What are you doing right now?

This is a question you need to ask yourself often.  It should quickly be followed by, “Does this matter?” 

You likely spend a lot of your time doing things that simply don’t matter.  I mean they do not significantly contribute to the quality of your life.

These activities are just fillers.  They fill time, but they distract you from actually doing something that could make a real difference.

Stop Doing Things That Don’t Matter

Busyness is a cancer eating up your life.  It slowly, but surely destroys you.  Okay, I’ll admit that might be a tad melodramatic, but at the very least busyness keeps you from devoting time to better things.  Things that would make your life more enjoyable, fulfilling and rewarding.

I recently wrote an article encouraging you to consider the big picture versus the little picture in your life.  In the article, I offered what I think are the three top priorities that you need to stay focused on above all else.

If the stuff you’re doing that fills up your day isn’t contributing to your top priorities, then STOP doing them.  This may seem obvious at first glance, but I suspect it is not as simple of a matter as you might initially imagine.

Why?  Because if I told you to stop, I know you’re going to quickly start telling me all the reasons that you can’t stop.  You are going to say things like:

• It just isn’t that easy.
• I don’t have a choice.
• I wish I could.
• It’s out of my hands.
• I wouldn’t even know where to start.
• It feels too selfish to quit.
• I need the downtime.

Your reason may or may not be on the list, but nevertheless, you get the point.  There could be some resistance to letting go of some things that don’t really matter, but somehow seem important.

In other words, your resistance is really just an excuse.  Admitting you are using an excuse to cling to bad behavior is the first step to recovery.  Because that’s what it is, bad behavior.

Wasting your life on things that don’t matter and feeling good about it simply because it makes you look busy or important or loyal is wrong.  It is wrong for you and it is wrong for those you love.

Sorting Out What Matters from What Doesn’t

At this point, I should probably clarify a few things.  First, I want to say that we all have chores we have to do that aren’t pretty or that we don’t like.  This is a part of life.

I’m not saying here that you can dump all the tasks from your life that you don’t like because some of them really do matter.  For example, you can’t stop things like:

• Taking out the garbage
• Filling out forms at work
• Brushing your teeth
• Giving your boss that report he wants
• Picking out a present for your spouse
• Changing the oil in your car

Okay, sometimes the forms at work don’t matter, but the rest of these things you probably need to do because the consequences of not doing them are significant. 

My point is, you can’t just pick what’s pleasant, exciting and glamorous.  That’s not the measure you want to use to sort out what activities you want to continue and which ones you want to drop.

You probably don’t want to tell your spouse and coworkers that you’ve decided to stop showering because it wastes too much of your time.  This could have repercussions.

So, how do you decide what matters and what doesn’t?

I think you need to do three things.  Here they are:

1.  Establish Goals and Priorities

Defining your goals and priorities is like creating a map for how you want to live your life.  It is a process by which you consciously choose where you want to go and what you want to do.  Otherwise, you are just going wherever the breeze blows you.  That’s how you accumulate activities that simply don’t matter.

2.  Evaluate What You Are Doing

Once you have your goals and priorities defined, then you have a way to answer the question, “Does this matter?”  You’ll know whether what you are doing contributes to what really matters to you or not.  If it doesn’t matter, then STOP doing it.  You’ve got to get focused if you ever want to get what you truly want.

3.  Get Brutal

Once you’ve completed your first pass at eliminating busyness from your life, you need to go farther.  You need to get absolutely brutal about eliminating things.  Clearing out the clutter and stoking the fire of intensity is how you move your life from good to great.  Trust me, you’ll be amazed at how much happier you are once you’ve stopped doing the things that really don’t matter.

Are you spending your time on the things that really matter?  How do you decide?  Leave a comment below and let me know.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

I can’t remember a time recently when I’ve been accused of working too little. If you’re like me you find it hard to let work go, take a break, and enjoy some well deserved leisure time. Though, to have more joy and serenity in life, having “free time” is exactly what needs to be done.

Leisure time offers a chance to regroup and relax. It offers a chance to feel free from life’s restraints, and provides time to experience peace of mind. Don’t be a slave to work, deadlines, and time constraints.

Everyone needs time away from daily stressors, so start making leisure time a priority and reap the benefits.

Change Your Perspective on Leisure Time

Leisure time should not be a burden or inconvenience. Remember that life is a gift and must be cherished each day. Take time to slow down and stop looking toward tomorrow. You must give yourself permission to take part in life and really experience it for everything it has to offer. Expand your perspective of what life is all about. Life is certainly meant to be much more than a stressful and exhausting race to accomplish your to-do list.

