Let’s Get Real Weekly | Week of Sep 12, 2025

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Personal

First full weekend of football is in the books and my heart finally feels like it is beating at the right speed again. Croix (#21) opened his flag season with a wild one that slipped away on a last second scramble and a backyard heave the ref should have whistled dead, and while the L stung he still stole a pick, kept his composure, and learned the exact kind of lesson sports are supposed to teach when the scoreboard does not cooperate. Lincoln’s (#31) first tackle game was a different story where we settled the nerves, lined up, and handled business 28 to 0, and even though they barely ran at his side I watched him win with the small things that only coaches care about like footwork after contact and discipline when the ball goes the other direction. Pile two soccer matches for each kid on top of that and you get the kind of fall weekend I live for where the weather is perfect, the coolers get emptied, and the car smells like turf pellets and effort.

Here is the part that does not make the highlight reel. I was sick most of the week and coaching while trying not to pass out is an experience I do not recommend, which is also why this newsletter is late because I had to drag my way through a pile of catch up once the fever broke. Fall also hits the wallet like a linebacker you did not see coming, and if you felt that too then you are in the right room. Fees, food, gas, school stuff, uniforms, equipment, renewals you forgot existed, all of it wants a piece of you at the exact same time, and even with staging cash last month the timing still stacked and we had to make real choices instead of pretending we could do everything at once. So we told the truth at our kitchen table, we pushed two nice to haves to the fourth quarter, we left the long term investments alone, we added line items for the repeat offenders so next September does not sneak up, and we told the boys exactly why because money is not a secret in this house. If your August or early September punched you the way ours did, you are not broken and you are not behind, you are simply in the middle of real life, so adjust what you can, refuse to cannibalize the future, and keep going.

Current Events

This week made it hard to open a screen at all, because honoring 9/11 while watching more school shooting coverage is a heavy lift for any nervous system, and the truth is a lot of us are trying to work, parent, and be decent in a country that keeps throwing violence into our feeds. If social media is grinding your mind into dust you are not imagining it, and you are not alone either, because fresh polling shows roughly half of U.S. adults say they have already cut back on social media use this year to protect their mental health which is as sensible as it sounds when the information firehose refuses to slow down.

My filter stays simple because simple is what holds under pressure. If a story will not change how you spend, earn, save, or invest, it does not get your anxiety today. Track the prices that actually touch your home and your business, audit the rates on your debt so you are not bleeding quietly, protect sleep like an asset, and count the minutes you actually looked your kid in the eyes instead of counting the outrage cycles you scrolled past. Your attention is capital and you will always get a better return investing it in decisions inside your control than donating it to the algorithm.

This Week’s Drops

LGR
No drop this week because I was in the flu cage, and I appreciate the grace. If you want something in your ears while you train or drive, the archive sits here: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@LetsGetFReal

NoBS Wealth
New episode is live with my sister from another mister, Kristina Hall, where we dig into how to treat Q4 like the grown up that actually feeds next year instead of a December panic attack. We break brand awareness campaigns for owners, why cadence beats clever, and how to measure progress without hating your own marketing.


Prefer audio?
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5hRolFyn4QkcTXPCqyDNbp?si=9928847f3f824ee7
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nobs-wealth/id1598154326

Tell me what you want next and do not sand the edges off your question. Taxes, pricing, marketing that does not feel slimy, money and mental health, exit planning when you are done pretending you are not done, I want the real version not the safe one.

Investment Opportunity

September likes to posture, and even if some years flip the script the base rate still says it is the sloppiest month on average, which means the smart move right now is not to play hero with lump sums but to keep feeding your plan exactly as written while you let volatility do what volatility does. Fresh roundups have already reminded people that September historically clocks the weakest average returns for the S&P 500, and the big desks are preaching the boring gospel I love which is patience, diversification, quality, and rules over vibes.

Three moves if your stomach is loud. Stage any money you need in the next three to twelve months in cash or T bills so market chop cannot cancel your plans, keep your automatic contributions on and point new dollars at cash generative quality so the calendar does the heavy lifting for you, and build your watchlist now so if we get a discount you buy what you already underwrote rather than whatever name just trended. Guardrails do the rest. Respect position size, respect time horizon, and do not fund long term assets with short term money just because a commentator told you they felt confident on television.

Soul Check In

Take pride in the life you built and the one you are still building, even on the weeks where you felt like you were running a fever and a family schedule at the same time, because that is exactly what you did and you are still here. Make two moves with me today and let them be small enough to finish and strong enough to feel. First, reduce your social media time in a measurable way and I will do it with you, either delete the app for a week or cap it at thirty minutes a day and notice what comes back into focus. Second, make a fifty dollar plan before the month ends by killing one useless subscription or cooking one extra dinner at home and then sweeping the savings into your cash buffer where it actually does something for you. You do not need a miracle this week, you need a streak, and quiet wins still stack even when nobody claps.