DISQUS

Thanks for the link and congratulations on your new network!

Somehow, I don't think you'll be on your deathbed thinking about how you "wasted" Memorial Day 2008. You might, however, remember the wonderful time you had with family and friends and the enjoyment you got from that bike and child carrier.

It's great to have options, isn't it?
I've got several "spoons in the pot" myself right now. Though I make a very healthy 6 figure income, I'm really not happy with what I do. I want to move more into an entrepreneurial role and have a couple of things working that direction. The biggest problem with having a job is that it gets in the way of actually making the big money.

Umm...you nailed me. I need to write mine down as well. I have always reached the goals I write down, but have lately fallen off the wagon of actually writing them down.

What is it about the human psyche that makes writing goals work?

When I first started my current job, I wrote down the goal of "Being the #1 district manager as measured by ROI by year end." I was the rookie, but I blew everyone else away. I got over-confident (or over-silly!) and didnt' write it down for two years. Then, for some reason, I wrote the same goal down again and BAM, became the #1 district manager again! You'd think I'd learn!

When you calculate your hourly salary, be sure and include the Social Security your employer pays, and the worker's comp and the payroll taxes and the insurance and the retirement benefits. It adds up. When I talk to an employee who wants to go out on their own, I always show them what we pay as his employer. Usually you can add 60% or more of his salary BACK as the benefits he receives. It's quite shocking.

My hours that I work aren't too bad but they vary from week to week. If I'm out of town, they may be very high (70+) or they may be very low (35). It all depends on what I'm working on.

But, like you, I think constantly about the number of hours I put in and wish they were in my own business.

As a corporate employee, I echo what Curmudgeon said. I'm working far more than 40 hours and many times, I end up "required" to work weekends to boot. This isn't an excuse...it's motivation. I'm highly motivated to develop alternative income streams, but I'm hampered by this stinkin' job!

I do have a co-worker who wants to buy some rental houses with me and I do have a vendor who wants to develop a business that would ultimately compete with where I work now. I'm interested...

When I went through Consumer Credit Counseling Services, we were required to draw up a budget. I dutifully went home and started going through the process. Line items I left at zero were "entertainment" and "dining out," reasoning that these were too superfluous and wasteful. When I returned for my second meeting (hello, my name is Ron and I'm a debtaholic), the counselor mildly scolded me for NOT putting something in these categories. "When people don't budget for fun," she said, "they easily become discouraged and give up. You must 'pay yourself first' and part of that payment is to enjoy your life." Through their years of experience and with tens of thousands of people going through the program, they had learned that eating out at least once per month and making a couple go to a movie would cause them to stick with the program.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

Great post!

May I suggest the blog name of "munchkin?" LOL!
That's what we called our first child before she was born. The second one and the third all had names relatively early.

Congratulations!

All great tips. I would caution on the credit card to only get one with a limit that is easily paid off with cash from savings or with a limit that's no more than what you earn in two weeks...after taxes.

If a student doesn't have a job, no credit card in my book.

I wholeheartedly second #7. I took a class called "Great Speakers and Speeches in History" and it was one of my favorites. We took speeches from people as diverse as George Washington, Hitler, Martin Luther King, FDR, and Napoleon and looked at 1) the speaker, 2) the speech, 3) the audience, 4) the occasion, 5) the change that was brought about as a result of the speech. It was indeed fascinating. For the record, that was in 1984 and I STILL remember that class.

Maybe a little clarification is in order...

I am a middle manager (one rung between me and the CEO) for a pretty large corporation and I do run profit centers located across many states and it is hellish.

I DO motivate many of the couple hundred people I supervise, but I believe that all people are only marginally motivated by someone else. REAL motivation comes from within. I've stopped looking for people who can be motivated and started looking for those who are self motivated. I don't have to supervise the self motivated person as closely and the work they do is superior. I DO hand out plenty of praise and I'm glad to do it

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't MAKE people summon up from within themselves the drive, the motivation, the work ethic that they need to become a superior performer. I can give them tools, praise, resources, goals, and my expectations and then follow up with them, but I cannot make them do it. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't "manage" him to drink.He has to be thirsty from within himself.

I believe people are motivated by three things.
Fear - the weakest and worst motivation. Effective, but short lived.
Reward - costly and more effective if the reward is "worth it." Take away the reward, take away the motivation.
Personal - this is the best motivator. These people are motivated to do a good job because it's who they are. These are the people I need running the show from 6 states away.

If I'm off base, I'm more than willing to learn a different approach.

Sorry for the long reply. Didn't mean to hijack the thread!

@Curmudgeon
I saw a History Channel show about it that had a lady claiming to be his wife. Supposedly, he confessed his crime before he died. The physical description matched very well and there were some other uncanny things that matched (can't remember all of them though). It may or may not have been him, but everything he told her would have made sense given the circumstances.

Found this link:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/myster...

@Curmudgeon
Didn't they find that he (DBC) died recently after living a double life?

We're on the same page here, Steve.

TV is a COMPLETE waste of time, though it does make a good babysitter when I'm trying to write a post... :D

Ha ha! "Hooey" Love it!

Thanks for the link!

Are American kid's parents stupid about personal finance? That might be the best question!

Like Trent said, knowing a fact is relatively easy, understanding it is a little more difficult, but putting it into practice can prove to be extremely difficult. Where American kids will have problems in the future is with the "gotta have it now" attitude. My phrase is: I came, I saw, I wanted, I bought (with Mastercard).

What you and I are doing, along with our readers (hopefully) and other personal finance bloggers is preparing OUR children to be the business owners, entrepreneurs, and employers of those who were never taught anything about managing their money. It sounds harsh, but it's true.

In today's economy, the greatest asset you can have is knowledge, but the greatest characteristic you can have is the willingness to put that knowledge to use.

You're asking "Does it matter?"
Has your early upbringing mattered to you?

I'd let it go.

Hey, GREAT article Steve. I wrote one similar to this, focusing on Financial Success, but I like your viewpoint on Self Discipline much better! :)

Why don't you just reveal the rest of the 31 causes in one big old post rather than stretching them out over the remaining days? I for one would like to read the rest, if only in a shortened version.

Hey, thanks for the mention! Hopefully we can all learn from each other.

Everybody gets down on Atkins, but they probably didn't read the books. What on earth is wrong with eating fresh lean meat, tons of vegetables, and whole grains in moderation? All of these were advocated by Atkins. I've lost 25 lbs in one month just since starting that program and I feel great, not deprived.

Read the books before you flame.