The Journey

Is the destination...

Suddenly something happens that changes perspective and after them life is different. Incidents such as the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, the Challenger exploding after takeoff, the events of 9-11-2001 are collective experiences that changed the individual outlook of millions. For many it initiates a shift in thinking and an insight that forges change.

It happens with more personal events also. The moment when I knew my Jeep Wrangler was starting to rollover on a freeway froze time for me into an unspecified period of pure white until I consciously recognized I was on the side of a freeway staring up at a blaring sun with emergency personnel and bystanders surrounding me. It redefined my clarity of thinking to a new perspective in the days after causing me to start a long road of making changes in my life and ultimately thinking how to institute them permanently.

That is because changes keep coming and are reshaped resulting in life improving due to them. They never stop since you can make a list of things you want to accomplish or overcome but even when you reach a goal the next natural step is to keep going. Sometimes I think people are not successful at certain goals because they decide they're going to lose a certain amount of weight, work out to reach a certain look, read on a topic until they know what they want, learn to speak a language enough to be fluent and so on. After they reach their original goal they stop at that point rather than continuing and revising the goal to another level. Maintenance rarely succeeds at holding changes in place, except perhaps for short breaks to regroup, since it requires constantly raising the mark to keep it going. Maintenance really means continuously improving and learning.

My experience is life works that way. It took awhile for me to figure out the reason why I sometimes felt I hadn't accomplished arriving at a predetermined point was because I had reached and surpassed it but didn't recognize it since I kept on going. It is habit ingrained within me after learning from failure and a determination to figure out how not to lapse back into what I had decided to change. The pilgrimage doesn't end at the designated destination but progresses onward for a lifetime to keep learning and developing.

Focus On What You Can Be

Not on what you never will be...

It is a process of self discovery.

The best thing we can do for our own development is to know ourselves well enough to realize where our strengths and weaknesses are. Doing that will lead us to is figuring out how to maximize our strengths and just as importantly figure out what our weaknesses are and determine which we can progress in and those that we cannot. There are some things we are never meant to be or have the skill to advance. Additionally we have some talents we are good at and should take the time to hone and develop to discover how far to take them. Attempting to foster what we have a knack for very often leads us to discover that is not our forte but along the way we uncover where our true abilities lie.

For instance I once was a mediocre singer. I developed the talent as much as I could, well enough to sing in public at gatherings and events. The result was I recognized that my vocal ability was limited to a certain range, type of music and that I could only advance so far. Eventually I gave it up not only for the reason that I was putting energy into something I wasn't all that great at doing but through the experience I realized I was good at public speaking. The conclusion is I determined where my real skill was and then maximized it. Another thing I learned from music is I grew up playing the piano and guitar but recognized I wasn't very good at either one and focused on writing lyrics instead. Taking from that experience I developed my other writing skills.

Through self discovery you won't spend time and energy trying to be something you are not and will never be. You then are able to direct your efforts figuring out what you do best and can improve upon. It is alright to try evolving certain abilities you may do somewhat well at to discover your limitations with them since through the experience you will likely discover a true aptitude worth improving. Decipher what you will never be very good at or don't want to improve upon. Then direct your focus on cultivating what you are already good at or have the capacity to develop no matter what it is. This can be artistic, academic, working with tools, people or any myriad of gifts worthy of being honed. It also doesn't mean if you'll never be a great painter that you shouldn't pursue it for your own pleasure, simply recognize that it is not one of your best skills and through it you may learn you are a great photographer.

The Economy is Tanking Again

Don't let it sink you...

Quotable President Harry Truman said "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own." People can quibble all day what this economic era is called but it won't really have its own name until it's written past history. Recession, Depression, Disruption, take your pick, it's irrelevant in the here and now. What the average person really knows is for most people things aren't getting much better. For many it's taking a turn for the worse while some are pulling out of it and at least beginning to break even. Very few people are untouched although there are a some who doing well.

