your body. If you don't try to stay healthy, you will become unhealthy. And your thoughts. If you don't try to think positive thoughts, your mind will fill with negative thoughts.

A powerful way of changing your thinking is with "I am" statements . I wrote about these a while back. Basically, you are what you tell yourself you are, whether directly or indirectly. If somebody tells you something often enough you'll start to believe it. "You're lazy". "You're stupid". "You're useless". It doesn't have to be bad though. "You're awesome". "You're beautiful". "You're smart". Now substitute "I'm" for "You're". Tell yourself that you're awesome, beautiful or smart! Make the effort to fill your mind with positive thoughts!

And kill those ANTs!

Interesting days

Today - Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, Walk On Your Wild Side Day, Deskfast Day and Licorice Day

Tomorrow - Blame Someone Else Day, Thomas Jefferson Day and Scrabble Day

Next Thursday - Kickball Day, College Student Grief Awareness Day, High Five Day, Hanging Out Day, Bicycle Day, Garlic Day, Poetry And The Creative Mind Day and Rice Ball Day

May 12 - Train Day, Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, Odometer Day, International Nurses Day, Nutty Fudge Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Fair Trade Day and Limerick Day

How to Make the Best Beef Jerky in the World

Jerky Day isn't until June 14th, but this will give you some time to try it out before then!

Today's post is from an article in The Art of Manliness, which in turn is an excerpt from the book "The 4-Hour Chef" by Tim Ferriss.

An Introduction to Dehydrating Food

Dehydration is all about removing water from food. Doing this helps to preserve the food (bacteria need water) and concentrate flavor. It’s a common misconception that you need heat to dehydrate food. But low humidity, not heat, is the driving force behind dehydration. Warming the air surrounding the food helps keep it dry, but if the air doesn’t move, the food will stay wet. So when dehydrating food in the kitchen, make certain that air can freely circulate around it.

Sidenote: You can achieve the same preservation of dehydration by leaving the water in food but making it unavailable to bacteria. Just add substances like sugar and salt, which bind to water molecules and lock them away. Lox (salt-cured salmon) and salted butter are safe to keep at room temperature for this reason—but unsalted butter is not!

The Best Jerky in the World

Sometimes a survival skill isn’t just about preparing for hard times. Six-time New York Times best-selling author Neil Strauss learned this while writing about apocalypse-proofing your life in his book Emergency. Yes, learning to preserve meat was useful. But learning to flavor meat was an art.

In search of the perfect marinade, he polled everyone: hard-core survivalists, friends’ grandfathers, chefs, and beyond. Then he split-tested the best and simplest recipes that didn’t require a smoker or a food dehydrator. He submerged near-identical meat slices into 2–5 containers of marinade at a time. Sometimes he tested a different brand or amount of teriyaki sauce, and other times he added a random ingredient like truffle oil or mustard. It became something of an obsession.

The following recipe is what won all the taste tests.

This recipe is intended for home cooking, not for the wilderness, but it can be adapted for the wild.

Hands-on Time

15 minutes

Total Time

15 minutes plus 24 hours for marinating and up to 24 hours for drying and cooling

Gear

• Knife
• Large container with lid
• Aluminum foil
• Wooden or plastic serving spoon

Ingredients (to make 2.3kg (5lb))

• 2 kg (5 lb) lean brisket
• 470 ml (2 c) Kikkoman soy sauce
• 470 ml (2 c) Worcestershire sauce (Neil likes Lea & Perrins)
• 470 ml (2 c) thick, flavorful teriyaki sauce (Kikkoman Takumi Garlic & Green Onion or, Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki)
• 240 ml (1 c) liquid smoke (it’s not always easy to find, so any brand will do)
• 120 ml (1/2 c) Karo dark corn syrup (you can also try blackstrap molasses)
• 3T garlic powder
• 3T onion powder
• 3T sesame seeds
• 3T brown sugar
• 1t cayenne pepper

PREP

00
Put the meat in the freezer for an hour to make slicing easier. Slice meat with the grain as thin as possible (less than 0.6 cm or 1⁄4″). If you’re lazy or not great with the knife, call the butcher ahead of time and ask him to slice 2 kg (5 lb) of lean brisket at this thickness. The leaner the meat, the better and longer-lasting the jerky.

