Ryan Stephens

Let me explain exactly why every new subdivision in America looks like the top photo, because the math is wild. A mature tree increases a home's value by 7 to 19 percent. On a $400,000 house, that's $28,000 to $76,000. A single shade tree produces the cooling equivalent of ten room-size air conditioners running 20 hours a day. One tree on the west side of a house cuts energy bills by 12 percent within 15 years. The bottom photo is worth more, costs less to live in, and sells faster. This has been documented by the University of Washington, Clemson, Michigan State, and the USDA. The data is not in dispute. Removing those trees saves the builder roughly $5,000 per lot. Concrete trucks need twice the dripline radius of every standing tree. Utility trenches need flat ground. A bulldozer flattens 200 lots in an afternoon. Preserving trees adds weeks and thousands per home. So the developer pockets $5,000 in savings and the buyer eats $50,000 in lost value for the next two decades. The person making the decision and the person paying for it have never been in the same room. The Woodlands, Texas is the proof of what happens when they are. George Mitchell bought 28,000 acres of Houston timberland in 1974 and preserved 28% as permanent green space. He forced McDonald's to build behind the tree canopy. That McDonald's became one of the highest-volume locations in Texas. The first office building, designed to reflect the surrounding forest so you couldn't see it from the street, leased completely. The Woodlands median home price today: $615,000. Katy, a comparable Houston suburb that clear-cut: $375,000. Named #1 community to live in America two years running. Fifty years of data. The trees are worth more than removing them saves. Developers clear-cut anyway because they sell the house once and leave. You live in it for 30 years.

@TheHoopHerald Bro’s first two pointer all year was to win the game.

Watching this man’s highlights He’s actually a pyscho, huh

@MattHemingway_ Exactly. It’s not about the amount of time… it’s about how it feels to them.

@ryanstephens It's the small moments of undivided attention that they'll remember forever

Your kids don’t need your full attention all day. They just need moments where they have all of it.

@tyromper We don’t control much… but we can always control our response.

How you respond to what you DON'T LIKE is the difference between: •Peace & frustration. •Contentment & anger. •Joy & discouragement. Read that first part back again. 🤝

@keepitsimpl9 @TheConnorPils Just say you don’t know ball

@TheConnorPils PCA is not a better defender than Buxton

Benching the best defender on the planet who’s hitting .364 with 5 RBIs over the last 3 games is certainly a choice Are we serious about winning?

@dollarsanddata 3 is 100% an issue. When I tell my wife, who went to a public school zoned to a wealthy suburb some of my experiences (i.e. daily fights, kids telling teachers to F off, et al.) at a much lower ranked public school, she thinks I’m exaggerating.

Best counter-arguments I've heard: (1) Want religious education (2) Specific schooling needs (e.g., dsylexia) (3) Safety (1) and (2) both seem legit. I am skeptical that (3) is an issue at most decent public schools.

Private schools are the most expensive placebo in America. Nowhere else will you pay $250k+ for something that has so little impact on school achievement. My latest on why private school isn't worth the cost: ofdollarsanddata.com/why-private-sc…

19 years ago, a high school basketball coach put his team manager into a game for the final four minutes. The kid had never played a single minute of competitive basketball in his life. He scored 20 points. Jason McElwain was diagnosed with severe autism at age two. He didn’t speak until he was five. He couldn’t chew solid food until he was six. He wore a nappy for most of his early childhood. As a baby, he was rigid, wouldn’t make eye contact, and hid in corners away from other children. He tried out for his school basketball team every year and got cut every time. Too small. Too slight. Barely 5’6 and about 54 kilograms. But he loved the game so much that his mum called the school and asked if there was any way he could be involved. The coach created a team manager role for him. For three years, McElwain showed up to every practice and every game. He wore a shirt and tie on match days. He ran drills, handed out water, kept stats, and cheered every basket like he’d scored it himself. On 15 February 2006, the last home game of his final school year, the coach let him suit up in a proper jersey and sit on the bench. With four minutes left and a comfortable lead, the coach sent him in. His first shot missed. His second missed. Then something shifted. He hit a three-pointer. Then another. Then another. His teammates stopped shooting entirely and just kept passing him the ball. He hit six three-pointers and a two-pointer. 20 points in four minutes. The highest scorer in the game. When the final buzzer went, the entire crowd rushed the court and lifted him onto their shoulders. His mum tapped the coach on the shoulder, in tears. “This is the nicest gift you could have ever given my son.” McElwain won the ESPY Award for Best Moment in Sports that year, beating out some of the biggest names in professional sport. He’s 36 now. He works at a local supermarket, coaches basketball, has run 17 marathons including five Boston Marathons, and travels the country speaking about never giving up. When asked about that night, his coach still gets emotional. “For him to come in and seize the moment like he did was certainly more than I ever expected. I was an emotional wreck.”