It is clear that generally for most people in Arizona the economy is not improving much, if at all. The optimistic projection of economists at the WP Carey School of Business of ASU is that it will be at least three years before we even begin to see a turnaround in our economy. Real people and businesses know better. We've been particularly hard hit by the real estate and mortgage foreclosure tsunami, with the first quarter results of this year being much more dismal than anticipated, both on the real estate sales and foreclosure fronts. Unemployment is technically just below the national average but that does not include people who have given up looking for work and the underemployed. Although there are jobs listed, they are too few for the number of people applying for them and most people are not qualified for these jobs and they don't pay very well. We have lost more quality jobs than we have gained in all jobs. Gas and food prices are going higher and people are running out of savings and credit while inflation for necessary items is increasing.

The danger seems to be systemic unemployment and that affects income which in turn affects business and tax revenue. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. The real danger to those who are long term unemployed or underemployed is not just losing skills but the effect it can have on the mind. This has been called a "man-cession" since unemployment has statistically hit men harder during this economic downturn unlike in the past. Since men still tend to identify themselves (and increasingly women) in terms of the work they do and associate it with their self-worth, the hazard of widespread psychological and subsequent social problems is pretty high. 

That is a trapdoor.

As difficult as it might seem with little money and limited resources it is critical to stay physically occupied and mentally challenged to avoid conjoining psychological depression with an economic one. I see this as a looming social problem for the country as a whole. That should serve as warning to anyone that it is a state of mind to avoid. Large numbers of people may fall into this trap but that doesn't mean you have to. The English idiom "where there's a will, there's a way" applies here. If we are determined not to fall into a trap and do something about our situation, then we can always find the means and approach to do it.

The challenge then is for people who do not want to become stagnant, depressed or lose skills to figure out how to rise above the crowd and do something constructive with the time involuntarily thrust into their hands. Every person is different therefore personal solutions are not the same. My belief is that anything you can do during this time period to occupy your body and mind will pay off in the long term. Anything you do from tutoring what you know to learning more about something you don't know will lead to possibilities. Standing still will not. The smart person will distinguish themselves from the masses that do nothing by becoming occupied with meaningful activities.

Eventually this economic downturn, whatever it is named, will end. When it does those that did nothing will continue to do nothing and those that did something will be doing something better than before. The new normal will become real normal and living will get much better. It always does, it is part of the human condition. The important thing to understand is this economic interim will become past history and when it does the future will become the present. You will be glad you prepared for down the line when it arrives, since you did not give up during this difficult time now, no matter what it ends up being called.

Thinking Out Loud

Working for yourself...

Even if you have an employer who doesn't appreciate you.

There are careers, jobs, employment and being an entrepreneur with your own business. Not everyone is able to have their own business and run it themselves, some people have careers, but most people have jobs and are employed.

Careers and jobs can be enjoyable and fun and others can simply be employment. With employment your employer only cares that you show up, do what you're told and discourages any independent thinking or initiative. Those jobs are harder when there are also difficult people to deal with daily. I held one once for well over a decade during a previous bad economic era, as soon as I was able, I left it. While doing that job though, I learned as much as I could even though my employer discouraged it, as well as during my time off I earned formal education and did things I enjoyed doing. Most importantly I figured out how to handle being around difficult people.

During this challenging economic period, many people are enduring careers and jobs they would like to get out of but aren't able to due to current conditions. If that is the case, then the best option is challenging yourself to learn as much as you can from that job, which may not necessarily be the skills of the job itself, but other self-development accomplishments such as dealing and coping with problematic people. Additionally also taking the time to learn something else outside of that work to improve your chances for better opportunities in the future. It is difficult, I know. I never thought my work era between 1978 and 1983 would ever end in anything positive. In 1993, ten years after I had left, I had the perspective to look back and appreciate how much the extracurricular work I had done decades prior had paid off. I also recognized that the coping skills and ability to deal with unpleasant people went a long way and were lessons for life.

Coping mechanisms are the key to the door to get what you want.

