Learn something new

Our world is in turmoil.  The news may even leave you to believe the sky is falling.  Is your job at risk?  Realized that you have been spending too much money?  Not sure what to do next?  I have on piece of advice for you. 

Go learn something new.  Use this as a time to grow.  Does it really matter what you learn?  No!  Just get out there are learn something new.  This is truly the only way to grow and thrive,  be continually learning.  Do you want to be in the same place in ten years are that you are today?  No – go learn something!  Your future self thanks you.

Fitness and Money

Most of my clients come to me for assistance in learning about money and making progress with their investments.  However, we usually end up working on many issues that indirectly influence our money.  These cover everything from job and or business growth, family and life balance to health and fitness issues.  Each of these areas has a direct impact on our money and how well we manage it.  With this being the 3^rd week of the New Year and some of our resolutions starting to waver I wanted to focus on the one that most of my clients have in common – health and fitness.

How does fitness affect your finances?  The obvious one is that the healthier you are the lower your health care costs are, but it actually impacts us in other ways that are harder to monetize.  To me the biggest of these is that exercise and a healthy lifestyle decrease stress levels.  I know for myself that without exercise my stress goes up which creates a downward cycle.  I am less productive, my creativity comes to a halt and my patience is gone.    This impacts money because I don’t get as much business done, my writing is harder to accomplish (I get many of my ideas on cardio equipment) and my overall patience with myself is gone so I am more demanding – which creates more stress!  It ends up being a vicious cycle that impacts me and my money. 

Unfortunately in our hectic world the challenge becomes when do I work out?  Most of us are overbooked and quickly put fitness on the back burner because it is not screaming at us.  Yet it is one of the most important things to do, so how do we make it a priority?  I use three areas to get it to the top of my list:  Variety, commitment and make it easy!

1.    Variety – I keep it exciting and rarely do the same thing more than once in a week.  I spice up the cardio and alternate my weights program.  This way it is never boring and dreadful.

2.    Commitment – I make a commitment to myself and family that I will be the best me.  I know that this requires me to workout.  So it is on my calendar in ink and cannot change!

3.    Easy – I make sure that I am able to workout whenever I want.  Not only do I belong to a gym, but at home I have cardio equipment and some weight items.  This means I never have an excuse beyond I did not make it a priority.  I even have one of the best inventions ever for weight training that make it quick and easy to accomplish (FitDeck) so I really have no excuses.

So are you going to make fitness a priority so the rest of your life can thrive?  Your bank account and business with thank you for it!

 

 

 

Books that Change lives

I am always amazed when I read a book how I am radically changed by it.  Over the past two weeks I have flown through two books that have had a huge influence on me.  They are The Secrets of Six Figure Women and Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny.  I have been searching for a book that I liked on dealing with the emotional issues with money and was never satisfied with any of the books.  These two books have changed that forever. 

Money is deeply tied to our emotional past and present.  You may think that sounds a little new age, but the fact it they way you were taught about money and the way you have dealt with money as an adult does have an effect on what you do today to not only make money but to save money also.  In order to reach your true potential with money and life you need to discover what your deepest core beliefs are, determine if they are right for you today and if not change them.   These two books are great for helping you with that.   Get these books today and start a journey to a healthier money relationship.  Your bank account will thank you.

For information on these and other books I recommend check out my book list:

http://www.smartstepomaha.com/books

Reduce Temptation – Cancel Catalogs

Managing how you spend your money has a lot to do with discipline and behavior.  One way that it becomes easy to want things you don’t need and to spend money that you don’t have is the Catalogs that come to your house.   Making it hard for you to be disciplined with your money and letting your feelings at that moment control your behavior.

You grab the mail, and sit down to relax after a long day at work and begin flipping through the new catalogs.  Sure enough you come across an item that you think you need at that moment.  With the quick click of a mouse or a phone call the item is on its way to you.   

Would you have bought the item if you had gone out shopping?  Was it something you really needed?  Had you ever thought of purchasing it before?  Will you regret the purchase latter?  Will you even use the item? 

You don’t have to face this temptation!  One easy way to avoid the temptation is to sign up for a free service called Catalog Choice (www.catalogchoice.org).  You enter your name, address and catalog information and they take care of canceling that catalog for you!  Remove the temptation and get the catalogs out of your mailbox!  Your bank account and a tree with thank you!