How to Get 1% Better Without Burning Out (SB1797)

Summary

Episode Summary: "How to Get 1% Better Without Burning Out" (SB1797)

Podcast: The Stacking Benjamins Show
Date: January 30, 2026
Host(s): Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, Paula Pant, Doug
Guest: David Gillis (Speaker coach, military veteran, founder of the 1% Better Conference)

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Episode Overview

In this lively roundtable episode, Joe and OG are joined by Paula Pant (Afford Anything) and special guest David Gillis to discuss practical, sustainable ways to improve yourself—financially, professionally, and personally—by getting “1% better” each day. The conversation blends the classic Stacking Benjamins humor and banter with useful life strategies, as guests draw on their diverse backgrounds in finance, self-improvement, and coaching. Key themes include setting boundaries, channeling energy into growth, and avoiding burnout along the path to improvement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 1% Better Philosophy

• Definition: Small, continual improvements compound over time to create meaningful change.
• David Gillis describes his motivation for the upcoming 1% Better Conference:

  “It’s about life related... What do you want to do in life and how do you want to get there?” (07:21)

• Themes Explored:
  • Self-awareness as the foundation of improvement
  • Creating supportive communities to foster growth
  • Merging financial independence with broader life aspirations

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2. Limiting Energy Drainers

• Paula Pant highlights digital distractions:

  “The majority of my energy draining comes from various screen time activities... Social media is the big one.” (14:08)

• Strategy: Use tools (e.g., Freedom app) to block addictive apps and create friction to discourage mindless scrolling.
• OG extends this to relationships:

  “You have to reevaluate with whom you spend your time... We all have relationships that have been around for a long time. It’s good and comfortable, but it’s not growing." (23:25)

• Practical Steps:
  • Audit and minimize sources of fatigue (screen time, negative people, unprioritized commitments)
  • Recognize the difference between time and money commitments when saying "yes"

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3. Seeking Out Energy Enhancers

• Gillis introduces the “energy fire hose":

  “There’s... the opposite [of energy vampires]. I would say energy, like, a fire hose in a good way... Find those things that kind of help you just move toward that better.” (17:17)

• Try New Things:

  • Paula discusses her leap into stand-up comedy classes as a form of personal stretch (29:05)
  • David shares his experiences with Toastmasters and improv to build confidence and communication

• Curate Your Circle:

  • Seek out and learn from others doing “amazing things” across different fields (26:36)

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4. Intentionality in Growth

• "Do Inner Work" (45:28)

  • David emphasizes regular self-reflection and understanding personal blind spots.
  • Paula focuses on the challenge and value of “silencing the chatter” and letting your mind go quiet (46:42).

• Build Systems for Rest & Creativity:

  • OG: “You have to have had time off… in order to be creative in your role, I think that puts a little different spin on the time that you do spend not doing the thing you do for work.” (47:06)
  • Citing studies: 15 minutes in nature supports mental health (50:36)

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5. Strategies and Habits to Get 1% Better

• Limiting Draining Tasks:

  • Use tech barriers, schedule social media windows (15:26), and recognize when saying “yes” leads to overcommitment.

• Journaling & Reading:

  • Both are highlighted as habits to foster ongoing growth.

• Nutrition and Physical Well-being:

  • Prioritize rest, outdoor time, and healthy food choices as the backbone of performance, not an afterthought (49:59).

• Experimentation and Identity:

  • “Part of becoming 1% better is being that thing that you say you’re working at.” (32:14)

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6. Books That Fuel Incremental Improvement

• David Gillis: Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
• Paula Pant: 48 Laws of Power

  “It illustrates the world, not as you want it to be, but the world as it is and helps you understand the way that people operate...” (54:49)

• OG: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, 1776 by David McCullough
• Joe: The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz

  “Don’t manage your time, manage your energy.” (60:17)

• Doug: Indestructible by John Brunning and a favorite Jimmy Carr quote:

  “The thing you want is on the other side of the thing you don’t want to do.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On saying “no”:

  “I think I am somebody who says yes too often... If your to-do list isn’t prioritized, you’re not leading it, it’s leading you.”
  — David Gillis (18:12)

• On curating relationships:

  “Cluster of misery. Actively stay away from people who are clusters of misery, as my coach calls them.”
  — Joe (24:09)

• On creative challenges:

  “To stand at a microphone and monologue… that is a completely different skill set.”
  — Paula Pant (29:05)

• On “owning it”:

  “Part of becoming 1% better is being that thing that you say you’re working at… I am a comedian.”
  — Joe (32:14)

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Important Timestamps

• Opening Banter & Episode Setup: 00:00–06:00
• Intro to 1% Better and Guest David Gillis: 06:00–09:00
• The Concept of Limiting Draining Activities: 12:14–19:11
• Impact of Social Media & Tech Barriers: 14:08–16:44
• Embracing New Experiences & Community: 26:36–30:49
• Comedy and Growth Stories: 29:05–32:14
• Intentional Self-Reflection: 45:28–46:42
• Rest, Rejuvenation & Nature: 47:06–50:36
• Book Recommendations: 53:06–58:18
• Closing and Conference Details: 63:59–65:23

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Focus on incremental progress: It’s the small, sustainable changes that lead to transformation, not heroic leaps.
• Energy management trumps time management: Seek to spend more time on what energizes you and less on what drains you.
• Curate your influences and environment: From your relationships to your routines, everything shapes who you become.
• Intentional inner work is vital: Self-reflection, quiet, and regular goal-setting keep you grounded and growing.
• Experiment and redefine identity: Step into the identity you’re pursuing—even before you completely feel ready.
• Bookend your journey with learning: Read widely and reflect often for continual improvement.

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Related Links

• 1% Better Conference info
• Afford Anything Podcast (Paula Pant)
• Stacking Benjamins Podcast home

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For New Listeners

This episode is a great showcase of The Stacking Benjamins Show’s blend of humor, real-world wisdom, and personal finance smarts—proving growth doesn’t have to be grim, and that fun, functional improvement is possible one day (and 1%) at a time.

Transcript

[Joe]

You heard of this thing, the eight minute abs?

[OG]

Yeah, sure, eight minute abs. Yeah, the exercise video.

[David Gillis]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Well, this is gonna blow that right out of the water. Listen to this. 7 minute abs.

[Doug]

Live from the basement of the YouTube headquarters, it's the stacking Benjamin. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor Doug, and all this week we've been focused on helping you produce your best, most creative and outstanding work. So today we wrap it up with a roundtable discussion where we ask the question, what can you do to be 1% better every day? That'll bring in the Benjamins. But that's not all, of course. At the halfway mark, we'll pause to see who's gonna win this installment of our year long money trivia challeng. And now a guy who never met a money challenge he didn't love, It's Joe.

[Joe]

Nothing more fun, Doug, than a money challenge, really, to get you focused, a lot of people did the survivor January with their food. January of course ending well right now doing survivor January, people doing all kinds of no spend challenges. Like a challenge is a way to maybe be 1% better, which is exactly what we're talking about today. So we're super happy that you're here with us. Sit back and relax. You found us. And man, we are recording this during snowmageddon across the United States. And Doug, you are not in the basement today. You are a little bit north, eh?

[Doug]

Yeah, we just call it Friday, Joe. Like it's not in Michigan. It's just a normal January and Friday. Not that big a deal.

[Joe]

It's not like life in texarkana where it's called freaking out the two days a year that we actually have this stuff. But we've got an action packed show, you know, on Monday. So let me set this up first. On Monday we talked about better decision making. Do you trust your gut? How many times have you gone, well, my gut says I should do this, and then you don't do it and then I should have trusted my gut. Or do you trust the data when you make decisions? Turns out we found out a lot of science says you need both, right? You need your gut to verify the data. Does it really work for me? And then you also need the data to go, okay, my gut was probably wrong on that one. On Wednesday, we talked about where good decisions come from. Where do good ideas come from? How do you get a little more creative? How do you come up with those things? Help you, your team, your family, whatever it might be. Stack more Benjamins talked about that and on Friday, then we're going to have our roundtable team. Now this is what I thought was a good way to end the week, Doug. We'd have our roundtable team now dive into what they do to be 1%. These are busy people, you know, These are not gurus. Well, one of them is on being 1% better all the time. But they're people that have to manage their time well. They have to think about how do I bring more to the table. So let's start off with a guy across the table who tries to be 1% better every. He's right now he's working on being a 1% better plumber than he was last week. Mr. OG is here.

