Pizzeria
Originally uploaded by drewmaniac

• Be thankful.
• Learn patience.
• Be aware of others.
• Learn love.
• Help others.
• Smile regularly.
• Forgive, even if unwarranted.
• Learn self discipline.
• Listen to others.
• Speak less.
• Ask questions.
• Read more often.
• Remain consistent, yet flexible.
• Be realistic, yet optimistic.
• Forget past slights.
• Encourage others.
• Avoid self pity.
• Eat less.
• Move more.
• Set goals.
• Work to achieve goals.
• Achieve goals and set new ones.
• Be friendly.
• Rid self of bad influences.
• Worry less.
• Seek opportunities.
• Create opportunities.
• Be honest at all times.

We all know what we need to do to live a better life, even in the most difficult of situations. Don’t we? It’s just difficult sometimes because we’d rather not take the time to change our mindset or world view. That would take a little work and careful consideration. This list is just a few things I work on continuously. Some come fairly easy (worry less), while others seem to be a constant struggle (eat less). I am sure you have your own list and may have some you could add to mine. In fact, feel free to add to mine. I’m always open to suggestions. These are simple to write and come up with, but very challenging to achieve at times.

We should all strive to improve our day to day life, even if there are days we’d rather not.

In my previous post, I looked at the importance of overcoming the culture of instant gratification that is prevalent today. I promise this blog hasn’t suddenly turned into a financial advice blog. I just believe financial responsibility to be a very important aspect when it comes to living remarkably.

Xin Lu on Wise Bread has some great points when it comes to observing friends making poor financial decisions. As hard as it may be to warn a friend who is making poor financial decisions, the benefits of helping a friend who heeds this advice are immense. One of the hardest things can be observing friends or family continually making poor decisions in anything. Initially it may seem difficult to talk about these things, but there are ways to do so and not come across as invasive.

Here are a few things to think about if you’re considering talking with a friend:

• Are you truly concerned? Show it.
• Be sympathetic. Maybe they’re having financial issues because of hard times (medical bills, lost employment, etc.). Understand that and try to steer them in directions that will benefit them.
• Rarely are there any quick fixes. Simply handing over money to your friend usually will not stop poor financial habits. In fact, they generally enable them more and can cause rifts in your friendship.
• Warn them of the roads they should not travel (pay day loans, car title loans, etc.) and point them to the roads they could take as an alternative (saving, changing spending habits, etc.). Don’t just say, “NO!”. Offer solutions.
• Do not allow anger to enter into the equation if your friend does not heed your advice. Not everyone will listen, or appear to be listening. Some people take some time to come around, others never come around. Just remember it’s beyond your control. Just try to assist in pointing out some helpful directions.

If you are able to guide your friend to better financial paths, you may just gain a much closer friend. The relationships we cultivate during difficult moments in life are usually the best.

“True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.” ~ St. Jerome

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Originally uploaded by snjezana.

Our entire culture is very impulsive. We’ve been geared to think that if you want something, you have the option to get it… right now. Instant gratification is fun. Responsibilities are boring. Why are we starting to see the onset of possible economic trouble as a nation? By and large it’s because of impulsive behavior (IMHO) in our spending.

By and large popular culture encourages it. By their example governmental leadership embodies it. For the most part families do not discourage it.

“If you’ll live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” ~ Dave Ramsey

I keep hearing people talk about the poor economy. I’m not talking about on television, but just as I go about life meeting and talking with people. This person and that person complains that things seem to be getting more difficult. I’m not going to doubt their personal situation. It may be very difficult. I think we all feel the squeeze in our pocket book when it comes to present day fuel prices. However, why are we truly feeling the squeeze? Is it because of gas prices? Is it because of the government’s out of control spending? Is it because of the bubble that burst in the housing market? Or is it because we just want things we don’t really need?

Let me be clear. I am not trying to be preachy here. There was a time when I was very impulsive in my spending. Whatever I wanted I usually found a way to get it. No matter what bills may be coming up or what responsibilities I already had. I’ve tried to live like no one else… right now! It’s not an easy life. Even in the best of times. In fact, I don’t believe it is worth it.

Over the last few years I have slowly worked myself out of a hole I dug. I’m not out yet, and there’s still work to be done, but I see that one day I will be. So here I am. Living in the same world as everyone else with these apparent hard times on the horizon, and yet I have never been better off (and that’s not great, BTW). I’m learning a valuable lesson. One I think we could all stand to learn, especially in our culture of instant gratification. Spend less, save more, and when hard times come it will be easier to work through them.

It’s a simple lesson our grandparents and great grandparents would probably have taught us, had we listened. Those old, worn out phrases like, “The best things come to those who wait” and, “A penny saved is a penny earned” suddenly don’t seem so old and worn out do they? Instant gratification is entertaining, but responsible spending and saving has longer term rewards.

Remeberance, originally uploaded by ~Prescott.

World War II Memorial

Parking Still Available, originally uploaded by Fixed Image.

• So you’ve just failed at your project. Maybe you put a great deal of effort and thought into it. Maybe you could have done more. Still, your goals were not accomplished.

• So you’ve just been fired. Maybe it was justified. Maybe it was not. Still, the reality is you now need a job.

• So you’ve just been told by a friend you aren’t really as good a friend as you thought. Maybe they are being unfair. Maybe they’re not. Still, your friendship is now facing a crossroads.

• So you missed a promotion you had thought you were in line to get. Maybe you were overlooked by a less qualified person who won’t do nearly as good a job as you would have. Maybe you were never up for consideration in the first place. Still, you are going to work tomorrow doing the same old thing.

You have two options.

1. You can be bitter.
2. You can get better.

You can’t do both.

Originally uploaded by Steven L.

“Indecision is debilitating; it feeds upon itself; it is, one might almost say, habit-forming. Not only that, but it is contagious; it transmits itself to others.” ~ H. A. Hopf

It’s easy to shy away from decisions. It doesn’t matter how large or small they may be. Ask a friend where they want to eat for lunch and they may say something like, “I don’t care. You decide.” With that, the onus is now back on you. Face a situation where you must decide between a promotion that requires you to relocate or miss the promotion you’ve always wanted by remaining where you are, and you can find yourself in the same situation: Unable to make a decision.

Indecision is actually a decision. It’s the decision to make no decision.

Some Questions To Consider

• When a difficult decision is required, how often does indecisiveness actually cause the decision to go away?
• How often does it make things better?
• How often does it make things worse?
• Wouldn’t you benefit from being a little more decisive?

I know you’re smart enough to know the answer to all of those questions. So decide today that indecision will no longer be an option. When a friend asks where you want to eat, tell them your favorite restaurant! And on those even more important life decisions, consider them wisely and throw aside the fear that comes from indecision.

Yeah, I just quoted a song by DEVO. I never said all decisions were good ones.

Elsie
Originally uploaded by .elsie*cake.

This month: Taking Advantage of Opportunities

“The lack of opportunity is ever the excuse of a weak, vacillating mind. Opportunities! Every life is full of them. Every newspaper article is an opportunity. Every client is an opportunity. Every sermon is an opportunity. Every business transaction is an opportunity — an opportunity to be polite — an opportunity to be manly — an opportunity to be honest — an opportunity to make friends.” ~ Orison Swett Marden

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Some say opportunity knocks only once, That is not true. Opportunity knocks all the time, but you have to be ready for it. If the chance comes, you must have the equipment to take advantage of it.” ~ Louis L’Amour

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~ Albert Einstein