TNFG Weekly Chapter 21: Olympic Level Mistakes & Accountability

TNFG Weekly is a dose of my favorite nutritional content and nuggets that’s worth indulging. Sharing Financial Wholeness through Mindset, Articles, Spirituality, Health, Food, Fitness, Books, and etc.

And to be honest, it’s kinda like free-styling off of one topic. This week: The topic is Olympics to celebrate the start of the 2020 competitions postponed to the pandemic.

Also check out these chapters below:

Table of Contents

A Recovering Success Story

The Greatest Mistake a Man can ever Make is to be Afraid to Making One.
Elbert Hubbard

Is Being Successful Attributable to one’s nature

The 4hr work week book by Tim Ferriss was recommended to me. The book teaches you how to escape the 9–5 rat race and “join the nouveaux rich“. Those whose true currencies lie in their ability to leverage their time and mobility. The work from anywhere while creating a lifestyle by design.

Better than Average by Effort

The average American works for 40 years earning around $40,000 per year or more (A total of $1.6M). We clearly have a million dollars worth of opportunities but it’s squandered while leveraging debt for time.

Big homes, big cars, travel and luxuries are draining a lifetime of effort. It reminds me of the Toad and the Scorpion.

One day, the scorpion asked the toad for a ride across the river. Unconvinced, the toad wanted assurance that the scorpion wouldn’t poison him. To that the scorpion stated that if he did, they would both drown.

With that logic like a YouTube financial scam, both underwent the journey. Midway through, the scorpion stung the toad. As both drifted into death, the toad asked why? To that, the scorpion replied, “it was in his nature.”

This entire story is to warn people that “our thoughts become our words”, “our words transform into our actions”, “our actions eventually lead to our habits” and those habits are the sum total of our nature. Those who make catastrophic mistakes repeatedly are merely acting open muscle memory and survival instinct.

To be successful can also be part of one’s nature. It is something formed in continuous repetition. You have to choose a lifestyle by design in hope to truly accomplish Olympic level dreams.

TOPSHOT – US gymnast Simone Biles competes in the qualifying for the women’s Beam event of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016. / AFP / Emmanuel DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Investment Level Mistake

I made tons of investment mistakes when I started back in 2015. Ended up, purchasing single stocks like Disney $DIS. Some investments were good and others bad. My only savings grace is that I learned to fail quick. I eventually withdrew everything by 2017. Something that could have helped me on the front end, index ETF investments.

If you don’t have a good plan, start off simply by buying into the Total market ie Vanguard Total Market Stocks Index otherwise known as $VTI or it’s counter part $FSKAX.

Sometimes simple works best. Especially if you are starting from scratch. Also, I was keeping way too much in savings for no reason. Avoid losing out on opportunity, there are better ways to earn wealth (See image below).

An investment int he Total Market Index since the 2012, has grown 274%. That’s about +25% average annually compared to a local bank savings account growing at less than 0.01% which inflation erodes those earnings by 2-3% annually.

It’s a losing deal, invest instead.

My Favorite Videos on Mistakes and Making a Pivot

Even Heroes Make Mistakes

From 1996 through 2001, Downey was arrested many times on charges related to drugs. He went through few drug treatment programs, but unsuccessfully.

Back in 1996, Downey was arrested for possession of drugs, and an unloaded handgun while he was speeding down Sunset Boulevard;
In 1997, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison after violating his parole by missing drug tests;
And in 1999, after he missed another drug test he was arrested again and spent 1 year in prison.

How his life changed?

In 2003, he met the love of his life, his current wife Susan Levin. She insisted that she would only marry him if he gave up drugs for good. In a dramatic way, he threw all his drugs into the Pacific Ocean. After that he entered a 12 step program and started doing meditation, yoga and martial arts. The biggest battle of his life began.