VanDyk Mortgage - January 2021

JANUARY 2021

Letters From the Hart Give us a call! 239-437-4278 Or visit www.TimHartJr.com Corporate NMLS #3035 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

‘IF THIS WAS WHAT “REAL JOBS” WERE LIKE, I HAD IT MADE!’

Tim Reflects on His Time at Publix

They always ask, “If you won the lottery, what would you do?” To me, the more interesting question is this: “If you won the lottery, what would you do to stay busy ?” After paying off debt and doing whatever you want for a year, I bet most people would start to get bored. I know that I would. (I’m assuming we’d all invest smartly and never have to work again, which actually doesn’t happen often with lottery winners.) But for me, that’s an easy question to answer. I’d go back to Publix and be a bag boy — just like I did during high school. My “career” at Publix started back in my junior year of high school. My buddy, Travis Smith, and I found out they were building a new one near where we lived, and we figured we’d apply for jobs and see what we got.

new folks. And they were paying me, too (at the time, I think the wage was about $4.25 an hour), which meant I had spending money for the weekends. It beat working with livestock in the mud and the rain, and it didn’t take long for my bosses to notice me. Pretty soon, I was promoted to stockboy, which was a whole different ballgame. There were perks, too, like inspecting the ice cream freezer for damaged goods that I got to “dispose” of. (Yeah, you can guess where those went!) All in all, it was a great job for a high schooler to have, and I kept at it until my graduation a year and a half later. Along the way, I met a ton of people, many of whom I know to this day. If you’d known me back then, you’d know that college was not in my cards. After high school ended, I moved to a full-time schedule at Publix with different hours, since I no longer had classes to attend. I can still remember thinking, “Graveyard shift? That sounds neat.” Needless to say, that attitude didn’t last long. Another thing I remember was pretty soon thereafter, one of the companies we carried came into the store to do inventory. For a stocker like me, that meant working 21 hours straight in one shift. After that incident, you can bet I asked for a raise — but I also kind of knew that Publix wasn’t going to be my forever job. I wanted to do other things, and opportunities were already starting to

present themselves. Soon enough, my path led me elsewhere, including an awesome job selling wine — which is a story for the next newsletter! But there was a lot I enjoyed about my days at the grocery store. I got to work with good people, and I got to meet and talk with all kinds of folks in my community. Stocking shelves was kind of fun once I got into a flow, and there was a pride that came with having the display look perfect once I was done. It was mindless, kind of Zen in a way, and I never took my job home with me after I clocked out. What did you learn from your old jobs? Thinking about them is a good way to start the new year, and I’m going to keep this trend up in next month’s newsletter as well. It’s one way to see how far we’ve come. For what it’s worth, I think 2021 is going to be a good year. Full of challenges, yes, but also full of opportunity. And if one of those opportunities hands me a winning lottery ticket, now you know where to find me!

A few weeks later, I started work as a Publix Super Market bag boy.

Now, you have to remember, I grew up working hard as a kid, mostly outside. My family kept cows and my granddaddy had two gardens going, so there was always work to be done. And of course, it was family, so the pay was … well, let’s just say I was rewarded with a good work ethic more than anything else. So you can imagine my first day bagging groceries at work. If this was what “real jobs” were like, I had it made! I was working mostly indoors, and I got to talk to people — and anybody who knows me knows that I love getting to meet

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OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD!

4 Old-School Hobbies Making a Major Comeback

January is National Hobby Month — and for good reason! As people set goals for 2021, they’re also thinking about trying new hobbies. But with so many out there, picking just one can be a hobby in itself. Thanks in part to COVID-19, many people have rediscovered old-school hobbies. Some of these have been around for decades or even longer, and others have established communities that can rely on one another for support, sharing information, and more. Here are four great examples. Making Bread Over the last year, interest in this ancient hobby has skyrocketed. Homemade bread is tastier and more nutritious than store- bought, and it’s so satisfying to watch it come together. Not to mention it’s a great skill to have! With so many types of bread to try, you’re not going to run out of ideas any time soon. Collecting Cards No matter what people were into during the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, there was a trading card game for it. And even going into 2021, that tradition has been kept alive. When many people were stuck at home last year, they rediscovered their card collections and remembered how much fun they were. As a result, card sales

went through the roof, and online card communities lit up with activity from all over the world.

