Friday reads – volume 5

We had skipped the Friday reads last week as our laptop was down and it was difficult to blog without one. I did try to do so on our ipad but it was a fairly painful process (good for watching videos but not so if you need to write an article). Figured that I should continue to blog only when we got our new machine.

Anyway, here are the goodies for this week….

The Perks of Being a House Husband (Rice Media) 

“When he’s not busy shaping his sons’ formative years through involving them in various activities, from skateboarding to appearing in his vlogs, he is their domestic helper, chauffeur and tuition teacher all at once. This seems like a fairly ordinary arrangement, until I factor in his gender and the fact that ‘housewife’ still sounds more like a word than ‘househusband’ does.”

A relatively entertaining read, this is an interview series with Fandy, the so-called house-husband in the story. House husbands are not as common as housewives and although it is slowly gaining traction in many parts of the world, for the majority, there is still a negative stigma associated with it. But each family’s situation is different and hey, we all know how difficult it can to be a full-time housewife. Surely it doesn’t get any easier being a house husband.

The Desire for Prestige is Ruining your Life (Financial Samurai)

“At the end of your life, nobody is going to care about your prestige and power. All they’ll care about is whether you were a kind enough person who touched their lives and wanted to help other people. I strongly believe that if you can figure out how to let go of your desire for prestige, money, power, fame, and all that other silly stuff, life will get better because you’ll stop caring so much about what other people think and start focusing on what matters most to you.”

Another interesting read by Financial Samurai. Are we pursuing prestige too much that we are forgetting the more intrinsic things in life? Or do we need prestige to define who we are?

Life Lessons From A Classical Ballet Student (My Twenty Cents)

“I know it’s hard to accept but there’s always going to be someone better than you. At something. Just don’t let that bring you down. I used to compare myself to the other girls in class and get so depressed thinking, “Why can’t I dance like her?” I realized that comparing myself to others was toxic and was only making my dancing worse. When I finally started feeling happy for other girls in my classes, that was when I actually started feeling positive in class. And that took my dance to a higher level.”

In this article, Janet discusses all the life lessons she learnt from studying classical ballet. Pretty inspiring write up and it does transpire to a lot of other areas too.

Your Realtor is not a Financial Advisor (Money We Have) 

“Generally speaking, there are only two things your realtor will know about your financial situation: How much you are approved for your mortgage and how much you can “afford” on a monthly basis. A good realtor will, of course, tell you to set aside some money for closing costs and furniture, but they likely won’t know what your overall financial situation is.” 

Although the writer is discussing in terms of the Canadian real estate market, this is in fact pretty much applicable everywhere else in the world. Realtors, or property agents have their own incentives behind trying to get you to buy the house. But they do not really care about the debt that you have and why should they? It’s not their prerogative.

How Being a Workaholic Differs from Working Long Hours — and Why That Matters for Your Health (Harvard Business Review)

“Unlike people who merely work long hours, workaholics struggle to psychologically detach from work. And we know that ongoing rumination often goes together with stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems, and it impedes recovery from work. Stress levels in workaholics are therefore often chronic, which leads to ongoing wear and tear on the body.”

There’s a difference between being a workaholic and working long hours. The difference might sound subtle, but there are vast differences, and mainly pertaining to how we perceive work and our attitude towards it. And here Harvard Business Review presents to you the neurological explanation of how our body deals and reacts to it. mainly the stress.

And here’s a quote to round it up. Definitely one of my new favorites 😊

Have a great weekend!