Keeping Inspired
When Amy and I were paying off our debt I knew it would take us a couple of years to finally retire all of it. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover that first inspired us to do it. However keeping going for two years would take continual reinforcement as I am easily distracted and discouraged. Seeing progress always helps and as one of our debts disappeared, that kept me going for a few months. Still I knew that I could fall into old habits if I wasn’t careful. So I looked for inspiration and found it in the blog Get Rich Slowly. Read more »
Posted: July 2nd, 2008 under Financial, Improvement.
Comments: 2
Balance on Vacation
I’m back after an enjoyable family vacation. While I won’t say I’m well rested, vacationing with a three and six year-old is never restful, I will say that it was one of the most relaxing vacations I’ve had in quite a while. The main reason for this was all due to my wonderful wife who carefully planned out the details of our vacation. She did such a great job that we just coasted through the week and enjoyed our time together. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that our method is a little anal-retentive, but it did such a great job or alleviating preventable stress on our trip that I felt it was worth sharing. Read more »
Posted: July 1st, 2008 under Family, Financial.
Comments: none
The 80/20 Rule
There is a common axiom in business called the 80/20 rule. It means that in general, 80% of your X is caused by 20% of your Y. That is 80% of your revenue is generated by 20% of your customers or 80% of the work is performed by 20% of the people. While the numbers may not be accurate, the basic idea that a majority of something is usually caused by a minority of something else is accepted as fact. What is an interesting question to ask is can we apply this to our personal life? Read more »
Posted: June 20th, 2008 under Balance, Time Management.
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The Sound of Silence
No, not the Simon and Garfunkel song. When was the last time you experienced true silence? In today’s world, it seems like silence is something we constantly fight against. iPods, having the TV on but not watching it, white noise makers, inane radio, and even signing in the shower all serve to distract us from silence in our daily lives. Why is that? Read more »
Posted: June 19th, 2008 under Decisions.
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With Arms Wide Open
I’m sure most of you are familiar with the song “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed. Around 2000 – 2002 it played very regularly on the radio, many times each day. I know this because this song became my personal nemesis, my albatross if you will. In case you don’t remember the song, it is all about a man who learns that he is going to be a father. The man in the song is thinking about all the things he will teach his child and how his life as a man has now changed. Lyrically, it was well written and conveyed a significant emotional impact. Read more »
Posted: June 18th, 2008 under Improvement.
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