@boldpath @alieltumi Yeah, but we live in North America so we don’t care about soccer. 🤣 Baseball is similar. You have to start early. Baseball players do benefit from being multi-sport, however.

Very controversial with people in North America who counter argue saying all sports require this And they are wrong Hence why the multi sport argument is more nuanced and doesn’t apply to soccer Pros around the world in soccer by and large were NOT multi sport Many many nba and nfl player were truly multi sport Raw athleticism moves the needle more in those sports

Fact, football played with your feet, very far from your brain If you haven’t touched the ball enough times by 8/9 forget it

One of my biggest career regrets was staying in a "good" job too long. It wasn't painful enough to force a decision. It was a solid B+. And my ego convinced me I could turn it into an A. I wasted years trying. Here are 4 tests to help you decide when it's time to go:

We are overstimulated and we don't even notice. Netflix while eating. Reels in the bathroom. Music while cooking. Podcasts on walks. We consume by default, not by intention. You keep filling every gap, then wonder why you feel foggy and unmotivated. Boredom and silence are the real growth drivers. They give you space to think and create. That's when solutions show up for problems that have been stuck for months. Leave some room.

@DoNotLose I think the sweet spot is being tried, but grateful at the same time.

I realize it is the best part now and they are 1 and 2 and I find myself reminiscing about the moment i am in with them and thinking about how their life is going so far and how amazing they are and wanting to hold them more.

@code_wizard_uk The org chart at home is very different.

Can confirm. I’m quite important at work and the kids don’t care. They probably like that it gets us a nice house with lots of room to play but obviously they don’t attribute it to that.

@TheHeroicFather Kids have a way of recalibrating what actually matters.

@ryanstephens Think about all the other things people do to pretend they’re important…. Except engage with their kids.

Little kids don’t care if you’re important at work. They just want you to watch them do the same trick 47 times.

@FamilyBrainHQ @RaiseLegends That actually makes a lot of sense. Kids don’t need a big audience… they just need their audience.

@ryanstephens I agree with @RaiseLegends. lol. It is definitely a conservative estimate. 😂 Science behind the repetition is that it locks in motor skills and self-confidence. Plus your eyes on them is the ultimate dopamine boost.

@Shreyansh3951 And if you miss it, you’re watching attempts 48–63.

@ryanstephens And somehow the 47th time is when they finally nail it and you better be looking.

@RaiseLegends I rounded down. 🤣

@ryanstephens 47 is a conservative estimate. 😆

@briansteiger11 Loved Stuart growing up. Even went as him to Halloween one year. 🤣

@avivafashion11 100%. Bedtime: relief followed immediately by missing them.

@ryanstephens It’s being so grateful that it’s bedtime, but then scrolling your phone for an hour in bed looking at pics of them 😌

The season of life with young kids is strange. You’re exhausted. You feel behind on everything. Your house is loud and chaotic. And yet, one day you’ll look back and realize it was the best part.

@KateMack78 Five kids in six years is incredible. Your mom must have had the energy of a small power plant.

@ryanstephens Yes; this is true. My parents had 5 kids in 6 years, each one was planned (and all were potty-trained before the next arrived. My mom is the real Mary Poppins). Both state the season with small kids is the best fun. Both adore children; they had equal fun with the grandkids.