Begin living here and now! By always waiting for what we don’t have and focusing on the next thing to come, we lose out in the end, as life will pass us by. Look at life as an adventure, where every moment offers something valuable.

Make Work and Leisure Overlap

In an ideal world we would all be spending our days focusing on what we love and never be overwhelmed by the stress of the daily grind. If this is you, I commend you for designing your ideal life, and managing your emotions so nobly.

Many people haven’t reached this pinnacle in life. Though, don’t despair, we can all reach this point of making a career out of our passion if we are willing to put in the dedicated effort and gain the self-awareness and self-trust to make it happen.

Start examining your values, interests, and skills, and explore how these can be developed in a way where you can make a living while enjoying what you do.

This may be in a creative endeavor such as music, art, or writing, or related to overall lifestyle habits, such as exercising, meditating, or praying. Work toward integrating your life roles and responsibilities so you can spend time improving your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being in a convenient and involuntary manner.

The Importance of Managing Time and Stress

So, you may be saying, “I understand that leisure time is important, and really do want to make it part of my life, but I just don’t have time.”

If this is the case, you need to begin reorganizing your life and prioritizing your values. Here’s how:

1. Make sure priorities and values match. Are you spending time on those things that are most important to you, or do you spend the most time on things that are at the bottom of your values list?

2. Once priorities are known, follow suite and do first things first. If you have an urgent task that needs to be done now get it done, and don’t worry about what can wait until later.

3. End the procrastination cycle. Start now and get started on the things that end up getting in the way of valuable time spent with family, friends, and hobbies or other nurturing activities.

4. Simply schedule in time for leisure activities. Make it a priority to spend time doing what you love. Put it on your to-do list.

If you love what you do, you will find many moments when it provides fulfillment, though whenever stress comes into the picture, leisure time is no longer serving its purpose. If stress is the issue, remember:

• Time-management is key
• Don’t worry about what you can’t control
• Spend time with people who can help you relieve stress
• Engage in leisure activities that can relieve stress
• Get plenty of sleep
• Exercise
• Eat healthy

Do you actually take Leisure time?

Many people feel they must work harder and longer in order to reach their goals, make more money, and find happiness. If we’re going to work hard, we need time to play hard as well.

When you are taking time for leisure, are you having a hard time enjoying the moment? Whether you’re gardening, taking the dog for a walk, spending time with family, or any other recreational activity you may find yourself concentrating on other things and having your attention elsewhere. If this is the case, it doesn’t count as leisure time. If you are only physically present during these times, and neglect the emotional and mental respite, you will never experience a reprieve from the stress of daily life.

Realize how valuable and important these experiences are for your relationships, health, and well-being. Learn to organize your life and priorities in order to become completely immersed in whatever you choose to do in your leisure time. In the end taking time away from the hustle and bustle of life can come in many forms. You just need to find what offers you relaxation and rejuvenation.

Joe Wilner writes at www.shakeoffthegrind.com to help people stay motivated, confident, and inspired to work through those not so uplifting times in life.  You can also follow him on Twitter at @shakethegrind.

Photo by Scarleth White

You must have a clearly defined, written purpose if you want to live life to the fullest.  It is absolutely crucial.  You will never achieve the satisfaction and significance you desire without it.

Stick with me here!  I know this is tough.  I’ve struggled with my life purpose too.  But, once you get your purpose figured out, then it will make everything else start to fall into place.

I’m going to guide you through clarifying your life purpose and make it a lot easier for you.  Once you’re familiar with this method, you will wonder why it seemed so hard before.

What Is a Life Purpose?

Purpose is the reason for an action being done, an object existing or being made or used.
~ Wikipedia

First, let’s get a clear definition of what a life purpose is.  We can begin by looking at the definition above from Wikipedia on the meaning of the word “purpose”.

Based on this, we can begin to see that a life purpose is the reason we do what we do.  It is a statement that puts meaning behind our actions.

According to Gregory K. Popcak in The Exceptional Seven Percent, a good life purpose is the theme around which we build our life.  It is strongest when it is focused on developing positive character traits, pursuing spiritual growth and exhibiting moral courage.

A life purpose is a single sentence that sums up what we consider most important in life and serves as a compass to guide all our actions.

This may sound a little overwhelming, but it really isn’t as hard to come up with as you might imagine.

Three Practical Reasons a Clear Life Purpose Is So Important

You can probably get a sense of why a life purpose is so important just from the definition, but I think it is worth examining even closer.  It has very practical implications.

