Musings from the CU Suite

Compiled by Anthony Demangone, Powered by NAFCU

“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” – Thomas Jefferson

Mr. Jefferson was talking religion here, and if it is OK with you, I will refrain from talking about that hot topic. But I’ve always liked this quote from him. He was saying, essentially, what a person chooses regarding his or her religion doesn’t affect him. So, he really didn’t care how they worshiped.

There’s a lesson there for all of us. I believe that each day, we have a limited amount of “care.”

I care about many things. My children’s grades. My family. My job. NAFCU. Credit unions. My dog Greta. And even the cat. At times.

But I can’t care about everything. I’d simply run out of the energy to effectively manage or help in those situations.

I must choose. I choose those things that affect me or the things I care about. But if it doesn’t “pick my pocket or break my leg,” I try to leave it alone. It is just noise.  

Now, on to this week’s reading pile. Enjoy!

• Competition is everywhere. Exhibit # 1,246. H&R Block’s Retail App Has a Slight Edge: 21 Million Tax Customers. (FB)
• Inflation and the elephant. (Ritholtz)
• A bunch of excellent quotes about member service. (StevenVanBelleghem)
• Who’s responsible. (Godin)
• A small but powerful surprise. (ShepHyken)
• More than 1 million fewer students are in college. (NPR)
• Top 100 CUs on social media. (FB)
• Why everyone thinks the inflation numbers are wrong. (AWOCS)
• I’m generally an optimist because of things like this. Startup is turning nonrecyclable plastic into building blocks fit for construction. (FastCo)
• I know many of you are tied into your town or city. You want it to prosper. Here’s a good resource from Bloomberg that focuses on how towns and cities are trying to improve. (Bloomberg City Lab) And speaking of cool cities, our Strategic Growth Conference will be in Greenville, SC this March. Attendance looks great, and the city is amazing. The City Elders came up with a strategy to grow, and boy, has it worked. I hope you can join us.
• Awesome, but I’m glad my coach didn’t think of this. HS athletes shovel snow for their neighbors as a special weightlifting assignment for football team. (GNN)