We gave our Architect the final stamp of approval on our plans for Project Silver Spring.
The front elevation is a thing of beauty.
Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca
Happy Mother's Day!
Peep the watermark. This picture was taken at the kids' school and they tried to finesse me for $50.
Nah, we good. The screenshot is Free.99
I turned 36 this past Thursday.
An old friend called to wish me a happy birthday and asked, "What would 18-year-old Sunny think of 36-year-old Sunny?"
Good question!!!
My answer was "18-year-old Sunny didn't have enough perspective. He placed way too much value on silly things and not nearly enough value on priceless things."
Then on Friday two of my friends took me out to lunch. I blew out the candle on my dessert before the waiter could set the plate on the table.
"Fast wish!", my friend quipped.
"No wish," I replied. "I have everything I want and need."
36 Things I'm Grateful For:
I like where I am.
It took a little skill, but it was mostly luck.
(Don't worry - there aren't actually 36 things)
1-10: Birth Luck
I was born healthy. Aside from breaking my wrist at 18 and being hospitalized from working out too hard at 27 😅 , I haven't had any major health issues.
Health is one of those things I take for granted, but it's worth as much, if not more, than anything else I'm about to say.
I was born in America. More specifically, Northeast NJ.
I'm the youngest child of 3 and the only boy (an absolute killer combination for a Gujarati family).
My parents are immigrant small business owners. Grit is encoded in our DNA.
Through hard work and dedication, they achieved the "Middle-Class American Dream". My sisters and I graduated college debt-free and got various levels of support well into adulthood.
My mom is 1 of 7. All of her siblings live in NJ and NY. I have ~20 cousins. The youngest cousin is ~30. The oldest cousin is ~50. We were a rat-pack. I don't think I've EVER felt alone in my life. If I didn't have a friend, I had something better: family.
Reasons 10-15: Friends
Speaking of Friends...
Boy, did I hit the fuckin' lottery (more than once).
A few weeks ago we celebrated the kids' birthday at our gym. I was standing next to one of the staff members facilitating the event and she gave me the ultimate compliment.
She said, "This is an amazing group of people you have here today."
I took a step back and surveyed the crowd. I saw people from so many different stages of my life. Then I started ... narrating(?) who certain people were and how long I'd known them.
Those guys chasing their kids are friends from my middle school lunch table. I've known them for 25 years!
The three brown dudes feeding their kids on the bench are my friends from college. I've known them for half of my life.
The group dancing with their kids and taking too many pictures are from our old CrossFit gym. We met more than a decade ago. None of us are members of that gym anymore, but the bond remains.
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Then I have the latest group of friends I've developed: My "colleagues". We're all mostly solo operators of real estate investment businesses. We're in the trenches sharing trade secrets and respectfully competing for similar deals. They gave me the gift of an abundance mindset and believed in me when I was too damaged to believe in myself.
Reasons 15-30: Married The Right Person
Without getting too emotional on this Mother's Day - I could not have picked a better partner to do the rest of my life with.
We got off to an incredibly romantic start: two kids falling madly in love as they "studied" by day and explored Western Europe by night.
The ~4 years of long-distance dating that followed was the ultimate test, which we passed with flying colors.
Then came our "Do You Trust Me?" moment.
Would she leave her job and family behind to move to a new country, having just learned the language ~5 years prior?
She made a massive bet on me. And I've been trying to pay out ever since.
1 US Citizenship, 2 beautiful kids, and a 10-year marriage anniversary later, I think it's safe to say Dia's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
6 More Things
1) I learned to love learning after I was done with school. Mainly because I transitioned to a "just in time" approach vs. the traditional "just in case" method.
I spent most of my twenties devouring self-help and personal finance books. Now I spend most of my time learning about parenting and solopreneurship.
2) I keep my sails up. I (try to) stay ready so I don't have to get ready. Sounds super corny, but I feel like I can recognize and seize any opportunity that comes my way.
3) I don't fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy anymore. More specifically, I can let go of things that no longer serve me, even if they cost me a lot of time or money to acquire.
4) I choose infinite games over zero-sum games. I don't want to win if it means you have to lose. I pride myself on creating win-win solutions. The main goal is to keep playing indefinitely.
5) I put my mask on first. It comes across as incredibly selfish, but good luck getting me to do anything if I don't get 8 hours of sleep, hit the gym in the morning, and have time to myself to decompress on a daily basis.
6) I love Type 2 fun: miserable in the moment, but fun in retrospect. i.e. CrossFit style workouts, Parenting, and of course, writing this newsletter every week.
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Until next time.
