Wanting It Bad

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We all want it. "It" is many different things to different people. "It" could be freedom from the cubicle. "It" could be no more living paycheck-to-paycheck or getting yourself out of debt. Maybe your "it" is having more time for your family. But do you really want it?? How badly?

We all want things. If we could just push a button to get the things we want, we would all run out of room. Obviously, things aren't that simple. First we need to determine which things we want. Since that list would likely be long, we also need to prioritize. Which things do we need or want most immediately? Which things would have the greatest positive impact in our lives now and in the long run?

OK. We've narrowed our list down to the key couple of things that really mean something to us. So how bad do you want it? What are you willing to do to make your dreams come true? Focus on your top priority "it" for a second. What are you willing to do to today and each day until you've reached your goal?

Often, the difference between those with dreams and those who are living their dreams is the intense, burning desire to make it happen. Wishes without action are just that - wishes. If you want something bad enough, roll up your sleeves, remove all obstacles and let nothing stand in your way. Using laser intensity, do whatever needs to be done to move your dream forward.

Working too hard/too many hours to work on change? Consider how you could possibly find one hour each week to keep pushing the ball down the field. No money to start that dream project you've always wanted to do? What have you done today to find the money you need. It only takes a small indication of success to ignite your spirit. Once you feel a little momentum, the excitement of actually acheiving your dream starts to grow. Focus enough thought and effort on making your dream come true and you will discover that burning desire.

Do you just want "it" or have you chosen to make "it" happen?

No Excuses, No Limits

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Although an education is no guarantee of success, developing a greater understanding of topics relevant to your goals can be a huge step in the right direction. Recently, access to courses at some of the finest colleges and universities have been made available to the public, free of charge. You will not get college credit for the courses and access to the professors is not offered. Aside from those limitations, you can experience and benefit from courses currently offered at institutions like Yale and MIT, at no cost to you.

If you feel like you have been limited in your growth at work, taking a few of these courses may give you a needed knowledge boost. If you are starting a new business, but feel that your understanding of current marketing methods is lacking, a couple of courses could get you up to speed. For someone who is considering a change in their field, dipping your toes in the water might help you decide which field is right for you.

Remember that if we stop growing, we are effectively losing ground to those still learning around us.

"I'm too busy and need my income. I can't take time out to go back to school." - With online/distance learning, your time is flexible. Take courses at your own pace and when your time is free.

"I can barely cover my bills now. How can I afford tuition?" - With these free offerings, from high-quality educational institutions, you can't afford to pass up an education.

Stop the excuses, remove the limits. The only one slowing you down is you. Grow. Thrive. Prosper.


Below are links to some resources for free online courses:

Brigham Young University
Capilano College (Canada)
Carnegie Mellon University
Glasgow University (UK)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1,800 courses
Open University (UK)
Stanford University - iTunes U
Tufts University
United Nations University
Universidad Nacional De Colombia (Columbia/Spanish)
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Irvine
University of Massachusetts, Boston
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern Queensland (Australia)
Utah Valley State College
Utah State University
University of Washington
Yale University

Additionally, below is a link to a range of sample courses:
Online Education Database

Your success is in your hands. You can do it. Nobody is going to do it for you.

See you in school!

Perseverance

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"Press on:
Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Press on!"
- Calvin Coolidge

Never give up. No one can take away your will to succeed. If you believe in something, stay with it.

When you are thrown a roadblock, look around - there is always a way over, around or through that obstacle.

Thomas Edison was known as one of the most prolific inventors of all time. His harnessing of electricity and invention of the light bulb did not come without setbacks. When asked about his failed attempts at the light bulb he stated, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Additionally he optimistically viewed his perseverance. "I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." Edison understood that his perseverance was imperative to much success: "Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

If you have a dream, focus on that dream. Picture yourself living at the end of that dream. Find the path you want and never give up. You eventually will find your success.

Press on!

Urgent vs. Important

They sound similar, but are they? Do you know what the difference is between urgent and important? I know you probably do. When was the last time you gave those two concepts thought when looking at a laundry list of things to get done?

Urgent could be defined as "compelling immediate action or attention".
Important has one definition as "of great significance, value, or consequence".

The telephone ringing could be considered urgent, but it may or may not be important. Completing a school or work project is probably important, but may or may not be urgent.

Having addressed those suttle differences, we can apply those labels to the things that need to be done in our lives. Some things are not urgent, nor are they important. Others have varying degrees of those two labels or characteristics.

With time management, we try to focus first on those things that are both important and urgent. Anyone out there still working on their taxes? How about those deadlines for college applications?