Here are the three reasons a clear life purpose is so important:

1.  Serves as a Foundation for Decisions and Actions

A clear life purpose gives you a foundation on which to decide how to act.  You can (and should) filter all your decisions through your purpose to determine whether your actions will conform to your values and priorities.

Your purpose becomes a map to guide your life.  Without it you are just meandering aimlessly along with no real direction.  Of course, you will arrive exactly where you are aiming.  This is the first reason that you should clearly define your life purpose.

2.  Provides Clarity and Focus to Your Life

Smart Living Rule 4 lays out the reasons that clarity and focus are so important.  Basically, your purpose helps you to set the proper priorities.  It gives you something that you can use to zero in on the right next thing to do.

Our efforts are often diluted to the point that it takes us forever to accomplish anything.  A life purpose solves this.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a clear and focused mind for once?  It is possible.  You just have to take a bit to define what you want your life to be about.

3.  Allows You to Simplify and Declutter Your Thinking

When you have a clear purpose, you suddenly know what to say no to and eliminate from your life.  This frees up your time to spend on the things that really matter.  You can separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the great without guilt.

A simpler life is a better life.  You are less tired and stressed.  Therefore, you have more to give the things that count for the most.  Decluttering your life is a great step toward living life to the fullest.  There is no better way to improve your life with so little effort!

Defining Your Life Purpose Is the Most Important Thing

Hopefully, this has convinced you of the importance of a clearly defined, written life purpose.  It is critical to a full and rewarding life.  Over the next few days, I will give you a simple method to define your strategy and I’ll share my own purpose with you as an example that will help to further reinforce the importance.  I hope you’ll stay tuned!

What other reasons are there for a clear life purpose?

Photo by Richard0

This is a guest post from Robert Tuchman from

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To become the kind of person that makes things happen by launching a company, you must make a big personal investment. I’m not talking about money (yet). I’m talking about time.

During that first year, you are going to be doing a lot of breathing, eating, and dreaming about your company. Setting priorities is essential to making your company succeed in its first year.

An Entrepreneur Must Set Priorities to Succeed

Here are seven priorities that you will want to set for yourself in the first year:

1.  Build a Culture of Action and Enthusiasm

You want to build a company that rewards taking action, a company that is perceived as being youthful, vigorous, forward-thinking, and results-oriented. People expect action and energy from the young, and they are likely to search out young and hungry companies.

You will find that clients are willing to pay for your energy and dynamism, and they will even take a bit of a risk in order to get young, energetic minds on their side. Enthusiasm and energy will take your business further than any other factor.

2.  Take Daily Action on Your Business Plan

What separates successful entrepreneurs from floundering entrepreneurs? Daily commitment to fulfilling the benchmarks you have set for yourself and your company in both your short-and long term business plans.

Every day you have to be willing to put your time in and do what you know needs to be done. For some people this daily commitment means picking up the phone and making ten sales calls a day, no matter what. For others, it means creating ideas for new products, new systems or new marketing initiatives, and then carefully testing the results.

3.  Get Your Web Site Up and Running

Your website has to say, “This is who we are,” to the outside world and it has to be compelling. Expect to update your Web site regularly and to improve it constantly over time. A Web site that is over dated, with irrelevant or months-old information is a real deal killer.

During your first year in the business, do the very best you can on your website with as much as you have now and be ready to update and improve it on a regular basis.

4.  Talk to Absolutely Everyone About What You Do

Who says opportunity stops at five o’clock? You need to always be talking about your business, as well as thinking about it constantly. Remember, you are building a brand for your company.

It should become second nature for you to talk to people about your business at parties, at family gatherings, and at outings like sporting events. You never know who the people you meet might know or might be speaking to next.

5.  Try to Fund It Yourself, or Mostly Yourself

Lots of entrepreneurs ask me, “What type of funding will I need to get my business off the ground?” I always advise would-be business owners to go after the least amount of funding that is necessary.

The reason I recommend self-financing for people who are just starting out is that fixating on some outside source of capital is a great way to make launching the business someone else’s responsibility. You don’t want to do that. If you spend the entire first year talking about presentations so that someone else can take action or make decisions, your mind-set is wrong.

6.  Get Connected, No Matter What

During your first year of operation, it’s extremely important to develop new relationships and meet people in your industry. I was fortunate enough early on to meet Alex English, former Denver Nuggets Hall of Famer. Alex gave me a shot at having my first office when he asked me if I wanted to share an office with him near Madison Square Garden.