[OG]

This is not the being a 1 percenter. That's not what I dreamed of. This is not it.

[Joe]

Not the 1 percenter you were hoping for.

[OG]

This is not the. They told me it would be a different thing. Something about taxes and being rich, not frozen.

[Joe]

It can be both, though. It could be both. You could be 1% better until you are.

[OG]

In case anybody cares, you should make sure your pool runs when it's freezing for four days. Oh, FYI, just a public service announcement. It's like the thing from NBC, right? The more you know, you learn the hard way.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[OG]

We just had an electrical malfunction and it is all snowballing downhill.

[Joe]

Ah, I see how that works.

[Paula Pant]

Hold on.

[Joe]

Thank you.

[OG]

I'll be here all week. Folks.

[Joe]

Doug and I got a photo of OG with a piece of broken plumbing pipe which looks two pieces.

[OG]

Yes.

[Doug]

That's not a euphemism for anything. It was. It was actually pvc. Oh, it was full of ice.

[OG]

Yeah. That broke off that side of the house. That was great.

[Joe]

The woman who's had plenty of time to think about this because she's been snowed in for three days straight, so she's all about thinking about how do I get 1% better. Paula Pant is here.

[Paula Pant]

I am here, and I am 1% better at knowing how to deal with the snow. I saw this machine the other day. I've never seen anything like it. Someone was hand pushing.

[Joe]

It was a truck with a plow on the front. I had no idea.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, I've seen like snow plows, but I've never seen something that they were hand pushing it. And then snow was just like clearing out of the way. It was a hand push plow. Yeah, like a sidewalk plow.

[Joe]

So you immediately you're buying one, you're getting your Own.

[Paula Pant]

Oh, I don't have that kind of storage.

[Joe]

Hard pass. No. But you weren't out there in Central park making snow angels today.

[Paula Pant]

Oh, I would like to go to Central Park. I haven't journeyed that far yet. I've been stuck in the, you know, in the middle of the afternoon. I'm stuck working like a chump. I know, right?

[Joe]

Oh, geez. How do you get 1% better at not doing that? Seriously, that's maybe what we do today. And a guy who spent his career helping other people be 1% better. He's gone to military bases and taught them how to be 1% better. He has worked with tons of people. He also runs TedX in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. David Gillis joins us. How are you, man?

[David Gillis]

Thanks, Joe. Yeah, I'm excited to be here and I'll say I don't run TEDx, but I'm a speaker coach for them the last five years for Oak Omaha.

[Joe]

But, but don't you like how I promoted you? I promoted you. The guy who's the brain behind Ted.

[David Gillis]

I'm. Yeah, I'm kind of a big deal, if you didn't know.

[OG]

Founder, CEO.

[David Gillis]

Yeah. Just living the cold life here in Omaha. It feels like I was stationed back in North Dakota. Like I dropped a can of Celsius yesterday and it, I was going to clean it up but like it immediately froze. It was so cold. It felt like I was like the minus 60 back in North Dakota and a station up there. But this is not normal. I think this is not used to it.

[Joe]

How cold is it in Omaha right now, David?

[David Gillis]

I think we had some negative temperatures. We haven't got as much snow as it sounds. Like some of you all have. We got snow, but it is cold. The teeth hurt when you go outside and you laugh at the pain.

[Joe]

I feel like with all this talk about the weather. Welcome to Traffic and weather on the eights. Doug with the Stacky Benjamin show. But David, 1% better. You're so passionate about helping people get 1% better that you said, I'm not stopping with helping people with their next TEDx talk. I'm not stopping with going to military bases and helping people. I'm going to make a conference about it. Tell us about the 1% better conference that's coming up.

[David Gillis]

Yeah, I think just in my career I've been somebody who's done a variety of things from GP in the military and since then teaching classes on communication, decision making, helping people improve performance. It's really that self awareness, critical thinking and I'm Kind of a quieter guy in general. And it's kind of led me to, I felt figured out I need to get better. I'm going to start teaching these classes. And that led me to helping with TEDx, local nonprofit and just amazing people out there. And then I've been doing some money coaching for a while. So it just really is the combination of the financial independence community, the TED community and just everybody is on their own journey in life and it's so important that we help them through that path. And I think it's such a challenge sometimes when people feel like they're all alone. But I want to create that community that I've enjoyed through those campfires or fin cons or economies or others. But just kind of a combination of not fully money related, but it's just about life related. What do you want to do in life and how do you want to get there?

[Joe]

I like the idea of taking these two passions of yours, the money passion and the getting, the self improvement passion and fusing them in this unique way. And that's it's going to be February 21st and 22nd Omaha. So coming up quick.

[David Gillis]

Yes. Yep, coming up quick. And I'm excited for all the speakers coming in. I'm glad you're, you're coming in to be able to talk, Joe. I appreciate that. And I've got some other like some former TED speakers and others talking about like resilience, communication. My partner with it is somebody I coached a couple years ago and he's a, he's a magician, a mentalist and he's just a great on stage. So he's just kind of think about embracing failure. I think we all are challenged with that a lot of times and I think it's always important to kind of set ego aside and just excited to try new things and he's going to maybe show some sleight of hand and other things and other things.

[Joe]

You're just going to have him magically make the whole audience 1% better. Is that what you're going to do?

[David Gillis]

He is, but I think we were all 1% different. Better. I guess I don't know how to say that, but differenter. Yeah. He wanted to end his TED talk like balancing a spoon on his nose. And it wasn't even just the round part of the spoon, it was like the end of the spoon and me being a very, I'd say a risk averse person in general many times and it made me nervous. But he's like he had learned that over the years and he ended up balancing a spoon on his nose to end this TED talk and still talked about it and how learning random things like that that don't seem like they make, they're not purposeful for life. But he said just any learning anything new, I think that's so important and it kind of sets your mind, it creates openings for new adventures. And I think that I'm excited to do that with him.

[Joe]

The process of, of learning, the process of getting good at anything. By the way, Doug can balance a spoon as well. He fills it full of food and shoves it in his mouth and it's amazing how it balances inside his mouth. It's incredible.

[David Gillis]

His stomach and his center of gravity.

[Joe]

Balances it then in his stomach. It's amazing. We got great show today. We're going to talk about how these fine people, David, Paula and OG try to be 1% better. I found a great piece on this. But first we have a couple sponsors who help us keep on keeping on. We're going to hear from them and then we're going to dive into helping you practice getting 1% better in your life.

[OG]

This is pro linebacker TJ Watt. And I'm back with YPB by Abercrombie for another activewear drop. My second co design collection has new shorts and top tanks that keep up with all my in season workouts. And their new restore collection is a game changer off the field too because even pro athletes like me need rest days. Shop YPB by Abercrombie in the app, online and in stores because your personal best is greater than anything.

[Joe]

American Skyjacker tells the story of DB Cooper copycat Martin McNally who hijacked a plan plane and jumped out with $500,000. But that's just the start of this epic true crime saga. Now American Skyjacker is an action packed documentary available on all major platforms. Go to americanskyjacker.com to subscribe to the podcast and watch the film. And look out for a new bonus episode of the podcast coming soon, American Skyjacker. Follow and listen on your favorite platform foreign. For today. Well, heck, it was David coming on and the conference coming up. But I'm like, you know what? We need something to kind of rally around a piece that we can talk about. This comes to us from betterup. Betterup.com and this is specifically how to improve yourself every day, 20 days, 20 ways, rather 20 ways to be better. And I know Paula, you're doing like a 50 day thing right now, aren't you? 50 days to being better with your money or 50 ways to leave your money worries behind.