Right now I have a job that has potential to become a career. I like what I do very much and the people I work with, the one exception is a difficult manager. There's really no other way to state it: she's cranky, irritable, hypercritical and never gives praise; she finds everything that is wrong and nothing that is right. I don't believe she's a mean person, she does have good qualities and for brief periods of time she can be somewhat pleasant. My peers feel the same way as I do about her, therefore I know it's not a personal thing with me.

There are days when it is hard for me to take, especially since I do like the work itself, what I'm learning from it and the potential for growth. It's an exercise in not only learning a new line of work but also something else just as important, recalling how to deal with difficult people. The first lesson I'm still re-learning is not taking it too personally, which is tough. The second is realizing that the other person is probably doing the best they can to cope under the circumstances they're dealing with in life. For the person I'm referring to, the problem is the same as it usually is for other difficult people, their complex, bewildering, problematic behavior is rooted in their own insecurity and doubts about themselves.

The schooling here is coping and overcoming to gain some peace within myself to not let this person bother me and interfere with where I want to go. In order to do that I have to reach back in time and recall skills that I haven't had to use in quite awhile. It's a work in progress but the past has also taught me that in the long term, it is worthwhile and to my advantage. The other person I can do nothing about, they will have to live with themselves, I can only deal with how I control myself within the circumstances.

Writing: Fact and Fiction

Stick with what your good at...

but still stick your neck out and try new things.

Fact: I'm not very good at writing fiction. I know this because I wrote a short story that went nowhere and my friends and writing workshop were at least somewhat kind about saying it. I also knew it as I was writing it.

Not Fiction: I'm a pretty good nonfiction writer and the next writing class I take and workshop I go to are going to be developing that skill. My ability to tell a true story is a lot better than making one up.

Writing fiction requires a rich fantasy life and enjoying escapism I think. That's not a criticism of people who are that way, but an observation from being around fiction and screen writers. Movie lovers are like this also. Perhaps they're trying to make sense of the real world by creating a world of make believe. Maybe I'm over-analyzing it or thinking too much about it, a fact that is probably why I'm better at writing nonfiction.

Too me it's much more interesting observing the real world, studying history, looking at factual information and making sense of it and commenting on it. That's just my preference. Thankfully there are people who can write fiction, screen plays, make movies and offer something to escape into for awhile. Real life can often need escaping, occasionally I enjoy doing that. The "a ha" moment in my recent revelation about my lack of fiction writing skills, came when I realized that the fiction I do read are historical novels. Especially ones well researched and grounded in fact.

In order to keep life from being boring, to stretch personal boundaries, requires a creative person to take risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I can say I took up a challenge and did it, faced the results, learned from it. Who knows? I may end up writing a historical short story or novel someday.

Economic, Social and Geopolitical

We're in for a long, hot summer...

The forgotten man is preparing to say and do something though.

Those of the boomer generation who complain of "political correctness" in the rewriting of textbooks and education curriculum ought to study history themselves. We were also sold in schools a whitewashed history that was written to suit the purposes of the mood of the country facilitated by government, educational institutions and the private sector.

One of the biggest lies goes something like this: There was a stock market crash one day in 1929 and President Hoover was oblivious to it and did little about the economic condition the country was in. There was an election in 1932 and Franklin Roosevelt won and saved the country from the Great Depression by instituting work programs, allowing unions to bargain fairly for a fair wage and created Social Security and things got better. Except that it is all a big distortion of truth.

In fact almost everything FDR did made the Depression worse and created the "Depression Within A Depression" that caused another stock market crash in 1937 and what actually ended the Great Depression was the US entering WWII in 1941. There had been a brief respite for some people due to WPA, CCC, RA, TVA and other projects but when the work was done, those people were out of a job and angry enough about it that they went on strike. In other words they went on strike against a temporary welfare program. (This should remind people of the "99ers" demanding unemployment extensions.) Not only that, since FDR had the Wagner Act passed liberalizing union organization, people began striking against employers, inside their very place of employment by having 'sit ins.' (This should remind people of public employees, school teachers in particular, ranting in New Jersey and rallying in Wisconsin that they should be immune to the economic crisis, occurring today.)

