Something You Should Know - How to Create Excellence & An Easier Way to Financial Independence

Episode Date: April 16, 2018

Passengers get kicked off airline flights a lot more than they used to. Do airlines have the right to just give people the boot for any reason? This episode begins by explaining why you can get kicked off any flight for almost any reason. (http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/04/09/how-to-get-kicked-off-flight/?intcmp=HPBucket)  The idea of “creating excellence” really became popular back in 1982 with the publication of the huge, best-selling book, In Search of Excellence (https://amzn.to/2qAE2qB) . So how have things changed since then? Co-author Tom Peters joins me to talk about that as well as discuss his new book The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last (https://amzn.to/2H2XQdo). Tom one of those people who always makes you think so I am sure you will find this conversation engaging.    Which is better for your car – synthetic motor oil or conventional motor oil? To answer that you need to know the difference so I’ll explain that and tell you what the experts recommend. (http://www.costcoconnection.ca/connectioncaeng/20150910?article_id=1320613&pg=NaN#pgNaN)  In our culture, we are encouraged to spend money. It is often difficult to save money and spend cautiously. Vicki Robin, author of the book Your Money or Your Life (https://amzn.to/2JMV1il) shares some fascinating ideas on how to look at money differently and spend wisely so you still get you everything you really want and also have money in the bank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Something You Should Know, passengers seem to get kicked off of airplanes a lot more than they used to. Why? I'll explain. Then, understanding excellence from the guy who literally wrote the book on excellence, Tom Peters. You know, excellence is 98% about the little touches, not the big touches, because that's the kind of thing people remember forever and ever and ever. Plus, should you put synthetic or conventional motor oil in your car? I'll tell you what

the experts say. And, trying to spend less and save money. It can be a real challenge. It does create some problems. You know, like, come on, we're all going to go to the restaurant. You go to the restaurant and you just order your bowl of soup because you're being very careful. And then people say, well, let's just split it four ways, you know. So we live in a society that is not very respectful of financial prudence. All this today on Something You Should Know. As a listener to Something You Should Know, I can only assume that you are someone who likes to learn about new and interesting things and bring more knowledge to work for you in your everyday life.

I mean, that's kind of what Something You Should Know was all about. And so I want to invite you to listen to another podcast called TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks. Well, you see, TED Talks Daily is a podcast that brings you a new TED Talk every weekday in less than 15 minutes. Join host Elise Hu. She goes beyond the headlines so you can hear about the big ideas shaping our future.

Learn about things like sustainable fashion, embracing your entrepreneurial spirit, the future of robotics, and so much more. Like I said, if you like this podcast, Something You Should Know, I'm pretty sure you're going to like TED Talks Daily. And you get TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts. Something you should know. Fascinating intel. The world's top experts. And practical advice you can use in your life. Today, Something You Should Know with Mike Carruthers. Hi, welcome. You know, I've never

really had any bad, horrible flying experiences. I know plenty of people who have, but I've never had that. I've had some mediocre flying experiences and some even less than mediocre flying experiences, but nothing horrible. And I've had some good ones. Twice I've been upgraded to first class just because I asked. But certainly flying has changed over the years, and I think most people agree it's just not as fun as it used to be. One of the things that's changed is that the flight crew often has to get involved with and monitor and even discipline passenger behavior.

And what you may not realize is that the flight crew has a great deal of discretion as to who gets kicked off an airplane. So if you don't want to get kicked off an airplane, here are a few things to remember. Don't kid around. If you make jokes about bombs, plane crashes, guns, or assaulting people, that's one of the quickest ways to get you tossed into an interrogation room and then you miss your flight. Don't swear.

That can be and has been deemed as disruptive and get you tossed off the plane. Don't act like a jerk. Jerkiness can be another word for disruptive and off the plane you go. Don't stink. Airlines have the right to remove you from the plane if you emit an offensive odor. Don't wear offensive clothes. When you buy a ticket, you enter into an agreement with the airline called the contract of carriage. You've probably never read it, but it's all in the fine print there. For example, Southwest Airlines' contract of carriage clearly states that it can refuse to transport or remove passengers for all kinds of violations,

including those whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive. So if you want to keep your seat, behave yourself. And that is something you should know. One of the most read, talked about, and status quo-altering business books to ever come out was the book In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in 1982. In that book, that resonated so well at the time, was this idea that there were some companies, and they identified several of these companies, there were some companies that conducted their business differently.