Restoring Cars Car restoration is a hobby that lets you get your hands dirty, and it's one that you can do with your kids or grandkids. It can be not only educational for them but also fun! Together, you can track down parts, talk to folks who are also interested in restoration, and learn about the history of your car. Though car restoration can be a bit costly and time consuming, it’s certainly a journey worth taking. Embroidering Embroidery has taken off because it’s both inexpensive and fairly easy to get into. Plus, many people have fallen in love with its meditative quality. One of the great things about embroidery is that you can use it to make amazing personalized gifts, like pillows, wall hangings, and kitchen towels!

How Habit Tracking and Daily Resolutions Could Transform Your Life

Yearly resolutions are so last year … if they’re your only resolutions, that is.

It’s important that you stick with it because habits take a long time to create. One study published by the European Journal of Social Psychology asked people about a simple habit they wanted to form, like drinking water at lunch or taking a walk before dinner. They found that the average amount of time it took before the action became automatic was 66 days! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day, but know that sticking to a new habit is serious work, so starting small might help you out. Another important aspect of forming new daily habits is rewarding yourself. Bad habits, like smoking, have an inherent reward. However, healthy habits can have rewards too! Try consuming a bit of dark chocolate after a workout or treating yourself to a fresh beverage or relaxing to a podcast after tackling an important task. Find ways to reward yourself, and you’ll be more likely to stick to your new habit. Certain daily resolutions don’t have to be related to exercise or diet to majorly improve your life. For example, having a gratitude journal might boost your long-term happiness by 10% and improve your blood pressure. Don’t hesitate to improve your quality of life! Just start small, and you’ll be amazed by how far you’ll go.

Having long-term goals isn’t a bad thing, but do you have a daily plan to reach them? The huge boost of motivation in January isn’t always enough

to sustain you all year long. That’s why there are major benefits to starting new healthy habits, whether you increase your weekly exercise time, eat healthier foods, or work on getting better or more sleep.

Luckily, sticking with these habits might be as easy as making daily resolutions to complement your yearly goals.

B.J. Fogg, a Stanford University professor and author of “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything,” notes that tiny habits can make a new habit easy to implement into your daily ritual. For example, taking a short daily walk could lead to an exercise habit, or keeping an apple in your bag every day could encourage healthier snacking.

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it in a little box it would go away. But it came out in other ways — depression, bulimia, even a suicide attempt. And when that didn’t work, I even felt like a failure for that. TH: That’s a lot to hold in, especially as a young kid. RW: Yes, and I had to tell that part because that’s the only way the rest of the book makes sense. People thought I had a fairytale life. But that’s not true, even though I had great parents. But that’s the case with so many people: You don’t know. You see their Facebook and it looks wonderful, but we’ve all got bad things behind the facade. And if I can make it out of there, then I know others can, too. TH: And you write about having a voice talk to you. RW: After that suicide attempt, I was alone one day, on my bed, just keeping it to myself and crying. I had a voice come into my ear and say, “If you want to be happy … you just have to make that choice. You have to choose happiness.” It was literally a voice, and I knew it was my higher self. I’m talking about the part of each of us that exists in that place that’s all love. But a piece of our higher self also lives here with us on Earth. And it can guide us, if we listen. TH: I loved Chapter 6, “Ingredients to Avoid.” RW: We all get sucked into it: the news, the media cycle, and it’s never good. I don’t watch the news and have backed off social media. If something really bad happens, somebody will tell me! It does no good to constantly surround ourselves with it. It takes work at first, like everything else in the book, but this is where you’ll see changes fast in terms of day-to-day happiness. TH: You chose to self-publish. RW: I talked with a friend in the industry. Traditional publishing was going to take at least a year, maybe two. Self-publishing