What Roosevelt's war against business caused companies, since they had no idea what Roosevelt, the Fed, the Treasury and Congress over-regulating and arguing over taxation and budget restraint would do next, they hoarded cash and did not reinvest in the economy to create new industry, new business and real jobs. They also had passed retroactive tax laws, with the Justice Department then pursuing people and companies for doing what was perfectly legal at the time they did them, with criminal charges for acts that had been made illegal after the fact.

Does any of this sound familiar to what has been happening in recent years? It should. The Political Class would have you distracted by the big bonuses (that is not a good thing) corporate executives are getting, frightening you the government is going to shut down (maybe not a bad thing) and anything that will keep the mainstream media busy.

In Muncie, Indiana a newspaper editorialized in 1936:

"Who is the forgotten man in Muncie? I know him as intimately as my own undershirt. He is the fellow that is trying to get along without public relief...In the meantime the taxpayers go on supporting many that would not work if they had jobs." (excerpt from Amity Schlaes "The Forgotten Man")

The contagion had already spread from Wall Street prior to the 1937 crash to Main Street, just as this current economic crisis has.

Much like the respite from 1934-1936 during the Depression that things were getting a slightly better, we have experienced a similar respite from 2009-2010. The stock market has reached ridiculously inflationary highs that have nowhere to go but down. Meanwhile Main Street is still experiencing high unemployment, highly leveraged consumers, a financial institution and mortgage/foreclosure crisis with attendant real estate deflation, alongside consumer product inflation, higher gas and food prices being the prime examples. Additionally national and international problems are entering into the picture, affecting the average person. The Middle East problems will not be resolved quickly or easily, affecting our oil supply, our national and state governments are technically insolvent and for all practical purposes most of the European Union countries are bankrupt. A currency crisis looms of epic proportions, so complex even the experts really don't have solutions to offer for it.

The stage is set for stagflation as bad as, if not worse than the 1970s. Obama can do a fake out to becoming a centrist, but for all his trying he's not fooling the average person who still recognizes him for what he is, a collectivist. His regulatory policies are harming business and not helping consumers. The Republicans can bellow all they want and the tea party coalition can rant but most people have figured out they are in collusion and their tune hasn't really changed. We're in for a long hot summer of an economic Double Dip quake of high magnitude on the Richter Scale. A real good shaker and the powers that think they are in control will have no idea what to do about it.

The average person, the modern day "forgotten man" isn't without backbone and not finished yet. He (and she) are quietly standing by, saying little at the moment, my bet though is that will not be the case by the end of the year. Much like Bill Wilson, founder of AA and Dale Carnegie, founder of self improvement courses, started the mutual and self help movements during the Great Depression, many Americans are already following similar paths. They recognize government intervention and dependence has had little results of value to them. They still have faith in individual effort, being achievement oriented and believe in the American ideal of a strong work ethic and people pulling themselves out of difficult situation. They've figured out that the whitewashed history that has been sold is just as much a lie as collectivist politically correct revisionism is. Government and politics can do little for them.

Look out for a revival of the real American hero who still believes in the American Dream by no later than early 2012. Decide what you want to be and go do it.

Geography of the Mind

If your time to you is worth savin'...

Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone

We are in an epoch where I believe people will be distinguished not as much by status and financial worth, income from employment or other means (or little to none), looks or personal bearing, community or style of life, rural or urban, although those things will always matter to some degree. Rather it will be if they are coping with the times or they are not, regardless of what populace they are from. The world is rapidly changing and living in it, at it's basest, is either acceptance or denial.

The darkest angst of most people is being alone, with no social significance, income or money and living in a weekly motel splitting pills and dumpster diving. How you cope with that reptilian fear determines how well you will fare in difficult times. There is a grain of truth in what you believe will happen to you, actually will. If you encounter your lizard brain fears, you will likely overcome them. Among us are many people, who have never experienced life during a significant economic downturn that affects most of society. They probably are in most need of examining their innermost dread, if they're smart and they dare to, to avoid being surprised in the worst way. As a matter of fact it is worthwhile for everyone to explore, far better to be surprised in the best way, whether or not you believe the world is turning a different direction.

