Ragnar continues to set the example…..
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars..... Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Monday, November 27, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Weekly Retrospective.....
What I’m reading: Tools
of Titans and Tim Ferriss
What I’m listening to: Pandora -
my wife’s music playlist has been in my head for days….
Where I’m failing: Sleeping in….
having the week off has been horrible for my morning time…
Where I’m succeeding: Working out…. having
the week off is actually very helpful for getting to the gym consistently,
however…
What I’m grateful for: Where
we are in life at the moment….
Quote that has me thinking: Success
is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. – Gary
Keller
What I’m excited about: Meeting with my
financial advisor Tuesday and getting started on the next phase of my financial
life….
What I’ve been pondering: My next big home project….
Friday, November 24, 2017
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Lessons From The Vikings....
An older article from my man, Chad Howse, that I reread
occasionally to refocus…
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Productive Day....
I started today by writing 1,000 words for my historical
fiction novel, followed by a hike up Kennesaw Mountain with my son. Seeing that
I was at 41 flights of stairs on the way down, I set a goal of knocking out
100+ flights for the day. I was also able to read 50+ pages and get a desk put
together for my office. Productive day….
Monday, November 20, 2017
Challenge Accepted, Devin....
Yesterday morning, one of our pastors challenged our Church
family to a “Priority Check,” with the following questions to consider for the
past week: Figure where the majority of your time was spent and what you were
doing. How much of your time was spent serving others? How much time was spent
in prayer or Bible study with someone else?
Following are my answers:
· I spent
the majority of my time driving to work, working or driving home…to break my
day down further, too much of my time at home was spent online, even if intentions were good. Lesson here for me: spend more of the time I actually own
with loved ones or plan/prioritize my time better to ensure my efforts produce
results. Action items: limit computer time during weekdays to one hour in
morning and 30 minutes at night and dedicate more time to specific activities
with my wife.
· My week
was actually fairly productive from a serving others angle. I helped my wife
prepare for a family gathering throughout the week, completed some projects
around the house and continued efforts to coordinate a community garden for a
local food bank. Action item for this week: Find a Church family member and complete
an act of service.
· During
this week, I said my obligatory prayers when leaving for work and when laying
down to sleep. I occasionally prayed for others when receiving the daily Church
emails about members of the congregation in need or when thinking about family
members. Saturday morning was my weekly long-distance Bible study with Kadar.
Lesson here is to add time in prayer and study. Action items: Adding one additional
prayer time each day (morning) and a Thursday evening long-distance Bible study
with son who is away at college.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Weekend Projects....
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Weekly Retrospective....
What I’m reading: The One Thing by Gary
Keller and Jay Papasan
What I’m listening to: Stacking Benjamins personal
finance podcasts
Where I’m failing: Procrastination…I need to
prioritize and get busy…
Where I’m succeeding: De-stressing….
What I’m grateful for: Mi Familia….
Quote that has me thinking: There is nothing
noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to
your former self. – Ernest Hemingway (keeping this one another week)
What I’m excited about: This blog: I made some recent upgrades (more forthcoming) and it
generated the most pageviews ever the past month….
What I’ve been pondering: Starting both a business and non-profit in 2018….
Friday, November 17, 2017
Personal Finance....
A few helpful tips I picked up the past year on my debt-free
journey:
- · Establish and stick to a zero-based budget: Planning how to spend every dollar forces you to make good decisions about what to do with your money.
- · Use cash as much as possible: Handing out paper is way more painful than using plastic.
- · Track your net-worth: It’s a more positive way to look at eliminating debt. Subtract your debt from your assets and see how you progress, month to month.
- · Let your money goals segue into other areas of your life, like getting into shape or improving your standing at work.
- · Celebrate: Each time you pay off something big, reward yourself.
- · Have an accountability partner or group: Telling others of your goals can be incredibly motivating.
- · Side hustles: Look for opportunities to sell stuff you don’t need or do some side jobs to generate extra cash to throw at debt.
- · Use FSAs and other tax shelters to keep more of your money.
- · Avoid additional debt when you are trying to get out of debt.
- · Give, give, give, give…..
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Yue Fei
Regarded
as a national hero in China for his illustrious 25-year military career, Yue
Fei fought in 126 recorded battles with an undefeated record. Rising through
the ranks from private to Commander of the Imperial Forces, he also invented
many martial arts styles, and wrote poetry about how he was going to defeat his
enemies. Nowadays, the Chinese regard him as the ultimate symbol of integrity,
patriotism, and loyalty.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Buying or Selling Real Estate....
If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate in Kentucky, look
up my man, G-Dub, for excellent
service and mentoring on home ownership, short and long-term personal finance planning,
and wealth-building.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
2017 Goals Through October
Continuing to make progress on the three high-level goals
I set this year. After three months of stagnation on weight goals, my average
weight was 2 pounds lighter in October than September.
·
Net Worth: Up 16.1%
·
Debts: Down 89.2%
·
Weight: Down 8.6%
We’ve also given away over 11% of our bring home pay this
year and used the time we spent broke due to paying off bills bonding in ways
that have made us stronger and more united for the future.
Monday, November 13, 2017
Rachel Wolchin Quote....
Fools take a knife and stab people in the back. The wise take
a knife, cut the cord, and set themselves free from the fools. – Rachel Wolchin
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Weekly Retrospective....
What I’m reading: The Essays of
Warren Buffet: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren
E. Buffet
What I’m listening to: Dave Ramsey personal finance podcasts
Where I’m failing: Stress…life is way too good right now to not be relaxed…
Where I’m succeeding: Back in the gym consistently….