When I was starting, I would make over 100 cold calls a day to potential clients. I had the same pitch that I would recite over and over again. Soon enough Alex would recite the pitch over and over to me verbatim. Getting connected was all about living and breathing the business.

7.  Stay Balanced

During the first year, and all the years after, you will have to find a way to achieve balance. You need an outlet of some kind, a hobby or exercise activity that helps you stay sane.

Many nights I left the office at 10 p.m. and went to the gym to hit the heavy bag until I had alleviated all my stress. If you are working hard, and putting all of your energy into work, you are going to need a release.

Last year, Tuchman Sports Enterprises earned over $70 million dollars in sales as the Corporate Events division of Premiere Global Sports. Robert Tuchman now serves as President of that division, still guiding his company in its new form. 

Robert is no stranger to entrepreneurship.  He has also launched other successful ventures including RentACarNow.com.

Photo by gcoldironjr2003

You must focus your effort like a laser to accomplish great things.  A determined mind is hard to stop.  Those that commit themselves to a particular goal and then pursue it with persistence and perseverance are the ones that realize their dreams!

A mind and a life that is cluttered and scattered rarely completes anything.  The effort is too diluted to make real progress toward goals.

Smart living requires one to focus your thoughts and actions.  You must determine your priorities, make a firm commitment and pursue single-minded action to win!

Smart living is about determining the right priorities

What really matters to you?  What one thing would make the most difference in your life if you finished it?  What is the next step you need to take toward your most significant goal?  These are a few of the questions you need to start thinking about to determine your priorities.

You have to narrow things down so you can focus your effort.  Concentrating on what is most important in your life is the fastest way to move ahead.

The problem is that we usually fail to discriminate between our priorities.  We give taking out the trash the same attention that we give creating a personal finance budget. 

You may chuckle, but in reality we may actually give the trash higher priority.  Think about it.  Don’t we procrastinate and delay forever on setting up a budget?  However, I bet the trash gets to the curb every week!  Which one has a higher priority?

This is my point!  You have to make a choice and consciously select your priorities.  It is an essential step in smart living.

Make a firm commitment to start smart living

Once you decide on your one next most important thing to do, then you need to make a firm commitment to accomplish it.  Give yourself a deadline and share it with someone that will hold you accountable.  Your spouse is usually a great choice!

Back yourself into a corner!  Make it extremely difficult to weasel out of doing what you decided needed to be done.

In fact, I’d challenge you to set a very short deadline to accomplish your goal.  This will force you to really focus your attention and energy.  You will have to push all the little distractions aside in order to get this important thing done.  Perfect!

A mind and life focused on the right thing and determined to accomplish it is like a locomotive barreling down the track.  It takes a lot to stop it!

Pursue smart living with single-minded action

If it isn’t obvious, I do NOT think multitasking works!  I believe to maximize your effectiveness, which is a part of smart living, that you have to pursue single-minded action!

The effectiveness of multitasking is a myth that will leave you exhausted and weary from such slow progress toward your goals!  You need the clarity and single-mindedness that comes from concentrated effort on the one priority you identified above.

Focused action will deliver results quickly.  This is why I’m a big believer in focused action and why I include it as a part of smart living.

Move everything else aside at least for a period of time each day and you’ll be amazed at how fast your life moves toward your dream!

Assignment: Focus your thoughts and actions for smart living

As you probably know by now, I am handing out assignments as we progress through the rules for smart living. 

So, here’s what I suggest for getting focused:

1.  Understand that I’m not the only one that encourages focus

I’m not a productivity guru.  I use several techniques in my life to be more effective, but I don’t really write much about it.  Therefore, I’m suggesting you read some articles by a couple of other guys that I respect and that I think have this topic nailed.

Here are three articles on gaining focus that I highly recommend:

• Big Rocks First: Double Your Productivity This Week
• Using Applied Focus Sessions to Boost Productivity
• 10 Ways to Use Laser Sharp Focus to Get More Done

See, I’m not the only one that believes getting focused really works!

2.  Set your priorities, make a commitment and take action

Okay, now it is time to really apply what we’ve talked about.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  Use these steps to get going!