Everything that I needed to learn about life I learned during the turbulent times of the late sixties through the early eighties during my teens and twenties. For me the years spanning between 1968 and 1982 were packed with racial strife, assassinations, political scandal, war, riots, anti-draft movement, hostage-taking and terrorism, energy crisis, labor difficulties and unrest. All of those things seemed distant to me at the time though, although it was ever-present in the news and the topic of conversation among everyone. What directly affected me was the economy and how I was going to not only survive but thrive in it. I had to face what I was afraid of.

Every once in awhile you feel a tap on your shoulder and turn around only to face yourself.

There were technical recessions in the years 1969-1970, 1973-1975, 1978, 1980 and 1980-1982 but to me it was one long economic haul of "stagflation" and constantly figuring out ways to keep my head above water and staying afloat. I started working and paying taxes and social security in 1968 when I was 14 years old. In 1972 I went to work for the Bell System which from 1974 onward, operated in constant surplus and layoff mode. I eyeballed my fear that life would be a long treadmill of deprivation and resolved that I would not let it be like that. The amazing thing is that it forged me into living in ways that not only made ends meet but more often than not, improved what I had, while also still being happy and not feeling deprived.

That time period forced me into a life of thinking creatively, learning self-reliance, independence, motivation, problem solving, never giving up and always going forward. I learned how to take what I had and make it into something better, enjoy life without an excess of material consumer goods and often more than enough. I managed to be comfortable in my living situation and obtain what I needed and wanted in innovative alternate ways. It was very often difficult and I sometimes thought life would always be that way. In hindsight those years prepared me for how to deal with all kinds of difficult situations, not just economic, as I encountered them. It also made me more original and I created my best early art, photography, writing and music.

Your old road is rapidly agin' 
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand

It is my belief that people will either learn to live ingeniously and do the best with what they have, figure out ways to obtain what they don't have if they really need or want it, or they won't. There are many people living more innovatively now, many who aren't but will and many who never will. Those who don't will remain stuck in a time warp the rest of their lives and there is little the rest of us can do about it. There is still enough "America" in the United States to rise above difficult times for most people. The knowledge is out there to figure out means, although it may require significant changes in attitude and approach to life, to rise above hardship and difficulties. Very often what some people consider a catastrophic lifestyle change isn't that at all, their expectations are out of alignment.

If some do not want to confront their basest reptilian fears, no one else can force them. Our only obligation is to make what is known available to them, it is their obligation to mobilize themselves and actuate their reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVkEKcSoFE

Geography of the Mind

Your Choice: In the mirror darkly or with clarity...

Paul's New Testament Biblical scripture 1 Corinthians 13:12 refers to the present and the future:

"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know fully as even I am fully known."

It alludes to the veil that is placed over us as we see ourselves and this world as opposed to the lifting of that veil to see ourselves and the world in full light in the afterlife. How you interpret that or make use of it depends on your religious beliefs. My thought is that it worth it's original face value as intended but also, interpreted slightly differently, in another more practical daily perspective.

We all view ourselves as in a mirror and the way in which we view ourselves in light of the present world, religious decisions aside, is also how we react to the world and in return how it reacts to us. Lifting the veil to view ourselves practically and pragmatically helps us understand ourselves better for self-improvement. It is not a new concept and accepted in contemporary society as psychologically sound. Should we see ourselves darkly, we will view and be viewed in our interactions with the world accordingly. The same is true if we see ourselves with as much clarity as possible and view ourselves more assuredly, in turn our interactions will reflect that.

What I see in this difficult era is how people view themselves very much determines the course they will take during a turbulent, uncertain period of their lives and the ongoing outcome. You can view yourself as a casualty and injured party in this economic downturn, which may be true if you've lost a job, income, home, family...most especially if it's been uneven and unfair. The difficulty is getting beyond the point of feeling like an underdog and getting to a place in your mind that rises above that thought in order to move on. Otherwise your reflection of yourself will only mire you even more into a downward spiral.

