Michael Lynton

"And while this may be hard for you to hear, it needs to be said: you’re ruining everything for the..."

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 07:38:53 -0500

“And while this may be hard for you to hear, it needs to be said: you’re ruining everything for the rest of us.”

- The Responsiveness Trap - Sarah Green - Our Editors - Harvard Business Review

Truth (Taken with Instagram at Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse)

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:00:11 -0600

Truth (Taken with Instagram at Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse)

My wife loves me (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 08:55:58 -0500

My wife loves me (Taken with instagram)

We were privileged to be on The Dave Ramsey Show today and share...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:15:00 -0500

We were privileged to be on The Dave Ramsey Show today and share our story, along with our debt-free scream

"The proof of repentance is not in our confession or resolve but in turning from our lovers and..."

Fri, 13 May 2011 21:54:11 -0500

“The proof of repentance is not in our confession or resolve but in turning from our lovers and toward our Savior.”

- When Church Is a Mistress | Jonathan Dodson on The Resurgence

It’s for real - the student loans are gone!

Thu, 05 May 2011 20:23:50 -0500

It’s for real - the student loans are gone!

We're Debt Free!

Sun, 01 May 2011 08:36:00 -0500

I started writing a post about change a couple of weeks ago and didn’t get back to finishing it completely. The first item of business still holds true - I am starting a new job tomorrow. I worked my last day with Xcentric on Friday, after 5-½ years with them. It was my first real job and my time there will not be forgotten. They have great leaders - men who I aspire to be like.

I am excited about my new job and look forward to growing and the future ahead. The new job offer came at a very interesting time - right as we have been on the heels of paying off the remainder of student loans. This will be a new season, if you will - being debt free (except the house) and changing the workplace scenery.

The initial target date for paying off the loans had been May 31st. But God, had a better idea. How about April 30th? Yes indeed, we we able to make the final payment ahead of schedule - Yesterday! Bless God for seeing our diligence and blessing us through the process. It is pretty amazing what happens when you discipline yourself and steward your money well.

Only 7 years after graduation, 3 years of school at Baylor is now paid off. I was adding up the numbers today, and let’s just say it was closer to $100K than $50K. If only I knew then what I know now. We didn’t start going “gazelle intense” on the loans until about 3 years ago (only minimum payments were made before that = interest only). All things considered, I think that 3 years is a good record.

I have to thank Dave Ramsey for all of his wisdom and the Debt Snowball. I know that Sarah sometimes wishes I would go easy on the Dave-isms, but she is definitely ecstatic to be in this new place. Monday at work will feel a little different - we both get to keep our paychecks and not expect one to go out the door as soon as it hits our bank account.

I don’t know if we will get through to Dave on the air next Friday, but he can expect an attempted call from us.

my copy of Natural Running came today. Looking forward to...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:56:39 -0500

my copy of Natural Running came today. Looking forward to reading it! (Taken with instagram)

Change

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:00:00 -0500

There is a good amount of change going on in our lives these days. The big two are that I am starting a new job on May 2, and our goal is to be debt free except the house by the end of May as well. These are two big life changes. I have been working with my current company for what would have been 6 years this coming September. In todays market, this is a long time. I definitely feel “known” here and many of the people feel like family. It is hard to think that in a way you are letting people down by leaving a void in the workflow, especially at a smaller company where people wear many hats and job functions skew.

I’m at Bola Pizza @ The Triangle Farmers Market (Austin, TX) ...

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:37:14 -0500

I’m at Bola Pizza @ The Triangle Farmers Market (Austin, TX)

“Finally, we meet. ”

Follow me on Gowalla

Another April 5th

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:15:00 -0500

Today is my 29th birthday. And today is the earliest that I have ever woken up on my birthday. 4:38am. I’m not tooting my own horn here, but I’ll still say, that that is pretty early. Sarah and I usually go to Cycle class on Tuesday mornings. I debated whether I wanted to go today as well, but I figured why not. It’s a great way to start the day, and I hadn’t run/been active since Saturday.