They were excellent companies because they focused on the details. They took really good care of their own people. They had better customer service than their competitors. And consequently, they were more profitable. These were companies like McDonald's and Intel and Walmart. In any event, the idea of excellence made a lot of sense to a lot of people at the time, and that concept of excellence really took off. Today, many years later, In Search of Excellence author Tom Peters is still around,

and he has come out with a new book called The Excellence Dividend, meeting the tech tide with work that wows and jobs that last. Hey, Tom, welcome. It is a pleasure to be here with you. So what's changed since the days of In Search of Excellence? I mean, well, obviously lots, and you've written several books, but is there some fundamental differences now in terms of the approach? Is excellence still what it was and something to strive for?

Give me the lay of the land. Well, the answer is, everything has changed, and nothing has changed. I know that's the cheapest line known to humankind. The nothing has changed part of it is people are people. And the things which motivated people in 1982 when my first book, In Search of Excellence, came out are the things that motivate people today. I'll give you one tiny same-same example because, you know, people ask me, what is excellence? Well, I can answer that.

Here's excellence. I happen to be a fan of Southwest Airlines. I'm flying from Albany, New York to Washington, D.C. I'm in the airport. It's early in the morning. The pilot is coming from a flight down the hall a bit that was late. And as we all know, the kind of pressure that's on those folks is just unbelievable. I'm standing at the gate. There are five or six wheelchairs, you know, waiting to be wheeled down. Pilot comes to the gate. Pilot turns to the woman in the first wheelchair and said, would you mind if I took you down the jetway? I have been on roughly 7,500 flight legs, and I have never seen a pilot, particularly one who was under pressure because of a late arrival,

turn to the first person in a wheelchair and push them down the jetway. Now, that's the kind of thing people remember forever and ever and ever. And so it's, you know, excellence is 98% about the little touches, not the big touches, because frankly, and you know, there's research which shows this, it's the little, you know, it's the little tiny examples like that that stick in your head. And here we are now, you know, talking about it on your podcast. So that's absolutely the same. You know, the everything is changing part of it is the number of things you've got to try, the number of experiments you've got to run has just gone through the roof. And the other thing that has changed, you know, relative to the average employee, if you will, is there's a term. I don't think I started it.

I don't know who started it, but it's learn-a-vore. You've got to have an insatiable appetite, and that has to do with 100% of people in the workforce. And let me just give you an example, which again, kind of like the jetway thing I really love. So my wife and I have a sub-zero refrigerator, and there's a compressor problem. And the guy who has a little, a local appliance operation, tradesman, if you will, five or six people working for him, comes out. He is, my eyeball would suggest, about 45 years old. We're chatting. And in the middle of the conversation, he says that on his own nickel, he just got back from a full two-week course on Internet of Things software. But I love the idea that he's not 23, he's 46,

he hasn't got a jillion dollars, but he knows that he has to invest and invest heavily and invest regularly in re-education. And that to me is, he's my role model numero uno. So I wanted to ask you, because you would probably know better than most, I've been doing this podcast and the radio show before that for a long time and talk to a lot of business people who talk about excellence in business and what makes a good business a good business.

And it's always the same examples. It's always the same examples. It's always the same players. Let's look at Southwest, Apple, Intel, Virgin. It's always the same players. And maybe that's just because people like examples they've heard of. But do you think that there's a lot of lip service paid to excellence, but not a lot of companies do it, and that's why we keep coming back to the same ones? Yeah, well, that's my fault and the fault of the people who do what I do. The answer is, I think that excellence is pleasantly widespread. But here's the problem.

