Happy Wednesday, Wise Owl Nation!
Are we big enough to be a nation?
Probably not, but we're big enough to be a neighborhood, at least!
Today is Wednesday March 11th, 2020 and you have made it halfway through the week.
Amidst the chaos of the stock market and the Coronavirus (COVID-19), it is still time for your weekly dose of Wise Owl Wednesdays, where we work together to become wiser, healthier and wealthier.
This week is particularly interesting because it looks to be the true beginning of a greater trend.
The COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and likely will continue to spread for months.
This means quite a few things:
- The steps you take to stay healthy matter
- The global economy is going to have a hard time
- There are going to be huge opportunities to increase your wealth
- The quality of information you intake is more important than ever
Each week we cover a variation of the following:
- My quote of the week
- What I am currently reading
- Tips to make you wise, healthy, and wealthy
- Any new or relevant Wise Healthy Wealthy articles I think you might enjoy
- Some ideas for the future of Wise Owl Wednesdays
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Quote of the week:
I'm sensing a theme here.
What is the point of building wealth if you don't live long enough to enjoy it?
Before launching Wise Healthy Wealthy I thought about launching a newsletter based solely around personal finance.
I love personal finance, but a few years ago I finally realized that there is no point to money if you can't make use of it for a long time!
So the theme of the week is going to be around preserving and optimizing your health, because "you can't enjoy your wealth if you aren't in good health."
Current Reads - Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink
This week's issue is all about being smart with your physical and financial health.
Let's be honest, most of you already know the best ways to stay healthy.
- Get enough sleep
- Eat quality food
- Exercise
And yet, we all suck at staying disciplined.
When I struggle to stay consistent with anything, I watch this video and then start rereading this book.
Discipline equals freedom.
Why this book is awesome:
There are many reasons why this book is awesome, so I will list them:
- The author is a former Navy Seal Commander. He was the platoon commander of American Sniper Chris Kyle.
- The first section of the book is all about the philosophy and thoughts of the author around how discipline brings about freedom. It is motivational as hell and is a place I return to on occasion for a mental kick in the ass
- It is a relatively short book, formatted to be easy to read
- The second section of the book walks through specific actions you can take around food, fasting, exercise, sleep, etc.
Links to get this book:
** The links above are affiliate links. If you purchase the books with the links above, I receive a super tiny commission, which helps support this newsletter. Thank you! **
Tips or Tools of the week: Wisdom, Health or Wealth
Each week I share either three tips or three tools that will help you become wiser, healthier, and wealthier.
Wisdom tip of the week: Choose your News Outlets wisely
I tend to avoid cable news channels. All of them.
Why? I avoid them because they are incentivized to scare people into continuing to watch them.
Cable news is now so used to a 24 hour news cycle that it makes shit up sometimes just to scare us into continuing to watch.
Two COVID-19 resources I have found helpful:
- This Joe Rogan Podcast with Michael Osterholm - an internationally recognized expert in infectious disease epidemiology. This podcast episode is extremely informative and will give you the facts, as they are known now, and dispel a bunch of rumors pertaining to the virus.
- This dashboard provided by Johns Hopkins University - it's a weird thing to look at. Refresh this every few days and notice how crazy fast the virus is spreading.
Remember, the experts believe, at this point that most of us will get this virus and barely notice it. Avoiding it will eventually become difficult.
It is still important for everyone to follow the guidelines in place right now to slow the spread, if only to give the Healthcare infrastructure time to catch up.
P.s. - wearing a mask is basically pointless. Instead follow basic healthy practices outlined in the next section.
Health tip of the week: Boost your immune system
According to a lot of people much smarter than me, the likelihood that everyone reading this stupid virus is somewhere in the ballpark of 60-80%. Most of us won't experience much more than a sore throat, but that is no reason not to do what we can to strengthen our bodies in the meantime.
If most of this is common sense, you're right! It is common sense, but I struggle every week to maintain a truly healthy lifestyle, which is why I am rereading our book of the week.
- Sleep, sleep, sleep! Sleep is the number 1 determinant of health. Focus on both quantity and quality of sleep.
- Eat real food at a caloric deficit - Our bodies are stronger when we don't overeat. In fact, your body is strongest when you have been fasting. I am not telling you to fast (this week at least), I am just saying to be mindful of what you eat and how much you eat.
- Exercise even if it sucks - Exercise is good for you. The stronger and healthier your body is, the better it will be at fighting off illness. Period. It is literally never too late to start exercising. Like I mentioned last week, go for a walk at the very least.
If you want to use supplements:
- Supplement Vitamin D and Vitamin C - Many Americans are deficient in Vitamin D, and Vitamin C is a well known immune booster.
- Consume some Fungi - Mushrooms are the most overlooked supplement or food group ever. And yet, what organisms do we rely on to break down and eat the decay and rot of the world? Mushrooms! Nothing is more anti-viral in nature than mushrooms. I've been taking this mushroom blend for around a year and a half and while it does not keep my from getting sick, it seems to dramatically reduce the time it takes for my body to respond and heal. It has research backing it as well.
Wealth tip of the week: You cannot time the stock market
I want to say this loud and clear - You cannot time the stock market. If someone tells you they can, they are a liar.
What you can do is stay consistent, continue to invest on a regular schedule, use index funds, and make sure your dividends are being reinvested.
Most your portfolio's growth and compounding that will occur over time is not from the growth of the stock market as a whole, but is from reinvesting the dividends paid to you.
So if you want to minimize your risk while still investing smart, do the following:
- Invest in index funds
- Invest what you can on a consistent basis (ex. twice a month on pay day)
- Leave your money in the markets if it is a long-term investment
- Make sure your dividends are being reinvested
That is it.
The Coronavirus is going to continue to screw up the economy for the rest of 2020. The stock market is going to provide a lot of opportunities to invest at lower prices. In a year or so when most of us are naturally immune to the virus (because we have had it and recovered) the markets will return, and you will profit.
If you are looking for the right index funds to invest in, I recommend starting with either Betterment or Wealthfront. These two companies make investing in a diversified portfolio of index funds extremely easy. I personally use Betterment.
New Articles
Every week I publish new articles on Medium.
Not every article I write will pertain to wisdom, health, and wealth, but most will!
New or relevant articles I publish will be included here.
A Few Newsletter Ideas I am Pondering
I am always thinking about ways to make this newsletter more valuable to all of you. I want it to be, at the very least, the one email you look forward to opening each week.
- A giveaway of all the books I have recommended here on Wise Owl Wednesday at the end of March
- A section on Cryptocurrency called the "Crypto Corner"
- A video or Audio component of Wise Owl Wednesdays for those of you who want to listen to what the newsletter says or here my riff on various sections.
- A more personal look into my journey and what I am experimenting with right now including an open look into my habits, struggles, finances, etc.
What do you think about these ideas? Respond to this email and let me know.
Share The Love, and Help Me Help You!
What did you think about the newsletter?
If you know anyone that could benefit from reading this, please forward it to them.
Also, if you have ideas or thoughts in the following areas, please let me know!
- Books I should review
- Topics you would love to read about
- YouTube videos you'd love to watch
Let me know by replying to this email!
I read all of my emails.
You can also read past issues here!
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