Hello! 2nd place is now in first. Just like you suspected.
I saw, and he got a pretty big lead too
I wonder when he went to bed. Because at midnight he was still behind.
but the crazy part is that I checked at like 11-30. Yeah! thats what I was going to say!
I know! I bet he has an accomplice. But there's no way he is awake now.
Haha, or at least I hope that there is no way that he is awake right now. That would be a bummer.
Yeah that would be a bummer. I guess we will find out when we finish this chat. So how was the party last night? Anything interesting happen?
So we just watched half od some cartoon network movie thing. It actually wasn't even a movie, it was like a mini series called Over the Garden Wall. Its But all the episodes were put together so it has more of a movie feel
Sounds fun. We just watched the movie Ready Player One. It was about the year 2045 and everyone tries to escape reality by playing this game called the Oasis. It's a virtual reality that was created by a game maker named Mr. Halliday. But he died and left 3 hidden keys in the game. If you get all the keys then you win the stock in his company and control of the oasis.
thats interesting
So everyone is like trying to win this game to take over the world. Yeah it's pretty cool. It was good! It had a unique story and ended well. The kids beat the game and saved the world from this other campany who was trying to beat the game to take over the world. So, we need to come up with a strategy. To be able to write a lot. Because the more words you right and the bigger the words you use the higher your score goes.
Man, My mind is just a little tired. I am trying to multitask by watching youtube while I write, but its not working very well.
Haha what are you watching on youtube? I'm like wide awake but maybe thats because I'm in second now and I'm trying to pull ahead.  So i'm really competitive.
Alright, I am just watching a video about these guys trying to drop a bowling ball from a 165m dam onto a trampoline.
Haha no way that sounds awesome! Where are you? Because don't you share rooms in your apartment?
Its actually pretty hard because the ball moves in the air because of the wind so It is dificult to aim.
Ahhh I see.
Yeah, I am just in the living room part of my apartment
Oh sweet. Me too. So Oliver has been having a hard time sleeping in his own bed lately. I just moved him to his room but he's starting to get a little crazy. He basically sleeps in our bed right now but it's getting a little old.
Yeah, That sounds pretty rough. Does he wake you guys up every single night?
Yes. a lot. He used to sleep better so I have no idea what is happening. But now we are used to it again. So yeah It's not that bad. It's hard to figure out because they can't talk to you or say what they are thinking. You just have to guess and try things and hope it works.
Yeah, That does sound a bit rough. But i guess its all part of the game, right?
Well if life is a game, then yes. It's part of life. It's just one of those things that you have to do. Here's the interesting thing though. Some people complain and whine about stuff like this like it's some kind of trial or challenge. They say "oh what did I do to deserve something this hard!?" And I'm like "you literally choose this." This isn't a trial this is just a consequence of your own choices. So either deal with it or next time think harder about what your choices are actually going to mean. But i don't know I'm harsh like that
Nah, that totally makes sense. There was something in Conference bout that. I dont remember exactly who was talking but they said something along the lines of how God really does not ever punish us. The "punishments" that we receive, or that we perceive that we receive, really just things that we choose or do to ourselves. Now Im not saying that having a baby is a punishment, but you can get the idea
Yeah that is so true. What's conference? Haha just kidding. I just don't think we are supposed to mention church jargon on here. But yeah totally it's all what we choose. And yeah having a baby is the opposite of a punishment. But that doesn't mean that it's all sunshine and rainbows
I think it would be pretty bland if it were all sunshine and rainbows too.
Yeah that's true. Like if you eat cake every day for a year you would probably hate cake by the end of it.
Haha, so Im reading this book right now called "The power of Meaning : Finding meaning is a world obsessed with happiness" that nails this concept so well. like it is definitely turning into my favorite book. I highly recommend it. Basically this girl talks about 4 pillars of building a meaningful life, rather than just a happy life.
Oh that sounds really good! Who wrote it? I love books like that. What are the four pillars?
She bases it off of many studies that show that "Happiness" actually leads to being unhappy. Like in countries where people rated themselves as being more "Happy"  the suicide rate was always correlation-ally higher. Whereas places that had people that stated that their lives were meaningful, even if that meant they were "Unhappy" had much lower suicide rates. Anyway, there is a lot more information in the book, but that is kinda the premise.
