All posts by Mark Jacobsen

Clarity on Your ONE Thing & Managing Your Time

For all my friends in education, esp the principals…

Podcasts Archive – The ONE Thing

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Safety is an Expensive Illusion

If you haven’t heard of Mr Money Mustache yet, let me introduce you…

Read the full article here

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

10% Happier

Just finished 10% Happier by Dan Harris that chronicles his journey from young upstart reporter to drug use then finding meditation as a tool to help calm the mind and make him 10% happier. It really is a good book, and his sarcastic tone makes it a perfect read for anyone skeptical of meditation and Buddhism. Probably my favorite chapter is the one on his experience at a 10 day silent retreat, and the skeptical/derogatory thoughts running through his mind. In the end, the best part is that I didn’t think it came off as preachy or as my mom would say “she she la la”. Give it a try, or if you want to check out his next book try: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. It’s on my list.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

20 Little Things to Make a Big Difference in Your Marriage


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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

16 Tips for Selling Properties Faster and for More Money

Cross posting from the FreedomRE.com blog

Listen to the full episode here, but here are the main points – some commentary added 🙂

  1. Have a pre-listing inspection performed by a licensed home inspector.
  2. Clean up your home. – Please, please, please – you have no idea how often this is missed/skipped
  3. Does it pass the sniff test? – It better unless you want it to take longer to sell.
  4. Take great pictures of your house. – That’s why you hire a great agent – like me!
  5. Be available.
  6. Have your home ready for showings at all times. – You never know when or where your buyer will show up.
  7. Be informative.
  8. Use an agent. – At your service
  9. Ask your agent for selling advice.
  10. Price your house right. – You mean Zillow doesn’t know everything?
  11. List in peak market time. – If you can. If not, I wouldn’t consider this a deal breaker. Just be ready for it to potenially take longer.
  12. Double check your listing information.
  13. Stage those weird areas that don’t have an obvious use.
  14. Leave during your showings and make sure you take your pets with you. – So awkward when the seller sticks around. Get out! I would also add “take any valuables and medications” as well.
  15. Be prepared to walk away from an offer.
  16. Tell everyone you know that your house is for sale.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Oh Damn, 401(k)s Aren’t Magic

“All of this has always ignored the mathematical fact that scrimping and saving and investing wisely will not save you if you don’t have enough money in the first place. If you are a low-wage worker who cuts your expenses to the bone in order to sock away $500 a year, on which you earn 8%, you will still not go more than a year in retirement without starving to death. The math just doesn’t work. We need to actually give people more money. This is common sense, but is anathema to the sort of magical thinking that says that the root of all poverty is bad decisions by the poor.”

Read the full article: Oh Damn, 401(k)s Aren’t Magic

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Why You Should Let Kids Fight

Interesting, and yet hard to do sometimes. My gut says that generally speaking husbands are more apt to do this, but maybe that’s just speaking from personal experience 🙂

Why You Should Let Kids Fight

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Tribe of Mentors

Just finished Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss which is really just a follow up to Tools of Titans if you ask me. That said, there’s still some wisdom here that is worth considering. Find some of my highlights and points to ponder below.

  • addiction is when we’ve “lost the freedom to abstain.” Let us reclaim that freedom.
  • While everyone else is running around with a list of responsibilities a mile long—things they’re not actually responsible for—you’ve got just that one-item list. You’ve got just one thing to manage: your choices, your will, your mind. So mind it.
  • Most teenagers choose to fool around rather than exert themselves. Halfhearted, lazy effort gives them a ready-made excuse: “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t even trying.”
  • One of the most powerful things you can do as a human being in our hyperconnected, 24/7 media world is say: “I don’t know.” Or, more provocatively: “I don’t care.”
  • There is almost no situation in which hatred helps. Yet almost every situation is made better by love—or empathy, understanding, appreciation
  • We’d rather be pissed off, bitter, raging inside than risk an awkward conversation that might actually help this person and make the world a better place. We don’t just want people to be better, we expect it to magically happen
  • amor fati (a love of fate). It’s not just accepting, it’s loving everything that happens.
  • Let’s not confuse acceptance with passivity.
  • Perhaps today will be the day when we experience happiness or wisdom. Don’t try to grab that moment and hold on to it with all your might. It’s not under your control how long it lasts. Enjoy it, recognize it, remember it. Having it for a moment is the same as having it forever.
  • there is one thing and only one thing that causes unhappiness. The name of that thing is Attachment.
  • Don’t let another day tick away in ignorance of the reality that you’re a dying person. We all are. Can today be the day we stop pretending otherwise?
  • while we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries. Property can be regained; there is quite a bit of it out there—some of it still untouched by man. But time? Time is our most irreplaceable asset—we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Old-School Investing Wisdom from 60+ Years with Mike Anderson

If someone has been doing something for 60+ years it probably makes sense to listen.

Old-School Investing Wisdom from 60+ Years with Mike Anderson

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

How to Make a Marriage Work

Always good to have a reminder to put that key relationship first…

Read the full article here

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...