The so-called management gurus, and I despise that term, all tend to act as if the world consisted of the Fortune 500. The reality is that 80% of us work for smaller businesses. Nobody covers smaller businesses. Let me tell you precisely what I'm talking about, okay? I dedicated my book to about a dozen people, but there are three people in that dedication who stand out for me, and they are, in my opinion, the answer to your question. One of them is a guy by the name of Larry Janeski, and he has a company called Basement Systems Incorporated. It's headquartered in Seymour, Connecticut. Maybe you know the town because you were a Connecticut guy. It's a $100 million business. He basically cleans the mold out of basements. It means that you add a room to your house or two, a family room, an extra bedroom, whatever it may be, in the basement business. And his motto is all things basement-y, he has got

29 patents, among other things, and he's built a $100 million company. And he's my excellence hero. The next excellence hero who the book is dedicated to is Jungle Jim Bonamino. There was a wonderful book that came out a half dozen years ago called Retail Superstars, the 25 Best Independent Stores in America. And Jungle, as he prefers to be called, Jungle is in Fairfield, Ohio. He runs a thing called Jungle Jim's International Market. People literally come from all over the world, something like 1,900 wines from $10 a bottle to $8,000 a bottle. And among other things, and I would rather win this if I was a business person

than any other award on the planet, he won about two or three years ago the award for America's best bathroom. So, and you know, he's got just a really great going concern. So why the hell don't people like me and mine write about Larry Janeski of Basement Systems, Inc., write about the jungle gyms and so on, and we're just blind. But the great news is for the world, for America, what have you, is that there are hundreds or maybe thousands of these companies that are the mid-size invisible companies, and they are adding jobs. So I'm having a wild, mad, unabashed love affair with those folks.

And they are not the ones who make it on radio, and they are not the ones who make it on TV, but they're real heroes. I'm speaking with Tom Peters. He is co-author of the legendary best-selling business book, In Search of Excellence. And his new book out is called The Excellence Dividend, Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last. You know, a great website can say so much. It can be the focal point of your business or organization or your passion or your hobby. But you're likely under the impression that building a great website is hard.

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Since I host a podcast, it's pretty common for me to be asked to recommend a podcast. And I tell people, if you like something you should know, you're going to like The Jordan Harbinger Show. Every episode is a conversation with a fascinating guest. Of course, a lot of podcasts are conversations with guests, but Jordan does it better than most. Recently, he had a fascinating conversation with a British woman who was recruited and radicalized by ISIS and went to prison for three years. She now works to raise awareness on this issue. It's a great conversation.

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The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jennifer, a co-founder of the Go Kid Go Network. At Go Kid Go, putting kids first is at the heart of every show that we produce. That's why we're so excited to introduce a brand new show to our network called The Search for the Silver Lightning, a fantasy adventure series about a spirited young girl named Isla who time travels to the mythical land of Camelot. During her journey, Isla meets new friends, including King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and learns valuable life lessons with every quest, sword fight, and dragon ride.

Positive and uplifting stories remind us all about the importance of kindness, friendship, honesty, and positivity. Join me and an all-star cast of actors, including Liam Neeson, Emily Blunt, Kristen Bell, Chris Hemsworth, among many others, in welcoming the Search for the Silver Lining podcast to the Go Kid Go Network by listening today. Look for the Search for the Silver Lining on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, Tom, perhaps one of the reasons we hear mostly about the Southwests and the Apples and the Virgins is because people like examples of companies that they've heard of rather than... And it helps for me to write about companies that people know about. So yeah, no, I'm willing to let both of us off the hook, but relative to your question of is there excellence around,

and the answer is there is a hell of a lot of excellence around. And you said at the beginning of this discussion, giving the example of the pilot, that it's 98% the little touches. Is that what these guys do? It's the little touches that make them excellent? Absolutely. You know, there's no question about that, that that is the tiny thing. I mean, the ultimate little touch is America's best bathroom, right? And, you know, what they've done on the human side, what they've done on the physical side or what have you, those are the memorable things.

And I do want to say one other thing to add to that. If you want pilots who push wheelchairs down the jetway, you have to have the right culture and you have to hire the right people. Colleen Barrett is the former president of Southwest, and she says we hire for listening, caring, smiling, saying thank you, and being warm. And she will then wag her finger at you and say that is at least as true for the pilots and the mechanics as it is for the people who are the flight attendants or the people at the front desk inside. And with an attitude like that, the odds go up that folks will provide memorable experiences

for customers. There are plenty of businesses that we've all experienced on a daily basis that have people who don't smile, who don't say, they have people who are horrible. And why is there just a shortage of people who get it, that it's better to add the little touches? Is this a person problem or is this a business culture problem? Well, to some extent, I think it's a business culture problem, because when you,

at some level, it would be interesting to do the research, and somebody probably has, when you say business, you still think of people not quite with new technologies, but you think of the accountant with the green eye shade whose only interest in life is to cut costs. Let me give you a wonderful example of what people don't do. This has a good chance of blowing your mind. Fortune has a list of the 100 best companies to work for in America. It comes out every year. It's about 20 years old.

