Joel Cox

Episode 6 – Habits 1 of 4

Book: Making Habits, Breaking Habits By: Jeremy Dean

  • Habits are repeated behaviors with little to no conscious intention.
  • A minimum of ⅓ of our waking life is powered by our unconscious, where we operate on auto-pilot
  • A survey conducted in the 80s, at the University of Scranton, found 60% of  213 people surveyed, 

weren’t able to stick to their New Year’s resolutions.

  • Habits are strongly influenced by our environment
  • Training new habits requires patience
  • Most of our behavior is influenced by our unconscious mind
  • We register a number of clues, often without noticing it
  • Having certain routines makes us feel safer
  • Change a habit by replacing it with a different one
  • Performing actions unconsciously can lead to slips
  • Habits related to the Internet can turn into addictions
  • Use the WOOP method to form a new habit
    1. Wish – State what you wish to change
    2. Outcome – what do you wish to happen
    3. Obstacle – What will stop you
    4. Plan-  how are you going to overcome your obstacle
  • Adopt good habits and become happier
  • You can manipulate your habits
  • Determine your motivation.
  • Next, remember to repeat your actions, as repetition leads to automation. 
  • The Habit Loop
  1. Trigger
  2. Routine
  3. Reward 
  • The more you do a habit the more ingrained it becomes in your mind.
  • You can’t ever break an old habit.
  • You can manipulate the habit
  •  Hebb’s law and: Neurons that fire together, wire together.
  •  Quantum zeno effect. – a system can be frozen in its state, if continuously observed.

Episode 5 – Stoicism

The Mensch and the Machine – Episode 5 outline: Stoicism

Books

  • A guide to the good life
  • Meditations
  • Daily Stoic
  • Ego is the enemy
  • Letters from a stoic

What is stoicism?

Why is it having a resurgence now?

What you can control

  • A short list

Meditation

  • The observer/watcher

How to practice it?

  • Detachment
  • Emotions versus thoughts
    • Becoming a cyborg
  • Finances
  • Insults
  • Death

Episode 4 – Financial tactics

The Mensch and the Machine – Episode 4 outline: Financial tactics

Books

  • I will teach you to be rich
  • Richest man in babylon
  • Rich dad, poor dad
  • Total money makeover

Where did you learn about finances

  • Parental influence
  • School?
  • Books/blogs/etc.

Getting your house in order

  • Where is your money going
  • Budgeting tools that work
  • Envelope system
  • Basic money script
    • If you get an extra $100 how do you allocate it

Debt

  • Good debt/bad debt
  • Credit cards
  • Loans
  • Snowball method vs Higher APR target

Savings

  • Cash
  • Rate of return
  • Save for specific things

Investments

  • Retirement
    • Employer match
  • Assets

Next Week’s topic: Stoicism