Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger

J.R. Martinez joined the Army to give back to the country that accepted his immigrant, single mother and to earn money for college. As a 19-year-old, handsome Infantryman, he quickly deployed to Iraq. One bad day, his Humvee hit a roadside bomb, trapping J.R. inside where burning fuel literally melted the skin from his face and consumed one of his ears. J.R.’s buddies pulled him clear but not before he suffered third-degree burns over almost half body, broken ribs, damaged lungs and physical scarring that remains to this day. Putting J.R. back together required 34 surgeries over the next few years and lots of emotional work to help him come to terms with his new reality. 

Yet after all of that, J.R. calls this devastating event “a blessing.” Early in his long recovery, doctors invited him to visit newly-injured soldiers. By serving these young men and women, J.R. realized his life still had a purpose and that he could contribute to the well-being of others even with his limited physical capacity. The positive mental attitude that got him noticed by senior officers also earned the attention of Hollywood when he won a role on the soap opera All My Children. That led to a stint on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars, which he and his dance partner (Karina Smirnoff) won! 

In this unstructured conversation, J.R. and I talk about fatherhood, fertility testing (gotta fill that cup, fellas!), career ups-and-downs, marriage, and J.R.’s journey. He’s an incredible guy and I know you’ll feel better after learning how he made it through all life could throw at him. 

Check out everything J.R., including his memoir (Full of Heart) and The Rebirth Podcast on his website.

❤️ Please rate and review Crazy Money by clicking here. ❤️ 
Join Paul on Harvard Business School Encore Career Panel - click here.  About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  

On this episode we talk about: Iraq, wounded warriors, soldiers, military, veterans, fatherhood, fertility, marriage.

Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Stevie Van Zandt is best-known as guitarist and founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and for playing Silvio Dante on HBO's The Sopranos and Frank Tagliano on Netflix's Lilyhammer. But as he shares in his new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations, Stevie has done so much more with his time on this earth, even if it all didn’t go exactly as he might have hoped. 
As a producer, songwriter, and arranger, Stevie has helped countless artists make beautiful music. His songs have been performed by Jackson Browne, Pearl Jam, Nancy Sinatra, and many more. He co-produced Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s The River and Born in the USA, acted in the role of Jerry Vale in Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman, programs and hosts two radio channels on Sirius/XM and—somewhere along the way—found time to fight for causes he believed in, most notably Artists Against Apartheid for which he was honored by the United Nations. 

In today’s conversation, Stevie shares the frustrations and occasional disappointments of putting your whole heart (and, sometimes, all your money) into your artistic vision. Yet he abides in his passionate pursuit of musical beauty. In the words of his friend, Bruce Springsteen Stevie remains "the planet’s most charismatic, dedicated and visible crusader scrapping to preserve the dirty purity of rock n’ roll.” Buy several copies of Stevie's book at https://www.littlesteven.com/

Tell the world that you ❤️ Crazy Money: https://ratethispodcast.com/crazymoney About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  

On this episode we talk about: Art, music, music business, commerce, New Jersey, HBO, Netflix, Sopranos, Lilyhammer, concerts, Little Steven, BadaBing, authors, books 

Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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(originally posted Sept, 2020) Would you consider yourself a success if you died with $1 million? How about $10 million? Well, what if you died with $0.00?  In his new book, Die With Zero: Getting All you Can from Your Money and Your Life, Bill Perkins challenges you to flout conventional wisdom and spend your money not just before you’re dead, but while you’re still young enough to enjoy it. That’s right, instead of maximizing your net worth at death, he wants you to die having lived a life rich in experiences that your hard-earned money made possible. And he’s not saying you should blow it all on parties or ignore the needs of your kids or charities. He’s just saying that the time to decide how to best invest, spend, gift, or bequeath your fortune--big or small--is while you are still on this side of the dirt and still mobile enough to enjoy it. After all, travel is no fun when you’re too infirm to explore and savor the local culture. So dither not! There will be plenty of time to watch Family Feud and The Price is Right when you’re 87 and stuck in your recliner.  Called “the last cowboy” by The Wall Street Journal, Bill Perkins is one of the world’s most successful hedge fund managers and entrepreneurs. After studying electrical engineering at the University of Iowa, Bill worked on Wall Street then moved to Houston where he made a fortune as an energy trader. He is currently CEO of BrisaMax Holdings, a consulting services firm based in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now 51 years-old, Bill views his career as an engine for personal growth and spends his time exploring the world, savoring his relationships, and taking in all that life has to offer.   Read more about Bill and the book here.  Please take a second to rate and review Crazy Money here. (Click on whichever app you use to listen!)
Find out more about Crazy Money and Paul Ollinger on his website and/or follow him on the socials: 
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Produced and edited by Mike Carano.
Topics addressed on Crazy Money include: Philosophy, Happiness, Contentment, Meaning, Success, Rat Race, Buddhism, Stoicism, The hedonic treadmill, Mid-Life Crisis, Business, Work, Careers, Authors, Books, Consumerism, Values.
Okay, you’ve reached the end of this episode description. And yet you’re still reading. Why? You must not have much going on today. Hey, have you rated and reviewed this fine podcast yet? You should. So either go back to the podcast page (the page about the whole show, not just this episode) and scroll down, way down to where you see “Rate and Review,” then do your thing. Or, as I say above, click here.