PICKUP

00
In a large container, mix the 470 ml (2 c) soy sauce, 470 ml (2 c) Worcestershire sauce, 470 ml (2 c) teriyaki sauce, 240 ml (1 c) liquid smoke, and 120 ml (1/2 c) dark corn syrup

01
Add the 3 T garlic powder, 3 T onion powder, 3 T sesame seeds, and 3 T brown sugar. Throw in 1 t of cayenne pepper. Add more if you like it spicy, but a little goes a long way. Note: cayenne pepper is also great for putting on a cut to stop bleeding, and it doesn’t sting.

Make sure your meat is completely submerged in the marinade.

02

Stir well, then drop your meat into the marinade. Your meat should be fully submerged.

03 

Optional: Sometimes I’ll take a smaller container and play with a slightly different marinade, adding in different oils, spices, and notes (even soda, wine, or beer) to the same base marinade. I’ll add in a little of the sliced meat for a batch of experimental jerky.

04
Close or cover the container(s), then leave in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

05
Once the meat is well marinated, it’s time to dry it: Cover the bottom of your oven with aluminum foil. Things will get mess

The higher the racks are placed in the oven, the better.

06
Place the meat on the racks of your oven, one next to the other (see pic above). The higher the racks are placed in the oven, the better. If you like, you can put the meat on aluminum foil or hardware cloth.

07
Set your oven temperature to 70°C (160°F), or 80°C (180°F) if you’re in a rush. Crack open the oven door by sticking a wooden or plastic serving spoon in the top of the door. Steve Rinella uses a crunched beer can. The goal is to dry the meat but avoid cooking it.

08
Let it dry for 3 hours, then turn over the jerky. After another 3 hours, it should be done. The total time, however, is dependent on the thickness of the meat and the temperature of the oven. The jerky is done when it’s dry enough that you can rip off a piece easily, but before it snaps when you bend it.

09
Leave meat out in the air to cool. It is now ready to eat. The longer you leave it out to cool, the drier it will get. After no longer than 24 hours, store it in sealed Ziploc bags. Without refrigeration, it will be good for 4–6 months.

Interesting days

Today - Barbershop Quartet Day, Submarine Day, Bookmobile Day, Pet Day, Cheese Fondue Day and World Parkinson’s Disease Day

Tomorrow - Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, Walk On Your Wild Side Day, Deskfast Day and Licorice Day

Next Wednesday - Piñata Day, Amateur Radio Day, Pet Owners Independence Day, Banana Day, Columnists Day, Lineman Appreciation Day and World Heritage Day

May 11 - Twilight Zone Day, Eat What You Want Day and Public Gardens Day

SendOutCards Transformation

SendOutCards has launched a new website and new product offerings. Some of these offerings are pretty amazing, including being able to send unlimited single cards anywhere in the world for a flat fee of $97 a month, and that includes postage!

I wrote recently that SendOutCards is not in the greeting card and gifting business...we're in the relationship business, whether personal or business.

A big problem with SendOutCards was the points and expense, but those are now gone. You don't have to make sure you have enough points and expense in your account before you try to send cards. If you have a $97 or a $147 account you don't have to worry about this at all but if you have a free account or a $17 a month account, then your credit card will be charged for each card you send. Basically, with a free account you're charged $2.75 plus postage for each card, while with a $17 account you're charged $2.25 plus postage per card...plus there are other benefits to the $17 account.

The world is made up of relationships...some are fleeting and some are lifelong, but they all need a little maintenance from time to time to keep them running smoothly. Think of SendOutCards as the WD-40 of relationships.

This Saturday is our monthly Super Saturday. We'll continue with our Master Relationship Marketing training as well as going more in depth with the SOC changes!

Interesting days

Today - Golfer’s Day, Be Kind To Lawyers Day, Sibling Day, Equal Pay Day, Library Workers Day and International Safety Pin Day

Tomorrow - Barbershop Quartet Day, Submarine Day, Bookmobile Day, Pet Day, Cheese Fondue Day and World Parkinson’s Disease Day

Next Tuesday - Ford Mustang Day, Haiku Poetry Day, Blah Blah Blah Day, Nothing Like A Dame Day, Bat Appreciation Day, World Hemophilia Day and Cheeseball Day

May 10 - Windmill Day, One Day Without Shoes Day, World Lupus Day, Stay Up All Night Night and Mother Ocean Day

The Whole Truth About your 401(k) Plan Taxes, Fees and Depressing Returns

As you know, I was supposed to go to a Meetup by that same name by Dennis Beckman last Monday but I was sidetracked.