1. Pick a priority – Make a list of all that you have going on in your life.  List things from work and home.  Dump as much as possible onto the paper to clear it our of your head.  Now read back through the list and circle the ones that are most important.  Okay, pick one.  Yes, just one.  This is your top priority.
2. Make a commitment – Resolve to accomplish your one priority.  Set a definite deadline for yourself.  Write it down.  Tell your spouse or someone else that will not be shy about holding you accountable.  Refer back to your written commitment often to keep you on track and don’t start avoiding your spouse!
3. Take action – Write down the one very next small task that you need to do to start making progress toward your priority.  It could be as simple as making a phone call.  Do it right now!  Don’t delay!  Procrastination will creep in if you do.  Get this first task out of the way so you can feel good about yourself and establish some momentum.  Now go back to your list and write down your next three tasks.  Keep going!

If you’ve completed these assignments, then you are well on your way to focused achievement!  Congratulations!  You will get more things done in a day than most people accomplish in a week!

Your focused thoughts and actions will lead you to smart living!

“Good is the enemy of great.”
~ Jim Collins, Author of Good to Great

Getting focused is so important in our busy, noisy world.  We have to get some of the good things off our plate in order to focus on the great things that we really want and need to do to live life to the fullest.  This is smart living!

Follow this link to discover all the rules for Smart Living.

Photo by helgabj

Need to simplify your life and get more tasks accomplished?

Let me start by admitting I am not a productivity guru. In fact I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum — lost in a mountain of piled up papers and organizational chaos. But I’m trying to improve in incremental steps — just as you do with personal finance.

A Simple Productivity Idea

I’ve got a long list of things I need and want to do. I’m sure you have a similar list either written down somewhere, in an e-mail you send yourself, or perhaps just inside your head. We’ve all got things we want to do, but obviously we can’t accomplish everything in one day.

I decided that at some point during the day I would create a list of just three things I wanted to accomplish when I got home from work.  I targeted things I wanted to accomplish outside of my “real job” because I have enough to-do lists at work. (Plus the things on my personal list either really need to be done or are things I want to do.)

Three things really doesn’t sound like a lot, but it depends on what you put into the three slots. They could be five-minute tasks or one-hour tasks.

Three Tasks Forces Me to Be Realistic

Having three tasks for each evening forces me to be realistic. If I’ve got 50 items on my list there is no physically possible way I can accomplish all of them in one evening. Instead, focusing on just three helps me set realistic goals for each day.

Those three slots are precious. This helps with prioritization of my tasks. If I truly feel like something is important and needs to get done soon, it must have a spot in one of those three slots. But what if all my slots are ‘filled’ for the day? More on that in second.

Only Three Tasks Prevents Being Overwhelmed

This is a big key for me. When you’ve got a long list of to-dos it can be so overwhelming to look at that you end up with decision paralysis. You get overwhelmed and decide that doing nothing is simply easier regardless that you have things that really need to be done. Here’s a snapshot of what my overall list looks like:

• clean out e-mail inboxes
• setup database backup for wife’s blog
• mow yard
• finish wills and other estate planning documents
• set up blogging businesses for electronic estimated tax payments
• bring flowers home for my wife
• write tomorrow’s article for No Debt Plan
• go jogging with dog
• (30 other things go here)

It’s overwhelming. Some of those items are very boring — like setting up estimated tax payments and finishing our wills. (Important, but boring.) Now imagine the list looks like this: Today:

• mow yard
• setup database backup
• write tomorrow’s article

I haven’t made a significant change to the list, but by having just three items I suddenly feel like I can accomplish these things. I have a focus. I have a daily goal.

What My New Task List Looks Like

I’m looking for something minimal that I can carry around with me. I grabbed an index card out of my desk and jotted down the date with three short-hand words to remind me of the task.

Although the index card is portable (nice), it’s also pretty flimsy. I don’t want to invest in some sort of a notebook until I can prove to myself that I can continue to track my tasks in this manner.

Another benefit of using an index card: making changes is obviously very simple. If something pops up in my life that trumps the importance of one of the top three tasks, I can simply bump one of those tasks to another day.

This tip may not blow your mind. Maybe you are already deep into GTD. Then again maybe you’re a newbie like me that has a stack of papers on his desk that need to go somewhere, anywhere.

Three tasks at a time. Day by day digging through your list. It’s worked for me… maybe it will work for you.

If you enjoyed this post then check out No Debt Plan for insight into your personal finance issues.

Photo by Jeffrey Beall

I often think about how I would adjust my budgeting priorities should I lose my job or find myself in some other ultra-tight financial situation.  I believe that by acting quickly and decisively, I could significantly increase my chance of success.

A budget is a plan that should align one’s spending with our priorities.  In a crisis, I would use mine to batten down the hatches and ration my money to my top priorities.