Only 12 companies have been on the list for the entire 20 years. First of all, which I love, seven of the 12 are not the apples. They are in retail and hospitality. So you can do this stuff in what people tend to call lower wage industries. But here's the kicker, and they just did this last year. So we have 12 repeats for 20 years, right? And they are now looking for commonality, and they found one, one and only one dimension of commonality, and as bright and as seasoned as you are, you probably are like me and you wouldn't get it in a hundred guesses. Their one commonality is significant employee benefits, comma, for part- timers. And places like Publix, the grocery people have something like, I don't know, 20 or 30,000 part timers. They get health care benefits. They get to buy into an

employee ESOP, an ownership plan. They get 12 or 13 vacation days off a year. And one small indicator, the degree to which it works, and this gets back, I think, to your attitude thing, the average frontline turnover in the grocery industry is 50%, 5-0. Average frontline turnover at Publix is 5%. So, you know, somebody at Publix has got a real different view of what a grocery store can be like. I know a lot of people think that there are certain businesses where this kind of lends itself, like that if you're just selling widgets, you don't have to really go the extra mile because it's just a widget. But, you know, it isn't really true, is it? I mean, it really, those little touches. I just bought tires. I just bought tires. And I've had terrible experiences with tires.

And I bought a set of tires at Discount Tire Center in Pasadena. And it was a great experience. And who would think that buying tires could be a great experience, but it was. It was great. Well, and you're not average, but look at what's happening. You're talking about it to a big audience. And I've got the same experience where I live. A good friend of mine, my wife and I have only been in the same place for a couple years, told me about a car mechanic who works for the Midas chain.

And the guy is God. You know, my wife had a, she has about a three-year-old Audi and she had an indicator light, which I guess happens all the time with the new software that came on. And it fundamentally said, run for your life, the car's about to blow up. And so she went through hell and gone. And so she got home from a trip and we went over to see our guy, right? So he calls a day later and says, look, what I found is covered by warranty. You don't want me to have the car. You want to take it back to your Audi dealer.

But meanwhile, and here's the catch, he refused to charge us anything. And he did, I was talking to people about it, he did three or four hours of work to determine what her problem was. And here I am talking to you about it, and it can be done. And you don't maximize the value on this particular transaction, but for heaven's sakes, you've got a line of people who want to come in and do business with you,

and the average auto repair in today's world is probably $700 or $800. And the next time your car has something that's out of warranty, guess where you're going? Absolutely. Absolutely. And guess where my friends are going after I've told them about this guy. So here's what I want to know, and that is, every entrepreneur, every business owner, everybody else has a story like we've just been talking about, like my tire story, your car guy story. And they may have businesses where there isn't a lot of excellence. There isn't a lot of touches. Why doesn't, when they have that experience, a light bulb go on and think,

wait, we could do this at my business. Why doesn't that happen? I am going to give you, let's see, a five-word answer. Beats the hell out of me. I mean, people have asked me your question over and over, and I've been doing what I'm doing for 35 years. I don't have a good answer. Well, get one. Get one, get one quick.

I do have a good answer in a way, but it's a horrible answer. I quote a guy in my book, and he's a consultant, and he's sitting down next to the CEO of a sizable company, and they're doing some kind of an annual review, and the annual review is loaded with stories of developing people and so on,

and it's just good news followed by good news, and it's also bottom line good news. is loaded with stories of developing people and so on. And it's just good news followed by good news, and it's also bottom line good news. And the guy who reports the story says that he turned to the CEO at one point and he asked your question. He said, well, why doesn't everybody do this? And the CEO's answer sounds silly, but I'm not sure it is. And the CEO said, you know, I'm not sure, but I think they're embarrassed. You know, it should be about spreadsheets.

It should be about P&Ls. It should be about another $7 million of investment in technology. And when it turns out to be people stuff, or when it turns out to be somebody who goes the extra mile or the extra eighth of a mile, it just doesn't register. You know, that sounds right. That does sound exactly right. It's not business-y enough.