Yeah, but thats interesting. I would like to read it. Well the problem is that a lot of people place happiness on things that actually don't make you happy like money or fame.
So the four pillars are 1) Belonging. Having real, positive, and authentic relationships with others (Which is something that you can choose to cultivate)
Yeah those things can be good for a while but if you have nothing substantial to back it up like family or a purpose then you will be unhappy.
2) Purpose. She defines that as the why behind your life. She says that this doesn't have much to do with what you want, but has much more to do with what you can give. 3) Transcendence. This is being tied to something bigger than yourself. People can feel that through religion, or even art, or nature or even music. But we need to get outside of ourselves
Wow I basically guess the first two pillars. Family (or relationships) and purpose. Oh wow 3 is interesting.
and 4) is story-telling, or basically its the story you tell about yourself, to yourself. Some people just let life happen to them but what we dont realize sometimes is that, we are the authors of our own story! we may not be able to change the facts of things that happen, but we can edit and create and revise to make our story one worth telling. Its pretty cool stuff, I found the book because the author gives a TED talk about it
Yeah I think that is so true about number four. Have you ever heard of Simon Sinek? He has a talk where he talks about how we can tell ourselves a different story to our
No, I haven't heard about that before.
advantage. Like when we feel nervous about something he suggests saying that we are just "excited" instead of nervous. By telling ourselves that we are excited in stead of nervous, we trick our brains into performing like we are excited. We teach ourselves that when we feel nervous it actually means excited. Top athletes and professionals do this. It's kinda like a hack. But yeah telling yourself the right story is very important.
Yeah, thats true. Its pretty cool too, So anyway, if you ever want to read a good book, there it is!
Cool I'll definitely look into it. I still need to finish the current book I'm reading (How to win friends and influence people). That one is really good too.
what is that one about?
It probably has some similar principles as your book, like about relationships. It's about being a good people person and using that to be more successfull and "meaningful" I guess. It's really cool though because it was written a long time ago, so they reference stories from the civil war, the early 1900s and stuff like that. It's kinda like a history book too.
Wow, that is cool.
Yeah. Some principles the book teaches are: 1) Be a good listener. People like to talk about them selves. If you listen and are engaged in converstaions they will want to talk to you. Also call people by name because that is a quick easy way to connect with them. Oh a big point that the book teaches is that you should  never condemn or criticize. It's better to applaud and praise. Most people don't respond well to criticism but if you focus on what they are doing good they are more likely to keep doing those things and improve them.
Yeah, that is important stuff. I feel like im bad at the calling people by their names sometimes,. I usually just "man" or "dude" I should get better at that
Yeah. It happens to the best of us. One of the reasons I started reading this book was because I felt like I was the worst at talking to people. I wanted to be a better conversationalist and it's definitely helped. It also just teaches simple principles like the importance of a smile haha.
Yeah, I should put that one on my booklist. Ive been creating a list of books I want to read. I started because in this "Power of Meaning" book she references lots of other books and the things she references gets me so interested that it just makes me want to read the book.
Yeah thats good. Having a book list is important because reading sets you apart from a lot of people now a days. Plus it's always good to want to keep learning. Who are your favorite authors? Or do you have any? What was this girls name again? The one who wrote the book you are reading?
I don't really have any that I could name off the type of my head. Haha, i really havent read that much.
Yeah I get it. No worries.
Im definitely more of a music buff than a bookworm, haha, but I'm sure that I'll get there eventually. What about you?
Yeah that makes sense. Well I like a lot of authors out there. I like books by Tim Ferris. He is a cool guy. Then I like books by Simon Sinek and Tony Robbins. I don't know, just kinda like those self help books. They are super useful. And you learn a lot reading them.
What books have they written?
Tim Ferris wrote the four hour work week and Tribe of Mentors. Tony Robbins writes a lot of books about money management (unbreakable was his latest I believe) Simon Sinek write about business and leadership and marketing. So yeah just interesting topics.
Have you read Rich dad Poor dad
No I haven't but that's on the list. Robert Kawasaki I believe wrote that one.
Yeah, I just picked that one up a few weeks ago. Yep! He is the author!
Yeah. I would be reading right now if I wasn't trying to win the iPad for Taylor. But like I said just like a week of hard core chatting and then keep the lead and then I can read later.
