Environment ALWAYS Drives Experience (Airline Food Edition)

The environment plays a major role in how you think, feel, and behave. So much so - you can’t really separate an experience from the immersive setting in which you had it. Being aware of the environment/experience link can be a superpower.  I realize how normatively obvious that sounds. But it gets abnormally weird too, … Continue reading Environment ALWAYS Drives Experience (Airline Food Edition)

Podcast Of The Week: Brendan Frazier’s 100th Episode

Brendan Frazier’s podcast, The Human Side of Money, recently hit its 100th episode. Clap with me. Maybe tell him we’re clapping for him too - this is a serious accomplishment.  While it’s mostly focused on people in the financial advising industry, his human-centric focus makes it much more broadly accessible. And anybody who does something … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Brendan Frazier’s 100th Episode

Using Motivational Interviewing In Service Jobs

How do you help people do things they want to do but aren’t yet doing?  Any “services” job is in the business of creating perceived value through actions. If you create more value than you cost, or at least the perception of it, you have a successful services-based practice.  But there’s this weird gap every … Continue reading Using Motivational Interviewing In Service Jobs

The Best Decision Making Is Emotional (Jonny Miller Feels)

“The best decision-making is emotional.” “Hang on a second,” you’re thinking.  You’ve dated crazy. You’ve lived with crazy. You’ve worked for crazy. You’ve seen emotional decisions lead to objectively bad, morally questionable, and occasionally unspeakable things.  Me too. But we’re not talking about them. Not today at least.  Today, we’re talking about people like you. … Continue reading The Best Decision Making Is Emotional (Jonny Miller Feels)

People Will Do Anything For Those Who…

A Blair Warren quote on persuasion: People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicion, and help them throw rocks at their enemies.  I’ll reformat this, because it’s a useful framework before you ask someone to do something (and an extremely useful framework before you … Continue reading People Will Do Anything For Those Who…

Mark Manson’s 9 Steps To Complete Misery

If you need your therapy with a spoonful of sarcasm, step over Ted Lasso and into Mark Manson’s YouTube channel.  In “How To Be Miserable And Ruin Your Life,” we get this 9-point checklist for success: Always _______ someone else for your problems.  _______ constantly.  _______ anything remotely challenging or uncomfortable.  Wait for _______. Get … Continue reading Mark Manson’s 9 Steps To Complete Misery

Behavioral Problems Need Behavioral Solutions

The finance industry has gone from intuitively exploiting behavioral biases, to endlessly labeling them, to discussing how to “correct” them, to (finally) start talking about how to work productively with people who are inherently… people. Messy, regular, (sometimes self-aware) people.   Richard Thaler, long a lighthouse on these BeFi seas, said it beautifully in his book … Continue reading Behavioral Problems Need Behavioral Solutions

Imposter Syndrome Vs. I’m The Poster Boy Syndrome

On one hand, sometimes you feel like you’re an imposter and have no right to even attempt what you’re doing (or scared to start doing).  On the other, you feel like “I’ve soooo got this. I’m the champ - look at my crown, everybody gather round and listen up.”  It’s useful to know the term … Continue reading Imposter Syndrome Vs. I’m The Poster Boy Syndrome