60 - YMMV
YMMV
I don’t remember exactly when I first came across the acronym YMMV. If, like me, you didn’t know the acronym, it stands for Your Mileage May Vary.
I thought of this statement on Thursday as I was “recovering” from my colonoscopy - one of those rites of passage of aging. I’m very lucky that this is the very first time I’ve ever had an IV in my arm, the very first time I’ve ever had sedation of any type, and the very first time I’ve worn any type of patient/admission wristband. I am, as the nurses phrased it, “medically boring”.
In the run up to the procedure I was a little anxious about the experience but everyone told me it would be absolutely fine and I’d remember nothing at all because of the medication they were giving me for sedation.
I found out that this, too, is a place where your mileage may vary as I’m pretty sure I was coherent enough that I could have driven myself home that day. Although I’m very glad I didn’t have to and that Gayle was there to take care of everything that day. (Gayle will tell you that I was not, in fact, coherent enough to drive home that day but that’s due to exhaustion - not to sedative.)
The phrase came to mind again as I was reading something this week in preparation for an upcoming session of my Facts of Life Book Class (You can still sign up - see the link in the next section). For our lesson on Financial Information, I’m planning to summarize some of the best finance books I’ve read. I wanted to add a book specifically on investing to the mix and so went with the iconic 50th edition of “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”. The line that stopped me…
“Most important of all, however, is the fact that investing is fun.” p. 38 - A Random Walk Down Wall Street
I’ve never found investing to be fun. It’s necessary. It’s been important to learn about. And it is challenging. However, I never look forward to working through investment decisions.
But, for many people, investing is fun - just like snowboarding is fun and scuba diving is fun - for some people. They are fun for them but my experience of them was not fun. What works for me may not work for you. And vice versa.
I have to remind myself of this all the time. One person’s experience can - and often does - inform my experience. But it will not be my experience. And my experience will not be your experience.
Learn from other people’s experiences but never expect it to define your experience. Your mileage may - and really will - vary. I think I’ll permanently change the acronym to YMWV.
Photos of the Week
It was a busy week between going back and forth to Muncie as I help Gayle celebrate retirement and prepare for her new job in Indy, making room for two cars in my two car garage that has only ever held two cars once before, getting the aforementioned colonoscopy (p.s. - warmed blankets really are amazing), and Easter.
Where’s Kara?
IN THE REAL WORLD
A quick summary of where I’m going to be hanging out online and IRL over the next few weeks. Join me, and if I’m visiting near you, hit reply and let’s meet up!
April - A quick trip to Florida is on the horizon at the end of the month. Yes, we’re staying at Disney but it’s at a place we’ve never stayed before - the Fort Wilderness campground in one of the cabins.
June or July - I am (still) waiting on all the signatures but I may get to North Carolina later in the summer
July/August - A Northern European Cruise!
September- College Park, MD for a conference with one of my clients.
November - A yet undisclosed location for a conference with one of my clients.
AROUND THE VIRTUAL WORLD
LAST CHANCE TO JOIN AT THE LOWEST PRICE EVER FOR A LIVE COHORT - The Facts of Life LIVE Cohort - You will often find me hanging out in the course and community for my course “Facts of Life Book”. The first ever live cohort is underway with virtual sessions every Friday afternoon during that time period. (Can’t make the virtual sessions - no worries - they will be recorded). What is the Facts of Life Book? Do you need to organize your most important stuff for life’s most important moments? If so, then the Facts of Life Book course is just for you. With loads of templates, tools, and guides I’ll help you get your most important information organized. Join now and you’ll get access to all future updates as well as any additional future live cohorts I run. Use coupon code FRIEND1 to get 50% off of the cost of the course. This is the LOWEST price I’ll ever offer this live course for and it’s the last week to sign up!
Quarterly Retreat - Sign up for the Quarterly Retreat All Access Pass or the Quarterly Retreat Workshop. Visit https://karamonroe.podia.com and check out all of the offerings. The workbook is always free.
R.J. Nestor’s Action Powered Productivity Community - My friend R.J. has moved his community to a subscription model and you get access to all of the workshops for just $9 a month. This is an awesome community and I’m giving my first workshop on Mac and iOS automation the first week of May. Come and join us!
Creative Work Hour - Every single day of the week, at 10 a.m. eastern, a group gathers online in Zoom to do a quick check in, a brief meditation, work for about 50 minutes on whatever they want to do, and then check out with one another for 5 minutes. Creative Work Hour is one of my favorite places to hang out online and I’ve been there every single day that I could be there since about March of 2022. Come as often or as little as you need to get projects done. To register for the sessions (they are free but you have to sign up to get the zoom link) and to learn more, visit https://lu.ma/CreativeWork.
Tools, Tips, & Tricks
Make a Reverse Grocery List
I haven’t done this yet but the idea certainly intrigues me. You essentially make an inventory list of everything in your pantry and larder. Once you have the inventory list made you simply keep it up to date by crossing off things as you use them up. If I could figure out how to do this with Alexa/Siri (aka Amazon Lady and Apple Lady) then I’d probably go this route in a heartbeat. Let me know if you try this.
Netflix Games
If you have a Netflix subscription, you also have a subscription to free games for both iOS and Android. Check out the full list of what’s available at this page.
Diversion
As I’m typing this, Gayle is mostly fast forwarding through while kind of watching, the World Championships of Synchronized Figure Skating. A friend’s daughter competed on the Synchronized Figure Skating team for Miami University (in Ohio) years ago which was the first time I even learned this was a sport. I had no idea that Miami competed in the World Championships but, alas, they do. This is the performance we watched - it was enjoyable. We also learned while watching the championships that Synchronized Figure Skating is the fastest growing discipline of figure skating in the International Skating Union.
Ways You Can Support Me
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Readwise is an incredible service that takes all of the highlights you take on Kindle, on various web sites, and in so many other places and stores and organizes them for you. It generates a daily (or more often/less often as you prefer) set of highlights for you to review so that you can better remember what you read. Readwise also syncs with all kinds of apps including Evernote, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Log Seq and more. If you’d like an extended 60 day trial, use my link https://readwise.io/kara
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