Yeah, hold that sentence and service market. It's not business-y enough. I think, you know, I'm delighted to be doing this interview with you. You came across. You're the interviewee. I'm delighted to be doing this interview with you. You came across. You're the interviewee, I'm the interviewer. Yes, that is exactly what it is. It is not businessy enough. When a pilot pushes a wheelchair down a jetway, that's not what a pilot does. Yep.

Feel free to use my sentence, it's not businessy enough, in the text or the title of your next book. Tom Peters has been my guest. He is author of the legendary 1982 business book, In Search of Excellence, and his new book is called The Excellence Dividend, Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last. There's a link to his book in the show notes. Thanks for being here, Tom.

Well, terrific. I have enjoyed the conversation. People who listen to Something You Should Know are curious about the world, looking to hear new ideas and perspectives. So I want to tell you about a podcast that is full of new ideas and perspectives, and one I've started listening to called Intelligence Squared.

It's the podcast where great minds meet. Listen in for some great talks on science, tech, politics, creativity, wellness, and a lot more. A couple of recent examples, Mustafa Suleiman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, discussing the future of technology. That's pretty cool. And writer, podcaster, and filmmaker John Ronson, Thank you. Just the type of person Intelligence Squared is meant for. Check out Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts. we count down our top 10 lists of all things Disney. There is nothing we don't cover. We are famous for rabbit holes, Disney themed games, and fun facts you didn't know you needed, but you definitely need in your life.

So if you're looking for a healthy dose of Disney magic, check out Disney Countdown wherever you get your podcasts. Money is one of those things I think we all struggle with sometimes. How much should you save? Are you spending too much? What should you spend your money on? Where should you save it? And while Tom Peter's book, In Search of Excellence, was a landmark business book a few decades ago, a book called Your Money or Your Life was a big financial book a few decades ago. The book has now been updated for 2018 by author Vicki Robin,

and she's here today to give you a really unique perspective on how you deal with your money, why you buy what you buy, and how to be more conscious of the purchases you make. Hi, Vicki. Welcome. Thank you. It's good to be with you. So you want people to think differently about their money and think more deliberately about how they spend their money. Because why? What is it that you want people to really understand about this?

Understanding that we're buying money with our time. Once you understand that it's a trade-off and that you have other things to do with your life other than just make money. And so just to consider when you go and spend money, you say, how many hours of my life does this item cost? I did a show with Oprah where we did the whole calculation and she and I pretended we were shopping. But everything was, you know, that we were on a girlfriend trip in the weekend. But everything was labeled in terms of hours of my life, not money. So, you know, this little blouse that's on sale was still 20 hours of my life.

Once we talked about that, people change. But I would also imagine that habits form and they're hard to break when it comes to money. And if you grew up doing the other thing where you just buy because you think it's going to impress people, that's a hard habit to break. Yes, it is a hard habit to break, but we're not breaking a habit. We're introducing consciousness, and that's slightly different. When you introduce consciousness into an automatic habit, you know, we call these our gazingus pins, the things we buy that we're completely unconscious of.

We already have them. We have a drawer full of them. We have, you know, we already have this thing, but in the presence of your gazingus pin, whether it's new linens or makeup or tech or, you know, tools for your, whatever it is, you know, if you introduce consciousness into that and you say, am I getting value in proportion to the hours of my life I'm investing to get the money to buy this thing? Introducing consciousness actually changes the habit without any self-deprivation. As a matter of fact, you think, oh, I'm saving my life. I'm not spending money on this. I've saved some of my life.

I've saved some hours of my life that I can have for the other things that are important to me. My story, actually, I used to be a smoker. And there was a day when I realized what it was costing me, like I was not being able to breathe well. And I had this spontaneous insight that I could become a non-smoker. In other words, I wasn't somebody who was a smoker who was trying to not smoke. I changed my identity to somebody who didn't smoke. And I stopped smoking. It wasn't a struggle.

And every other time I tried to stop smoking because I was still identified as a smoker, I couldn't do it. So that's what I mean about this sort of consciousness about changing what spending money means to you. It's not, you know, your reward for a hard week at work. It's actually buying your next hard week of work because you're going to have to work to make the money to buy that thing. Changing the signature of money in your life actually is transformative. One of the differences, though, between how you spend money and, say, changing your identity to a non-smoker is everybody's going to encourage you to do that, to change from a smoker to a non-smoker, but a lot of people are not going to encourage you to keep your money because, hey, we're going on a trip. You want to come? You got to come. Come on.

