the average American is nearly $7,000 in debt. - Ramit Sethi

I once had a woman who emailed me saying, "I always tell myself I want to run three times a week, but I never go." I wrote back and said, "What about going for a run once a week?" She replied, "Once a week? What's the point?" She would rather dream about running three times a week than actually run once a week.

Americans' biggest "investments" are their houses, but real estate is also the place where Americans lose the most money. Real estate agents (and most homeowners) are not going to like me after this section, but in truth, real estate is the most overrated investment in America. It's a purchase first — a very expensive one — and an investment second.

But ultimately, expertise is about results. You can have the fanciest degrees from the fanciest schools, but if you can't perform what you were hired to do, your expertise is meaningless.