Next we make sure that we allow time for working towards those things that are important, but not urgent. Maybe we need to make some headway on that budget we keep putting off or planning our goals for the next year or two and monitoring our progress. Setting aside time to be with family can fit here. Maintenance projects that tend to sneak up on us could be considered important, but not urgent.

As time allows, we can look at those things that are urgent, but not important. Some phone calls or e-mail could be considered urgent, but not important. Your friends just called with plans to go away for the weekend tomorrow? Definitely urgent, but important? That's for you to decide.

Lastly, we have the things in life that are not urgent and they are not important. In this area we look to minimize any time spent at all. Junk mail goes here. Solitaire anyone? Try to eliminate the time wasters in your day that do not help you or your situation. You'd be surprised how much time this will free up in your life.

I am not suggesting that your life must be a perfect model of efficiency. Steering your time towards the things that will have an impact on your life, while making sure we don't ignore those things off on the horizon, will make for a more successful, satisfying life.

Next time something gets dropped in your lap, ask yourself "Is this Urgent? Is this Important?" Then decide when it will get done, if ever.

When you are all done, meet me by the pool. I'll be doing something that's not urgent and not important. But that's okay sometimes too.

The 80/20 Principle

The 80/20 Principle can give you a significant advantage in the decisions you make and by being super-effective with those decisions. The 80/20 Principle, also known as the Pareto Principle, looks at cause and effect relationships and finds a very common occurrence:

There is a natural lack of balance between inputs and outputs, causes and consequences, and efforts and results.

Simply stated, the 80/20 Principle holds that for most relationships. 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts. Of course, the percentages may not be exact from situation to situation, but are found to be strikingly close. These are some examples of relationships that are found to fit the 80/20 Principle:

· 80% of profits coming from 20% of customers
· 20% of the world’s population control 80% of the wealth
· 20% of an office’s problems will come from 80% of the staff
· 20% of our clothes we wear 80% of the time

(OK Chris – where is this going?)

· 80% of our effort produces 20% of the value we receive

· 20% of our effort produces 80% of the value we receive

We spend the bulk of our time doing things that are not beneficial to us and do not help us reach our goals.

Let the last few lines sink in – reread them even.

We are wasting our efforts approximately 80% of the time. Wow! It’s time to rethink what we do.

What if we could take that 20% of the things we do that are really helpful and repeat that part, while avoiding wasting our time, energy and efforts doing what we do 80% of time with little or no results? This implies that we can create more success in our lives, by being very aware of how we spend our time and focusing on the things that really make a difference in our success.

As a few examples:
· In business, we should consider which group of customers is really providing our revenues and consider how to create more of those customers. Likewise, if some small group of our customers is creating most of our problems, maybe it’s time to “fire” those customers?
· On a personal level, are we wasting large portions of our time at home doing things that aren’t helpful and are actually distracting us from doing the few things that will really make a difference in our lives?

I realize that this all seems abstract, but living in a day when there never seems to enough time or enough money, can we afford to not see when we are wasting our time and money, with most of the decisions we make? Take the time to understand this natural inefficiency and learn to become more productive with the time you spend towards any goal.


(For more information, I would encourage readers to read more on the subject. The book "The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less", by Richard Koch is a real eye-opener to how we can become substantially more effective using this perspective.)

Savings Auto-Pilot

Imagine it's Payday. We're feeling momentarily rich. It's time for the little things that we have held off on all week. A Starbucks Carmel Macciato at lunch. Friday or Saturday spent doing dinner out and a movie. That quick run to the mall for those shoes you wanted all week.

STOP!!! – So far you have paid Starbucks shareholders, the restaurant owner and his wait staff, Ben Affleck and Steve Madden. Have you paid yourself? Have you put money aside for your rainy day or your future? Ahhh – just as I thought! It's just too tempting with Friday's check making you feel financially invulnerable. It's time to make some simple changes.

Much of the savings that we need to do can be put on auto-pilot. We live in the age of automatic wire transfers or ACH debit/credit transfers. Everything from general savings/investments, to retirement savings, children's education savings and savings for medical needs can be put aside automatically on a schedule you set.

If you have a standing order set up with your financial institution, they will transfer money from your main account – let's say your checking – to other accounts. Let's say that your weekly paycheck is for $500. You deposit that in your checking account and have orders set up to move $75 to your retirement account (maybe a Roth IRA), $50 to your savings account, $50 to your kids' education (possibly a Section 529 Plan) and another $25 to a Health Savings Account. At the end of the year, you would have $3,900 in retirement, $2,600 in savings towards your next car, $2,600 for education and another $1,300 for medical needs. You never once had to decide if this was a good week to save. It's automatic.

