This is TL;DR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) Tuesdays.  I summarize and discuss two articles — one from a blogger, and from one a “traditional news” source.  I read news voraciously — I have online subscriptions to 3 major newspapers (conservative and liberal — WSJ, NYTimes, WaPo), but will also sneak in articles from other “traditional” news outlets.

I also provide links to two other blog posts you should read on your own, with a goal to feature bloggers that have popped up on here before and/or that I read on my own.

This concept is inspired by my father, who sends everyone in the family articles links by email, by my older brother, who sends articles so long I never read them, and my wife, who became tired of me sending her articles, and has been telling me “TL;DR” for years.

I write these 1-4x/month. Click here to read all of them over time.

2 Things For You To Read:

#1: Physician On Fire — Kids are Dynamite for Your Early Retirement — this is actually a guest post from a non-blogger who uses the name VagabondMD.  I hope to have a guest post from his on this site at some point soon as well!

#2: EJ @ DadsDollarsDebts — International Domestic Travel — how to travel internationally without leaving the US

2 Things I Read For You

#1

Source: Mama Fish Saves

Title: Why It Pays to Hustle While You’re Young

Summary: Put in the extra hours when you’re young to reap the rewards of a higher income or more options later in life.  Sure, when you’re young you also want to explore, travel, and party.  But you also have the most free time and energy to build things that will sustain you later in life, and more time to learn from failures.

Conclusion: Well, I went to medical school and then residency and fellowship when I was young.  I finished training just shy of my 33rd birthday.  It set me up well for the rest of my life — as long as I’m competent/not-a-criminal, I’ll have the option to make a really nice income and doing work that’s interesting and rewarding.   It certainly epitomizes delayed gratification, and while medicine isn’t necessarily what she was talking about, it’s sacrificing the now to reward yourself later that you should consider.  It’s hard to do that when you’re 22, but going into medicine sort of forced it upon me.

Read This Also: 7 Money Conversations to have With Your Spouse — 7 things about money you and your significant other should talk about ASAP

#2

Source: Wall Street Journal

Title: How to Succeed in Business?  Do Less

Summary: The most successful people don’t do as much as possible.  They pick a few things and knock them out of the park.  It’s not the number of hours that matter, and working “hard” in the traditional sense doesn’t matter the way you think it does.  Be willing to say “no” to your boss if they are piling on tasks, particularly if they impair your ability to complete what is your main work tasks.  If you can focus on what brings value to others, it helps your focus and everyone elses efficiency.

Conclusion: Learning to say “no” is an acquired trait for many.  I was taught this lesson before I had a job where it mattered.  Now I am in a role where it does matter.  While my work in the ED is relatively straightforward (though it’s possible to get dumped on by colleagues, it’s not common), it’s my non-clinical work where this matters.  I have roles related to research, clinical informatics/IT, education, quality improvement, and other things.  It’s easy to volunteer to take on a task that tangentially relates to what should be my primary focus, and thus be less effective at other things.  Many of my very successful colleagues have such a singular focus, co-workers or bosses may not  even approach them for things that don’t connect to their main focus. It’s possible to succeed being a jack-of-all-trades who pleases everyone, but unless your job and company/role make that a marker of success, that may be a losing strategy.

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