"Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper & actress Sophia Bush: if a woman is questioning whether she can do better than her current husband, "the answer is always yes." "This idea that it's too late or you're too old, or who are you to want more, that's patriarchy. That is crazy."

Percent of people who will stick with you even with distance: - Family - 90-100% - Elementary through High School friends - 60% - High school only friends - 50% - College friends - 30% - Small company coworkers - 15% - Large corporation friends - 2%-5% Plan accordingly

As you get older, you'll realize eventually time is the most valuable asset you have. It's extremely hard to stay as a top performer at work, while being present for your significant other, while being present for your kids, while staying in shape, and keeping in contact with your friends. I don't know the perfect formula, but my dad gave me a good road map on how to do this. He was a Sr. IT Director back in the day. Eventually he took a package and retired in his early 50s. We always joked that my goal was to "beat him to retirement." I essentially spent my 20s and early 30s working my ass off. Since I work in a commissioned oriented role, I was able to "dial myself a raise." I was fortunate enough to have a pretty high income since my second year in the industry. From there, I kept my costs low and lived below my means. I knew this was an important first step because many of the folks I worked with, while extremely successful professionally, didn't have the greatest personal relationships in the world and I didn't want to end up like that. I also knew it was not sustainable long term that I'd keep making or increasing my income at this level while eventually starting a family. So I built myself my own "golden parachutte" which gives me exteme leverage in my career. Since I have this flexibility, I have the ability to "not care as much" about work. We have a good cash runway pile and a ton of money invested to the point where I'll be able to start my own firm by ~40 with zero financial pressure. Every dollar made will be fun money. For example, last year I was laid off two weeks after my dad unexpectedly passed. So I was in no shape or form to job search or start a new gig right away. I was able to take a couple months off before starting my new gig. But I also didn't have to "rush" into finding a new job. I was able tap into my network and source the best job that fit my needs today. Now with our industry, no one says "Oh you made $350k, here's another 20% to come join us". You get a decent base salary and some bonuses accelerators / draw commissoins. So I had to start my book of biz from ground zero. But given the financial flexiblity I have, I'm under no pressure to do so unlike the other recruiters who were effected from our layoffs. Now, when I say I don't have to care as much, that doesn't mean I'm sitting on the couch watching netflix all day pretending to work. I'm still a top performer, but I am able to work freely and the first person on the team to qualify for president's club. But I have minimal amounts stress and anxiety because I know if a deal doesn't work out, I'm still fine. If I got laid off today, I'm fine. And in fact, this has actually made me a better performer beacuse it got rid of even more "paralysis by analysis". So all in all, my advice to anyone reading this would be to prioritize financial independence especially in an age where we don't know how AI is going to disrupt the workforce in the coming years, and in an age where corporate loyalty is long gone. I'm now able to spend my mornings before work with my wife and daughters, and rarely have to log in after 5pm unless it's for an offer / to book an interview.

I'm sorry that this will piss off half the parents reading this: Your 11 year old probably doesn’t need a $8,000-a-year travel team. Meanwhile, mom and dad haven’t had a weekend alone in 8 months because every Friday afternoon the SUV is packed for another tournament 4 hours away. They need to just play sports (if they want). There’s a difference. $3,000 team fee. $2,500 hotels. $1,500 eating out. $500 uniforms. $500 entrance fees Every weekend gone, and somehow we convince ourselves this makes us better parents. Then we wonder why marriages struggle. Put the kid in rec ball and let them play with their buddies. Take your wife to dinner. Take a family vacation that doesn’t involve a Marriott next to a sports complex. If your kid is truly THAT good, you’ll eventually know. But I think a lot of parents are sacrificing their marriage, money and entire family calendar chasing a scholarship that probably isn’t coming. I agree that most kids need sports. I’m just not convinced they need travel sports. That's me - the one who forgot their $5 hat for picture day on a team that cost $20 for the season.

I could write a dissertation on this. Whatever you think about it all - we CLEARLY have a generation of mothers who are struggling with mental health issues. Rather than mock that, we should try to unpack WHY.

Wife is convinced we need to make 600k annual to afford two kids, no family on either side who live within 1,000 miles of us. Feels heavy right now trying to make this work.

AOC: "This costs the amount of a used car when you are young you are broke. That's like rolling up to a 25 year old or rolling up to a 26 year old and saying, why don't you buy a house? How can you chastise someone about the timing. When health insurance doesn't even cover it."