[Doug]

50 ways to lose your money.

[Paula Pant]

52 weeks. So it's a year long thing where you do one thing a week, every week of the year.

[Joe]

Yeah, really kind of the same, the same type of principle, but we take one and we kind of practice it for a week and hopefully we build a little muscle. But looking at the 20 Ways to Improve yourself every day, diving into these, did you like any of these or did you have kind of a different take on where to, where to begin your task of getting better at something?

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, I loved them. A lot of these tips, I mean, they talk about not doing things that drain you, you know, doing less of what drains you, doing more of what energizes you. They talk about getting good rest and eating nutritious food and going outside to touch grass. And it's like a lot of it sounds very basic, but it is a reminder to get back to the basics because it can be so easy to, to forget about it. I mean, like we just talked about, I live right by Central park where we've got this beautiful snowstorm. Have I gone to Central park in the last two days? No, that's a failure to get outside and touch grass or in this case, snow.

[Joe]

Yeah. I want to start with that first one that you mentioned because that one hit me hard too. It's number 14 on this list. By the way, if you don't have it in front of you, stacker, don't worry about it. We will put it on our show notes page@stacking benjamin.com but we're going to describe these as we go. This idea, Paula, of limiting activities that drain you, it seems like every time I've worked with a coach, but my main coach, Mary Lou and I, when we meet three times a month, the very first thing we always focus on is eliminating energy drainers. Like that is her first. Before we talk about additive, we talk about what's draining you and how do we get that crap out of your life. It is, it is. So I don't know if the words insidious or just it's. It's horrible when you got this energy drainer out there, like getting rid of that changes the game. How do you try to limit your energy drainers?

[Paula Pant]

So I've personally found that the majority of my energy draining comes from various screen time activities. Social media is of course the big one. When I block social media from my phone, I use the Freedom app. I just substitute that with some other drain. So If I don't have social media, then I'm binge reading the news. And then when I set a timer on that and block that from myself, I. I've limited it to 12 minutes a day now. Then I set that timer and I block that for myself. But then I. It's just, it's the next thing. Cal Newport had talked about how one of his students, when he challenged his students to do this, he eventually limited thing after thing after thing until one of his students just started obsessively checking the weather app, you know, because it.

[Joe]

Was all that was left.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, exactly.

[OG]

The weather in Boise right now. Just so you guys know.

[Doug]

I haven't.

[Joe]

Been to Tokyo in a while. Let's see what the weather's like over there.

[Doug]

She's spamming the Ring social app. There's a dog loose.

[Paula Pant]

Exactly.

[Joe]

What's this app, Paula, that you're talking about? Because a lot of our stackers maybe haven't used it.

[Paula Pant]

Oh, okay. It's called Freedom. And Freedom allows you to block apps from yourself. So I have it set up for Instagram threads. I've taken Twitter off my phone entirely. So Instagram threads. What's the third one? Well, whatever is left on my phone.

[Joe]

The other one?

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, the other one. I never go on Facebook anymore. Twitter is desktop, laptop only. Insta threads. There's one other one. I've blocked those three for myself. I alternate with the way that I set it up. So there have been times in the past where I only have the a window from 8pm to 9pm, and that is the only possible window of time in which I can use it. I don't set a calendar reminder for that. And so typically what'll happen is I'll look at the clock and it's 9:07 and I'm like, oh, darn, missed the window for today.

[Joe]

Can't do it till tomorrow.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, exactly. That means I have to wait for another 23 hours until that window reopens. And so for a long time, yeah, I had it set up like that.

[Joe]

I think that's cool. Sometimes the friction is the key. By not having the calendar reminder to check social media, then it creates even more friction, which helps push it out of your life.

[Paula Pant]

Exactly. And so recently I decided to just hard block all of them. So about a week ago, I just completely blocked myself from Instagram entirely. So just 24 hours a day. It's done, no more. And my friend Nomadic Matt, who's probably been on the show, what he does is he deletes the apps and then whenever he wants to use it, he redownloads it.

[OG]

Little barrier to entry, I guess.

[Joe]

It totally is og. I was thinking the same thing.

[Paula Pant]

And so by redownload then he has to put in the username, put in the password. There's like all this friction when you redownload the app back onto your phone. He says he'll do that. Like if he's going to the gym and he wants to like use the app between sets. He will actually redownload an app just for that.

[Joe]

Yeah. That's fabulous. David, this idea of energy drainers, I have to believe that you hear this quite often that social media, huge energy drainer for a big part of your community.

[David Gillis]

I think it is for everybody in the world now. I mean it is life, it is social media is out there, but it's taking control. I think is what we're talking about here is not letting it control us. And I did have that markdown that limit activities that drain you. Like Paula mentioned, there's the opposite one that identify activities that energize you. There's the yin and the yang there. And I like to think of it as, I mean you have an energy vampire. The vampire is going to suck that energy out of you, the people or things. But there's also the opposite. I would say there's like an, I would say energy like a fire hose in a good way. Like it helps you kind of energize you, it builds you up, make sure that you don't have some type of flame out or burnout and try to find those things that kind of help you just move toward that, that better.

[Joe]

I want to get back to what that is in your life. But on energy drainers, besides social media, what drains you, what in your life is something where you're like, you know what? I got to get rid of this.

[David Gillis]

I think I am somebody who says yes too often. And I think that's something I've had to have a challenge with. I think there's people that say yes too much and people that say no too much. And I've been both of those in my life. But recently I think it's about prioritizing. It's the whole checklist or to do list, to do list. Everybody write their to do list. I like to do list. But they're not prioritized and they're not organized. You're not leading them, they lead you and you get that little dopamine hit. Like sometimes I've even like written out something I've already Done so I could line it out so it's something. Give me that little dopamine hit. It's crazy, but it's.

[Joe]

I should eat breakfast. Just did it. Bam.

[David Gillis]

Sort out well. So it's. I think it's just being aware of what I'm saying yes to. I mean, I add things that aren't even on the agenda that too often. So try to use some AI, some ChatGPT to saying, okay, help me prioritize things or whatever it is. It's how do I do things that build me up and don't bring me down.

[Joe]

It's interesting because I think about sometimes the money decisions that we make often end up being money drainers, not because of the money we spend on it, but the time commitment that it also entails. Like as an example, anybody who's been a fan of the show for any length of time knows my board game addiction. When you buy a game, you're not just spending the money for the game. You're committing hours of your life to this activity, which means all the other activities then get squeezed out. You know what I mean? Often we think things are a money decision when they truly could be a time decision. And I'm saying yes to this new time commitment, which could be far bigger than I had originally thought that it, that it was. Oh, gee, when it comes to social media, you ex that one off. I know that when saying yes to things, you block out very clearly. Heck, you and I are partners on the podcast. And you'll go, hey, it's family time. Can't answer you now. I'll talk to you later. Like you very clear about those boundaries. But what still isn't energy.

[OG]

Just with you. By the way, everybody else, Paula texts me all the time. I'm like, hey, babe, what's up?

[Joe]

So thank you.

[OG]

Are you having dinner? I don't want to interrupt dinner with the family. Like. No, it's cool.

[Joe]

No, it's great. I'll talk to you anytime. Paula. Yeah. What's something that's still draining you that you're trying to get rid of?