It's only $500. And so you go because you don't want to be the odd one out and you spend money that maybe you shouldn't have. It's hard. I mean, you're absolutely right, is that when people get onto this and they start to wake up and they start to value their time rather than, you know, valuing the ability to just spend unconsciously, it does create some problems. You know, like, come on, we're all going to go to the restaurant.

And you go to the restaurant, you just order your bowl of soup because you're being very careful. And then people say, well, let's just split it four ways, you know. So we live in a society that is not very respectful of basically financial prudence. We live in a society that encourages imprudence. And so when you start to exercise that muscle, yes, you're going to be counter to some of the habits of your friends, and you might have to make new friends, or you might have to simply tell your friends, not that I don't have the money, not that I couldn't come with you. I would love to come with you. But, you know,

in my budget, this is like beyond my means in my budget. I've already spent that part of my budget for, you know, travel or whatever. And so maybe next time. I can imagine somebody listening to this saying, you know, this sounds like so much drudgery and you're sucking all the fun out of my life. I can't go on trips. I can't buy the things I think I want. If I live like you, I'm going to be sitting in my house like a hermit and not doing anything in order to save money. I guess I do sound like that, but that's not the point. The point is basically how do I have everything I want and need and nothing in excess? Because you realize that the money you're spending comes out of the hours of your life. So I'm not saying if you want to go on trips, if you want to go on limited trips,

every time your friends want to go on a trip, you want to do that, then that's a good thing for you to spend money on. I'm just saying, take a look at the places where you're spending money and it's not bringing you happiness. And by and large, when people introduce this consciousness, it's not deprivation. It's sort of like a treasure hunt, actually. It's like, where in my life am I absolutely wasting money that I don't need to spend? I'm going to like shore it up there. I'm not going to deprive myself

of one thing that really makes me happy. No, no, no. Not one thing that really makes me happy, but then you have to say what makes me happy. So yeah, go on the trips or whatever it is that is your joy, but just eliminate the spending that doesn't serve you. Yeah, that's a better message, yeah. And it's harder because unlike your smoking example, it's not, you're saying, you know, spend the money that you want to spend, but when you quit smoking, it's not like, well, have a cigarette when you want to. It's all or nothing. It's all or nothing. And so, but you're not saying all or nothing with the money,

it's do what's important and don't do what isn't. Right. And so I think that there is a habit in our society, it's called, we're called a consumer culture. You know, we're not citizens anymore in a democracy, we're consumers in a marketplace. And so consumption is raised up as the, almost like the religion. And so consumerism is like the religion of buying things, of meeting your needs through purchasing things, whatever it is, like an airline ticket or a new car or whatever. So what we're saying is that you can wake up from that religion and have a different religion called enough. I have everything I want and need. I have nothing in excess.

My status is that I don't have anything in excess. My status is I don't have a garage full of stuff. My status is I don't have a closet full of stuff and I can't find anything in it. My status is that don't have a closet full of stuff and I can't find anything in it. My status is that I have enough. So you're basically changing what your status symbol is and you're taking control of your life. You're saying for me, what matters to me, you can look anywhere in my life and you're going to see what matters to me. You know, if I say what matters to me is my kids, you're going to see me spending money on my kids and spending time with my kids. If I say what matters to me is being

civically engaged, you're going to be able to look anywhere in my life and see that, that I spend my time and my money on things that help me do that. You know, so it's really the question of what brings me joy and doing that and investing time and money in that and just not investing any time and any money in anything that doesn't bring you joy or doesn't feel like it's on purpose for what you want to do in your life. conquered the spending part of this, I think a big question a lot of people have is, all right, so now that I'm not spending the money, I'm saving the money, what do I do with it? Where do I put it? And I know you have steps that you take people through that helps them put the money where it should go. Right. Well, so, I mean, the first one is what I've been talking about is freeing your mind is like taking back your sovereignty as a human being and investing your time and money only in things that really express who you are and make you happy. Right. So that's freeing your mind.

And then the next level is getting out of debt. And for some people, that's going to be a lifetime activity. But maybe, you know, for some of our listeners, that's going to be something they can accomplish. So we get out of debt. And then basically the next level is having enough savings in the bank to be able to weather like six months of upset in your financial life. Having that cushion is the next level of financial independence is something that a lot of people don't put in there, which is your abilities, the things you can do for yourself or do for other people, being competent. The more you can do for yourself, the more competent you are, the more financially independent you are.