As we were driving to the gym this morning, I was reflecting a bit on the day and the past (almost) 4 years of marriage, as well as the days to come. The main thought I had was: “We are not that old”

I know it might sound crazy, but the last 4 years it has felt like life has been on hold, and that we just keep getting older. Mainly due to paying off debt and trying to be disciplined in the little things. And, we don’t have any kids yet, when many friends around us are having kids left and right. But today I was just encouraged by what is ahead. We are about 2 months away from being debt free (except the house), and will never face student loans again. We will be able to keep our money and put it to work for us. We can save for a baby (I already know what running stroller I want). We can save the 3 to 6 months emergency fund. We can sow into our future. And, we can be led to give generously to those around us. I believe we will be given much because we have been faithful with the little thus far.

We have a lot of life ahead of us, even though sometimes it has felt like we’re “behind” or missing out. Today is a good day.

Our @joepurdy tickets are here! (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:15:27 -0500

Our @joepurdy tickets are here! (Taken with instagram)

Buy an Amazon MP3 album—get 20 GB of storage free for a year

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:23:56 -0500

Buy an Amazon MP3 album—get 20 GB of storage free for a year:

Purchase an album from the Amazon MP3 Store and we’ll give you 20 GB of storage free of charge for one year from the date of your purchase. That’s enough space to store up to 4000 songs. You can keep your 20 GB storage plan after the year is up or do nothing and we’ll drop you down to our free 5 GB plan. Don’t worry—you will never be charged for storage space unless you choose to upgrade to a paid storage plan.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me!

"Because when you think of work and time in an indefinite way, it’s often excruciatingly long."

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:45:55 -0500

“Because when you think of work and time in an indefinite way, it’s often excruciatingly long.”

- 5 Reasons to Practice Timeboxing

http://instagrid.me/michaellynton/

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:13:00 -0600

http://instagrid.me/michaellynton/

Zilker Kite Festival 2011

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:22:36 -0600

Zilker Kite Festival 2011

Fresh ground peanut butter (Taken with Instagram at Whole Foods...

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:54:38 -0600

Fresh ground peanut butter (Taken with Instagram at Whole Foods Market)

Running Times Magazine: Compression Gear: Hype of Helpful?

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:39:02 -0600

Running Times Magazine: Compression Gear: Hype of Helpful?:

“There’s a behavioral aspect to knowing, ‘OK, I have this recovery suit and when I’m wearing it, I psychologically think that my body is recovering faster.’ There are benefits to that alone,” says Hadfield. “Even if it is just a psychological effect to wearing compression garments, and there’s no danger in wearing them, why not promote it?”

Do you have life insurance?

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:24:00 -0600

Today at work, we had a semi-frequent meeting, also known as a “Town Hall”. It’s just a time to share vision, be on the same page, and open the floor for discussion. Today, our CEO brought in a friend of his from a group for business owners he is a part of.

Kevin, the friend, began to speak, with his accent unknown, but later to be determined as South African. He asked us questions that I didn’t expect like:

Do you have Life Insurance – and have you talked to your spouse about it?
Do you have a retirement account – are you maxing it out? (401(k), IRA, Roth IRA)?

Now, I was expecting Kevin to share about his business, or talk about technology. But he was there for a different reason: to tell a story. A story about one of his best employees - a talented, disciplined, family man. A man who was working hard out of state one week, and while driving back late, had a car accident and died. Just. Like. That. And, he didn’t have life insurance. Some savings and retirement accounts, yes. But no life insurance. This is why Kevin was talking to us. Now mind you, he doesn’t sell life insurance. He just wanted to tell his story, and our CEO (I believe) cares enough about the employees at his company to let his people know how important this stuff really is.

I was very happy that our company got to hear a message like this. It hurts to hear about deaths and accidents where the family doesn’t have a life insurance policy in place, especially since Term life insurance is so cheap (and especially when you buy it young). Even though I have diabetes in my family (I don’t ever plan on getting it - that’s another discussion) - I can still get a good rate right now of $42/month for a 20 yr term policy of $500,000. I’m actually thinking about bumping it up and shopping around a bit more. But really, this is cheap already!

So, the bottom line is: buy life insurance for your family. Today.

What Is Subscribe & Save?

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:52:00 -0600

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I have my eye on this