[OG]

Well, I can't let you say that I got rid of social because I did very consciously. The first of November was my three year anniversary of not being on it. And so I was like, all right, I'm going to go back on it, which is he's back, baby, heroin addict. Being like, I know this is really bad, but damn, it was good when it was good. So I'm gonna get some more. And to this day, I mean. Cause I'LL play on Instagram or on LinkedIn. I don't have Facebook or Twitter, but I said the other day I was reading something on LinkedIn and I was like, these are all the same things that everyone else is saying over and over and over and over again. Obviously on LinkedIn, there's a bunch of financial people that I follow or that are in my feed, and that's just kind of the group that I'm. That I'm in. And if I saw one post about things you should do in January with your money, I saw 700 of them. And I was like, this is so ridiculous. And at the same time, I saw a comment, I don't remember where it was from, if it was a podcast or something. It was basically alluding to the fact that you spend all of your time and energy listening to content that you already agree with, instead of trying to find content that you disagree with, just for no other reason than just to hear a different side of something, whatever that thing may be. And it could be something like money, it could be something like politics or religion or social issues or whatever the case would be. So I'm very consciously now in the process of going back to what Paula said and just deleting everything again because it's just such a time suck. I think for me, the biggest piece on outside of that, which is, I think probably true for a lot of people, is social media stuff. For me, it's really kind of around relationships, you know, And I think we spend a lot of time with people or we have the propensity to spend a lot of time with people that we've always spent time with and don't necessarily sit back and go, am I here just because I like being here? Or am I here because we're all rowing the boat in the same direction and we can pick each other up or whatever the case may be. And that could be something. Again, back to money. It could be your money group of people and you are, you know, all talking about the same stuff, or you're all dealing with the same stuff and you don't really have any vision for what the future looks like. It could be something around, like, health, where it's like all of us are not exercising and we all talk about, you know, instead of like hanging out with bodybuilders, you know, like, that would change your perspective on that pretty quickly. I read something the other day about Warren Buffett was so against losing money that his weight control plan was he wrote his kids checks and said, if I don't weigh this by this date, I will sign the check. That was his motivation to, like. Because his kids were like, dad, you should have some cake. You should have some brownies. You should have some ice cream. And he was like, I can say no to that. So much easier when I know there's a defined amount on the line, you know? And I thought that was pretty interesting.

[Joe]

That would be negative feedback all day from your family. Dad, a donut.

[OG]

Donuts are good donuts. I think just reevaluating with whom you spend your time in different areas and just being cognizant of it, I think is more important than anything. We all have relationships that have been around for a long time. Friends or whatever the case may be. It's good and comfortable, but it's not growing. You got to be really, really cognizant of that. Or just be okay with it. Just be like, I'm good with this. I like hanging out with this person. I know we're not solving the world's problems. And these conversations. I got a different group for that.

[Joe]

Yeah. But, you know, going in, you're like, okay, this is the way this relationship's gonna go. It's not a piece of, like, lifting.

[OG]

Me up, by the way. Doug, just real quick afterward, can we chat for a quick minute?

[Doug]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[OG]

My unrelated.

[Joe]

My coach also would bring this up OG which was clusters of misery. Like, she was like, actively stay away from people who are clusters of misery, she'd call them.

[OG]

That's a great word.

[Doug]

That's why you don't call me anymore.

[OG]

Yeah, it's really hard because whatever topic, we just use money. Because we're talking about money. If you're struggling with money or maybe you didn't get the bonus you thought, or you didn't get the pay raise you thought, or you didn't get the promotion you needed or wanted or. You know what I mean? It's pretty easy to kind of have a little bit of a pity party with that, and that's fine, right? Like, you can have that. But then when you get like, two or three people around that. That, like, group think of, like, yeah, you're right, man. This totally sucks, man. We should. This.

[Joe]

This place blows.

[OG]

And, you know, Bob's an idiot and like, all this other sort of stuff. It's like that mob mentality really, really, really escalates quickly. And if you don't catch just spirals bad in a hurry.

[Joe]

It's what happens on social media. Right. Because it feeds us stuff that we're already inclined to Think so then we get that group think. But in real life, it's so much worse because now we're getting that interpersonal.

[OG]

Get that reinforcement.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[OG]

Because your buddy who also didn't get promoted isn't going to be like, well, you know, if we worked a little bit harder next year, maybe we could. You know, there's not any, like, logic in that conversation. It's going to be all like, yeah, man, you deserve it, and you got screwed. And that just. That's not good either.

[Joe]

David, you mentioned the fire hose. Like, things that light you up, Right? Things that are exciting. This has to go for people that light you up and people that are exciting, too.

[David Gillis]

Yeah, I fully agree, like, with OG and talking about the relationships is so important. And I mean, I spent my career in the military, and that was my circle of people that I hung out with most of the time. And then. But since then, I think I've really got involved with other organizations and other people. And I think it seems like as you get older, either you go internal and don't add to your list of people that you hang out with, or you go the opposite. And I think I've really gone the opposite even, like with these TED Talks or people that I've helped with the nonprofit. I mean, I'm helping and coaching from a doctor who teaches improv comedy to somebody who has dementia, somebody who's in prison, to my PhD in microbiology, orchestra conductor. I mean, it's really, I think, opened my mind to other circles and other ideas. And the whole. The algorithm, as some were alluding to, is the social media algorithm. Everything online, it feeds on what they think you like. But I think it's about being, I'd say purposeful, being proactive. And it's really like, really raised me up and being around just amazing people doing amazing things. And I think I'm just very lucky to be able to part of that organization and people that are doing good things. Even the financial independence community, there's people. It's not necessarily just about money topics. It's about life topics. It's about what do you want to be when you grow up. I'm 50 years old and I'm still thinking about that. And it's fun to think about. To me, just to raise each other up.

[Joe]

Just watching you from afar, David, and the little bit that we've gotten to know each other, it seems like that is very intentional. Like you're pushing yourself to do things that are pushing the envelope, which kind of excites you and makes you Want to get out of bed in the morning to be intentional about learning these new skills. But do you remember where that came from or where that started? Like, was there a first mover when you were maybe a teenager in your 20s or heck, maybe even 40s, where you went, wow. By tackling these new skills, I got a bigger reason to get out of bed in the morning.

[David Gillis]

I think I've had multiple pivot points in my life. Some good, some not so good, or even just leaving the military wasn't something I had planned at the moment. It was something early retirement was offered. And I wasn't planning on retiring at that 15 year point, but I was given the option to do that. And then I still had some debt and I felt out of control in that moment. It was like, I don't know what to do and how to go to where I want to be. And I remember taking some personality tests and I was like, very hardline, introvert and quiet. I was the quiet kid on the bus growing up who didn't talk. I mean, that was my life. It was frustrating to not get things that I wanted or not be able to speak my truth. And so I started just going to different Toastmaster clubs. It's a speech club to help me learn to speak better. I started teaching and being around people that are doing great things. I mean, even took improv comedy classes just to try to be in the moment because I'm. I'm very analytical, I'm like very organized and saying I need to plan things out. And you can't do that in improv. You can have some practice, but it's about being in the moment, about supporting each other. And it's a very positive community in the improv community also, I just think.

[Joe]

It'S really cool and so healthy to go, you know what? This is not. My natural reaction is to do improv. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do improv. Like, Paula, you're taking comedy classes right now, and I think about hearing your stories about comedy classes. Talk about also pushing the envelope on something that. Don't get me wrong, I've always thought you've got a good sense of humor, but comedy's like, next level.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah. Stand up comedy is completely different than anything I've ever done before because I. I feel like I can be funny in conversation when there's that back and forth. But to stand up at a microphone, Doug's like, as someone who has conversed with you, as long as there's a.

[Doug]

Drink in your hand, Paula, you're comedy gold.

[Joe]

Or dug a drink in your hand, then she's comedy gold.

[Paula Pant]

Exactly right. But to stand at a microphone and monologue, right, without anyone, you know, without there being any kind of an interplay, that is a completely different skill set. But that's been cool. And David, to your point, there are plenty of people who are in the class who are similar to you, like kind of shy. They've never really been on stage before, necessarily never done any public speaking, and that's the reason that they signed up. And then you've got the far other end of the pendulum. You've got the class clown who is the extrovert and the over extrovert and is always cracking people up. And all of their friends told him, like, you should be a stand up comedian. So you've got this combination of like both ends of the, the spectrum, both sides of the extreme are all in the same class together, learning from each other and playing off each other and doing the same shows together. It's very cool.