was the way to go, once I figured out how to avoid the “vanity publishers.” I was able to find an editor and cover designer and got on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, all of it. You can YouTube everything! TH: I have to ask about the 11/11 release and the fact that the book costs $11.11! RW: It goes back to being a kid. When the clock at school read 11:11, we would tell each other to make a wish. Same with 4:44, 5:55, etc. To me, these little moments of the day are a message that we’re on the right track. For some reason, if I get off my routine, I stop noticing them. TH: What kind of early feedback are you getting? RW: Before editing, I gave the book to family and a close friend. A week later, I was thinking, “Oh man, I haven’t heard back, it must be bad.” It turns out they were really enjoying it and taking their time with it! That was my first feedback. TH: So what’s the next step? RW: Well, I’m also a certified meditation instructor, so I want to see that grow. It’s such a wonderful thing — it’s not religious, but it is beautiful. It can help in so many aspects, and we can do it online, in person, and I can teach classes. People are so intimidated, but once you understand it, it’s so simple and basic. TH: Where can people buy your book? RW: It’s available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but you can also go to SpiritualRecipe.com and get copies there — even autographed ones! I’m so grateful for Robin Whitt’s time, and I’m so proud to know her. If you want to watch the full interview, head to my YouTube page and find the video I posted on Dec. 3, 2020.

SUDOKU

"Tim Hart and his group were professional, efficient, and very

accommodating regarding our schedule. They answered any questions that we had during the process and assisted us when we needed it. They did their best to get us the best deal possible." –Lloyd

Solution on Pg. 4

TRIVIA QUESTION: How many hours did I work during inventory at Publix?

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Inside This Issue Tim Hart, NMLS #354676 8280 College Parkway, Suite #101 Fort Myers, FL 33919 Do You Know What Tim Did for Work in High School? PAGE 1 These Old-School Hobbies Are Making a Huge Comeback How Habit Tracking and Daily Resolutions Could Transform Your Life PAGE 2

Give us a call! 239-437-4278 Or visit www.TimHartJr.com

Author Robin Whitt Talks ‘Spiritual Recipe’ PAGE 4

Released 11/11 for $11.11 ‘SPIRITUAL RECIPE’

RW: Thank you! It needed to be an easy read. I’ve read a gazillion of those books too, and the author is sometimes just trying to show you how smart they are, using big words, whereas this book is just me. TH: This book is so positive, but it gets into some heavy territory. I didn’t know the background from your childhood. Could you please share that again? RW: Well, you didn’t know because only about five people knew. Even my husband didn’t know about this until 10 years ago … When I was 15, I was raped. Nobody knew — I was scared to death my dad would kill the guy and go to prison. And I was a child, so I didn’t know I hadn’t done something wrong, which obviously I didn’t. I thought if I locked

This article is a condensed and edited version of an interview I did with Robin Whitt, an author and good friend of mine who has a new book called “Spiritual Recipe: A Simple Guide for Your Spiritual Awakening.” It is a great way to start 2021, and it just might change your life. It certainly has had a positive impact on mine.

You can find the whole interview on my YouTube channel.

TH: What inspired you to write this book? RW: I’d never written a book before, except when I was 10 years old! I’ve had a lot of changes in the last 6–7 years, so I started taking notes about it. I wanted something to hand to people who asked, a guide that said, “Here, this is what I do to be happy.” More importantly I wanted to have something to give to my kids and grandkids so they could see what I did. Finally, this year I really got serious and just … did it. TH: I’ve read self-improvement books from many perspectives — sales, business, mindset, all that stuff — and have for a long time. So I’m not saying this because we’re friends: You killed it with this book. And it’s so easy to read. It’s the “10,000-foot view.”

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