J did me a favor and checked a book out of her library back in MAY, and I just finished it. Ironically, the subtitle to the Plateau Effect is "Getting from STUCK to SUCCESS," for I ceased reading the book immediately after finishing chapter 3 back on June 3rd because "timing" was important when reading chapter 4. I never found time to begin the book until September 15th when I needed something to as I waited for K's Webelos meeting to end. I had actually forgotten about the book and thought that J had taken it back long ago, but I happened upon it a few weeks ago when looking for a battery charger.
Chapter 4 is about BAD TIMING.Somehow I found time in the last couple weeks to finish the book and I feel as though it was worthwhile. It wasn't perfect, but it got me started in a path to figure something out that I wasn't self-aware. With that said, thank you, Bob and Hugh.
Showing posts with label something borrowed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label something borrowed. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
How to Eliminate 50% of your Business Worries (HTSWASL, 2:2 )
"Those that do not know how to fight worry die young." - Dr. Alexis Carrel
Leon Shimkin used to hold meetings every day, discussing problems. Nothing ever got accomplished until he started having his associates submit a memorandum answering these four questions:
Leon Shimkin used to hold meetings every day, discussing problems. Nothing ever got accomplished until he started having his associates submit a memorandum answering these four questions:
- What is the problem?
- What is the cause of the problem?
- What are all the possible solutions of the problem?
- What solution do you suggest?
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Winter weight gain
With winter in full swing once again, the familiar retreat indoors is without a second guess as to where to be warm and cozy. Being outside less means more time lounging upon the couch. The treadmill could be used, but I have a job which may make the treadmill seem like sleeping.
In all seriousness, who writes trash filler for those pesky AAA newsletters I get in my email? I mean they appear to have potential for relevant information only to be painfully dull through their redundancy of making common sense realities seem to be the result of deeper contemplation.
Rather than blathering about my mediocre days of productivity every day, I have borrowed thoughts from various articles I have found. Through borrowing, I have infused a floor for my blog's conversation in terms of being approachable and consumed.Winter is a time of weight gain beyond the holidays and the coldness outside. There's more things on TV and the days are shorter. During the summer, there's re-runs and a lack of sports to watch beyond baseball. Winter still has first-run programming and three professional sports seasons in full swing....
In all seriousness, who writes trash filler for those pesky AAA newsletters I get in my email? I mean they appear to have potential for relevant information only to be painfully dull through their redundancy of making common sense realities seem to be the result of deeper contemplation.
Rather than blathering about my mediocre days of productivity every day, I have borrowed thoughts from various articles I have found. Through borrowing, I have infused a floor for my blog's conversation in terms of being approachable and consumed.Winter is a time of weight gain beyond the holidays and the coldness outside. There's more things on TV and the days are shorter. During the summer, there's re-runs and a lack of sports to watch beyond baseball. Winter still has first-run programming and three professional sports seasons in full swing....
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Shop around for insurance
When we got married, I didn't own a car and J did. Since J had insurance, I was added as a driver on her policy. When we bought a washer and dryer for our apartment, we added renter's insurance. When we bought our second car, we got a multi-car discount through the policy.
I didn't know anything about insurance costs, and I assumed that J knew well since her whole family went through the same company. Our premiums didn't seem outrageous, but what did I know? I never shopped around until our rates went up drastically on our home owner's policy when we hadn't made a claim EVER.
Boy did I feel dumb when I looked at different companies' quotes. I didn't trust the ones you see advertised all the time, so I went through our AAA membership when they quoted me an annual savings of over $700 on auto alone. The rates stayed around the same until a few years ago, so I decided to look at the quotes again. I got a good quote from Liberty Mutual and had decent customer service getting switched.
Again, we saved several hundred dollars. After a couple years, I see that our rates are creeping up again, so I did a quick look at rates. I made the mistake of using a site advocated by Clark Howard, for I was getting calls instantly from places that aren't ranked well by Consumer Reports. I got decent price quotes, but nothing made me feel the need to switch.
Recently, I got my Equifax Report, and I see that those same insurance companies flooded the credit bureau with inquires. Not sure how much my credit rating was dinged, but I'm still getting credit card offers in the mail after being unemployed for 18+ months.
Google brought up these articles:
I didn't know anything about insurance costs, and I assumed that J knew well since her whole family went through the same company. Our premiums didn't seem outrageous, but what did I know? I never shopped around until our rates went up drastically on our home owner's policy when we hadn't made a claim EVER.