[Joe]

That's cool. Just learning from people that aren't like you and trying to push yourself to do something a little bit different. And oh my goodness. I just think about, like if joke one doesn't go over when you're on stage, you know, because if joke one goes over, then you. It's a little bit like the, the ball rolling downhill. But if joke one doesn't go over, trying to stay in it.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah.

[Joe]

And not have any memory of that until the next one, like it's going to be hilarious, man. It's so hard.

[Paula Pant]

Right?

[Doug]

You're right, Joe. Ask me how I know.

[Joe]

Because joke one's never funny. Is that what you're saying?

[Doug]

That first joke doesn't go in the first episode, man. Rough.

[Paula Pant]

You know the other thing that was an unexpected benefit. There's this comedy club in New York. They had a holiday party in January. Almost every single person I met, their first question was, oh, are you a comedian? You know, it wasn't, oh, what do you do for a living? It was, oh, are you a comedian? I mean, it was because we're the holiday party of a comedy club. A lot of the people there are professional comedians. But I had never been in an environment where that was the default assumption. And so being in that kind of an environment where the assumption is that you're a professional doing this thing, that's actually very, very difficult to be a professional in. It was a cool renormalizing of what could be possible.

[OG]

Paula, you obviously had to have said, no, I'm a finance blogger and podcaster. And they went, good one.

[Joe]

Who would do that?

[Paula Pant]

My response whenever they said, are you a comedian? I was like, I'm comedy curious. And they're like, what do you do? And I'm like, I'm a podcaster. And then they look really excited and they're like, what do you podcast about? And I'm like, finance.

[Joe]

And it's gone.

[Paula Pant]

You could just watch their face fall, like, oh, yeah.

[Joe]

You know, it is funny, though. I mean, part of becoming 1% better, I think is, is being that thing that you say that you're working at. Like, David, you help people become a speaker. Like, instead of saying, I'm working at speaking, I am a speaker. I'm working at comedy. I am a comedian. A comedian. I was watching on social media yesterday, said that he said early on in his career, he kept telling people, I'm trying to get into comedy, I'm trying to get a comedy. He goes, when I change my mindset. And instead of saying, I'm trying to get a comedy, I said, I am a comedian. You know what happened? I became a comedian. I think there's that aspect too. Just absolutely own it. We're gonna dive into and I hope already stackers, you've gotten a lot out of this because I think beginning with this idea of getting rid of those energy joiners, those clusters of misery are so important in being better so you can clear the way for growth. But then second, starting to look at the people that light you up and the things that light you up. And we're going to dive into some of those in the second half of today's show. But at the halfway point of every stacking Benjamin's episode, we have trivia. On Fridays, we have a year long trivia competition between our three frequent contributors, Paula, OG and Jesse Kramer. And David, today your team, Jesse Kramer, which means some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want first, David?

[David Gillis]

Go with the good news.

[Joe]

Well, the good news is you are tied for the lead, my friend. So you have one point, OG has one point. And shock of shocks, Paula is behind which for those of you that are new here, I know that's shocking to you because Paula is incredibly smart, but when it comes to trivia, she's trusted her gut way too. Paula, you got to go back and listen to our Monday show about trusting your gut. And you probably shouldn't do that. Just saying, just saying.

[Doug]

Last week we flat out told her whatever your gut is about to tell you. Do the opposite. And she didn't do it.

[Joe]

She didn't do it. So today, maybe, maybe it's going to change. In fact, we record these live on YouTube. Dividend gypsy hanging out with us at Team Paula. Hashtag, this time is different. So maybe everybody has dreams. Dividend Gypsy. We have a new construct this year. If you're familiar with our trivia, or even if you're not, which is our frequent contributors can do something called a margin call. So at any time during the time that Doug is giving his trivia question, somebody can say margin call against someone that has a point. And if the person that gets margin called does not win the trivia that week, they lose a point. And on the other side, if you say margin call and the person does get it right, they are the winner of trivia. Well, then the person that called margin call gets the margin call. And they lose a point. Yes. David, you're going to guess first because Jesse is our current champion. Oh, Gee's going to guess second. Paula gets the benefit. She said the benefit over and over, and it still has no of guessing last. But we need a trivia question. So, Doug, what's going on on this day in history?

[Doug]

Hey there, Stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And today we celebrate the birthday of the president responsible for the biggest social program in US History, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Of course, Roosevelt was president during incredibly turbulent times. Between World War II, a nation struggling financially and socially. Social upheaval. It's amazing how alike we are. In fact, I'm working on this podcast. Struggle is so real, people. It's so real. And at the grocery store yesterday, somebody asked me, paper or plastic? I know. It's like, do I have to make all the decisions around here? For God's sake, somebody else, Somebody else step in and be responsible. But the Social Security has helped tons of Americans and experience at least a little retirement. Here's today's question. As of 2024, what amount was the average monthly Social Security check a recipient received? Recipient received. It's like a whole double. Anyway, I'll be back in just a moment. This Social Security talk's got me thinking. Maybe Joe's mom could give us an allowance for all the work we do around here. For all the work we do around here, Ma.

[OG]

God.

[Joe]

That may not end well for Doug, but while he's asking about getting an allowance, we'll ask you this question. David, you're up first. Average Social Security check in 2024 for a recipient.

[Doug]

It's like being born on third base. David, don't screw this up. You showed up here out of the blue, and you're. You've already got practically a lead, so you can nail this.

[David Gillis]

I don't want to get Jesse mad at me, too. We're talking about. I don't want him to hulk out on me and get angry, like, you know, Jesse all the time.

[Joe]

Just such an angry dude all the time.

[Doug]

Bad man.

[David Gillis]

I don't want to brag or anything, but I tied for third place in a bar trivia contest recently, so there was at least four teams in there and had my wife answering questions for me. So I don't want to brag or intimidate anybody. So the average monthly Social Security in 2024, that's average monthly. I'm not quite to that age yet. I'm getting close. I should figure this stuff out. I will go with $2,700.

[Joe]

$2,700. OG what do you think about that answer?

[OG]

I think it's very reasonable for somebody that hasn't looked into Social Security yet. So it seems a little high average in 24. 2024. I think the average is a little closer to $1,834.

[Joe]

1834. So he's going a little lower, David, than you went. Oh, boy. Paula, it's that time.

[Paula Pant]

Oh, no. Okay.

[Joe]

2,700 for David. 1834 for OG Ouch.

[Paula Pant]

All right. So when I heard the question, the fir. My gut.

[Joe]

Who cares what your gut.

[Doug]

No, this is important. We need to know exactly what the gut is so we know if she went in the other direction or not.

[Paula Pant]

Exactly. Exactly. The gut said somewhere between 2 to.

[Joe]

3,000, and that's where David is.

[Paula Pant]

I mean, really, I could anchor off of either of those guesses and capture most of that. Most of that range.

[Doug]

You just think all you want, Paula. You just take all the time you need. Just go right ahead. We'll wait.

[OG]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paula Pant]

No one's doing anything for the next hour, are they? Nope.

[Joe]

Jesse, by the way, hanging out with us live on YouTube. He's on Team David right now.

[David Gillis]

Team David, Team Jesse, Team Hulk.

[Joe]

We've got all caps.

[David Gillis]

You can do it.

[Paula Pant]

Okay. OG years was 1834.

[OG]

I want to believe I said 1864, but I could have said 1834.

[Doug]

You said 34. Got it documented in the spreadsheet.

[OG]

Okay.

[Paula Pant]

All right. Okay. I'm going to go against my gut and say 1835.

[Joe]

1835 takes the top end of the middle or the bottom half of the middle. Between 1834 and 2700. All right.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, that's the anti gut choice.

[Joe]

Let's see why. What was your gut?

[Paula Pant]

The gut was between 2 to 3,000. So I would have gone like 26.99 kind of anchor in that middle 2000s.

