A year or so ago, I found a podcast called ChooseFI. These guys talk about the journey to financial independence. FI is loosely defined as the day you no longer have to work for money. The day when your investments generate enough money for you to live on for the rest of your life.
The goal, of course, isn’t to stop working, but to stop having to work for money. Once you don’t have to work, you can choose to either continue the work you’re doing, or branch out in new directions. The point is you can decide.
One phrase these guys use to help people is the “accumulation of marginal gains.” It’s hard to shift things a lot in one step. You don’t double your income overnight. You don’t suddenly start putting 30% of your income into your 401k. What works best is the “accumulation of marginal gains.”
This year you put 1% more into your 401k than you did last year. Next year you add another 1%.
This year you move from Verizon at 50$ a month for a phone to Xfinity Mobile or Republic Wireless and get the exact same phone service for $14 (That’s what I’ve been paying for the last six months for my phone.)
With the current pandemic, I advise the same thing for staying healthy. 85% of the cases are mild. I want mine to be a mild case when I get it, so I’m doing light/moderate exercise every day, I’m eating well, I’m getting the right amount of sleep, I’m getting 30-60 minutes of sunlight every day. I’m even considering taking zinc for the first time ever.
Do I think anyone one of those will save me? Nope, but I do believe in the philosophy of “accumulation of marginal gains.” If each of those actions improves my immune system by 1%, wow, that’s pretty good. If it doesn’t work, there isn’t much of a downside to getting 30 minutes of sunlight or exercising.
That brings me around this month’s issue of the Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter. This month, I shifted gears and started writing about all of the philosophies, tricks, and techniques I use to get so much work done from home with two kids running around and a wife who works from home about half the time.
I’ve been doing this for years. Now it’s a little more trying for sure, and we’ve had our ups and downs (I flipped out completely yesterday), but here I am back at work today.
As I was writing this edition, I realized I was just about out of space, and I had a ton more to say, so I’ve been recording a video series to make up the difference. The April issue alone will put you leaps and bounds ahead, but add in the video series (which PAES members get as a bonus this month), and you’ll be happy as a clam working from home and getting more done than you thought possible.
You’ll be focused and motivated! Hard to believe, I know, but true.
The video series is all about marginal gains. I’m putting a ton of terrific techniques in there. Methods I’ve used and refined over the years. Philosophies that will help you approach this situation with grace.
But there is no magic bullet. There is no magic pill. Each thing I cover in the newsletter and each thing I cover in the video series should give you between a 0.5% and a 2% gain. There’s one idea in there that will move the needle by 10%, but all of the others are small gains.
But like Bruce Springsteen sings, “From small things, mamma, big things one day come.”
I’m going to make the video series available to the entire community, but this is undoubtedly the most cost-effective way to get it.
Alas, the deadline is tomorrow. It looks like you’re going to have to make a decision:
Physician Assistant Exam Scholar’s Newsletter
Brian Wallace