The Lesson of the Turtle

The Lesson of the Turtle

I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of the tortoise and the hare. The rabbit is fast but he messes around and doesn’t end up winning the race. The turtle is much slower than the rabbit, but he makes slow consistent progress and wins the race. What lesson do you take from this old story? What lesson are you supposed to take from it? When I was a child and read this story, the lesson I took from it was that the rabbit was stupid. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just hurry up Read more [...]

We Need New Ideas for Business

The world is filled with traditional businesses. Some of these these industries have functioned well for thousands of years. Third-world potters keep alive traditions that were practiced before the Roman empire existed. We owe a lot of respect to business styles that have outlasted whole civilizations and cultures. And yet we live in a time of great change. Our world population is exploding, we're on the verge of colonizing space, and we have yet to find a way to provide everyone with a minimal Read more [...]

You Should Begin Planning Your Family Vacation Now

Summer is still far off and everyone is predicting a recession is on the way. I do feel for the American farmers who are not selling their soybeans, and the energy sector workers who have lost their jobs, and the federal employees who had to suffer through a partial government shutdown. I don't envy anyone being in those positions. But most of us are still earning money even if the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. As a father I have to think about what we're going to do when Read more [...]

We Have Lost the Art of Gift Giving

One of the most iconic scenes in J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings is the one where the heroes leave the forest of Lothlorien. The queen of the elves, Galadriel, bestows gifts upon each of the heroes. She thoughtfully considers their needs and personalities. The only character for whom she has nothing special is Gimli the Dwarf, but she gives him the most intimate gift of all: three strands of her golden hair. It's hard to follow up on that kind of epic gift-giving in real life but Read more [...]

Lessons We Can Learn from Small Business Owners

One of the first pieces of financial advice my dad gave me when I started living on my own was to run my household as if it were a small business.  Sorry, dad, but it took me years to get the hang of that.  I'd never run a small business so how could I relate to the advice?  Dad meant well but that was one of those last-minute thoughts that need a lifetime of experience to make sense. Every small business shares one thing with big businesses and households: you have only so much income and Read more [...]

Remembering Special Women in History

We should not need a reason to commemorate women in history. I think it's sad about our heritage as a human race that we remember so little about individual women. Unless they were "great queens" or victims of horrible tragedy most women of antiquity are long-forgotten. The Greeks and Romans left us some stories about their women, but they were often relegated to the secondary pages of literature. Did ancient women truly accomplish so little or have we men just focused on our own achievements? Here Read more [...]

The United States is Much Poorer Than We Thought

The USA has the largest economy in the world.  We outperform every other nation.  And we act like we are the wealthiest nation on the planet.  But if you take away the top 1% of Americans suddenly we look a lot less wealthy.  If you ignore the top 20% of American households we look even more poor. According to economic data compiled by experts, 80% of American households earn less than $80,000 per year.  Those same statistics show that the median net worth of those 80% of families is less Read more [...]

Do You Want to Live Forever?

One of my favorite lines from the movie "Conan the Barbarian" was "do you want to live forever?"  I always wanted to say back to Sandahl Bergman, "Yeah, babe, I do!"  Of course I would sound silly if I said that in a theater.  Thank god some other guy geekier than me said it for me.  The audience had a great laugh! On a more serious note, while I realize it may not (yet) be possible to live forever, or even a really long time, we have done well in extending the human life expectancy.  Unfortunately Read more [...]

Investing Time, Sweat, and Money Pays off in the End

There is no debate about how the economy changes from century to century.  Only 200 years ago about 90% of all American families made their livings by farming.  Now, fewer than 10% of Americans call farming their main source of income.  And our farms are more productive than ever before.  We have long since turned the corner on the industrial revolution. Inventors and investors have turned their eyes from the wheels and gears and electro-mechanical engines of the 18th and 19th centuries to Read more [...]

Setting Goals is Important in All Parts of Life

I remember when I was in high school we attended a rally where some sportscaster came and spoke to us.  I guess he had been an athlete in an earlier life and had settled on a career in media after he left the sport.  He talked to us about "goal setting".  Goals are important.  I was talking to my son about setting goals and that talk came back to me.  I don't think I have ever thought about that speech much since leaving high school.  But suddenly as I was telling my son something important Read more [...]