[Joe]

Gotcha. Okay. We will see if Paula's gut was right or if we have a different winner. We'll be right back.

[Paula Pant]

This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsored jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast.

[Doug]

It's a simple way to make sure.

[Paula Pant]

Your listing is the first candidate. C. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a 75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply.

[OG]

Get ready for the rush with Max Crosby.

[Joe]

It's time.

[OG]

Don't miss the behind the scenes moments everyone's talking about.

[Joe]

Regardless of what they say.

[David Gillis]

I'll take the fine.

[Paula Pant]

I don't care.

[OG]

All pro defensive end Max Crosby takes. Takes you beyond the field with exclusive insights.

[Joe]

I could say this because I've played them.

[OG]

This is the Rush.

[Joe]

You guys already know what time it is.

[OG]

It was fire.

[Joe]

And we'll be right back on the pod and we'll be talking about it next week.

[OG]

The Rush with Max Crosby. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

[Joe]

David, you kick this off with 2700 bucks. Paula thinks you're right in there, but OG certainly doesn't. Do you feel confident from being the.

[David Gillis]

First time here and what I'm hearing saying Paula and you need to go opposite of your gut. So I'm your gut. So is that. I'm not sure what that means, but maybe it's high. I need to start researching, I guess.

[Joe]

A little bit, but you got some time. You're 50. You're good.

[David Gillis]

Been closer. I mean, was this saying that the days are long but the years are short? I think it's going along.

[Joe]

It is sad how quickly that escalator moves. Oh, gee, 1834. But Paula took the upside. You feeling good?

[OG]

Yeah, I think Paula's got it.

[Joe]

Oh, wait. What? Paula, you liking that?

[OG]

I thought it was like 1850 or 1900 or something like that. It's right there. You did say 2024, so maybe there's some big increase in 25 that I'm not thinking about. But. But I, I think Paul is a lot closer.

[Paula Pant]

Well, and someone in the chat, someone said, hey, go right in the middle. And I, you know, I hadn't thought about that. That would have also been a good strategy.

[Joe]

It's funny because it's rarely a good strategy. But maybe on this one, who knows? We need an answer, Doug. We need answers. So why are we turning to Doug? I don't know. But, Doug, give us the answer, man.

[Doug]

You want answers? You can't handle the answers, Joe. Hey there, Stackers. I'm guy who asks the questions and guy who gets shot down when he asks for an allowance. Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. I know what you're thinking. Allowance at your age, Doug. And to that I say, I am several months younger than that question implies. And second, if a teenager who does zippo to help the family and talk smack 24, seven gets an allowance, why would I not get a little something something, Know what I'm saying? If. Yeah, I don't feel like taking out the garbage mobile. You ever think about that? Well, enough about me. Today we're chatting about Social Security because it's Freddy D's B day. Social Security stats are incredible. I mean, Social Security represents about 30% of the average recipient's income. Over 67 million people receive some form of benefit. And of course, Social Security isn't just retirement. It provides important life insurance and disability insurance protection for millions. But today's question was this. How much was the average monthly Social Security check in 2024? The answer? Well, I think you know how we do this by now, Stackers. The answer is $912.92 less than what David slash Jesse chose. It's $47.92 less than what Paula guessed and just $46.92 less than what OG guessed. Because the correct answer is $1,787.08, making OG a winner.

[Joe]

OG taken home. Son of the prize sucks.

[David Gillis]

Sorry, Jesse.

[OG]

I thought you had it. Paula.

[Paula Pant]

Wow. This means both my gut and my first anti gut choice were wrong.

[Joe]

We're both wrong.

[OG]

Right?

[Paula Pant]

We're both wrong. Yeah, they both were wrong.

[David Gillis]

Third gut and third breakfast.

[Doug]

Next time, be like a cow and have four guts. Four.

[Paula Pant]

Four guts. Yeah.

[Joe]

And just like last week, Paula misses it by two bucks. This is winning by two dollars.

[Paula Pant]

Well, I'm. I'm nothing if not consistent.

[Joe]

She's always right there. How many second places Paula had, Doug? A ton of them. All right, OG Take it on. The win. Congratulations. You have an acceptance speech?

[OG]

No.

[Joe]

Okay. And Jesse, hanging out with us live, says, cue the Empire straight to back music. There it is. All right, let's dive back into this topic. David, pick one of the other things that they had in this piece that said are some of the ways that you can maybe improve yourself every day that really spoke to you.

[David Gillis]

There was one called Do Inner Work. I think that's very interesting. I think it does handle a lot of things that we've talked a little bit about already. But I mean really it's about self awareness and I don't think there's enough thought on self awareness in our lives. We don't know what we believe and why we believe it. There's, I mean the scripts that people were told us growing up to the scripts that we tell ourselves or like I am a comedian, that what we just talked about earlier from Paula, just talking about ourselves in the first person. I think it's so empowering. I do like that discussion. I've tried to use that some because like doing the improv or doing Ted a speaker coach. I never thought I'd be doing something like that or just in life. It's really about understanding ourselves and good self awareness, understanding our blind spots too by being around people that kind of help you with those blind spots and people that you care about and that care about you, that are helping you through that process. So I don't think there's enough of, I'd say self reflection through meditation for yourself or looking back how you did this past year or whatever it is. But I think doing inner work, I think that there's a lot of different layers to that that intrigued me.

[Joe]

Yeah, I think Paula, we often look for this external stimuli when everything we need is right inside of us.

[Paula Pant]

Yeah, the skill set of like letting your mind go quiet, like silencing the chatter, it's difficult. It's really difficult. And I think a lot of people don't if they haven't tried it. It's hard to recognize how difficult it is because it's not visible. But it's actually that silencing the chatter can be one of the hardest things.

[Joe]

OG on this list, which one really lit you up?

[OG]

Well, you guys kind of all took mine already, so none of them. You know, there's a handful in here and I've been pretty vocal about this. But paying attention to your own health and wellness and well being and I think a lot of that stuff is intertwined. The vast majority of America gets this wrong and probably the world, I can just vouch for Americans. But in our world it seems like you have to work really, really, really, really hard and then maybe if you're lucky you can reward yourself after that hard work with a little bit of time off. And we all know we've taken long weekends, like a three day weekend, the four day. And it never really feels like it's time off. And I think the studies say you need to be completely out for seven days before you actually get the benefit of the R and R, the vacation. But I think if you spin that around and say in order to work really hard, I had to have had time off, I had to have had energy and, you know, be able to be creative in my role, I think that puts a little different spin on the time that you do spend time not doing the thing that you do for work or for your general vocation. Not everybody can do that. That's, you know, that's a nice to have, you know, scheduling your vacations first and then letting your boss know when you might be available to work. That's not a. I recognize that's not a thing that most people do.

[Doug]

I've tried that.

[OG]

Yeah. But for those that can, I think it's really important. And I think that even if you can't, you can really be particular about that. You know, all the studies of people who have unused PTO time at the end of the year, who don't take all their sick and personal days and that sort of thing. And when you do take that time, make sure you take that time to completely try to detox yourself from the work stuff. Because like Paula said, when you're trying to be creative, when you're trying to think up new solutions to problems, which frankly, that's kind of the job description of everything that everybody does, right? Solve problems for other people. You know, whether you're a car manufacturer, you're a computer scientist, you're a professor, you're a financial planner, you're trying to solve this problem that affects a certain amount of people that I'm trying to fix and make it easier for them. So in order to have that creativity, if you believe like I do, you have to have that rest and relaxation. Making sure that you adhere to that is super important. And all that other stuff goes with it too. So when, when it's time for you to choose what to eat, there's some pieces in there about nutrition. It's like, choose the healthy food. When you have time in there to be outside or exercise, make sure you get that. I call it outdoor rec time. It's so easy, especially work from home. Paul, you just said, I haven't been outside. I haven't left my apartment in three days. That can easily turn into a week if you're not careful because you got everything you need. It takes a lot of energy to go get bundled up, to go stand outside in the freezing cold, you know, or in the summer, the other way. Right. If it's a hundred degrees out in Dallas, you're like, I can't go outside. It's 100 degrees. So all that stuff kind of works together, I think, in terms of your just like personal wellness. Whether you look at it from a physical standpoint, working out or health interior, like eating good food and then the R and R component of it of giving yourself space in order to be able to be creative later unplugged. So, yeah, yeah, all of that is kind of related.