Budgeting priorities when money is tight

The global economic crisis is tough on everyone right now.  The cost of living is up and a lot of people are losing their jobs.  When money is tight it is more important than ever that we set our budgeting priorities correctly.  I would start with the basics and go from there.

Here is how I would prioritize my money in a budgeting crisis:

1.  Groceries are at the top of the budget

We all have to eat to survive.  In a pinch, I would make food my top priority.  However, I would be sure that I was buying only staples.  My diet would not be anything fancy.  No restaurants and no T-bone steaks. 

In a personal financial crisis, my food might not be that enjoyable, but it would give me and my family what I needed to keep from going hungry.  I would buy things like macaroni, beans, rice, and potatoes.  I would avoid frozen dinners, soda, chips, desserts and other junk food that is too expensive.

2.  Paying the mortgage or rent

Once you are fed, then you need a place to live.  I own a home, so my next priority would be my mortgage payment.  I have too much invested to let my home fall to foreclosure. 

If I did anticipate falling behind on my mortgage, I would be proactive.  I would go to the bank and work something out ahead of time.  From what I hear, this will lead to a much better result.

The mortgage company may not scream as loud as some of the other creditors we owe, but I would still pay them first.  Harassment should not define our priorities.  I would definitely make keeping a roof over my head one of my top priorities.

3.  Transportation to and from work

When things are tight, we must earn as much income as possible.  Therefore, I would need some form of transportation to get to the first job I could find.

Fortunately, I don’t owe on my vehicles, but if I did I might have to let one or more cars go if the payment was large.  But before I did, I would figure out a transportation alternative.

Riding the bus might not be convenient, but it is better than letting my house get taken by the bank.  I would throw my pride out the window!  Crises are survived by making hard choices!  Choosing public transportation is an option I would seriously consider.

I might also think about walking, riding a bike or scooter, or carpooling as ways to save money while still getting where I needed to go.

4.  Utility bills

I would cut off everything except what I absolutely needed to survive.  I would do this as soon as possible!  Things like cable TV and cell phones are luxuries not necessities.  Ditching them would be some of my first steps.

I would then prioritize the remaining utilities in the order in which I would need them to survive.  As an example, here is how I might prioritize the utilities from highest to lowest:

• water and sewer service
• electricity
• natural gas
• telephone

Obviously, it would be uncomfortable to do without any of these, but if I can’t pay the bill, then I would have to let something go.  I want to control the situation as much as possible, so I would prioritize.  I would also take drastic steps to reduce my utility bills.

5.  Essential clothing

In a crisis, I would make sure my kids had what they needed to stay warm.  I don’t think clothes would be an issue for us unless the crisis lasted for six or more months, but kids do grow so I would need to consider clothing eventually.

I would not concern myself with fashion.  For me, this would be a time where function would rule.  I would shop for clothing at secondhand stores and even look for hand-me-downs from extended family members.

Clothing is important, but most of us can probably make do for a long time without needing to buy much.

6.  Credit cards would be the last to get paid

I am debt-free, but if I owed on credit cards or unsecured consumer loans, then these would be the last things that I would pay.  I might get a lot of harassing phone calls, but I’d just have to ignore them.

From what I understand, it would take these companies a long time before they actually sued me.  Therefore, I would put them off as long as possible.  I would hope that my situation would change before the worst occurred.

Setting the right budgeting priorities are key to surviving

I would want to make the right choices early to minimize the impact of a financial crisis on my family’s livelihood.  Some might think that my approach is radical, but I don’t think so.  Taking decisive action would put me in the best position to weather the storm for as long as possible with the minimum negative impact.  Failing to act is what leads many to bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Is there anything I missed in my crisis budget priorities?

Other articles that might be useful:
Back To Basics- 79+ Brilliant Budgeting Resources You’ll Love
Now Is A Good Time To Be Living On A Budget
How To Avoid Buying Things You Do Not Need!

Photo by aturkus

The case for long-term thinking as a success factor

Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard wrote about this in his book, The Unheavenly City Revisited.  Banfield set out to discover why some people become financially independent over the course of their working lives while others do not. 

He expected to find that factors such as education, intelligence, family background, and influential contacts would be the answer to his question.  However, what Dr. Banfield discovered was that a person’s time perspective or how far they project into the future when deciding actions to take in the present largely determined their success.

