One-Year Tightrope » goals

Where Do You Find Motivation?

Michael — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:56:44 +0000

Motivation is a major key to success. Whether trying to buy a new house, get a promotion at work, become balanced, or otherwise, being motivated to work toward your goals is an important requisite.

My question for you today is that of where you find your motivation. How do you stay happy when things try to bring you down? How do you take a step toward your goals every day?

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Setting Priorities

Michael — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:05:04 +0000

Setting goals is an effective way of getting many things accomplished. However, for personal finance and similar activities, there is an even more important task at hand: setting priorities. Prioritizing is a process similar to goal setting, but there are some subtle and conspicuous differences which are important to know and master.

Setting Goals

First, let us establish what is meant by setting goals. A goal is an aim; any time you want to accomplish something, that is a goal. Goals drive actions in meaningful directions and moderate tasks associated with going about one’s day. Setting goals is a process during which one sits down and thinks about every that must or should be accomplished in order to become happier. Goals are end-oriented, rather than being concerned with the path. As such, they can often end with frustration and little progress, unless one takes the necessary extra steps to lay out a chain of actions.

Setting priorities

Priorities are different from goals once the surface has been scratched. Priorities are any and all important things come to mind. If it is important, it is a priority. A goal would be to own a house by 2020. A priority would be providing a safe and stable environment for one’s family.

Another difference is the priorities are not end-oriented. Priorities have no ending, except for death or a change of heart. When one has a priority, it is an on-going task with which one keeps up – something maintained, kept afloat throughout life.

Priorities and goals both drive actions, but do so in different ways.

How to set priorities

First, get into a relaxed state and clear your mind of the day’s influences.

Next, think about what is important to you. Do you want a safe environment? Do you want to get to self-actualization on Maslow’s hierarchy? Write it down.

Finally, considering everything, decide an order of focus. What is the most important to you, and what is the least? Consider these categories: Physical, Mental, Financial, Spiritual, Emotional. Try to have only one highest priority in each, or you may become overwhelmed with the task at hand. Also, try to focus on one category while keeping all in somewhat close balance. Focus efforts, but never let the other weights drop.

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What it Takes to be Balanced

Michael — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:00:14 +0000

There are few things in life that come for free and the vast majority of those that do are completely worthless. Whether something costs money, energy, or time does not matter, only that there is some marginal cost for a benefit. Such is the law of responsible consumerism: something should only be bought if its benefits outweigh its costs. Just like everything else, being a balanced person comes with great benefits as well as great costs, which are sometimes not always in balance themselves. It takes a lot to be a balanced person and to live a healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful life. Striving to do so is a task of many while accomplishing it is a claim of few. One of the problems you will face in your journey is the dedication required and the frustration that is sure to come. Any reasonable person with the gift of forethought knows that trials will come and go, but one cannot if he or she is ever to reach the goal.

Dedication

It takes dedication to be a balanced person. When obstacles come, one must keep persevering no matter what happens. One must know where he or she is heading, know why he or she is heading there, and how to get there.

Motivation

To reach this goal, one must be able to continue along the path at all times. No breaks and no exceptions.

Help

Regardless of how well-off one is, at some time, we all need help, whether from another person or not. We must know where to look for it and how to accept it, or else we will fail. Also required is the knowledge and ability to decide which person to select for help, and who is trustworthy enough.

Set the goal to be balanced, take the right steps toward it, and you will eventually get there. Whether or not you think you can, you are right. And no matter what happens, I want you all to continue along your paths, even if it hurts.

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Quote of the Month: January

Michael — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:30:42 +0000

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

People regularly make excuses for why they cannot and will not do something that needs to be done. Crossing items off the to-do list becomes infinitely more complicated than it actually is when one simply does not want to do something, but cannot admit that to oneself.

Particularly susceptible to the curse of excuses are long-term goals – ones that will take weeks, months, or even years of dedication and steady effort. Learning a second language, getting into shape, and mastering balance are hard to complete and even harder to begin. Such is where the quote above comes in: true, it would be wonderful to have finished something by now. But the best alternative, and what we will focus on in this article, is to take a step toward completing your goal right now.

This quote makes many uncomfortable for a simple reason: it forces you to conjure into mind images of what should already be begun and over. It brings into sight great regrets that are overwhelming. I wish I would have tried harder in high school and that I had been working on getting into shape ages ago. I want a scholarship and a body which suits my strong will and tough mind. Indeed, we all have a goal we should have began working on ages ago that has no end in sight presently.

But perhaps one day, there will be an end in sight. Perhaps we will meet that goal. Would you prefer to meet that goal in a year or a year and a day? Begin today. Go do a couple crunches. Stop eating junk food now. Say no to slacking off and do something for money so you can start saving for retirement. Do it now. You will be much better off in the long run.

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My 2009 End-Of-Year Review

Michael — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:36:53 +0000

Major Achievements

Got straight As in the fall semester
Defeated depression
Opened and funded a high-yield savings account
Made over $200 dollars by writing

Minor Achievements

In better shape now
Maintained the One-Year Tightrope for a month and a half without missing an article
Wrote in a journal every day for two months straight
Made an excellent, supportive new friend
May have gotten a steady job as a writer
Began eating well and exercising regularly
Implemented a productivity system that works for me
Learned to brainstorm effectively

Growth

Learned introductory accounting
Understood object-oriented PHP
Began re-learning Spanish
Meditated somewhat regularly

Failures

Did not make $1,000 online like I wanted
Did not get a job like I should have
Made a B in Biology over the summer
My GPA is still not to 3.5
Operated under a very high level of stress

Positives of Failures

Encouraged to work harder next year
Know more resources for making money online
Learned a lot about myself and how far I can be stretched

What I will do the same

Continue to work smartly
Continue to plan and review weekly
Continue to learn and grow every day
Exercise and eat healthily

What I will do differently

Be kinder to myself
Study more often for harder classes
Begin meditating more often
Work more toward my 101 in 1,001 goals

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Balanced Business: Where Are You?

Michael — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:09:07 +0000

The first step to fixing any issue is to identify it. As I do not want to assume there is any issue, let’s say the problem which has led you to read this website is that your life is out of balance. Specifically, I will assume that your life is not balancing well with your career.

Whether you are a small business owner or a blue or white-collar worker employed by somebody else, the steps to achieving balance and the problems resulting from a lack of such are the same. You will have less time with family, derive less joy from living, and fail to work at your full capacity.

As for me, I am a student working part-time from home. I hope to get a second part-time job out of the home soon, but the future is irrelevant to the now. And right now, my life is unbalanced.

You see, I spend about 40 hours per week studying for school. The remaining time is spent doing other things, like programming, writing, and making money. A small fraction is when I spend time with my family and friends and have a social life, which means I rarely get out of the house or see the sun shining away from school. This has negatively impacted my life by keeping me from working at my full capacity because I rarely experience joy in life.

Now, I want every one of you to write something similar and share it with somebody else. If you are incapable of doing this, try this:

I spend most of my time doing ___. The remaining time is spent on ____ and ____. I never have time for ____. This has hurt my life by ___.

As soon as you have written these sentences, you have identified the problem. Now it’s time to find a solution.

In order to remedy this, I am going to ____ because it will ____

In order to get my life in balance, I am going to work harder for less time and socialize more because it will give me more enjoyment of my ample free time.

Now that we have a solution, we will begin working on achieving our goals next Sunday. Your assignment for the week is to thoroughly brainstorm every issue that is keeping you from achieving your full potential and a solution to each. If you need help, feel free to ask for it in the comments or by email.

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