Even though I didn't go to the meeting, I think I have an idea of some of what Dennis talked about last week.

In simplest terms, don't do it! I know conventional wisdom says to max out your 410k, but:

According to CNBC:

But shifting the responsibility for growing retirement income from employers to individuals has proved problematic for many American workers, particularly in the face of wage stagnation and a lack of investment expertise. For them, the grand 401(k) experiment has been a failure.

"In America, when we had disability and defined benefit plans, you actually had an equality of retirement period. Now the rich can retire and workers have to work until they die," said Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School for Social Research who has proposed eliminating the tax breaks for 401(k)s and using the money saved to create government-run retirement plans.

Also:

"401(k)s were never designed as the nation's primary retirement system," said Anthony Webb, a research economist at the Center for Retirement Research. "They came to be that as a historical accident." 

In an article in The Huffington Post:

Why has the 401(k) been such a flop? Five reasons stand out.

First, the 401(k) system of individualized accounts is inherently inefficient. 

Second, the 401(k) system has never covered all workers. 

Third, 401(k)s expose individuals to too much risk.

Fourth, the 401(k) system depends on the financial industry acting in the best interests of investors — which, too often, it doesn’t do. 

Fifth, consumer choice does not offset the failures of the 401(k) system.

In Bank on Yourself:

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reveals how pre-retirees at all income levels are falling short – way short – of the amount of money they need to have to be able to retire.

Fully half of those between ages 50-64 have less than one year of their income saved.

The top 10% (those making $251,000 or more annually) have an average of only two years of their income saved.

The article mentions that “financial experts recommend that people amass at least eight times their annual salary to retire.”

Those “experts” ought to have their heads examined, because even a $1 million nest-egg would provide you only $28,000 a year at the current recommended withdrawal rate of 2.8% per year.

And another article on the same website:

Here Are Six Reasons Why 401(k)s Are a Scam…

Reason #1: The Tax-Deferral Scam
Reason #2: The “Free Money” Scam
Reason #3: Fees that Devour Your Hard-Earned Money
Reason #4: Funding a 401(k) is Like Putting Your Money in Prison
Reason #5: The Myth of Market Returns
Reason #6: After Decades of Being Lab Rats in the Great 401(k) Experiment, Most Pre-Retirees Still Don’t Have Enough Saved.

Also from the same article:

Here Are 8 Reasons Bank On Yourself Makes an Excellent Alternative to Conventional Retirement Plans…

1. Guaranteed, predictable growth and retirement income.
2. No volatility.
3. You’re in control.
4. Tax advantages.
5. Liquidity.
6. Fees don’t compound against you.
7. Income tax-free legacy.
8. Peace of mind.

This is basically what Dennis offers, you really need to contact him to go over the programs he has available.

What about being in a lower tax bracket when you retire? In an article in Ulivi Wealth Management:

My income taxes today are more than twice what my SALARY was when I started teaching full time at the California State University, in 1980. My income tax rate today is higher than it ever was in my career. Thus, using the strategy of investing in tax deferred vehicles, such as 401Ks and IRAs, as a way to defer income and pay less in taxes when I withdrew the money in retirement turned out to be a big fiasco. Why? Because the assumption that I would be in a lower tax bracket when I retired has turned out to be totally erroneous–at least for those of us who have managed our finances successfully.

Why is that? The main reason is that you lose many of the deductions you used to have, such as exemptions for your children (who presumably are grown now) and the mortgage interest deduction (since you've likely paid off your house, if you have one).

In an article on Levo, you can read about the 7 Retirement Myths You Should Know Are *Totally* False:

Myth #1: I won’t need as much money when I retire as when I was working.
Myth #2: My tax bill will be lower in retirement. (We already looked at this one)
Myth #3: Medicare will take care of my health insurance.
Myth #4: Social Security will provide enough income for my retirement years.
Myth #5: Investing all of my retirement money in my 401(k) is always the best option.
Myth #6: I can just keep working if I don’t have enough money to retire.
Myth #7: Only rich people or those who are nearing retirement need a financial plan.

