How to get what you want in life...

How to get what you want in life...

The book I'm reading right now is How to Get What You Want in Life with the Money You Already Have by Carol Keeffe.  I highly recommend getting a copy of this book if you are struggling financially on a daily basis.  The book provides very revolutionary ideas for reaching your dreams while still paying your bills.  Reading this reminded my of something that I had already done in the past but somehow became side tracked.  Back in 2004 I was bringing in more money then I ever did in my life.  Things were looking good and I had set up some accounts that had automatic deposits.  I never missed the money that went into them and by the years end I had a nice chunk of change set aside for a family vacation.  I did this for 3 years and never missed a beat.  Bills were paid and we still went on a great vacation.  By the end of 2007 I had found a new job in a better community.  In moving I stopped the deposits, closed my checking account and opened a new one in the state we moved to.  The biggest mistake I made was that I didn't restart my automatic savings deposits.  I no longer had a safety net for the unexpected.  3 years later by the end of 2010 our financial outlook was very bleak.  I made the determination that the situation had to change and I wasn't going to lose anything that I valued.  Now midway through March our financial perspective is looking up.  So what did I change?  I went back to my basics and started paying myself first.  Placing money from every paycheck into a savings account before paying bills.

Now you may think this is ludicrous when you're already falling behind on bills but believe it or not it works.  You never miss the money and can still manage to get the bills paid.  When we look at our checking account balances, we think of what has to come out and get paid.  If the money already automatically comes out and is stashed away we tend not to miss it.  That little bit, no matter how small, will then grow.  When we see it growing, we start to find ways to add more.  The book explains something that worked for me and I had simply forgotten it.  The next part even sounded more ridiculous but I also seen the point of what I was doing wasn't working.  Remember that if what you are doing doesn't work then you need to change your strategy.  What I was doing evidently didn't work and hadn't for 3 years.  It was time to make a change.  I always felt that if only I paid something off it would get better.  It didn't, it just became worse.  I'd throw some extra money at the car payment or the mortgage but would fall short at the end of the month.  So the bill that I tried to get ahead of would now fall behind.  Carol Keeffe explains that if we concentrate on paying the minimum, we will have money to cover us until the next pay.  Our bills follow us through our lives and don't go away.  We get sucked into trying to pay them thinking we're getting ahead just to fall further behind.  By paying the minimum my bills were payed and I didn't have to worry about those little extra things that would pop up.

Next she has you make a list of your bills but list what you pay yourself first.  That's the priority, it's your money, you worked for it, you earned it and it's yours.  The bills will always be there so it's time to pay yourself so you can start enjoying life.  Don't sell yourself short by thinking that you can't and there just isn't enough money to go around.  In just 3 short months, I have been able to completely turn things around for the better.  Just by paying the minimum, my one major bill will be history in 8 months.  So why try to push it?  Why jeopardize my family by trying to shave part of a month off?  It is pointless and senseless.

I am half way through Carol's book and will keep sharing the advise she gives.  I will also let you know how it has helped change my financial outlook.  If you get a chance to pick up a copy I strongly suggest it.  It truly is making a difference in my life.

Have you set your expectations?

Have you set your expectations?

Quote of the day:

"The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least."

--Unknown Author

Remember when you were growing up and someone told you not to set your expectations too high, it will let you down?  Why set yourself up for disappointment?  Well I'm here to tell you, that is BULL!  If you don't set your expectations high enough, how do you expect to succeed?  Sure we are bound to be disappointed some time but by being confident and assertive we keep striving to reach our goals.  Great expectations lead to great outcomes.  Here is a wonderful story provided by Rich German and is a quote from his book

Keep Your Chin Up

by Jan Graham

About six months ago, I joined a gym. Every morning, there is one personal trainer there who works out at the same time that my little group does our workout. He does his routine with such a quiet determination that he makes it all look very easy, although I know all too well how hard he is working. When I am tempted to whine and quit, I watch him push himself to his own limits, and I find myself motivated to work as hard and without complaint.

One day, I was watching him do chin-ups. He made them look effortless. I broke away from my group and asked him if I could try a chin-up. I had never tried before, but he just made it look so easy. He eagerly stepped aside and encouraged me to step up to the bar. I pulled myself up without thinking … once … then twice. That was all I had in me; I had no strength left. I told him that was all I had, so he stepped up behind me and pushed me up for a third and fourth “pull.” It felt so good. I felt strong, and I smiled from ear to ear.

