Yearly Archives: 2010

Starting the New Year Right!

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Starting the New Year Right

Often we start the new year slowly, sleeping in for the first day.  But a few days later, it’s time to get into the full swing of things and get to work on life!  Enjoy each new year as much as possible, because you never know what destiny has in store for you or your friends!

This leads me into the segue about my barber!  My barber was a thin man who liked sports and was always golfed with buddies when he wasn’t working.  Although he appeared fairly healthy overall, I believe that he smoked.  The problems with my barber is that he died this year a few months ago from a stroke (he was in his early 50s)!  I found out when I went to get my haircut, and as I drove up to the front windows of the barbershop, I noticed that it was empty inside the barbershop and there was a black wreath on a chair beside the door.

I asked the business owners beside the barbershop if she knew what happened, and she said he had a stroke.  She claimed that she heard he was watching a football game, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer when he died so he went out doing what he loved (watching sports).  I believe his wife discovered something was wrong when she called him and he didn’t answer (she lives in a different state).

Gradual Carpe Diem

I know we all hear the Carpe Diem spill over and over (carpe diem is latin and means seize the day), but how does one start?  It’s very difficult and short-lived if one tried to go hog-wild one day trying to live the Carpe Diem philosophy.  So that’s why I’m going something different this year, I’m going to try to phase it into my life slowly!

My post called Holistic Approach to New Year Resolutions, is really about a slow, building approach toward trying to accomplish the Carpe Diem idea in my life!

This is what my New Year’s Resolution is really about!

-MR

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FINANCIAL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

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Financial New Years Resolutions

Writing New Year Goals

Writing New Year's Resolutions

Written by moneysupermarket.com

It’s that time of year when everybody starts thinking about 2011 and I’m sure we’re all hoping for a fantastic year, but nobody knows what surprises lay just around the corner, only time will tell. The beginning of a new year means a new fresh start, and with this new start many people like to set new years resolutions. If there’s any of you that don’t know, a new years resolution is a sort of commitment, where you can set yourself a set of goals that you would like to achieve in the new year.

I read a recent article that said around 50% of people are confident that they will achieve their new years resolutions when they set them, however only 12% actually achieve what they set out to do. Bearing these figures in mind, I thought I would set myself a challenge to actually commit to my objectives this year so that I can join the 12%.Combining new years resolutions with my interest in finance I thought I would detail some key areas where I will be focussing my goals in 2011.

My budget

A budget is one of the most important financial tools when looking after your finances. If you have an effective budget that does what it’s supposed to, then that’s the first step to controlling your finances and not letting your finances control you.  The basic principle of budgeting is to identify where your money is being spent, and to do this effectively you have to be thorough to identify all your expenditure. For a budget to be successful, set yourself some small and simple steps until you understand the basic principle, then you can build your budget so that it’s a more robust financial tool.

My debt

A friend of mine said to me that getting into debt is so much easier than getting out of it and boy was he right! When your goals are financially motivated and you have debts that are costing you money, tackling these debts should be your immediate focus. If your level of debt is quite low then look at setting up a debt repayment plan for the new year and make sure you tackle any high interest debts first as they will be the most damaging. Paying back whatever debts you may have will also improve your personal credit score which is an added bonus.

My savings

Before you think about saving money, you should ensure that your debts are paid off first. Once your finances are at a level you are happy with, then you can look at starting to save. Make sure that when you want to save you have the best savings account to do so. If you live in the US then the Lifetime Savings Account offers great rewards on your spending, and the equivalent for people in the UK is a cash-ISA account, before you commit you should do your research and find out what the best option is for you.

Throughout the year, it’s important to ensure that you remain positive when trying to achieve your goals. I will do this by evaluating my progress from time to time, and by braking up my goals into more short term and long term aims. It’s a great way to remain focused.

Holistic Approach to New Year Resolutions

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I admit it, I failed on most of my New Year Resolutions!

I started out strong, but then ran out of motivation.  2010, while a good year financially for me, was a bad year on a developmental level.

That’s why I decided to buck the trend of stating a defined list of resolutions and instead go for a more Holistic Approach to my New Year goals.

Before I go to explain what I mean by taking a holistic approach to my New Year goals, let me review the results of my 2010 Resolutions:

  1. Losing Weight While Saving Money  – While I didn’t get bigger, I also didn’t lose the desired weight.  So I stalled on this particular goal.  This was my biggest disappointment!
  2. Stop Being a Pack Rat – This resolution I was able to conquer!  This is the only resolution that I was able to beat!
  3. Maximizing Who I Am – This is my biggest defeat.  I didn’t maximize who I am at all!

So in conclusion, in 2010 I started with high expectations, but I ended up disappointed.

A brand new plan, the Holistic Approach:

By Holistic Approach, I basically mean that I’m not going to compartmentalize my life into individual buckets!  Instead I’m going to create everything as just a typical part of the process, and consider everything as a entire system.  That way I just don’t do well in one area while neglecting the other areas.

Next, I will try to optimize the process so that it can be accomplished and in such a way that it’s bearable or at least tolerable.

So for example, I really don’t like the previous resolution of “Losing weight”.  So I will enhance my experience by listening to  a song that will get me pumped up and make me want to work out!, or workout with friends, or maybe my kids…

A bonus is that I have every trick and can use new ideas  to accomplish goals at my disposal!

I admit, I’m kind of winging it here, this will be an entirely new way to approach my goals.  This will be a lifestyle change for me, or at least I believe that it will!

-MR

If you are interested in seeing a more traditional and enumerated New Year’s Resolutions, check out the list at the Financial Samurai’s site called Financial Samurai Goals And Resolutions for 2011.  It’s very impressive!

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Becoming Super?

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What makes a person change ?  Is it financial ruin, or perhaps a near death experience?

Most people are resistant to change, or they don’t know how to change.  Oh sure, by working out we can change the shape of our bodies, losing weight or gaining muscle, but what about changing the way we think and perceive things?  It’s not so easy, huh?

We hear about it time and time again, where people who are now rich once lived out of their cars.  Such people include Jewel, J. K. Rowlings, Robert Kiyosaki and Jim Cramer all claim to have lived either on the street or out of their car at one time.

So is it desperation and the fight to survive that make such individuals keep running until they achieve their goals?  Perhaps this is why many immigrants climb the ladder to success more easily.  Maybe it because they have that continual drive.

But business/financial success is just one part of the puzzle.  There are other attributes that make an individual super.  Perhaps being super health, or super sociable are just as important, if not more so!

I think the biggest obstacle in becoming better at things is the fear of trying or the fear of being ridiculed.  We see TV make fun of such people, calling them losers, dreamers or nerds and so we instantly associate stupidity with being a non-conformist attempts.  It’s hard to be super, when everybody is the bad guy trying to keep you down!

I admit, I come from a family that such efforts and ideas get sly smiles and ideas get shot down instantly.  It’s hard to believe when your friends, family and spouse are non-believers…

Do you have any obstacles to overcome to accomplish more out of life?

-MR

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