Despite getting into the cold plunge trend last summer (not so much this year), I still hate cold water. So, when it came to getting into Lake Michigan on our first trip to the beach while we were in New Buffalo this week, I was tip-toeing my way in. The water wasn’t actually that cold for Lake Michigan, but it was cool enough I wasn’t excited about jumping in. That was until Roman gave me the motivation I needed to get in without thinking about the temperature. Being the good big brother he...
about 15 hours ago • 1 min read
“Managing our stress and our rest is a sign of living wisely. Refueling as a way to find joy, to create pleasure, and to celebrate life in the midst of all its demands fills our hearts with renewed hope. When we take the time to breathe, listen, and rest from the daily grind to see miracles bubbling up in our lives.” -Sally Clarkson See you tomorrow and keep pursuing, JC
3 days ago • 1 min read
While everyone was sleeping this morning, I walked to the local coffee shop to write today’s note–it was going to be about running straight into the cold water of Lake Michigan instead of tip-toeing the way in. But then I met Ken while waiting for my iced Americano to be made. Instead of writing my note, I left my MacBook in its sleeve and talked with Ken about life, his retirement, the vision he had for being a “beach bum” that he is now living, parenting, and sports. It was an extremely...
4 days ago • 1 min read
“How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health!” — Henry David Thoreau We are heading up to New Buffalo, Michigan, for our annual family vacation at Lake Michigan. While I’ll still be doing some work while I’m up there–the downside of being an entrepreneur is not fully being able to step away from work, but the minor downside is more than worth it for me–the week in New Buffalo is usually one...
5 days ago • 1 min read
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” -Epictetus Long-time readers will remember that my creative collective, PRST, stands for Passion, RELATIONSHIPS, Self, and time. When I saw this quote from Epictetus make its way across my IG feed, I smiled because the importance of who we surround our Selves with has been known for a very long time. Yet, so many of us keep people around us who do not call forth our best. It’s hard to live your...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Happy Saturday! If you've seen some of my social media posts over the past couple of weeks or paid attention to the Daily Notes, you know there have been a lot of dots being connected and new doors being opened in my mind, helping me better understand my purpose, path, and the concept of the authentic life. I'm excited for a podcast appearance to drop sometime this weekend with my friend Grace Nikae---there are a few dots connected in the moment and for everyone to see during our...
7 days ago • 3 min read
Yesterday while sitting at Roman's basketball practice, I finally took the time to write out something I've been thinking about for a while. I love hosting the LifeDesign+ podcast, a love that started when I launched the All About Your Benjamins Podcast back in January 2018. When I first started AAYB, my goal was to have on other financial professionals who would end up being on Michael Kitces' Financial Advisor Success Podcast (the most popular financial advisor podcast) in the future--just...
7 days ago • 5 min read
For me, one of the most important aspects of life to protect is my freedom. As an entrepreneur, I’ve been fortunate to experience a lot of freedom and different types of freedom–freedoms that have tradeoffs, but freedoms nonetheless. Prior to launching RLS Wealth, I had some of these freedoms, but in lesser amounts, so I can remember what it was like to be more constrained. Freedom of time.Freedom to work with clients I want to work with.Freedom to not actively grow my firm.Freedom of...
8 days ago • 1 min read
How do you define wealth? Do you look to the monetary definition or do you look at other areas of life? For me, “rich” is related to income, assets, net worth etc. Rich has nothing to do with the quality of life, contentment, a sense of purpose, relationships, or a number of other factors that I think we can all agree are what life is really about. Wealthy, on the other hand, is related to pretty much everything “rich” is not. I’ve never considered pillars of wealth, but thanks to a new...
9 days ago • 1 min read