The next day, when I was done with my workout, I asked him to spot me again. Again, I did two. I did the same on day three and so on. I thought it was pathetic that I could only do two, but when I came to the gym at the end of the week, he was standing there just shaking his head. When I asked him what was up, he said he was impressed with my chin-ups. He told me that when they are training firefighters, the men are required to do five chin-ups, and women are required to do one or two. He explained that most people can’t do them at all and that he was impressed that I could. He further told me that if I practiced every day, I would be doing five or six in no time. At this point, I should probably add that I am fifty years old … and female.

The moral of this story … because I didn't know any better, because he told me I could, I saw no reason to doubt. I just jumped in and gave it a try—and I did it! I didn't see it as a great accomplishment because I didn't realize that it was difficult, and it became my goal to get stronger. No one told me I couldn't do it. In fact, I was encouraged to try. Had he told me initially how difficult it was, I more than likely would not have tried at all. Or, I might have tried but given it only half an effort, because failure would have been the expectation. I applaud him for letting me believe that for me, it was not only a possibility, but that success was a realistic expectation.

How many times have we decided not to try at all because we were told that we couldn't, that we shouldn't, that we had expectations that were too ambitious? How many times have we told our children, our friends, and our co-workers that they couldn't do something, that their ideas were impossible or beyond reach? How many times have we told ourselves that we would fail before we even started?

I started to ponder examples that I had witnessed and this came to mind: I recalled a conversation a friend of mine had with his daughter just prior to her heading off to university. He spoke to her (with good intentions) of how hard she would have to work in order to succeed. University wasn't like high school—this was the real world, and now she would have to grow up. This child quit after two years. Another friend spoke to her daughter of the adventure she was embarking on and how proud she was. I remember how we laughed because the mother already had her outfit picked out for convocation day! This child just graduated with her degree in physiology. Looking back, neither daughter was more intelligent than the other. Was it the silent expectations (or lack thereof) that predicted the outcome?

I have a new approach now. I have experience first hand how good it feels to rush in so innocently, to believe that we can do it, and go on to accomplish exactly what we set out to do, because no one told us we couldn't. I've learned how important it is to support others (and ourselves) in their endeavors and to let them know that we believe they can do it rather than telling them we think they can't.

I personally want to be like my trainer, standing there behind the people I love, encouraging them, believing in them, and being ready to catch them when they get tired. I will be the one who is there on the second and third day making sure they try again, because I know they can.

What a powerful lesson this has been for me. I'll be doing five in no time at all. Because I was told I can.

Message: Believe you can and you will.

Jan Graham is a full-time Realtor in Calgary, Alberta. Feel free to visit her Web site at www.jangraham.ca.

You can see that how we perceive our expectations relates strongly to our how the outcome will be.

Brain fitness-memory 43 second tip

Brain fitness-memory 43 second tip.

Here again someone shared this with me and I thought it was some valuable information that could improve your ability to become successful.

Hopefully this reinforces the point I have been trying to make over the last few blogs.  Simply put your mind and the way we use it plays a great part in how we direct ourselves towards our success.  One of the greatest ways to achieve success is by starting with the correct mind set.  Belief is over 90% of what is needed to reach our goals and dreams.  Have you ever become so determined to do something or get something that it was all you could think about until you had it?  Your mind constantly working on ways to reach that goal.  Even when you consciously weren't thinking about it, your subconscious was formulating the next move.  This move would just suddenly pop into your mind as an idea and you would rush off to try it.  Ideas are dreamed up and our bodies work to fulfill that dream.  If we can't seem to find the solution then our minds keep working on the problem to find it.  Don't give up, don't give in, don't despair, for the answer may be just around the corner.

Ever since the financial upheaval started, I've been looking for answers to the problem.  How do I get out of this mess and how do I keep from having happen again?  The answer was so simple that I already had it and used it in the past.  I went to some intense leadership training in the past for a former employer and used the information that they had given me with great success.  Unfortunately somewhere along the last few years I had lost that mind set.  The one that motivated me to do great things with my family.  Now that I have delved back into my books and previous training experiences, I have found the key to it all.  I stopped doing the things that made me successful and helped me to move forward.  I had regressed back to bad old habits which brought back the same old devastating results as before, financial instability.  My methods didn't work then and they sure weren't working now so it was time to change the situation.  Remember if you aren't getting the results you desire then it may be time to change your approach.  So now that I know what happened, I was able to change from an unsuccessful trend to a more positive and meaningful life.  Everyone has a moment where they lose track of what's important.  When we do this we give in to the negatives that brought us down in the first place.  The object is to not let this happen.  Make constant strides to move forward in a positive light.  This one thing in itself will lead you to great success.