The best part is that by knowing that you really only have $300 to spend ($500 paycheck less $200 in forced savings), you will spend less. You won't fool yourself into feeling richer than you are and making purchases that you probably shouldn't.

If that isn't enough, many people forget one thing: good decisions (or bad ones) can have cumulative effects. Above we described a scenario with a person saving a total of $10,400 from $26,000 in take-home pay. What is the impact in five years if we keep that up? $52,000. It adds up quick.

If you are your own worst enemy when it comes to your finances, take the decisions out of your hands and put your savings on auto-pilot! Talk to your bank or investment brokerage to see what options they have available.

These ideas just scratch the surface of automating your savings. If you have a question, there is probably another reader/subscriber wondering the same thing. Please post your question using the comments section, below this post. I will be happy to go into greater detail in any area that seems to be of interest to all.

Live Well (Within Your Means)

We had touched on the area of over-consumption. So many of us today are very competitive in our need to have the latest and best (name your indulgence here). "Things" become our identity and our barometer of success, to ourselves, as well as to those we seek to impress: family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and clients. This might be in our clothes, cars, cell phones or expensive toys.

For a fleeting moment we have purchased happiness! Quickly we realize that we were mistaken. We have only assumed debt, filled our garages, added to our maintenance responsibilities and if we are lucky, we realize some great salesperson just talked us out of our money – again. Over time, that weight lifting equipment or motorcycle gathering dust in the garage becomes a constant reminder that we wasted our money.

If you are in the top 3% of Americans who can really afford those things, buy up! Hire someone to inventory your shoes! But for the rest of us, we should learn from the millionaires.

Millionaires don’t take out loans to buy boats or ATV’s. They don’t use home equity loans and credit card debt to finance vacations. They save. Then when they are done saving, they save some more. Eventually they have developed a series of nest eggs that can begin to provide extra income for that vacation, or boat, or home theatre – while paying CASH.

But you are looking longingly at the new BMW your neighbor just pulled up in. Forget it. He probably can’t afford it either. You’ll only be following him into the vicious debt cycle that most Americans are trapped in – picture the hamster wheel spinning freely while you get nowhere.

You want to break the cycle that almost all Americans are living in? Try something drastically different. Live like a pauper. Hold your head up high and declare that you have the patience and discipline to live well within your means. Impress yourself, as you watch the zeroes build on your bank statement. If you have the conviction to do what you believe in, you don’t have to impress anyone else.

Success Library

So now we know that if we want to be ready to spot our golden ticket we need to be looking. We also know that to actually see, we need the perspective of someone who’s in the game. Considering the current employment statistics, there has never been a better time to focus on a little self improvement and personal development through reading.

The following list would make a great starter library for your new bright future! As we said earlier, if money is tight, don’t buy these books. Go to the library. Take one out at a time! Studies have shown that by getting one book at a time we are more likely to actually read it.

This list is no particular order:

Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill

How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie

The Power of Positive Thinking
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey

The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less
Richard Koch

Awaken the Giant Within
Anthony Robbins

The Total Money Makeover
Dave Ramsey

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money
Robert T. Kiyosaki

You're Broke Because You Want to Be
Larry Winget

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of American's Wealthy
Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.

Beating the Street
Peter Lynch

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell

The One Minute Manager
Kenneth H. Blanchard

Pick one. Some are easier reads than others. But a word of warning – you will begin to sense the power to control your life in ways you never imagined. You will find yourself coming back to the list for the next read quicker and quicker.

Print out this list and stick it on your refrigerator. Use it like a checklist. Work out those atrophied success muscles and get ready for the new you. You deserve the best for yourself and those that you love. Every journey begins with a step. Make that first step today!

Continuing Education

Why is it that we'll spend hours planning a vacation or a party, but we won't invest some time each day or week in making ourselves a little smarter? How many of the adults out there have read "Harry Potter" or "The DaVinci Code"? How many of you are reading "Promises in Death" or "The Associate" right now? OK - now when was the last time you picked up and actually read any kind of financial self-help book?

We are quick to complain that we are not making enough money, we're stuck in a dead-end job or we can't seem to make ends meet. Immerse yourself in reading. By constantly educating ourselves, we become aware of opportunities that others might miss.

If I spend my days, absorbed in my favorite sports team, then I will view my world from that perspective. I will eat, breathe, sleep and dream in that context. But if I decide that I will obsessively immerse myself in self-improvement and financial education. I will become keenly aware of the world that most effects my finances and how to better myself. "Lucky Breaks" and opportunities will present themselves. Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer.

Are you going to miss a free money machine marching behind you because you were too caught up in that fantasy novel or bases loaded and a man at bat? We choose our futures.

Choose yours!

- Peace