This requires taking possession of the dominion of yourself and claiming control over your emotions and thoughts, never an easy task but required to get a better impression of yourself to project to others. It requires the tough actions of claiming and occupying your own decisions, taking charge of your attitudes and actions by creating original thoughts or borrowing some and adapting them to your situation, regardless of external circumstances. If you are prepared for challenge, change and adversity, the more often it occurs and you cope with them, then it becomes more natural to you and subsequently less difficult.

It's building character, which is never easy but always rewarding in the long term.

Only In America

An American Entrepreneur...

A Cut Above From Below

What is the meaning of elite?

It's all in the context of personal perception and interpretation


I've been having an ongoing discussion recently with a friend of 45 years over the word elite and what it means. We have similar education backgrounds (we went to the same high school and colleges, different degrees) but come from different socio-economic backgrounds. Over the decades we have had a lot of discussions on topics of "great political and social import," to borrow a phrase from Janis Joplin.

In this case it started with my using the word "elite" which I intended in the first dictionary definition of "the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as a group or class of persons and partly in the second definition sense of "persons of the highest class." Let me state that I personally never have associated class with money, prominent position, aristocracy, name-your-upper-crust. In my mind class has always been associated with any social, economic or political individual or group that carries themselves with a certain dignity and respect for others, which in turn gives them dignity and respect.

I have never understood the visceral reaction so many Americans have to the word elite. They automatically assume it means the third dictionary definition "a group of persons exercising the major authority or influence within a larger group," as in Power Elite and Big Boss Man and in a reactionary way, vehemently call it inherently evil. The idea that elite might merely mean someone or something that exceeds or is more educated, intelligent, accomplished is just considered wrong. Because in America no one better be better than me or anyone else.

Is this what the notion of equality has become? It no longer is about equal rights and opportunity but about equal entitlement? 

Inevitably I get accused of classism or something of the sort if I suggest that human nature and selection of the species indicates that some people, are in fact just better in some ways than others. That somehow this is snobbishness and it's wrong to think that someone can rise above others, are natural leaders and should fill that role. Inevitably I discover that these same people also resent anyone in leadership position of any kind, although they would loath to themselves be a leader instead of the "chosen one."

I suggest that it is peculiarly American trait, born out of a misguided idea that this is a pure democracy coupled with an ignorance of what a democratic republic really means. It almost always springs from someone who is from or perceives themselves to be "working class" and I have concluded it is also classism, only in reverse and the worst kind. "I can't envision myself (or am too lazy) being able to improve or rise above my station, therefore anyone who does is an elitist snob who looks down on me."

It is the worst kind because the concept of achievement, ability, knowledge, skills are to be derided rather than lauded. It assumes that everyone who has "gotten somewhere" gained it without some effort, education and work and is in it purely for themselves with total disregard for others. Perhaps this is why so many people with elite qualities stick to themselves and others like them.

Guidelines of Money

Personal finance and money have their own commandments...

If you're doing what you should be doing with money, then money will fall into place for you.

Everyone has their own relationship with money but it is important to understand that money has its own relationship and commandments that are outside of the individual. If you take control of your money, you will not feel out of control of money. The way you relate to money says a lot about you and what you value. Keep foremost in your mind the understanding that money is an illusion, especially today's money that is printed off presses with no real value, like gold or silver, behind it. The value of money can quickly change depending on economic, political and social circumstances, so it's critical to not let your values be based on the value of money.

That is not to say that having money is not important in our society. It clearly is. The problem comes when our concept of money is not clearly defined with our concept of ourselves. It is alright to like money but it shouldn't affect who you are. If that is clear, you will have the money you need (and probably more) because you are clear about managing the money you have, leveraging it to the best advantage, which then leads to comfort with money and the rest follows. That's because your mind is in the right place with it. You will have the things you need and be in a position to gain things you want.

