• UTILIZING CONSERVATIVE GLOBAL BUILDING A PERSONAL FINANCIAL SECURITY NET is a common-sense goal, but easier said than done, primarily because immediate needs, comforts and pleasures take priority. Building a foundation to protect assets from any of life’s curveballs can be achieved with commitment to a realistic 5-step realignment of priorities, as long as consistently applied. (1) The most crucial first-step in understanding how & where current cash flow is going, involves tracking expenses for a couple months, which enables structuring a Budget; (2) Allocating excess cash flow for several months to some type of accessible savings account in event of surprises – like lost job, medical emergency, car or home repair, kids’ needs, sanity-saving get-away, etc.; (3) Reducing high-cost debt payments by refinancing with debt consolidation, extended repayment plans, reverse mortgage, etc.; (4) Taking advantage of employer-sponsored or tax-advantaged retirement funding, and/or low-cost ETF index funds; (5) Protecting income and accumulated assets against catastrophic events with insurance and estate planning safety nets. Call DCG for courtesy consult.

 

  • TOUCHSCREENS IN VEHICLES IMPAIR DRIVER REACTION TIME more than driving over the legal alcohol limit, with left-handed drivers especially at risk. Latest study, using gaze-tracking cameras, found even the quickest job (changing temperature) took eyes off the road for 3½ seconds; finding a radio station took 11 seconds; putting in a new satnav address took 16; and since a screen does dozens of jobs, finding a particular setting, even safety features like even lane-keeping, often means tapping thorough several sub-menus – a dangerous distraction built into the car itself. Some carmakers (including VW, Porsche, Hyundai) have now begun restoring at least some buttons to new models. [ECONOMIST]

 

  • A PRETTY IMPORTANT MESSAGE, IF ACCURATE: “No amount of alcohol is safe for your brain,” according to latest study led by researchers from Oxford, Yale & Cambridge, involving genetic data from over three-million participants across 45 studies. Results showed a steady upward slope that “the more you drink, the worse it gets, with no amount safe, and alcohol is directly associated with up to 15% higher risk of dementia.” Other studies also link even moderate drinking to increased cancer risk (particularly breast & digestive system) and death rates from cardiovascular disease (particularly among elder adults who drink regularly). The World Health Organization has formally declared that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe.” https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/no-amount-of-alcohol-is-safe-for-your-brain-dementia-study-finds/

 

  • WITH AGING, THE HUNDREDS OF TRILLIONS OF CONNECTIONS IN SENIORS’ BRAINS THAT CONNECT FUNCTIONS undergo cellular & chemical changes that affect short-term memory. But a few techniques can shift info to our Long-term memory archive and lessen that frustration: (1) Socializing at least twice weekly with friends, lectures, etc.; (2) Learning any new language or skill which strengthens Cognitive Reserve, a resource which allows brain functioning even when affected by aging or illness; (3) Practicing ‘Active Recall’ – trying to remember something a few times after a delay of about 1/3 the time remaining until needing that memory to peak; (4) Tying info to humorous mental images/ acronyms/ funny names, which prompts a dopamine pleasure response; (5) Stop relying on Sat-Nav rather than our own sense of direction; (6) Utilizing a ‘Mind Palace’ which involves converting tangible things into meaningful images, placed along a walking route which can easier be mentally retrieved. https://www.sciencefocus.com/wellbeing/6-ways-protect-improve-memory

 
THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

  • Is a big percentage of your daily routine pre-empted by ‘urgencies’ – phone calls, email & social media messages, or someone just bursting in with need to ‘decide this now’? Many leaders suffer from ‘Urgency Addition’ – when your job becomes darting from crisis to crisis, while strategic priorities get bumped, without helping increase (or even maintain) productivity/ profitability. DCG can help. Call for courtesy consult.

 

  • How smart are dogs? Recent research found that most dogs can learn simple commands, recognize their names and items or actions in their daily lives – like food/ toy/ walk/ dinner. With training, they can also learn functions – like pull or jump – which human toddlers learn at about 14 months of age. “It’s common for pet owners to ascribe complex human behaviors and emotions to their pets, believing them to be displaying feelings of empathy, jealousy, even trying to deceive their owners. But it’s extremely difficult to actually objectively test the intelligence of non-humans’ intellectual & emotional abilities in the absence of language.” [PSYCHOLOGY TODAY]
  • Latest study of Generative AI in the workplace found the daily average number of work messages has zoomed 336% last year to over 700 million chatbot exchanges, with instances of Automation – directive interaction in which a user tells the model to do something – outstripping those of Augmentation – a more collaborative pattern of questions and feedback. AI is leaving its mark on workplace behavior, language and assumptions, with meetings now routinely transcribed, becoming a part of how performance is assessed, and with some firms installing dashboards to monitor employees’ adoption of the technology. [ECONOMIST]