I highly recommend that you reach out to Dennis and learn about a better alternative to putting your money in a 401k!

Interesting days

Today - Name Yourself Day, Winston Churchill Day, Cherish An Antique Day, Unicorn Day and Experience Week

Tomorrow - Golfer’s Day, Be Kind To Lawyers Day, Sibling Day, Equal Pay Day, Library Workers Day and International Safety Pin Day

Next Monday - Eggs Benedict Day, Save The Elephant Day and Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day

May 9 - Receptionists Day, Lost Sock Memorial Day, Third Shift Workers’ Day, Donate A Day’s Wages To Charity Day and Moscato Day

Your weekend guide to interesting days - April 7, 2018

This week

April - Garden Month, Decorating Month, Couple Appreciation Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Straw Hat Month and Poetry Month

Sunday - Reading Is Funny Day, One Cent Day, Atheist Day, Fun Day, Sourdough Bread Day and April Fools' Day

Monday - Children’s Book Day, Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, Love Your Produce Manager Day, World Autism Day and Ferret Day

Tuesday - Tweed Day, Fish Fingers and Custard Day, World Party Day, Find A Rainbow Day and Chocolate Mousse Day

Wednesday - Vitamin C Day, World Rat Day, Carrot Day, Cordon Bleu Day, D.A.R.E. Day, Walk Around Things Day and Day Of Hope

Thursday - Deep Dish Pizza Day, Caramel Day, Star Trek First Contact Day, Go For Broke Day, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, Read A Road Map Day and Tell A Lie Day

Yesterday - Tartan Day, Army Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Plan Your Epitaph Day, New Beer’s Eve and Walk to Work Day

Today - No Housework Day, Pillow Fight Day, Beaver Day, Tangible Karma Day, Beer Day, World Health Day and Diy Day

Next week

Tomorrow -Draw a Picture of a Bird Day and Zoo Lovers Day

Monday - Name Yourself Day, Winston Churchill Day, Cherish An Antique Day, Unicorn Day and Experience Week

Tuesday - Golfer’s Day, Be Kind To Lawyers Day, Sibling Day, Equal Pay Day, Library Workers Day and International Safety Pin Day

Wednesday - Barbershop Quartet Day, Submarine Day, Bookmobile Day, Pet Day, Cheese Fondue Day and World Parkinson’s Disease Day

Thursday - Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, Walk On Your Wild Side Day, Deskfast Day and Licorice Day

Friday - Blame Someone Else Day, Thomas Jefferson Day and Scrabble Day

Saturday - That Sucks! Day, Look Up at the Sky Day and Dolphin Day

Next month

May will be Deck Safety Month, Military Appreciation Month, Lupus Awareness Month, Golf Month, Hamburger Month, Bike Month, Photo Month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Barbecue Month and Get Caught Reading Month!

May 1 - World Asthma Day, Lei Day, School Principals' Day, Purebred Dog Day, Poem on Your Pillow Day, Mother Goose Day, New Home Owners Day, International Workers' Day and Executive Coaching Day

May 2 - World Play Your Ukulele Day, Baby Day, School Nurse Day and School Bus Drivers Day

May 3 - Paranormal Day, Two Different Colored Shoes Day, Lumpy Rug Day, Garden Meditation Day and Password Day

May 4 - Firefighters’ Day, No Pants Day, Petite And Proud Day, International Tuba Day, International Space Day, Star Wars Day, Renewal Day and Candied Orange Peel Day

May 5 - Cartoonists Day, Free Comic Book Day, Join Hands Day, Hug A Shed And Take A Selfie, Revenge of the Fifth, Infidelity Hurts Awareness Day, Wildfire Community Preparedness Day and Hoagie Day

May 6 - No Diet Day, Lemonade Day, No Homework Day and Beverage Day

May 7 - Roast Leg of Lamb Day, Cosmopolitan Day and Love’s Baby Soft Day

The week in review - April 6, 2018

Monday - "Did you miss Saturday's Business Acceleration Workshop?" It's ok, I recorded it. "Part 2 talks about how to become a referral partner for SendOutCards and the tax advantages of a home based business."

Tuesday - "Don't leave the water running. Or why I'll never do dishes again!" Just don't do it! "But I guess since I'm not a millennial the universe decided to conspire against me."