[Joe]

Some of these statistics in this piece, I think people don't realize. Oh, gee, to your point, just how important these are. According to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research Public health, spending just 15 minutes in a forest can decrease negative feelings like anxiety, fatigue, anger, and depression. And I don't even know that.

[OG]

Wrong. Has anybody been in a forest?

[Joe]

Yes.

[Doug]

That's 100% accurate.

[Joe]

100% accurate. Yeah.

[OG]

You were a different forest. Me, for different reasons, I suppose.

[Doug]

I wasn't doing like military training at the time. Right.

[David Gillis]

Looking out for bears.

[OG]

Yeah.

[Doug]

Sergeant yelling at me.

[OG]

It's like my kids the other day were like, dad, we should go outside. It's really fun. I'm like, well, you didn't do winter training in northern Canada. So let me tell you a little something about being outside right now. It sucks. Tldr. It's awful.

[Joe]

Walking among trees, it says was found to be more effective for decreasing negative feelings of walking down a city street policy. You talk about Central park not being that far for you. You know, just.

[OG]

Just going some outdoor rec time. Paula.

[Doug]

Especially fun fact, hemlocks and pines, they release chemicals. It's why you feel so much more serene if you happen to be in a pine forest than even just a hardwood forest. So if you have an opportunity to find coniferous forests, strongly recommend you will. You will notice a difference. And it happens very.

[Paula Pant]

Oh, gee, needs that googling coniferous forest near me.

[OG]

K A N I F R us.

[Joe]

I don't need that tree.

[OG]

I mean, just sunshine, honestly. Right. Like there's all this stuff about just getting, getting sunshine and, and, you know, snorting pine needles. You know, that's, that's like level two and drinking hemlock.

[Joe]

Drinking some hemlock, you know, and on stay hydrated. Research published in the World Journal of of Psychiatry found that drinking plain Water is linked to a decreased risk of anxiety and depression in adults. Also bourbon energy.

[Doug]

Perfect drink. I was going to say drinking distilled.

[Joe]

He likes, he likes some people like hops Flavored water, in fact might do that. Might do the opposite. You know, one that's on here which makes a lot of sense. I mean starting journaling is one which I know helps a lot of people get 1% better. Because I think, David, that helps you do inner work, but reading more books is on here. When it comes to books that can help you be, be better, be 1% better. What's one of your favorite books that has helped you be 1% better?

[David Gillis]

You know, I was thinking about that I've tried to pick up my reading over the last few years and when I say reading, it's more audiobooks. That seems like that's been my go to because I don't just sit down and read. But as I picked it up and increased the numbers last few years, I think there's one by the Andy Duke the thinking in Bets. And she goes back to some of the Daniel Kahneman books and other the thinking fast and slow. But I think it's very interesting to think about things from a different angle that we don't always think about. And I always liked watching some poker and just crazy things to think through. Just even like poker, like you can start with the best hand and Texas hold' Em pocket aces and then go against somebody with the worst possible hand, 2, 7 and you're winning like 88% of the time. So you lose 12% of the time with the best hand or with the worst hand. I'm saying that.

[OG]

Right.

[David Gillis]

With the worst hand you win 12%.

[Joe]

Don't measure the outcome. Measure the process and the percentage chance.

[David Gillis]

Right. And I think that's kind of helped me that and some other ones about think through. It's not just based on the outcome based as you said, like you can have the worst decisions and come with the best outcome and it just reinforces that negative and then it's going to hit you down the road. But if you're going to do the opposite, if you're going to focus on the process, I think that was one I enjoyed.

[Joe]

Not too long ago we interviewed Annie for that book and I think Paul, you did too, right?

[Paula Pant]

Yes, yeah, I did. She's been on the before to Anything podcast twice. Yeah. Thinking in Bets and then her other.

[Joe]

Book was I'm right there with you Chant. It's right here.

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Paula Pant]

Her other book was called Something she had a Title.

[Joe]

Yeah, it was called Stuff. It was called Google It Stacker. But let's go do a different book, Paula, that you like that has helped you be 1% better. What's a good one?

[Paula Pant]

You know, this is a funny answer for this, but 48 laws of power. That book really illustrates the world, not as you want it to be, but the world as it is and helps you understand the way that people operate so that you can just have better situational awareness and more effectively operate within it. So it's a very tell it like it is type of a book about the rules of power, about how people act and react in specific situations.

[Joe]

What's one good takeaway from that that you really like?

[Paula Pant]

So there's one, for example, it's Never outshine the Master. Sometimes you think that you're being really helpful, but if you overdo it, that might make other people feel insecure. And if you accidentally trigger somebody else's insecurity and if they have a higher rank or position than you, then that can actually come back negatively on you.

[Joe]

Quit is the name of the book.

[David Gillis]

So don't Outshine Joe. Is that we're Shan the Master. Is he?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[OG]

No truer words have ever been spoken.

[Doug]

My God. Absolutely.

[OG]

L hath no fury.

[Doug]

Hey, Joe, while you like a podcast host, easy. You know, you guys are always talking about some of these what I categorize as self help books, and I don't mean that pejoratively, but. But I don't read a lot of those. It's just not my thing. They don't resonate with me. But I try to read whether it's fiction or historical books and try to find empowering kinds of messages there. And a book that came to mind as soon as you asked the question was called Indestructible by John Brunning. And it's about an American pilot in the Philippines at the start of World War II. And I won't take you through the whole plot, but the takeaway for me was there is an ogl. I think agree with this because he's talked about this at length over the years. There is always something more you can do. If everything is on the table, there is always something else you can do. And it also sort of jibes with something I thought of earlier as you were talking about a comedian. There's one that you and I both love named Jimmy Carr, who's almost. He's turned into more of a philosopher now than. Than a comedian. A little bit of both. I loved when he said the Thing you want is on the other side of the thing you don't want to do. That really fits in with this book called Indestructible. So you asked about books that we've learned something from recently. Strongly recommend people check that out.

[Joe]

David, you've referenced your military background. It was the Air Force, right?

[David Gillis]

Yes, Air Force. Are you familiar with this book, the Indestructible? No. I mean, yeah, plenty other. I can't remember the names of them. Some Navy SEAL books and others that.

[Doug]

Yeah, you'd love this. David, I didn't realize you had an Air Force background. This is a guy, guy whose family was taken captive by the Japanese in the Philippines. And while he was flying senior American officials around, and it wasn't the Air Force at the time, of course, but military officials around, he was the entire time plotting to figure out how do I get my family out of this, this prison camp? And so he started inventing new aircraft and new armaments for aircraft on these planes, only for the purpose of trying to figure out how to get his family out of a prison camp. And it's just, it's fascinating what you are capable of if you're properly motivated.

[Joe]

Oh, gee, book you love.

[OG]

Take your pick.

[David Gillis]

Harry Potter.

[OG]

Yeah, we have tons of them.

[Joe]

You reference the War of Art quite a bit.

[OG]

I gave that to my kid actually this year. He asked for something to read at school that wasn't a textbook. Steven Pressfield wrote that as well as do the Work is kind of a subsequent one to that. I like Doug's perspective on this of something that's not a business book or not a self help book. So I'm going to go with 1776 by David McCullough. So good as another non. First of all, if you think you've got it bad, go read about what her life was like in 1774. 75.

[Joe]

But then if you're George Washington, I.

