Happy Wednesday, Wise Owl Nation!

You read this because you want to improve yourself in some way. This is the Wise Owl Wednesday newsletter after all. I've talked about hundreds of tips at this point, that if implemented, can make you wiser, healthier, and wealthier.

This week I realized that I have yet to talk about "Your Foundation." This is the starting place. The baseline that you build the rest of your success off of. Without a strong foundation, it doesn't matter how much material success you achieve, you will never be satisfied.

Hell, for most people, the lack of a solid foundation means they will never achieve dramatic success in any area.

Success requires discipline, consistency, and patience. Success requires a foundation to be built on top of.

So that is what I am going to briefly cover in this week's newsletter.

What is needed to build a foundation in each of our three core areas?

Let's get into it.

You can find all past issues (including this one) here.

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Quote of the week:

I think this might be a repeat quote, but he's literally building something here so I had to choose it again!

Build Your Wisdom Foundation:

Wisdom is such a broad term, and every time I write a tip about wisdom it makes me laugh a little, because wisdom requires experiences combined with knowledge. I share knowledge with you about how to improve your life, but if you don't go out and do it, your own wisdom score won't improve.

Not only that, you need to try what I recommend, fail at it, and then learn from it. Then you need to build your own roadmap. We all walk our own paths, and I can only share the broader concepts that have worked for me on mine.

Learn to practice Gratitude daily:

It is so easy to focus on the obstacles, challenges, and problems that get in our way every day. There is nothing in the world easier than complaining. Every time you complain about something, you are taking the easiest way out. It's not helpful to anyone.

I'm not going to tell you to stop complaining, but you need to balance that negativity with some positivity. You can do that by practicing gratitude every day.

You can do this in the morning, throughout the day, or at night. I like to do this in the morning because it puts me in a better mood to get the day started.

1. Think about what you are grateful for in life. Friends, family, your dog, the fact that you're alive.
2. Write it down
3. Repeat these steps until you have three to five things you are grateful for
4. Think about them and let yourself feel better

Challenge yourself to be patient:

I struggle with this one. When I want something, I want it right now.

This is a mental trap that most of us suffer from, and it is probably caused in part to social media.

Instant gratification is bad news. If everything is easy, then life becomes easy. Until something difficult happens. If our life all of our wants and needs are instantly gratified, we are setting ourselves up to crumble when we have to wait for anything.

Examples:

• Have you ever made an impulse purchase because you were afraid of missing out?
• Have you ever had food delivered because you didn't want to spend the time cooking? (super guilty here)
• Have you ever grabbed chips from the pantry because that food you just ordered is taking too long to be delivered?

For every Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos there are a thousand people who would have been even more successful if they had just practiced patience and consistency.

We would have already had our first public Trillionaire if patience was easy to practice.

So when life gets hard and you want to give up, take a deep breath, resolve yourself to overcome your issues, and continue on your path. Be patient. Success will come eventually.

Perspective - All pain is an opportunity:

I've written a 6,000 word book review of "The Obstacle is the Way" which basically breaks down every conceivable way to turn your obstacles into opportunity, so I won't belabor the point here.

Here is the gist - no matter what problems or issues you are dealing with right now, there is an opportunity for growth. Any problem. There are no exceptions to this.

All pain is an opportunity for growth. The more you look for the silver lining, the easier it becomes to find.

Gratitude, Patience, and Perspective:

This is, in my opinion, your foundation for building a Wise mind.

Good luck.

Build Your Health Foundation:

Your mind and your body are intertwined in ways science is still trying to figure out. Your organs send messages to your brain, your brain sends messages back. Your cravings come from your gut, and are likely caused by bacteria. Your physical and mental health need the other to thrive.

It is far easier to cultivate wisdom if you are also cultivating your health.

Each of these concepts I have beaten like a dead horse, so again I won't belabor their points.

You Have to Sleep:

If you don't sleep, you die. You can survive longer without food than you can without sleep.

Without proper sleep your mind and body will deteriorate.

10 hours of work after 8 hours of sleep is MUCH more productive than 13 hours of work after 5 hours of sleep.

I've written so much on sleep in this newsletter friends. Sleep is the literal foundation to EVERYTHING. If you only do one thing in this entire foundational list, choose to get sleep.

Processed Foods are Bad:

Your body needs fuel, and you get that fuel by eating food. Your body builds itself based on the resources it gets from the food that you're eating. Your physical foundation is directly created from the food that you eat.

Do you want an Oreo foundation? As funny as that sounds, NO YOU DON'T.

Eat the foods that make your body feel the best. Do this consistently for eat least a month, and you will notice a dramatic shift in your energy, willpower, and baseline levels of happiness.

Strengthen your body with Exercise:

So much of what you consider a good day or a bad day has to do with how much energy you have. If your body is weak, your energy will be depleted much faster than if your body is strong. Period.

This isn't about weight or body fat percentage. There are some super models who have no energy. They may look great, but they don't feel great. They have low energy and because of that they are miserable.

Don't let yourself get caught up in "exercising to look good." No, that is a mindset that will never build a good foundation. You need to be exercising every day to feel good. Create a foundation of physical strength so that you have the energy to handle everything else that life throws at you.

Weight Train your Brain by Meditating:

• Sit down
• Set a timer for at least five minutes
• Close your eyes
• Breath in for six seconds, then breath out for six seconds
• Focus on your breathing
• When your mind wanders (and it will) just refocus on the breathing
• Profit

That's it. Just do it.

Sleep, Eat well, Get stronger, and Meditate:

These are your chores to build a powerful foundation of mind and body.

Build Your Wealth Foundation:

So you want to get wealthy, eh? Do you really?

It's much easier than most people think, but it requires discipline, consistency, and patience.

Gasp! You need the foundational concepts of the other two areas to have the energy and willpower to build wealth! It's like it all fits together :P.

Wealth building comes down to four parts, but only one of them is foundational.

1. Spend less than you earn
2. Increase your earnings
3. Reduce your debt
4. Invest

Only the first one is foundational, because it is what either enables or disables your ability to build wealth.

Spend less than you earn:

If you spend less than you earn, then you have a surplus of income.

If you spend more than you earn, then you have nothing, and are likely in debt.

The gap between your income and your spending is a Gap of Opportunity if you earn more than you spend, or a Gap of Sorrow if you spend more than you earn.

If you want to become wealthy, then you have to master this concept.

If you do this, you will never go broke.

Even if every extra dollar you make on top of what you spend is gambled away, you at least have your bills covered.

Do not spend more than you earn. Ever.

Okay, I've run out of ways to say this, so we can move on.

Educate yourself on Finance:

Always try to improve your knowledge base on how money works. Before I ever understood how Cryptocurrency worked I had to first understand how normal money (fiat money) works.

Because I built a basic foundation of understanding, I was able to eventually see how powerful and potent cryptocurrency is.

Set a money goal and automate your way there:

You live in a world of computers and the internet. You have a massive advantage over every human that has existed before your in terms of opportunities to build wealth.

Automate your savings, pay yourself first, and ensure that you are getting a little bit richer every month.

If you have questions on how to do this, feel free to reach out to me and I will point you in the right direction.

Spend Less, Educate yourself, and automate your way to wealth:

These are the three foundational principles for twenty-first century wealth building.

More Resources

I will be adding to this section over time as we find resources that will help you all.

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