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(Originally posted June, 2019) Gianni Le Nguyen fled Vietnam at the age of 5. Late one night in the early 1980s, her father wrapped his two young daughters in a fishing net, then rowed a basket boat out to meet a more seaworthy vessel a quarter mile offshore. They spent five days battling storms, illness and pirates who took everything Gianni’s dad possessed, including his official papers. Thus began a beauracratic mess that left her family in refugee camps for over two years before they finally made their way to Beaverton, Oregon. Almost 40 years later, Gianni is a successful entrepreneur, mother of four, and wife to an American dude named Brian. Her journey fits a pattern of Asian immigration that has strengthen the USA. According to Pew Research, "Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success.” Gianni and I talk about her journey and how it affected her relationship to money, financial security and her thoughts on a proper work ethic.  Originally published June, 2019. See pictures of Gianni and family and of Paul, Gianni, and her sister in Vietnam in 2005 on Crazy Money Facebook Page.  Email Paul: [email protected]

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Robert H. “Bob” Frank teaches economics at Cornell and is the author of a dozen books, including the one that caught my eye for this week’s topic: Luck and Success: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy. Bob cares a great deal about recognizing luck’s role in our success because doing so, he argues, would make us all more grateful, happy, and generous. He also cares because without the “lucky” proximity of an ambulance one cold November morning, he wouldn’t have survived the heart attack that laid him out on the tennis court in Ithaca, NY a few years back. But survive he did and he forged on to continue teaching and writing about status, ambition, spending, social signaling, and the evolutionary traits that lead to such behavior. The Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management Emeritus at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business, Bob’s other books include Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess, Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work, and Principles of Macroeconomics, the textbook he co-authoredwith former Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke. Bob’s writing has appeared in top publications and academic journals, including The Atlantic, Journal of Economics, Journal of Public Economics, American Economic Review, The American Prospect, and Chronicle of Higher Education. He is a regular contributor to the Economic View column in the New York Times. Bob received his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech and his MA and Ph.D from UC Berkeley. He has taught economics at Cornell since 1972.  Follow Bob on Twitter @econnaturalist Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money 🎤 >> See Paul’s upcoming live comedy show dates. ✉️ >> E-mail Paul 📸 >> Follow on Instagram  🌍 >> Join the Facebook Crazy Money Listeners Group About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  This week’s episode includes thoughts on Taxes conspicous consumption spending luxury luxuries luck Peace corps adaptation habituation status well-being rationality behavioral economics luck gratitude Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Is there something about being successful that makes you less happy? Do smart people’s over-active brains fill their heads with negative thoughts? If so, how can you calm these voices? These are topics we address today with Raj Raghunathan, the author of the book If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? and the creator of the wildly successful Coursera course called A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment. Raj is also a professor of Marketing at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.  In today’s conversation we talk about how being smart and successful might actually work against you when it comes to being happy, day-in and day-out, why relationships are more important than money, the three main categories of your negative thoughts, and whether happiness is a choice. Learn more about Raj, the book, and take the Happiness Questionnaire on HappySmarts.com. Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money! CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ >> E-mail Paul 🌍 Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596 About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Charlie Wheelan is a professor of economics and public policy at Dartmouth College and the author of several books, including Naked Money, Naked Economics, (no nudity in either), and The Centrist Manifesto, all of which we discuss in this episode. The Chicago Sun-Times describes Charlie as someone who “combines a razor-sharp mind with a boatload of charm and impressive expertise in economics and foreign policy,” which might be why his students regularly pick him as one of Dartmouth's 10 best professors. Charlie is also the founder and Co-director of Unite America, a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and independents working together to to put voters first by fostering more representative and functional government. In March, 2009, Charlie ran unsuccessfully for the Congressional seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel who went on to become President Obama’s Chief of Staff. Charlie is a graduate of Dartmouth and holds a Master’s from Princeton and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.  In today’s conversation, we talk about why our political process has become so polarized, why it’s near impossible to get reasonable candidates elected, and what each party is either right or wrong about. (Yes, there are actually merits to be considered on both sides of the spectrum!) Most importantly, Charlie lays out some very practical ideas for how we can restore sanity to our governing bodies. How does this conversation fit in with the overall discussion of money and happiness? Well, I have found that the increasingly harsh political rancor in recent years to be a huge downer. It has affected the quality and tenor of many of my personal relationships and seems to have pulled us apart as a society. Few conversations can just occur without having to consider the other person’s political persuasion. Maybe this is something that happens as you get older or perhaps this is actually unique to our day and age. Either way, it sucks, and we’d all be better off if we prioritized country over party, the way Charlie implores us to do.  