The results of a failure to think long-term

It seems to me that a lot of what created the mortgage and financial crisis we are dealing with is short-sightedness.  Consumers failed to delay their purchases until they could truly afford a new home.  Bankers loaned money to unqualified buyers because they wanted to make an immediate profit.  Politicians encouraged this behavior because they wanted to give more Americans what they desired to get their vote.

Everyone involved decided to immediately gratify themselves without consideration for the long-term impact.  Apparently, none of these people looked into the future far enough to predict the outcome we are experiencing.  This failure to plan long-term is what created the crisis.

A real-life example of long-term thinking

Obviously, some people think long-term while others do not.  An example of this that stuck out to me early in my life occurred at high school graduation.  Some of those that I graduated with went on to college while others immediately began working. 

I’ll admit going to work looked pretty good.  After all, these people earned decent money, drove nice cars, and were able to move out and get a place of their own.  They immediately began enjoying a better life.

Those of us that went to college poured our meager resources into paying for tuition and books.  We didn’t have time to work as much so we earned less, plus we had to study instead of enjoying ample leisure time.  Basically, we made sacrifices believing in the promise of a better future.

I’ve never had the opportunity to poll my classmates to determine the specifics of how this worked out, but according to the Census Bureau, college graduates earn about twice as much over their working lifetimes compared to high school graduates.  This is just one example of how looking to the future when making decisions results in greater success.

The psychology of long-term thinking

Why do some people choose to consider the long-term results while others are more apt to take immediate gratification?  Well, researchers point to the need to relieve tension versus the need for goal achieving.

Apparently, those who want it now have a keen desire to relieve the tension created by doing without.  This relief of tension outweighs any future gain.  They can’t seem to delay gratification.  Of course, this impacts their decision-making across the board which typically leads to less productive results.

Those that are long-term thinkers are more about setting and achieving goals.  They have a vision for their life and are willing to give up certain things today to reach their goals tomorrow.  As seen in the example above, this usually results in greater achievement.

How to start thinking more long-term

I believe everyone can achieve greater success by exercising more long-term thinking.  Banfield found that the longer your perspective when making decisions, the greater achievement.  Therefore, we all have room to improve.  Here are some ideas for increasing your long-term thinking.

1.  Create a vision for what you want your life to look like

What do you want your life to look like 5, 10, or 20 years from now?  Where do you want to be living?  What kind of work do you want to be doing?  How do you want to be spending your time?  Who do you want to be spending your time with?  A very effective and creative way to do this is by creating a vision board.  This is especially helpful if you are a visual thinker.

2.  Write out specific goals for yourself

Goals serve as a road map for the future.  They will help to keep you on track.  However, you have to write them out and review them often for goals to work effectively.  Write out the goals you want to accomplish in the next 1-year, 5-years, and 10-years.  You should then develop plans for achieving your goals.  This is essential to get the most out of your career, finances, marriage, and leisure time.  It also helps you to expand the horizon of your thinking.

3.  List your activities and prioritize them

What is most important to you?  Make a list of all the ways you spend your time.  You might want to do this over several days to get an accurate picture of where all your time goes.  Once you have this list, go back and prioritize the activities.  Decide what current activities you can delegate or eliminate to give yourself more time to focus on achieving your goals.  The more time you devote to what is really important, the more likely you will be to succeed.

4.  Practice worst-case scenario planning

The idea is to get yourself looking down the road and anticipating various outcomes to help yourself choose more appropriate long-term courses of action.  When you face an important decision, write down a list of possible outcomes.  Include in this list every worst-case scenario that you can dream up.  Once you’ve done this, then consider ways to prevent these worst-case scenarios through actions you can take in advance.  Again, this will help you broaden your perspective and achieve greater success.

Your greatest tool for creating success

The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.  ~Joe Girard

A part of long-term thinking is understanding the quote above.  It is being able to delay gratification believing that greater success is just around the corner once the hard work is done.  Long-term thinking is a form of risk management for life.  By taking the time to better prepare yourself, you increase your probability for success.  We all need to embrace this idea and use it daily to achieve all that we desire.  Long-term thinking gives us a power tool toward living life to its absolute fullest!

How has long-term thinking helped you in your life?

Photos by gutter and marc_eliot

The symptoms of an overwhelming life.

Some of us don’t even realize we are living life in the fast lane.  We don’t even slow down long enough to recognize how tired and overwhelmed we are.  Here are some signs that you are doing too much:

• You feel antsy if you are sitting doing nothing.
• You can’t remember the last time you took a day off from your normal routine.
• Your calendar is so full that if you have one unexpected delay your whole day is blown.
• You fight with your spouse about spending too much time at work.
• You haven’t seen your kids in more than a week.  (hopefully exaggerated!)
• Your spiritual life is null and void.
• You are burned out and often daydream about running away.
• You feel physically run down and worn out everyday.