Also, it's building your networks. You know, more you can share with other people, this whole network, you know, whole systems of giving and receiving that we have in our families and our communities, that all is part of your foundation. So let's say you've got all that and you've now got more money. So it's investing in a way that will produce an income for you and be relatively secure. So where are people putting their savings? Well, a lot of people in this movement, it's called FIRE, Financial Independence Retire Early, this FIRE movement, a lot of people are putting in index funds. But I also recommend that you consider socially responsible investing. There's lots of companies

that will help you out with that. I do local investing. I invest in businesses in my community. I'm trying to build a more vibrant local economy through investing in local businesses. I've invested in some solar companies. I invest for the technologies that I think are in our future. So basically, there's a whole bunch of ways that you can invest your money that will produce an income and be relatively shielded from the giant winds of financial ups and downs. How do you invest in local companies? Do you just knock on the door and say, hey, you guys need some money? No, the way I do it is we have a network, and there's more and more communities doing this.

We have a network of people in our community who have money to invest, who would like to invest in local businesses. And so local businesses that would like investors or lenders will just put a letter of interest into this network. And anybody in the network who wants to invest in that business can do it. So I've invested in a pet store and two restaurants and in two farms, you know, and a solar array. I mean, I'm very committed to sustainability, to a way of life that can be sustained now and into the future that isn't depleting our capacity to thrive in the future.

So these are my interests, and so these are the types of businesses that I'm responding to. Well, you certainly have an interesting way of looking at money and dealing with money, which has clearly resonated with people since your book came out many, many years ago. And it is now new and updated for 2018. The book is Your Money or Your Life. It is by Vicki Robin, who we've been speaking with. And if you'd like to get her book, there's a link to it at Amazon in the show notes. Thanks, Vicki. Yeah, thank you. Thank you

so much. Have you ever gone to get your oil changed in your car and the guy says to you, do you want conventional motor oil or do you want synthetic motor oil? And if you're like me, you'd say, how would I know? Well, before you can answer the question, you need to understand the difference between conventional motor oil and synthetic. Both of them start out as crude oil, but to make synthetic motor oil, the crude oil is distilled, purified, and broken down into its basic molecules. That process removes more impurities and can be customized to provide higher levels of engine performance than regular oil. Synthetic oil is also designed to work better

in very hot and very cold conditions. It also costs more than conventional oil, so the question is, is it worth it? Many experts say so. For one thing, it will keep your engine cleaner and resists the formation of sludge, that thick goo that's formed when motor oil is exposed to high heat for long periods of time. It will also allow for longer intervals between oil changes, as much as 15,000 miles. And this isn't only for new cars.

Even if you have an older car, synthetic oil offers the same benefits to the engine as it does in newer cars. And that is something you should know. You can reach me by email anytime with questions, comments, or just to say hi. My email address is mike at somethingyoushouldknow.net. I'm Mike Carruthers. Thanks for listening today to Something You Should Know. Welcome to the small town of Chinook, where faith runs deep and secrets run deeper.

In this new thriller, religion and crime collide when a gruesome murder rocks the isolated Montana community. Everyone is quick to point their fingers at a drug-addicted teenager, but local deputy Ruth Vogel isn't convinced. She suspects connections to a powerful religious group. Enter federal agent V.B. Loro, who has been investigating a local church for possible criminal activity. The pair form an unlikely partnership to catch the killer, unearthing secrets that leave Ruth torn between her duty to the law, her religious convictions, and her very own family. But something more sinister than murder is afoot, and someone is watching Ruth.

Chinook, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Sanaa Lathan. Listen to Chinook wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, this is Rob Benedict. And I am Richard Spate. We were both on a little show you might know called Supernatural. It had a pretty good run, 15 seasons, 327 episodes. And though we have seen, of course, every episode many times, we figured, hey, now that we're wrapped, let's watch it all again. And we can't do that alone. So we're inviting the cast and crew that made the show along for the ride.

We've got writers, producers, composers, directors, and we'll of course have some actors on as well, including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers. It was kind of a little bit of a left field choice in the best way possible. The note from Kripke was, he's great, we love him, but we're looking for like a really intelligent Duchovny type. With 15 seasons to explore, it's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to Supernatural then and now.