Hey everyone,
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here is your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics, a list of what I’m doing and checking out that could be useful to you. Subscribe right now and I’ll send you my current top three essays (for free).
Welcome to the one new subscriber receiving this for the first time this week (176 total). I hope to overdeliver compared to what you paid to be here. In other words, as long as this provides more than $0 of value, you made a fine choice.
We are growing at a snail’s pace right now and that’s OK. This is where I get to prove to myself if writing is more important or if building an audience is. Ideally I’d like to kill two birds with one stone but we can’t always have our cake and eat it too. OK, enough with the old clichés.
Essay I wrote last week
S&Me > S&P. I had a blast writing this one. I’m not sure why the topics of personal finance, investing, and money in general fascinate me, but they do. Brooke (my partner) told me I should have been a financial advisor. Maybe in the next life?
I wrote about the best investment you can ever make. But for some reason rarely gets talked about. One that will deliver a ROI of 100%/year instead of 10%. Don’t believe me? Click here to see if I’m crazy or if everyone else is.
New anti-morning routine I’m experimenting with
For the past five years or so, I’ve been obsessed with perfecting my morning routine. I convinced myself it was the only thing standing between me and greatness.
It started out with a harmless five minute meditation. But eventually got to the point where I had to wake up hours before work. Making sure I checked off all my boxes - meditation, sun exposure, cold shower, five minute journaling, reading, writing, exercising, and even a few affirmations. Insane? Yep. Helpful? Debatable.
So I quit them all. I’m starting over from scratch. An anti-routine of sorts. I thought it would ruin me, but turns out I’ve been just fine. Maybe better? Too early to tell.
My current morning consists of waking up, feeding my pup, pouring a glass of water, and sitting down at my desk to write. I should probably add brushing my teeth back in. Hold on.
Ahhhhh. Minty fresh.
Let me know in the comments if you’re interested in hearing how this goes once I’ve given it some more time.
What I’m listening to
The Mamas & Papas - California Dreamin’. I heard this song playing from Brooke’s phone and it captivated me. That’s rare. But this song was different.
I gravitated towards her and realized it was coming from a TikTok. I begged her to find the song on Spotify. It played on repeat seven times until we got to Goodwill. I wasn’t upset.
Service I’m splurging on
Instacart grocery delivery. I know I’m late to the party with this but my Sunday’s have improved tenfold.
I used to think it was a waste of money until I realized how much time it took to grocery shop. And even worse, the mental anguish starting Saturday night. Knowing that the Sunday scaries included a trip to the store.
Never again. As long as I have two pennies to rub together, groceries will be delivered. The $15 extra it costs is made back immediately because I don’t impulse buy all kinds of unhealthy crap (gummies, chocolate, and cheetos). And above all, it gives me a significant portion of my Sundays back so I can do more useful activities like take a nap or binge watch an entire Netflix show.
Random thought
Half of your life is below average by definition.
That’s it for this 23rd edition of Arman’s Antics. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to drop by.
Make sure your inbox is warmed up for my new essay delivered straight to you on Thursday.
A terrific Tuesday to you and yours!
Cheers,
Arman
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