So my entrepreneurship teacher bought a ton of copies so he got them all super cheap. Then he sold them them to our class for 5 dollars. So that was a pretty good deal Haha, me too, the morning is like the only time I have to read
It's hard though, to keep these conversations going. Sometimes I feel like we might run out of things to talk about. Oh really!? That's cool! I wonder what his profit margin was on those books hahaha Probably still pretty good if he sold them for 5 dollars. Leave it to the business school to do business with the students.
I dont think re really made that much of a profit, the books normally cost like 16 dollars on amazon. So I think he was just passing them along for the price that he paid.
Ahhhh I see. That makes sense.
And thats also why I think we should talk about our classes when the week actually starts again. Like i guess we would have to start in on tuesday because we dont have classes until Monday But we could just talk about the new stuff that we learned. Thats plenty of information And it would be from a lot of various topic
Yeah good point. Well, I'm taking Microbiology right now and that one is pretty cool. We just talk about different diseases and bacteria. Kinda gross but also really useful.
And it would also be a way to refresh, study and solidify the information.
I yes! We could use this to study! Very true. I'll definitely do that for biochem. I'll just have my notes out and try to explain them to you. There are a lot of big words in that class so it would be a lot of points haha
Yeah, do that! Ill talk about my classes, but Im pretty sure you have taking literally all of them.
Yeah I probably have but thats okay because it would be a good review for me. I usually forget a lot of what we learn in school just because there  is so much information and it all goes so fast. LIke I just try and learn it for the test and then I forget. I know thats not the best way to do it, but that's kinda just the habit i've gotten in to. The school system isn't really set up for long term learning. It's more of a short term memory thing. Some things are long term but those are like the bigger projects and papers and stuff. Tests can be good but for the most part people forget after the test.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I definitely forget after the tests Like if i were to take my marketing test again, I would probably fail. haha, but i did pretty good on it!
You know what else I read that I think the school system needs to improve? Oh yeah, haha that happened to me too.
Oh yeah, Big time, The school systems are not that good.
But anyway, schools teach us to ask how, not who. They want us to learn how to do things and focus on doing things alone. Working with someone (the who) is called cheating in school. but in life, working with someone is called collarboration and partnership. And you can be way more successful that way because you have more people working on the same problem
Huh, I had never even thought about that before
Yeah so like if you are trying to start a business or solve a problem, you shouldn't ask "How can I do this?" You should ask, "Who do I know that can help or do this better".
I always focused on the fact that school seems a lot more conceptual. Which isnt necesarilly bad, but lasting learning comes from personal experience and understanding. even revelation if you will say. Haha, I think teachers should be more like mentors. But Im not totally sure how it would all work out
Yeah I agree. Personal experience is definitely way better than actually concepts and stuff. I think it's because when you have an experience you involve all 5 senses but when you learn a concept in school it's usually just sight or sound
Huh, I also had never though about it that way.
I like to look at things from new perspectives that you may not think about usually. Or I don't know I just like to try and explain why things are the way they are.
Thats funny. Haha, lots of time I like to move away, from the why. I don't really have a good reason to either. Like I think about it, and I really dont have any reasons
Really? LIke you dont like to focus on the why? Oh you know what This is why haha
Yeah, I guess so. Haha, so what are your plans for today?
I think it's because Dad always does that. He says that sometimes things are the way they are because they just are. And you need to embrace that and just go with it. That's probably why you do that. My plans for today are to possibly run the sugar rush 5k, do homework, chat a lot, go to the cousins reunion thing, and probably do some other tasks that need finising
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it kinda rubbed off a little. Haha, I guess I am running low on ideas But that sounds fun! I am just going to try to get some stuff done around the apartment. I think im going to drive down to Aptive at like 10 because I have some friends that are trying to recruit me for summer sales. And then I am gonna go to the BYU Volleyball game. And then ill go to the cousins thing. And after that I am pretty much home free. I feel like I have something to do at night too, but I cant remember it right now,.
Awesome. Sorry im holding Ollie right now. so im typing with one hand but ill respond in a second Okay. All good plans. Lets talk summer sales. Are you thinking of doing it?
Ive considered it. But im definitely not sold on the idea yet. But I am looking for a way to stockpile some serious cash. I want to start investing in real estate
Ohhhh nice! Real estate is bomb. I want to invest in it too. I did summer sales.
how did it go?
