February Challenge

My wife came up with a plan to give herself 9 goals this month that she had to achieve each day. As is wont to happen with wives and goals, I got roped into doing 9 goals of my own.

One of my goals is to write an article or blog post OR create a video on on of my YouTube channels. That's why I'm writing about such wide ranging things as how I make coffee and rental properties. My other website is a family blog, so those topics really don't fit. This is an investing blog, so only the coffee article is out of place. 

Don't worry! I plan to get back to writing about stock investment ideas sometime! It's been a hectic few months. And RV internet service isn't ideal. I've also said a few hundred S&P points ago that I think stocks are overvalued. So I'm not exactly making investments behind the scenes right now. 

Speaking of stock analysis - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has agreed to buy Interpipeline Group for just over $10 billion dollars. The largest pipeline transaction in a few years. I plan to analyze that deal tomorrow or Sunday - it's the kind of deal that is odd to see a Brookfield entity make...and I would know! I used to work at a Brookfield entity!

So back to the challenge. 

I also have to run 30 minutes per day. Walk the dog at least a mile a day. Drink an afternoon tea. Take a progress picture. Not repeat grains in a day. And a few other small things. I've been about 7/9 on average so far this month and figure that's about where I'll finish.

Challenges like this are something we do as a way to always try to improve ourselves. We've done various diet challenges over the years - Whole30, vegetarian, vegetarian Whole30. We did BeachBody's T-25 workout a few cycles. We like to try to get better. And in the middle of a challenge it's easy to get sucked into "beating the challenge". But in a month or two, some of the thing we tried to do will stick or plant a seed and lead to a long-term habit. Like being conscious about varying grains and other foods. Or making sure to walk the dogs. Doing challenges isn't about the challenge.

Hopefully I'm not losing readers in this transition period. But until we get back to normal on this site, enjoy this phase. You'll get a peek into other parts of my life.