Friday at Five: Soul Formula, High Yield Savings, and More

Happy Friday, friends!

I'm on vacation this week. It's great to disconnect a bit from work. With two kids under three, I wouldn't describe it as restful... but it's still a good gear shift.

I want to hear from you: what do you do on vacation to give your soul oxygen? Send me some thoughts.

Grammarly wants me to sound more diplomatic... but that was never my strong suit. So, yes, send me some thoughts on what you do on vacation to shift gears.

Now on to this week's Friday at Five to help us finish the week well:

🤔 Soul Formula

I've been reevaluating a thought I've centered my life on for at least a decade. That thought is what I call my Soul Formula. In short, I have a Soul Formula of four things I need to do consistently to keep my soul healthy and centered. For me, it's:

• Prayer
• Time with Shelby
• Running
• Reading

First, if you don't have a simple list like this, figure out what yours is. It's powerful when you know what you need and, maybe more importantly, what you don't need.

This is helpful to know what fuels you. This is also helpful to raise a red flag if you're neglecting something for too long.

For me, I'm trying to figure out how writing fits into this. As I've picked up writing here, on X (formerly Twitter), and working on a book (more on that in a moment), I really find myself gravitating towards it. I'd much rather write than watch TV or do some of the other more normal things. I don't think it replaces any of the four. But I'm also very hesitant to add another thing to the list.

📚 The Five Realms

One of the things I do on vacation is pick up a fiction book. I'm reading non-fiction much of the time for work, and I do enjoy it. But to shift gears, I go all story, all fake, just for fun.

A friend of mine wrote a book called The Five Realms. It's phenomenal. I downed it in a short trip to Puerto Rico a couple months back. If you're into fiction, specifically books like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, read it. Those aren't my favorite types of books, and I was still engrossed the whole time.

Fair warning: It's a cliffhanger ending that will leave you wanting more.

📗 My Book

So I'm writing a book. Writing this newsletter in medium form is part of the journey. The book is all about asking great questions. You here at Friday at Five will get all sorts of behind the scenes as I write.

Here's what I rough-drafted last week. Literally haven't even read it back or edited it. At the end, if you would keep reading, hit the "I would keep reading" button. This is great feedback for me.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. 

When you ask better questions, you get better answers. When you have better answers, you’re able to build a better life. 

Think about it in all the contexts of your life. If you ask better questions at work, you can usually create better results. This leads to promotions, raises, and opportunities with new organizations. If you ask better questions with your relationships, you have richer interactions and more joy as you spend time with the people close to you. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t want better relationships. If you ask better questions in your own head, you can think clearer, solve problems, and reduce friction. 

When you ask bad questions, there is a lot of fallout. Sometimes, you get bad answers. Even worse, you might not get an answer at all. Sometimes, bad questions lead to wrong answers or partial answers or even dishonest answers...

If you'd keep reading, hit the button below. (This takes you back to my main page.)

💰 High Yield Savings

Listen up: If you've got an emergency fund of some sort, you need to park it in something that is giving real yields.

You've likely heard that interest rates are high right now. For borrowers, that's a big ouch. The silver lining is that interest on savings accounts is up.

So, if you've got a $10,000 emergency fund, and you put it in a savings account paying 4.25% interest, you'll make $425 over the course of a year. You're likely not making that interest if it's sitting in a standard bank account. I get a small payment every month. It's not going to make me a millionaire overnight, but I'll take all the help I can get to feed these kids a never-ending stream of blueberries (their favorite).

High-yield savings accounts are at 4-6% right now. The juice is worth the squeeze.

💬 Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it... He who doesn't... pay it. - Einstein

Finish your week well!

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