Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger

In 1988, Maura McVann Coley sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury that deprived her of the ability to walk. Just 17 at the time of the accident, the then high school athlete had to adjust her expectations for senior year, college, and life beyond. On today’s episode, Maura shares with great candor how she adapted logistically and emotionally to her new and very different circumstances. She offers insight into how she navigated college at the University of Illinois, traveled through Europe, and figured out young adult life. Things get very real when Maura tells me why she was scared to date.  Today, Maura and her husband, Kevin Coley raise two children and a dog in Daphne, AL where they own and operate a small business called We Rock the Spectrum Daphne. Maura also runs a pediatric speech therapy practice called Speech Time Therapy Services where kids of all abilities learn and develop critical communication skills in a fun and playful environment. She loves traveling to new places with her family, helping others, and promoting disability awareness and acceptance through her work and life example. She has used a wheelchair for almost 33 years.  Learn more about #spinalcordinjury and the place Maura started her rehab, Shepherd Spinal Center. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money: >> http://ratethispodcast.com/crazyMoney  CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ 🌍 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.

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(Originally posted Jan, 2020...but so worth another listen) In The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, Jonathan Rauch explores the decline in happiness that most people experience in middle age and what there is to do about it. Even after achieving all we had ever dreamed of and more, many of us experience a disappointment or melancholy, and question if “this” is all there is to life.  The first thing to understand that this is normal. Your doubts are okay and part of the aging process of the mind. The second thing to embrace is that you will be okay! Listen now to find out how and why. Jonathan Rauch is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor of The Atlantic. His writing spans the full spectrum of society, including politics, marijuana legalization, health care, gay marriage, adultery, agriculture, economics, height discrimination, and animal rights.  This work has earned him many honors, including the National Magazine Award and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association prize for excellence in opinion writing. You have probably read some of it in The Economist, Reason, Harper’s, Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Slate, The Advocate, or many other leading publications. He does not like shrimp. See Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life" here. Learn more about Jonathan: https://www.jonathanrauch.com/  SUPPORT THE SHOW: ✍️ RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money: >> http://ratethispodcast.com/crazyMoney   CONNECT WITH PAUL: 📸 Instagram: >> https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ 🌍 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.

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Matthew J. Slaughter is the Dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth where Paul (the host of this show) earned his MBA. In today’s conversation, Matt and Paul discuss the role of business education in creating not just savvy business leaders but curious, ethical human beings. Matt shares insights into the challenges the pandemic inflicted on universities, how Covid-19 caused the worst day of his career, and how to behave in the Oval Office. An expert on globalization, Matt is also the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business. From 2005-07, he served on President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research; a member of the academic advisory board of the International Tax Policy Forum; and an academic advisor to the McKinsey Global Institute. Matt received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Notre Dame in 1990, and his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994.  You can read more about Matt here.   SUPPORT THE SHOW: RATE / REVIEW Crazy Money: http://ratethispodcast.com/crazyMoney BUY A SIDECAR FOR THE FASHIONABLE MOM IN YOUR LIFE: http://sidecarlove.com CONNECT WITH PAUL: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crazymoneypodcast/ Facebook (Crazy Money Listeners Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/446049973036596

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(Originally posted Sept, 2019...but so worth another listen) Our brains are not good at predicting what will actually make us happy. You think you want more money, more fame, and to be alone, but what will actually make you happy are more social connections and more gratitude. Dr. Santos’ course Psychology and the Good Life—the most popular class in Yale’s history—teaches students to live happier, more fulfilling lives, which is good because student rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts are at an all-time high.  Laurie Santos, PhD is a cognitive scientist, Professor of Psychology and Director of Yale’s Comparative Cognition Laboratory. She is the host of The Happiness Lab podcast. Laurie earned her AB, AM and PhD’s from Harvard University. 
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Email Paul guest suggestions, Bitcoin, and gift certificates at:  [email protected] 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.

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What does it mean to “own” something? Do you “own”your body? Do you own the dirt in your backyard? If someone flies a drone over your deck, do you have the right to blast it out of the sky? (Seems fair to me, but the law says otherwise.) In their new book,Mine!, law professors Michael Heller and James Salzman explore the the concept of ownership and property in ways you have almost certainly not considered.  I love books that make me re-think a concept that I take for granted. InMine!, Heller and Salzman do just that. Most of us assume we know what it means to own something or who has the right to certain things or spaces. But the law isn’t always self-evident, is wildly inconsistent, and varies from country-to-country and state-to-state. 
Manyof the examples they cite will piss you off! For example, who owns the space just behind the airplane seat in front of you? Does that sweaty dude in that chair have the right to recline? Or does that space belong to you and your sensitive knees? Also, why can you copyright a song but not a comedy routine? (Huh, HUH??!!!??!!) I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation on this non-obvious topic with these two brilliant gentlemen.  Michael Heller is the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of Real Estate Law at Columbia Law School. He has taught at the NYU, UCLA, University of Michigan and Yale Law Schools. He is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. James Salzman is the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at UCLA School of Law and the UC Santa Barbara School of Environment. Among many other accolades, Jim is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a McMaster Fellow and a Fulbright Senior Scholar. He is a graduate of Yale and holds graduate degrees in both Law and Engineering from Harvard University.  Get tickets to Paul’s 4/22 show at MadLife studios HERE.  Learn more aboutMine!here. **Please rate and review Crazy Money here.**
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Produced and edited by Mike Carano
About Crazy Money:
If you don’t like to think, you’re going to hate Crazy Money. Unlike traditional personal finance shows like Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the market, or how to save money by switching cable providers. 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, rat race, 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, wealth management, culture, society.
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This week we tried out a new format—a panel discussion about the 1987 classic Oliver Stone film, Wall Street. It starred Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Darryl Hannah and a whole bunch of other amazing actors. The movie, which was a morality tale about financial excess, both celebrated and condemned the era's obsession with money and over-the-top luxury (clearly that’s over!). In addition to cocaine, caviar, and steak tartare, it asked us to consider:

How much is enough? 

