Terry Storch Dispatch w04.2019
Dispatch w.04.2019
My older brother had a big influence on my music taste at a young age. My earliest memories have primarily a hard rock soundtrack. I remember being a 3rd grader, like it was yesterday, making my mom take me to buy my brother the Metallica Creeping Death laserdisc for Christmas. My passion and taste for music haven’t changed, it has greatly expanded. Today I love every type of music, except for modern country crap they try to pass off as "music". I lean more toward the heavy metal genre with Metallica being one of my all-time favorites.
When I discovered Metallica was coming to Tulsa, I mentioned it to Robin. Staying true to my frugalness trap, I told her that I wouldn't pay hefty the ticket price to go see them. Robin then did her brilliant magic and not only turned the tickets into a Christmas gift, but she also included my brother in the excursion! Yeah, my wife is awesome! Todd and I drove to Tulsa last Friday night and helped set an attendance record at the BOK Center! The show was amazing, and we had an absolute blast together. The setlist was excellent, and one of the most interesting elements was them not having an opening act, but having a comedian Jim Brewer do the pre-show entertainment. Jim called out the audience looking for the oldest and youngest rockers in the stadium. Any guesses? It’s crazy, the age range was from 72 down to 9 years old, and the stadium had a huge number of first-time Metallica concert attendees. LOVE IT!
Thank you, Robin and Tara, for making this happen. It falls squarely into my bucket of “Experience over Things!”
On the topic of experiences, I think one of the best opportunities my 17-year-old daughter Reia had at an early age was working. Reia, at 13 started working at her gymnastics gym as a junior coach. This pushed her to become responsible and over the years, she learned many great lessons in having to navigate parents and young gymnasts. This last week, Reese, 14, started her first job at the same gym. I am so excited for Reese to gather her own learnings and early experiences in the workplace. On this note, now that Reese has income, she hired a contractor to edit her LifeStyle Videos on her YouTube Channel. :)
A new experience for me is boxing. I have been actively lifting weights in the gym for a few years now and to gain the cardio I desired, added running into my fitness routine as well. I wanted to try something different for a sustainable workout, and boxing was the next step. I am now going to Western Avenue Boxing Gym and loving the super fun, but hard workout! One thing I am especially enjoying is the challenge of learning technique, which has been an exercise for both my brain and body.
This caught my attention:
"A meeting is nothing less than the medium through which managerial work is performed. That means we should not be fighting their very existence, but rather using the time spent in them as efficiently as possible." - Andy Grove
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Remote working has been a part of my life for over a decade. I primarily lead remote workers, but I do try and weave in working remotely myself on occasion. I really enjoyed reading this Fast Company article, How the era of the remote worker complicates management. There are some great takeaways and tips for us all. I need to get more consistent with working remotely, and it’s time to start scheduling that in.
The Opportunity Costs of Social Media is a good read by Unmistakeable Creative. It is easy to take these type of articles to the extreme - or even allow our general views to fall to the edges. I believe we will land in the messy middle and the tension won’t go away with Social Media, or technology in general. As humans, we will have to continually adjust and evolve in healthy ways to integrate new norms into our lives.
Finally, remembering John Bogle, who died last week at the age of 89. If you're not familiar with John, you can thank him for making the topic of investing simple and understanding for the average person. John was the founder of Vanguard and the visionary around the low-fee Index fund. I have owned Vanguard Index funds for as long as I can recall, and am thankful to John for his contribution in this area.
“My ideas are very simple,” he told the financial columnist Jeff Sommer of The New York Times in 2012. “In investing, you get what you don’t pay for. Costs matter." (Read more)