Assessing the personal value of money:

1. Acknowledge that your personal values have to be enduring concrete values, not based on material goods but autonomous and existing separately of money.


2. There are intrinsic agendas in the world you exist in and how you relate to it and them. They should be consistent with your way of life and include monitoring your money and your attitude about it.


3. Money should not be the driver or the destination, it is the result of achieving something of real value.  If money is the only goal, misery follows.

A lot of people are in personal turmoil because of the relationship they've had with money and not understood what it really was worth and the damage it could do to them. Personal finances sooner or later, if not properly handled and misunderstood, eventually require reconciliation. How someone copes with that is dependent on their values, their willingness to reevaluate their affiliation with money and if they want to change. Money is fundamentally a relationship with things in the world and how you view things is important in understanding your relationship with money. There is nothing wrong with having things, whether your desires are modest or ostentatious, as long as you purchase them in an ethically correct manner.

It is a fact of life that some people have more money than others and it's not always due to what is fair, how hard one has worked or sometimes how well they've handled money. Nor does it have anything to do with your value as a person. Circumstances just are what they are and coming to terms with them in a harmonious way depends on harmony with personal values. There may be struggles with money but they can be relatively free of strife. Struggle is different from strife.

It's essential to control your money so it doesn't control you.


Enduring commandments of money:

1. Take charge of your finances, manage them yourself, never abdicate control. It is your money and peace of mind.


2. Live within your means: budget, monitor expenses, do bookkeeping and maintain records of your money. This does not have to be complex, it can be a notebook or an envelope system.


3. No debt is key. Exceptions might be a car, a house or property but only if it makes practical sense. Use credit sparingly; preserve your credit score.


4. Maintain a significant enough amount of savings for a backup and emergencies. Pay yourself first, preferably five to ten percent, or any amount, even if it's a few dollars or pocket change.


5. Avoid emotionally based financial decisions. If in doubt, don't do it, trust your instincts to avoid fear of finances and disastrous results.

We are entering three years of economic crisis and for most people, except the uber-rich, the end is at least three to five years away. Every indication is a second wave has started and it is even more important we take care of our money. If you are in a situation where you made money mistakes and it is causing you difficulty, own up to them and find relief in working towards solutions. Invest in your peace of mind by doing that and as much as possible, follow the commandments of money. Once resolved, following all of them will likely be easier due to lessons learned. If you are not in financial trouble and not following the guidelines of money...Start NOW!

Invest In Yourself

Engage in self improvement in turbulent times...


Invest in yourself while seeking shelter from the storm:


This era of Great Disruption due to technology and the internet, economic difficulties, political divisiveness and social problems can be disturbing to even the most even keeled of us. The world at large is in chaos of one order or another and it is difficult to remember that we have little control over much of it. We do have control over how we observe it, engage with it, cope with it.

I'm reminded of the era between 1968 and 1974, when in the US everything seemed turned upside down with racial tensions, university student disruptions, the draft resistance movement, urban riots, Kent State Shootings and Watergate. There were times when it seemed society was hopelessly mired in social ills with no end in sight. Who knew that Deep Throat was feeding Woodward and Bernstein information that would ultimately bring down Nixon? That was the beginning of the end of scary times during which many of us felt this country was dead-ended. Nothing lasts forever, change always happens.


Where we go from here in this time period is not within my foresight, although I have some ideas of what could happen. This time healing and recovering is going to be a long and deep process for most of us. The best thing to do in times like these is seek shelter and stay out of the storm, while observing for change in the weather. Staying out of the social storm doesn't mean personally stopping though. Engage in self-improvement, take care of things you've been meaning to, prepare yourself by building a foundation out of methods that have stood the test of time.

These six items seem to be good on an agenda:


1. Take control of your life.


2. Invest in (formal and informal) education and your mind.


3. Improve and maintain your physical and mental health.


4. Build solid relationships with good people - people good for you and people you're good for.


5. Devote energy to your business or career and/or make plans if you currently don't have one.


6. Think positively, turn away from negativity and engage in good self-talk.
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