Visit Charlie’s website and/or check out Unite America.  Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money! CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ >> E-mail Paul 🌍 Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596 About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  On this episode we talk about: Taxes tax policy inequality infrastructure Civics government elections voting  Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Andrew Sullivan’s new book,  Out on a Limb: Selected Writing 1989-2021 captures the best of his three decade quest to identify and share The Truth with his readers. Because his philosophy does not adhere to the predominant narrative of either the Left or the Right, Andrew has made many enemies over the years. He has been called a flaming liberal, a nazi, a misgoynist, a white supremacist, a homophobe, and the Anti-Christ, which is pretty ironic given that he is both gay and a devout Catholic. Yet he forged—and still forges—on, enduring the inevitable slings and arrows that come at anyone who says what few others have the courage or wisdom to articulate. As he shares in this discussion, Andrew writes from a visceral need to make sense of issues that trouble him on a gut level. His work spans social issues from domestic and international politics, to AIDS, religion, cancel culture, and Monica Lewinsky.  Andrew was editor of The New Republic for five years and was a vocal voice in support of gay marriage going back to 1989 when the concept was a pipe dream. His work has appeared in dozens of outlets, including the Time, Salon, New York Times, The Sunday Times, andThe Atlantic. In addition to the new release, his previous books include The Conservative Soul, Virtually Normal, Love Undetectable.  Subscribe to The Dish here. Follow Andrew on Twitter. Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money! CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ >> E-mail Paul 🌍 Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596  About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  On this episode we talk about AIDS Marriage equality Homosexuality journalism writing media Cancel cutlture Identity Race Religion Catholicism Faith Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Oliver Burkeman is the author of the new book, 4,000 Weeks: Time Managment for Mortals, which Adam Grant calls “The most important book ever written about time management.”  In it, Oliver argues that using your life (4,000 weeks = about 80 years) most meaningfully requires abandoning the illusion that we can—or should try to—get everything done. And that the attempt to do so just leaves us miserable and isolated. So indeed, one of the keys to productivity is deciding what to ignore.  Further, Oliver reckons, when you put your existence into the context of the enormity of the universe, you realize that many of our “plans” are just distractions from the knowledge that we will all eventually be dead and won’t be remembered for terribly long. So why shouldn’t we just spend our days taking hikes and cooking for our children? Hey, that’s not a bad question.  I am a big fan of Oliver’s deeply-informed, highly-thoughtful, and quite funny writing. On his first Crazy Money appearance, we discussed his book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking in which he lays out an equally counter-intuitive (well, counter-narrative anyway) that being happy starts with lowering your expectations. And that he argues leaves us with a reasonable expectation of where we actually derive meaning in our lives.  In addition to his books, Oliver wrote the "This Column Will Change Your Life" column for The Guardianfor about 14 years.  Sign up for Oliver’s newsletter here. Listen to Monty Python’s The Galaxy Songhere. Listen to Oliver’s first Crazy Money appearance here.  Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money! CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ >> E-mail Paul 🌍 Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596 About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism.  Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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Hello! My name is Mike Carano, I edit Crazy Money. At my suggestion I interviewed Paul for this weeks episode, and unexpectedly didn't get to a single question that I painstakingly crafted. In this episode we talk about stand-up (I worked at The Improv comedy club for 30 years), the origin and mission of this podcast, and I attempt to imply his wife is a serial killer. If you're reading this, congratulations, you got to it before Paul could make changes. I sincerely hope you enjoy this conversation, and more importantly, that I'm not boring.
If you have an idea for a potential guest or just want to say hi, please email Paul at [email protected].
 HEY YOU! - Click HERE to ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money! CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ >> E-mail Paul 🌍 Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596 About Crazy Money: Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching credit cards. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to be our best selves. Topics covered include: philosophy, happiness, contentment, meaning, dreams, purpose, success, society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, mid-life crisis, business, work, careers, authors, books, consumerism, values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth management, culture, society, status, ambition, accomplishment, perfectionism. Please stop reading and have a great day. Paul loves you.

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