Post 0: Why?
No, this isn’t going to be a deep philosophical exploration of life and meaning. I’m simply going to answer the question “Why did I start Engineered Cash?”
Truthfully, I like my life. And I want you to like your life too.
So firstly, it’s for you. Welcome! If you made your way here through the magical powers of internet algorithms, most likely, you can benefit from what I’m learning and sharing. I could subtitle this whole blog “A letter to my younger self” or “A letter to my son”. Life is big and complicated and I am primarily going to be focused on how to improve your personal finances, how to make better decisions, and how to improve your thinking.
Secondly, selfishly, it’s for me. Or rather, this is me. It’s how I think, it’s how I act, it’s the framework for how I make decisions and how I live my life. Everything you will see written here is what I’ve learned, my experiences and my honest thoughts. It might be wrong, but it’s honest. I just needed to start writing it down somewhere. If I’m wrong, hopefully writing it down helps me identify it, and I change over time. This is also why I chose a public site rather than a private journal. Nothing will show you where you’re wrong faster than saying something publicly on the internet.
Writing is a form of thinking and I realized I have many partially formed thoughts that are magnificent in my head, but upon detailed inspection, lack substance. The mind is a wonderful, magical, dark, chaotic place that often “takes shortcuts” to preserve cognitive processing power and the resulting “holes” are blind spots. Writing things down identifies cognitive blind spots.
Writing is also an excellent way to learn things. While I haven’t been in school for many years, I am committed to perpetual learning. One of the best ways to learn something is write about it. You have to do the research, organize your thoughts, and then writing it down reinforces it in your mind.
So Who Am I?
I’m Mike deVega. Yes that’s a pen name, just like Mark Twain, George Orwell, Stan Lee, Marilyn Monroe and Jamie Foxx.
I’m first and foremost a child of the one and only God. His name is Jesus Christ. Everything I learn and do is by His Grace and for His glory. I’m not a minister, priest or theologian, and deep theological exegesis is probably not going to feature on this website. Just understand that the primary filter for my life is the Word of God.
I’m a son, brother, husband and father (hint in there if you are a theologian). Everything I build is for the benefit of my family. Happiness, and fulfillment as a man comes from pursuing a calling greater than yourself. God and family are my priorities. Career, money and hobbies are all secondary and are to support the main priorities. It’s a a paradox, but if you are selfish, you should live unselfishly for others because your life will be better.
I’m a Professional Engineer. I have worked for over 13 years in the field of electrical and power engineering. Also, my personality is “engineerish”. I literally enjoy analyzing complex systems, identifying areas for improvement, and finding solutions. I started out very young enjoying the process of dismantling my toys to understand how they worked. Lego was also a staple of my childhood. After engineering school. I started like most at the bottom of the After a few years of working, learning and growing, I started to make some money and quickly realized
Your mind is your body
I also want to be clear that nothing written on an anonymous blog on the internet is financial advice. I am not a financial professional, expert, or licensed in any way to tell you with any certainty what you should do with your money. I’m sharing what I’m doing with mine.
Also since I’m sharing what I’ve learned it will obviously be similar to what someone else has already said. Good ideas are timeless, so I will do my best to credit idea originators if I know wh