But I quit half way in. Haha here's the thing though. There are a lot of companies and some are good some are bad. And it takes a certain type of personality to do well in it. I did not have that peronsality.
Yeah, so everyone says that this Aptive company is super good, but like I said, I am still not totally sold on the idea.
Yeah I have a good work ethic and I set goals. But I wasn't comfortable selling something that I didn't think people needed. I just felt like I was annoying people. And butting into their life without permission. Which I was. Let me tell you what I know about Aptive. They have a really good training program. Like they invest a lot into their reps. So you would learn a lot. That being said, the company itself is a little sketchy. Like I heard they just build up a bunch of accounts so they can sell them off to another company. Idk. We can talk about this more later, because there are a ton of details to go over. But your friends are going to only tell you the shiny sparkly things.
Yeah, for sure.
I can give you a second opinion and be more objective. And if you do decide to do it, I can help you pick a good company.
Hey. but I wonder if we through rumors around in the chat thing if the AI will be able to pick up rumors and use them. Haha, that would be crazy
Because like they all have different ways of paying you. And they all pay different percent commissions What do you mean by rumors?
Well like, you said, I heard Aptive is a little sketchy
Yeah. Haha. Did you hear something else?
Not really, I honestly havent heard that much about it. It just got me thinking
Thinking about what?
about if the AI could tell rumors.
OH right. So why do you want to start investing in real estate? What is your plan?
Dude, real estate, is where it is at. So, this is more of a big picture idea, But ill give you the rundown. So right now I need to stockpile a ton of cash. Im talking like 40 grand The dream would be to get that before Im married, But thats probably not going to happen. But if it did. Instead of renting out an apartment while im in college, I would look around to find a house with like a basement apartment, or a little side house, or even a duplex or something. Hopefully 20 grand will be good enough to put down as a down payment, and then I could keep the other 20 grand in reserves for emergencies.
Well you know if you get an FHA loan you could only do a down payment of like 3-5 grand. But you have to live in the property and you have to have mortgage insurance.
Sweet! That would be awesome!
BUT if it's a 4 plex you just live in one and rent out the other 3 Some of the 4 plexes on our street charge 850-900 a month in rent. So like just 3 of those would be like 2600 in rental income.
So then What you do is you love in the basement apartment, and you rent out the actual house. If you do your research and you buy the right property then the rental income should at least equal your mortgage payment. So basically you get to live in the basement fro free while some other dude buys you a house
Yeah totally. the problem in Provo is that a lot of the Houses are complete crap. And with a house you can only rent out to one person. But with a Four Plex or small apartment you could fit more units into it.
After living there for a while, you use your savings to buy another similar house and do the same thing and you just keep up building up your portfolio Sure you have to live in crappy apartments for a few years, but it al pays off. Haha, and youre right about provo. Orem is where the better opportunity is
I would totally go in on this if I had the money. the problem is that It's going to take a while for me to finish school.
Yeah, Its definitely the hardest to get started. But if you get yourself the opportunity in the beginning, it just gets easier as you go.
Are you guys going to the Cousins Thing today? ALso if you're going to the Volley ball game we have free tickets
Yeah, I am going. And i have a roc pass, so no worries Man, we've been going for like 2 hours Im impressed that we have kept it up this long
Yeah. How long do you want to keep this going?
Im not sure, I have to run down to smiths and hope that they will exchange cash for quarters so that I can do my laundry And clean my apartment And take a shower, haha
Also if you are interested in investing in Stocks as well as real estate I have a cool App I could share with you. If you download it you get a free stock. Yeah I need to get ready soon too. I just don't want the 2nd place to pull ahead again.
I havent really looked into stocks at all Dude, I just dont want to be in 3rd place anymore, I feel like a loser
You're not a loser. Plus you'll still probably be entered in the Raffle for the Mac Book
I wanna be the best man
You should look into stocks. It's fun. And yeah but this is just a competition. A game.
Its the small and simple things that matter. haha.
Thats true but this is just a game in the grand scheme of things. But yeah if you need to go that's fine. We can do another one later maybe tonight.
Yeah, Ill call it quits for now. I gotta get some other stuff done, But this has been fun. I'll tell you if I have plans later tonight
Okay. And I'll see you at the Reunion for sure. We can plan and strategize more there.
Alright, sounds good!