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Every two weeks, I share my writing on investing, career transitions, meaningful work, parenting, living intentionally, and other topics that engage me.

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Field Notes Edition #3

Welcome to another Field Notes edition of Beyond the Cove. I’m experimenting with some shorter formats that are quicker to write and, hopefully, just as interesting for you to read.

In Field Notes. I’ll share a few small things I noticed lately that made me think, smile, or look twice. Maybe they’ll do the same for you.

Let’s see where this takes us.

As always, I welcome any feedback or ideas. Just hit reply.

• Market Thawing? There are signs of life in the multifamily market for transactions. I feel like I've been expecting this for a few years now. According to this Multifamily Dive article, MSCI Real Assets reported a 20% yoy increase in apartment sales volume in April. Prices were stable, down 1% yoy.
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• Personal Finance Risk As I meet with individual investors, I'm often reminded of this quote from Morgan Housel. Of course, people usually want more (return), but they don't always consider the risks and whether they even need more. The first step is determining what you need.

• High Standards with Grace Insightful podcast interview with Ellen Hendriksen, author of How to be Enough, on 10% Happier with Dan Harris (thanks G for flagging it). Perfectionists often struggle with the fear that giving themselves a break will sacrifice quality. This is not necessarily true. Dan nails the balance when he describes how he communicates his expectations to his team: “Expect excellence. Expect mistakes.”

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• Proud Parent Moment - Humble brag alert! What a thrill to watch my daughter, Caroline, and her team make it to the finals of High School Quiz Show Maine. The last two minutes were exciting, intense, and worth watching even if you have no connection to the players. The link below begins at the final lightning round (ignore the incorrect title - it's Yarmouth vs. Orono). As a fun side note, the son of a friend/former colleague from Boston competed on the Orono team.

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Source: High School Quiz Show Maine
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• Making Memories I expected him to say it was just a plan that never materialized, but George had a different story to tell. During a recent golf event for work, I caught up with this client in his mid-80s. Over lunch, he shared how he and four close friends had proposed an annual sailing trip off the coast of Maine. But to my surprise, they didn't just talk about it. For over twenty years, they kept that promise to each other. Now George is the last of the group, but he treasures those memories. It's a touching reminder that the best plans aren't the ones we talk about; you've got to make it happen.
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• Sparks of Joy Sometimes it doesn't take much. Just over the past week or two, I've felt a spark from each of the following:
  • Left work early to watch my son set a personal record for high jump, and by 4 inches no less! He won't qualify for states or threaten any school records, and I couldn't care less. It was priceless to see him light up after he cleared the bar. He's worked hard and enjoyed simply getting better.
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  • Leveraged Claude to write Python code to automate a complicated daily task. The entire process took a few hours, but I fell into an incredible flow state. I started with zero coding knowledge, so it was also satisfying to build something that saves me 20 minutes a day and eliminates the occasional dumb error that comes with being human.
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  • On a(nother) rainy Saturday, three neighbors and I drove an hour north for a long-planned and often rescheduled lunch at King Eider's Pub in Damariscotta. The oysters were amazing (The Damariscotta River produces some of the best oysters on the East Coast). But the opportunity to reconnect after a long winter hibernation was the highlight.

And a Farewell Photo...

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