Boy did I feel dumb when I looked at different companies' quotes. I didn't trust the ones you see advertised all the time, so I went through our AAA membership when they quoted me an annual savings of over $700 on auto alone. The rates stayed around the same until a few years ago, so I decided to look at the quotes again. I got a good quote from Liberty Mutual and had decent customer service getting switched.
Again, we saved several hundred dollars. After a couple years, I see that our rates are creeping up again, so I did a quick look at rates. I made the mistake of using a site advocated by Clark Howard, for I was getting calls instantly from places that aren't ranked well by Consumer Reports. I got decent price quotes, but nothing made me feel the need to switch.
Recently, I got my Equifax Report, and I see that those same insurance companies flooded the credit bureau with inquires. Not sure how much my credit rating was dinged, but I'm still getting credit card offers in the mail after being unemployed for 18+ months.
Google brought up these articles:
Is Shopping Around for Auto Insurance Worth my Time?
How to Analyze and Solve Worry Problems (HTSWASL, 2:1 )
Recap 1:2
- Get the facts.
- Analyyze the facts.
- Arrive at a decision-and then act on that decision.
- Pretend the information you are gathering is for some other person to eliminate emotions from fact finding process.
- Play Devil's Advocate against the reasons for your worry, and get facts to discredit your worry.
- What am I worrying about?
- What can I do about it?
- Here is what I am going to do about it.
- When am I going to start doing this?
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Avoid unnecessary fees
A lot of times, we pay for things from which we get little to no value. The biggest culprit are pesky fees and charges related to borrowing money or late with payment.
Big banks are faceless, and they adhere to making profits in a black and white fashion. Let's outline a couple things they do, and what I do to avoid those pesky fees.
- Overdraft fees are basically the bank doing you a favor by allowing you to spend more money than you actually have available. That's the point of a credit card, right? I stopped writing checks and using debits on everyday purchases. I exclusively use cash back credit cards such as Discover, Bank of America, and Chase Freedom, thus building a cushion in my checking account that won't overdraft. If you pay your credit cards in full each money, you won't ever have to pay finance charges, and can make money on your purchases and on the money earning interest in your bank account! Bouncing checks seems to be a thing of the past, huh? I wouldn't know, but I know that I have only had an overdraft charge when a bank account we closed inexplicably reopened to pay an unintended auto-draft. I still get annoyed if I dwell on it too long.
- Checking fees are a joke since no one really uses checks anymore, but people still pay them. A lot of banks charge maintenance fees for you to have the privilege to write checks that they will pay using your money. We have a credit union account that doesn't have fees on checking, and as long as we have our statements online and make 12 debits a month, we get paid interest on our holding in checking. Used to yield 4.5%, but George W. Bush was president then and interest rates have significantly dropped in the past four years.
What Worry May Do to You (HTSWASL, 1:3 )
According to Dr. Russell L. Cecil, the four commonest conditions that bring on arthritis are:
Regardless, worrying isn't good for your health. I remember when I was relieved of a very stressful job. I was determined to not quit, and I was trying everything I could think to do to get results. I had a number of things I needed to have done to keep my job, but no matter what I did, results eluded me. A few days after being let go, my folks visited and took the kids to King's Island. I drove, and tried to be a good sport. I didn't feel relaxed until I rode The Beast. The anxiety I felt going up and down that wooden coaster felt like nothing compared to the emotional roller-coaster my former job put me through daily. Being without a job sucked, but the job I had was slowly killing me.
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Carnegie, Dale/ MacMillan, An (Google Affiliate Ad)
- Marital shipwreck.
- Financial disaster and grief.
- Loneliness and worry.
- Long-cherished resentments.
Regardless, worrying isn't good for your health. I remember when I was relieved of a very stressful job. I was determined to not quit, and I was trying everything I could think to do to get results. I had a number of things I needed to have done to keep my job, but no matter what I did, results eluded me. A few days after being let go, my folks visited and took the kids to King's Island. I drove, and tried to be a good sport. I didn't feel relaxed until I rode The Beast. The anxiety I felt going up and down that wooden coaster felt like nothing compared to the emotional roller-coaster my former job put me through daily. Being without a job sucked, but the job I had was slowly killing me.
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Carnegie, Dale/ MacMillan, An (Google Affiliate Ad)
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Chapter 2
- Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen?"
- Prepare to accept it if you have to.
- Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.
I used to do an annual S.W.O.T. assessment, but being between jobs everything is an Opportunity.
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