[OG]

Mean if you're anybody over there at that time, but then to kind of take a step back and since you know the outcome, to look at the amount of intestinal fortitude that it took to keep on doing the rebellious stuff that they were doing, right? Like trying to go toe to toe with the British, getting their faces kicked in day after day, week after week and with no food and no money and no resources and no one would help you, like you go to like try to, you get into a city, you're like, hey, we're the rebels. We just need some like food and shelter. And people are like, to hell with you. Man, I'm not getting in trouble with the British. Like, y' all figure it out. So now we know the end of the story. And so you go, oh, well, of course it was easy. We won. It's like, yeah, we weren't winning. Like, it was like right at the edge of not winning.

[Joe]

Right up until the moment they won.

[OG]

They were not winning until the last second we were losing. Exactly. And so the amount of belief and whether you believe in higher powers or you don't, it's still pretty, pretty wild to think about all those people that coalesced in one particular area in the world at one particular time, all with one singular focus.

[Joe]

That would be a great audiobook, by the way.

[OG]

Sure, they have it.

[Joe]

Yeah, I read the book.

[Paula Pant]

I'm buying it right now. Just hit the confirm button.

[OG]

Yeah, there you go.

[Joe]

That story is so well told. I think doing that as a story while you're walking or whatever would be fantastic reading. It's great. But I think audiobook wise, that would be a great one. I love that book, the one that I keep coming back to. You know, I was thinking about what. Which one of these books do I come back to? Almost like the War of Art. Oh, gee, that. You keep coming back to that one. And this is a book by Jim Lehrer and Tony Schwartz called the Power of Full Engagement. Came out a long, long time ago. It's just this idea of don't manage your time, manage your energy, and learning to be like a tennis player who has all kinds of different events going on all the time, but you can't show up for everything equally. So finding those key times when you really got to show up and then prepping for those times through your nutrition and your workouts and making sure that you are peaking at the right time. I love this idea of managing your energy and not your time. I feel like when I try to manage time, I end up in this cesspool of trying to be efficient every moment. But the idea that you give that away and you go, no, no. There's these important moments in my life where I need to be there and I'm going to prep for those moments. Much, much better way to manage things. So the Power of Full Engagement. Old book that I come back to a lot. All right, I hope everyone that helped you get 1% better today and that you are off and running on your journey. I love that conversation, guys. Thank you so much. Let's find out before we say goodbye, though, what's happening where you all are. And David, I want to talk about the 1% better conference. But we'll do that last. We'll find out first. Oh, gee. What do you got going on this weekend now that we're on the other side of Snowmageddon or Icemageddon, I guess.

[OG]

Here in Texas, technically, Like, it might be right back into it. What's going on this weekend? This weekend is a little milestone for me. Something is going on. Nothing that I'm gonna share, but a little bit of a milestone and then I'm getting ready to go skiing. I'm going skiing next week.

[Joe]

Yeah, Fantastic.

[OG]

Well, just a little me time.

[Joe]

It's one of those times. A lot of activities you say break a leg. But Doug and skiing, that's not one where you say break a leg.

[Doug]

Ideally. No, not.

[Joe]

Yeah, not good. Not what we're looking for there, though.

[Doug]

I mean, I've seen OG ski. He's very capable of doing that.

[OG]

Very capable of getting yelled at.

[Joe]

I don't want to go down that road again. I don't. Do not want to.

[OG]

That Doug just did. Ask me today. Hey, so what are your skiing plans? Like?

[Doug]

Send me pictures.

[OG]

You doing anything? Like, what are you doing next week? And is there room? Can I come?

[Joe]

Cluster of misery. Doug, we talked about clusters of misery. Not sure why you're doing that.

[Doug]

OG is frequently in the eye of that cluster for me.

[Joe]

Don't know where you're going. Paula Payette, what's going on at Afford Anything this week or this month?

[Paula Pant]

Let's see, on the Afford Anything podcast. That's a great question. You know, Colin Roche was on the show. We did a two part series with him. So he wrote about principles around investing and just principles around general money management. The week after Valentine's Day, we are airing an interview with Dr. Fatouhi. F o u t h I Dr. Majid Fatouhi. He's a brain doctor and he talks about how to have better brain health. And surprise, surprise, it's a lot of the same things that you would do for your heart, you also do for your brain.

[Joe]

I wonder if there's a name for that. Or. See, he just calls himself a brain doctor.

[Paula Pant]

A neurologist.

[Joe]

I'm a brain doctor. I mean, that says everything. You don't need a different title.

[Paula Pant]

Exactly.

[Joe]

Brain doctor. David, thanks for being a brainiac. How about that? And creating the 1% better conference. Tell us, besides the amazing Josal Sehi, who's going to be on that stage, you've got some other fun people that are joining us and tell everybody kind of what they expect if they're with us on February 21st. 22nd.

[David Gillis]

Yeah, we've got eight speakers now lined up, but it's going to be very interactive. Kind of a small event is the plan. But besides you, we have like say my partner, he's a former TED speaker, talking about the power of failure, embracing that and learning new things. And we have some improv exercises, some people that do full time improv. And we have topics like resilience. Another speaker that she was a TED speaker last year, talking about being a disruptor, like being a disruptor on your own mind and being a disruptor in your community in a positive way. So that's something that we all can do. Kind of get out of the funk and try something new. So for communication, got quite a few different speakers that got lined up. Mental health, resilience. It's a little bit of money talk, but a lot of life talk. And so yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Kind of small interactive event, February 21st, 22nd and go to. So sparkfinancialwellness.com is my website. It's got the conference on there and so we're looking forward to that. I know it's it's cold here in Omaha, but it's cold everywhere, so might as well come to. It's attached to the casino. So you can go over the casino and have a little fun there.

[Joe]

Be with a warm group of people.

[David Gillis]

Yeah.

[Joe]

The Evening of the 20th we're going to do a meetup. We're going to do 1% better meets, the Stacking Benjamin's Omaha Community Meetup. So I can't wait for that. And then, David, maybe we'll play some games on the 21st as well.

[David Gillis]

There you go. I'm looking forward to it. Again, like your book tour came through. We played some board games then.

[Joe]

We had so much fun. That was fun. All right, everybody that's going to do it for today, big thanks to everybody who hung out with us today on YouTube. You guys crack me up. And your comments were fantastic. If you're not watching us on YouTube, if you're in the audio audience and you want to be a part of the show, come join us. We do the shows Monday afternoons, generally 3:30 Eastern Time. And do the math on where you are at in the United States. But that's most Mondays. We're here creating the show that you'll see or hear on Friday. All right, that's going to do it for today. Doug, man, you're bringing it home. What should we have learned on today's episode.

[Doug]

Well, Joe, first, take some advice from our resident comedian, David Gillis. Heed the advice of your inner circle because after all, you're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it, people probably like you. Second, take a note from Paula. Block all the socials on your phone. The upside is you'll be addicted to the cow milking app in a heartbeat. Oh, it's real and it's glorious.

[Joe]

No way.

[Doug]

It's real. Go look it up. But the big lesson. Great news. I was able to negotiate a huge allowance raise from Joe's mom. She just said she's gonna wait for it because this is so awesome. Triple what she's giving me now. Wait a minute. Thanks to David Gillis for joining Paula's cocking her head like wait so very the one. Thanks to David Gillis for joining us today. Join David and Joe at David's 1% better conference happening February 21st and 22nd. It in Omaha. Omaha. Plus we'll also include links in our show [e-mail] thanks to Paula Pant for hanging out with us today. You'll find her fabulous podcast Afford Anything wherever you listen to the finest podcast. And finally, thanks to OG for joining us today. Looking for good financial planning help? Head to stackingbenjamins.com OG for his calendar. This this show is the property of SB Podcast, LLC, Copyright 2026 and is created by Joe Salsihai. You'll find out about our awesome [e-mail] along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media spots. Come say hello. And oh yeah, before I go, not only should you not take advice from these nerds, don't take advice from people you don't know. This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and we'll see you next time back here at the Stacking Benjamin show.