What I’m grateful for: My wife….
Quote that has me thinking: There is nothing noble in being superior to
your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. – Ernest Hemingway
What I’m excited about: My design sprint yesterday for
the community garden we will be starting soon….
What I’ve been pondering: Changes to my historical fiction novel based on some new insight about my family tree….
Friday, November 10, 2017
Community Garden Design Sprint...
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Emperor Menelik....
Watched a documentary on this guy last night and
then did some internet research of my own. Talk about a true warrior and man
ahead of his time:
- · Led Ethiopia as the only African country not occupied by foreign powers during the 19th century
- · Defeated the Italian Army during the Battle of Adwa
- · Established diplomatic relations with Russia, leading to the modernization of Ethiopian society, including its first hospital
- · Abolished slavery in his area of influence
- · Established a banking system, trade route and railroad
- · Spoke 7 languages fluently, including Ethiopian, English, French and Italian
Old School Pic...
Still one of my favorite all-time pics….found it an old box belonging
to my paternal grandfather (Pappy).
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
November Gardening Tips....
From The Old Farmer’s
Almanac….
- · Continue planting winter vegetables, such as beets, broccoli, cabbage, onions, radishes, and spinach.
- · Continue planting herbs that like cooler weather, such as dill, sage, thyme, cilantro, fennel, and parsley.
- · Plant cool-season flowers, such as carnations, pansies, petunias, and snapdragons.
- · Now is a good time to plant ornamental trees and shrubs. Use dormant oil sprays to control scale on ornamental plants, trees, and shrubs.
- · Protect citrus trees if freezing temperatures are predicted. Water a day prior and you may also use covers.
- · Avoid any heavy pruning jobs, as they will encourage growth that may be damaged during the winter.
- · Remember the birds. As you prune, make a small pile in the back of the yard for your feathered friends.
- · Remember to water your lawn during dry weather to keep it healthy.
- · Plant hardy annuals, such as poppies, pansies, and larkspur.
- · Top-dress your perennial beds with a layer of compost.
- · Be sure to water your shrubs and trees throughout the winter, especially if the weather is dry. Refresh the mulch around your plants to help retain moisture and control weeds.
- · Remove the leaves from your lawn, as they can encourage disease.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Eisenhower Quote....
Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of
history to wait for the train of the future to run him over. – Dwight D.
Eisenhower
Monday, November 6, 2017
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Debt-Free Lessons....
I recently wrote out a check to pay off my car, the last
consumer debt, including my home, that I owed. Being debt-free is incredibly
invigorating, and I can now look forward to my prime wealth building years that
lie ahead. A friend asked me to outline some of the lessons I learned
along the way, so here are just a few of them….
Burn
the Ships: When the Spanish Captain, Hernan Cortez, landed
in Veracruz, he knew that some of his crew were scared due to rumors of the
viciousness of the local ‘savages,’ so he had his men burn the ships. This
ensured his team would either conquer or be destroyed, but the option of quitting
was now off the table. My wife and I burned our financial ships by putting all
but $1,000 of our savings towards debt January 1, 2017 and then conquered by also doing the following:
Be
a Team: You and your significant other is a partnership when it
comes to finances, and a house divided truly will fall when it comes to
monetary goals. You have to be on the same page. The best advice I heard before
approaching my wife about committing to getting out of debt in 2017 was
“Explain the WHY, not the WHAT or HOW.” Thanks, GW!
Budget/Plan: If you
fail to plan, you are essentially planning to fail. Use a budget plan to see
how you are spending your money, then work to reduce or eliminate as much excess
as you can. There is a free online budgeting tool called www.everydollar.com and several online sites (www.daveramsey.com and www.mrmoneymustache.com to name
a couple) that are incredibly helpful in reducing inessentials that can drain a
family’s bank account.
Give: We
started the year giving away only an average of 4-5% of our bring home pay,
while making minimum payments on all debts and spending the remainder. By October, we were averaging giving away 12% for the year to date. Somehow
we were able to pay 48.5% of our post-tax income to debt this calendar year and increase our
giving by 7+%. Is it coincidence that I somehow ‘found’ 56% more of my money to
put towards debt and giving? I don’t think so. The better steward you become of
God’s money, the more he gives you and the better you get at distributing it in a manner in line with HIS will.
Educate
Yourself: If you want to be successful, there is likely already a
blueprint out there if you’ll just look for it. I read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, which sparked this
journey, but I then read half a dozen other books on personal finance along the
way that also helped.
Side
Hustle: There are a lot of easy ways to make money in the world.
Refer to www.sidehustlenation.com
for some clever ideas to increase your income and have more money to throw at
debt. Or, just grab your lawnmower and walk over to that yard in your
neighborhood that seems to always need to be cut and offer a good deal.
These are but a few of the lessons I learned the past 10+
months on this journey. I’ll detail more tips in the future if you’re
interested.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Weekly Retrospective....
What I’m reading: The Essays of
Warren Buffet: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren
E. Buffet
What I’m listening to: The Side Hustle Show podcasts
Where I’m failing: Working out consistently….I’ve
got to quit making excuses for not getting to the gym…
Where I’m succeeding: Planning and finishing what I
start….
What I’m grateful for: Grace ….
Quote that has me thinking: “It sometimes seems
that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.” ― Eric Hoffer
What I need to work on: Acceptance (still)….
What I’ve been pondering: A Design Sprint (planning session) I am
coordinating this coming Friday at the city library with local business-people,
master gardeners, friends and the county food bank to plan a free community
garden
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