How do you define success?

Is greed, for lack of a better word, good?

My friend A.M. Bhatt and I moderated this discussion on the Clubhouse app including previous Crazy Moneyguests:

Turney Duff, author of The Buy Side


Lisa Birnbach, author of The Official Preppy Handbook


Brad Klontz, financial psychologist and author of Money Mammoth and other books

 Get tickets to Paul’s show in Woodstock on April 22 here. Rate and review Crazy Money here.

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A working class kid from the poor part of Connecticut, Jared Dillian somehow managed in 2001 to land a job as a trader at Lehman Brothers, the then-prestigious investment bank. Wearing cheap suits from the Mens Wearhouse, he found himself out-of-place among the Armani-clad Ivy League set on Wall Street. But he loved trading and made a lot of money in the process. In this candid conversation, Jared shares frank insights into the incredible stress of trading and the mental health that became apparent as his career progressed. Those persistent mood swings turned out to be a symptom of undiagnosed Bipolar disorder, which resulted in him spending three weeks in the psychiatric ward, a place he described as “a very healing environment." After Lehman went bankrupt, Jared pivoted to a successful writing career. Today, he is the Editor of The Daily Dirt Nap, an investment newsletter providing daily market commentary and insight to traders and very serious investors. He has also written two books: Street Freak: A Memoir of Money and Madness, a gripping read which chronicles his time as a trader with Lehman Brothers from 2001-2008, and the novel, All The Evil of this World, which Paul is looking forward to reading.   Jared graduated from the US Coast Guard Academy and earned his MBA From University of San Francisco. When he’s not writing or taking care of his 5 cats, he is making music under the name, DJ Stochastic. He lives in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Learn more about The Daily Dirtnap 

Check out Jared’s music here. 

Jared’s radio show here  

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Topics covered in this episode include investments, trading, Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, writing, mental health, bipolar disorder, OCD, Bloomberg, Matt Levine

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My guest today paid a dowry of eight cows for his first wife and six cows and three sheep for his second wife. Josphat Mako, or just “Mako," grew up in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, a massive plain just north of the Serengeti. He taught himself English, learned how to drive, and has since become become a well-known safari guide for the legendary Cottars camps.  In today’s episode, we talk about his childhood, daily life in the Maasai Village, who goes to school in their culture (it will surprise you!), and what it was like when he attended a football game at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Special thanks to Ann Short travel here in Atlanta, Bush & Beyond in Nairobi and the good people at Cottars Conservation camp in the Mara. See photos from our trip are in the Crazy Money Listeners group in Facebook.  

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Rate and review Crazy Money here. 

 Topics covered in this episode include: #alabamafootball #maasai #maasaimara #travel #safari #africa
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, 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, wealth management, culture, society, status.

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(Originally posted October, 2019) Ryan Holiday is the author of ten books, which have sold sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and been translated into 30 languages. World-class athletes, celebrities and political leaders use his lessons to achieve peak performance. His 2014 book, The Obstacle Is The Way, was read by the New England Patriots during their 2014 Super Bowl-winning season and by four-time major champion golfer Rory McIlroy as preparation for the 2019 Masters Tournament.  In this conversation, recorded in September, 2019, we discuss his then-upcoming release, Stillness is the Key, the author explores how each of us can find wisdom in our lives by slowing down and quieting the barking dogs in our head. Ryan is also the founder of Daily Stoic, a community of 200,000 people dedicated to leading better lives by contemplating the ancient philosophy.  Find Ryan on http://dailystoic.com Find Paul on http://PaulOllinger.com Email Paul at [email protected] TICKETS to Paul’s upcoming comedy shows: https://laughingskulllounge.com/ Subjects covered this week include: Stoicism, Buddhism, Money, ambition, pride, stillness, meditation, Marcus Aurelius, memento mori, Daily Stoic, books, authors

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Communicator, author, and pastor Andy Stanley founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries (NPM) in 1995. Today, NPM consists of seven churches in the Atlanta area and a network of nearly 100 churches around the globe that collectively serve nearly 185,000 people weekly. A survey of U.S. pastors in Outreach magazine identified Andy as one of the ten most influential living pastors in America. Andy holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Georgia State University and a master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than 20 books, including Irresistible; The New Rules for Love, Sex & Dating; How to Be Rich; Deep & Wide; Enemies of the Heart; When Work & Family Collide; Visioneering; and Next Generation Leader.
His success reaches well beyond the Atlanta area. Over 10.5 million of his messages, leadership videos, YouTube videos, and podcasts are accessed each month. He is the host of the TV show, Your Move with Andy Stanley, which airs in major markets after Saturday Night Live.
In this episode, Andy and I discuss what Jesus taught regarding money, wealth, and charity. And why it’s a great idea to always GIVE FIRST. Learn more about Andy’s ministry here and watch Your Movehere. 
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Read Paul’s latest thoughts on life on Medium.  Topics covered in this episode include: money, church, rich, pastor, Jesus, christians, christianity, churches, tithe, charity, philanthropy, gospel, living 
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, 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, wealth management, culture, society, status.
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