Wednesday - "Believe in Yourself Even When No One Else Does" From Harvey Mackay. "Life is not a parabolic curve. It doesn't go straight up. There are a lot of lumps, a lot of bumps. I have never yet met a successful person that hasn't had to overcome either a little or a lot of adversity in his or her life. Overnight success is much more of a myth than reality."

Thursday - "Harnessing Behavioral Psychology for a Rich Life #TBT" From The Art of Manliness. "What if instead of more thinking, achieving your goals require more feeling?"

Interesting days

Today - Tartan Day, Army Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Plan Your Epitaph Day, New Beer’s Eve and Walk to Work Day

Tomorrow - No Housework Day, Pillow Fight Day, Beaver Day, Tangible Karma Day, Beer Day, World Health Day and Diy Day

Next Friday - Blame Someone Else Day, Thomas Jefferson Day and Scrabble Day

May 6 - No Diet Day, Lemonade Day, No Homework Day and Beverage Day Since the project I'm working on at work will be over (and it's my birthday) maybe I'll take the day off and celebrate

Harnessing Behavioral Psychology for a Rich Life #TBT

We're setting the Wayback machine for this date two years ago:

Since yesterday's post was about psychology, this seemed to be timely. Even though this podcast is from The Art of Manliness, it can apply to everybody.

Caution: The F-word was used several times in the podcast.

March 18, 2016

Money & Career, Podcast

 

(Click on the link below to listen)

Podcast #184: Harnessing Behavioral Psychology for a Rich Life

 

You know the old song and dance.

 

You set a goal for yourself — lose weight, ask for a raise, ask that woman out — but something holds you back from taking action. Or if you do take action, you flame out in a week. So you do more research on your goal, hoping that you’ll find the one piece of information that will guarantee success. But you fail again.

 

What if instead of more thinking, achieving your goals require more feeling?

That’s what my guest today on the podcast argues.

His name is Ramit Sethi and he’s the owner of the website I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Today on the show, Ramit and I discuss what we can learn from behavioral psychology to help us achieve our goals and become the men we want to be. Lots of actionable points in this podcast. You’ll want to take notes.

Show Highlights

• What a “rich life” is (it’s not just about money)
• The hidden scripts we follow in life that keep us from progressing (we analyze mine)
• What a former girlfriend said to Ramit that motivated him to start strength training (it’s harsh)
• Why men fool themselves into thinking they’re being rational and not emotional when they make choices
• How to use the rational part of our brain to direct our emotional part in order to superdrive our goal achievement
• Why people are terrified to ask for raises and the script you can use to overcome that fear
• The “big wins” you should focus on to improve your life dramatically
• Why even traditional employees need to think of themselves as entrepreneurs
• How to become a self-starter
• The one trick Ramit used to make working out a habit
• Quit trying to live like you’re 40 years old when you’re 20
• And much more!

Resources/Studies/People Mentioned in Podcast

• Frugal Law Student (My first blog. I sold it several years ago.)
• My interview with Ben Hewitt about his homestead in Vermont
• What Ramit looked like before he started strength training
• Article on how we make decisions with emotions and not logic
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• Nassim Taleb’s Anti-Fragile
• Mindless Eating
• Ramit’s Ultimate Guide to Getting a Raise
• The cognitive miser

Like I say in the podcast, I’ve been following Ramit since he first started back in 2006. And there’s a reason why. He consistently puts out in-depth and highly useful content. Check out his site I Will Teach You To Be Rich and browse through all the free content he has on there. One thing I recommend checking out is his recently released Ultimate Guide to Habits. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for his email newsletter. It’s one of my favorites.

If you’re interested in leveraging the web for your business, browse through his new site GrowthLab. Lots of great, free content on the subject there.

Interesting days

Today - Deep Dish Pizza Day, Caramel Day, Star Trek First Contact Day, Go For Broke Day, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, Read A Road Map Day and Tell A Lie Day

Tomorrow - Tartan Day, Army Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Plan Your Epitaph Day, New Beer’s Eve and Walk to Work Day

Next Thursday - Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, Walk On Your Wild Side Day, Deskfast Day and Licorice Day

May 5 - Cartoonists Day, Free Comic Book Day, Join Hands Day, Hug A Shed And Take A Selfie, Revenge of the Fifth, Infidelity Hurts Awareness Day, Wildfire Community Preparedness Day and Hoagie Day