Are you in denial about the pace of your life?

We often think it is only the workaholics of the world that have a problem with balance in their lives, but that is not true.  Everyone is susceptible to this problem.  Stay-at-home moms often get caught in this trap by trying to be super-moms.  They are constantly running their kids from one activity to the next.  They believe this is doing what’s best for their children, but in reality they are just passing on the disease.

Living at break-neck speed is not living life to the fullest.

We all need time to rest and recuperate.  We rush through life at such a pace that we seldom slow down long enough to enjoy what we have.  Why pass this bad habit along to your children?  Isn’t it better to teach them to fully engage in life?  Don’t we want them to stop and smell the roses?  If you think about the best moments of your life, they didn’t occur when you were rushing from one thing to the next.  No, they most likely were the times when you got away from it all and took the time to rest, reflect, and attend to the really important matters of your life.

How to overcome the addiction of busyness.

It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?
~Henry David Thoreau

Busyness and hurriedness is an epidemic in our society.  It is stealing our joy and causing us to lose out on some of the best times that life has to offer.  One day we are going to wake up and our kids will be grown, our health will be failing, and we will realize we rushed by everything that was truly important.  How do we stop this madness?

1.  STOP!

The first thing to do is take a time-out.  We need to force ourselves to take a break.  One way that my wife and I do this is by going camping.  We get out of our normal environment, away from the regular hustle and bustle.  It is only then that we realize how tired we really are.  Once we are away, we don’t feel compelled to do things.  In just a few hours, we relax. 

I highly encourage you to get away.  So often, even our vacations are a rush from one activity to the next.  Plan some time where you don’t have anything to do.  This will help you gain perspective and evaluate your life.  Spend some time in quiet contemplation.

2.  Evaluate your priorities.

Make a written list of what is really important to you.  Now be honest.  Are you doing the things that truly have value to you?  Do you have a meaningful relationship with your kids?  How’s your marriage?  Are the things you spend the majority of your time doing going to be important to you come the end of your life? 

Obviously, we all have certain aspects of our lives that we have to do even though they are less pleasant.  I’m not advocating being irresponsible.  We have to do the day-to-day things necessary to get by, but as Stephen Covey teaches, you have to put first things first.  Unless you define a set of priorities and then consciously choose to live according to those priorities, you are likely to be swept downstream by the priorities of others.

3.  Learn to say, “No!”

We need to eliminate the unimportant activities in our lives in order to slow down.  The only way to do this is to learn to say no.  There is often a lot of pressure to go, go, go.  As parents, we feel pressure from other parents, teachers, coaches, and even our children.  However, we are the adults and the only ones responsible for our lives.  We must draw the line and limit our commitments.

This may be tough because you may feel you are already committed.  Wean yourself off as many unimportant things as quickly as possible.  Yes, you will probably feel some resistance from others, but they’ll get over it and you’ll thank yourself for it.

4.  Delegate beyond your comfort zone.

Start delegating more responsibilities at work and at home.  We often hang onto too many things because we think we are the only ones that can do it right, but this is killing us.  We have to start letting others take on more tasks.  Teaching and coaching others to take care of themselves can be time-consuming, but once you have them trained, then you can step back. 

In order to get any real value from this, you have to take it one step further than what is comfortable for you.  When I do this, I usually find that others can do more than what I gave them credit for.  Even if there are some issues, it usually isn’t the end of the world.  I often blow things up in my mind which causes me to hold back from delegating as much as I should.

5.  Seek guidance to slow down.

In your quiet time, seek guidance for your life.  Pray, meditate, reflect, and read wisdom literature to find direction.  I highly suggest writing down the highlights of your thoughts during these periods so you can return to them often.  In order to break the habits of busyness and hurriedness, we have to continually remind ourselves of our true priorities and keep ourselves mindfully making the right choices.

Where does the guidance for your life come from?  Go back to that source of wisdom and tap into it again.  It will help you realign yourself with what is important.

Get control and you won’t feel so overwhelmed.

We have to break the cycle of rushing from one thing to the next so we can focus on our priorities.  This will help us to truly live life to the fullest.  Being busy and having a cram-packed schedule is NOT living the best life possible.  It is during the periods where we have things in order that we find inner joy and peace. 

What are you going to do to stop feeling so overwhelmed?

Photo by xxxtoff