Every Friday I will be posting some links into this series affectionately known as “In Case You’re Bored This Weekend…”
I’m always coming across interesting articles and new websites, so I thought I would pass along some of my findings with you. I hope each week you’re able to find at least one or two of the links to be valuable to your life…Enjoy!
Websites:
MapMyRun.com – I’ve started using this to track how far I run when I gallop through the neighborhood. Just plot your route on a Google map, and it will tell you how far you went.
GlobalRichList.com – Ever wonder how your income compares with others? Punch in your salary and compare yourself with the rest of the entire world…you’ll be shocked at what you find.
Swaptree.com- Almost like a digital swap meet…list books, DVDs, video games, etc that you have and that you want and find people to make trades with.
Gyminee.com – Free website for tracking your workouts, weight loss, eating habits, etc. Clean, simple, easy to use..
TripIt.com – Great for road warriors like myself…forward your email confirmations of flight reservations, hotels, car rentals, etc and TripIt will create one master itinerary for you. Sweetness…
Snopes.com – Database of all kinds of urban legends with the background story and whether or not the legend is true.
Blog Posts/Articles:
2009 Best Values In Private Colleges – Interesting list from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine about which private colleges offer the most bang for your buck.
How To Repay Student Loans – Another good article from Kiplinger that addresses specific scenarios you may run into when repaying student loans.
It’s no secret that our society struggles with credit card debt. Everyday we hear stories of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and personal financial crises, with one of the leading characters in this saga being credit card debt. Although so many have it, how do people actually feel about credit card debt and credit cards in general?
Here were a couple of items that stood out to me from their survey…
40% say they couldn’t care less if their credit lines dried up. I wonder how many of those 40% still have credit cards though and depend on them? Although I guess I could fall into that category. I have a credit card that I use for business travel expenses and pay off each month, but then of course, I could still survive without it. 5% say they would be devastated, because they depend on their credit cards so much. This figure seems too low to me. In the current economy, many people are living month to month and making ends meet because of their credit cards.
92% say credit card companies should be more closely regulated and 90% say credit card companies make it too easy for consumers to spend more than they earn. While I agree with this, I wouldn’t put all the blame on the credit card companies. The consumer still needs to have a level of self-control. It’s like cigarettes. We all know they are bad for you, but Joe Camel isn’t making anyone buy or smoke the things.
72% say they do have credit cards, compared with 28% who don’t have any. Interestingly though, of 18-24 year olds surveyed, only 46% have credit cards, while 54% do not. Maybe students are paying attention to how the average consumer (and perhaps their parents) got into a financial bind and are determined to not repeat history.
So now it’s your turn. How do you feel about credit cards and credit card debt?
I currently follow 71 different blogs on a wide range of subjects. But there are several incredible blogs out there on the subject of time management and organization that I think you can find value from.
Here are the ones I follow that you might be interested in…
LifeHacker.com – This is by far my favorite site that falls into this category. They have 20+ new posts each day on subjects ranging from productivity, organization, and using technology to improve your life. Their posts are short, sweet, and to the point. LifeHacker has a huge following of readers, so always read the comments where you’ll find additional helpful thoughts from other readers. Because of the amount of posts they make each day, it may take feel like mining for gold in order to find what works for you, but it’s worth it. I quickly scan the titles and if something doesn’t apply to me, I move on. Check this site out…you’ll be glad you did.
43 Folders – The author, Merlin Mann, is known as one of the original blog writers on this subject, but this blog has recently shifted it’s focus to how to be creative in your daily work. Still, the site has years of archived articles that you’ll find valuable. Here is a link to some of the site’s all-time most popular articles. One post series you need to read is titled “Inbox Zero,” which I fully subscribe to and utilize on a daily basis.
Scott H Young – This writer is still a college student, but has some quality writings. His posts are generally longer and more along the lines of a good article.
Tim Ferriss – If you didn’t already know, Tim is the author of the book The 4-Hour Work Week, a book I highly recommend. Like Scott Young, his posts are longer and have the feel of an article, but there are some great ones. Tim lives an interesting life and has drawn some controversy for some of his work, but his blog will be beneficial to you.
One of my favorite blogs, TechCrunch, recently posted a story about how new data shows that Facebook may overtake MySpace in terms of users by late 2009 or early 2010 (Read TechCrunch article here).
First of all, let me state that I completely agree. I wrote a post several months back on the reasons why I think Facebook does better than MySpace. Although I have profiles on each site (Facebook & MySpace), I check Facebook on a daily basis while I only will check MySpace every once in a while.
I think the data is interesting, but I don’t think it shows the entire story. It is measuring strictly signed-up users, but not necessarily the activity of the site. My guess would be that Facebook gets much more activity and actual usage than MySpace, where there are countless inactive pages that sit and collect dust.
I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately: Why do people give up?
Why do people give up on their dreams, their goals, their resolutions, their relationships, and themselves?
Here are 5 reasons why I think people throw in the towel…
You are content with where you are – Some people are content with just the status quo. They see no need to improve or change anything in their life. They are simply content. But have you ever noticed what happens to water that just sits there without movement for long periods of time? It becomes lukewarm and begins to collect bacteria and mold. Simply by staying “content,” you become disgusting.
The destination isn’t worth the journey to get there – Let’s admit it. Making some kind of change or improvement to our lives is hard work. If you want to save $5,000 for a new car and your bank statement shows a balance of $13.47, the destination seems so far away that you may just give up. The journey may be rough but the destination is worth the effort.
You lack focus – My wife is convinced I have adult ADD, so I have a difficult time focusing on just one project. I like to work on several things at once, but quickly I can find myself spread too thin. When you lack focus, you can be a good starter but a poor finisher. Learn to focus on the end result.
You grow impatient and want the results now – We live in a fast-paced culture. We have microwaves, because the oven takes too long. We have drive-thrus, so we don’t have to get out of the car. We dream of magic pills, secret formulas, and silver bullets to make the change happen now. But change takes time. Crock-pots take longer than microwaves but the food always tastes better.
You’re lazy – Change doesn’t just happen because you want it to. It requires a mental commitment and a plan of action to bring about the change. But again, that requires work and for some people, that’s too much effort. Don’t be a sluggard that sits around waiting for change to occur. Be proactive and take responsibility for yourself.
How do you overcome these barriers and prevent throwing in the towel?
I’m an avid reader and am always looking for new and interesting material to peruse.
I think that’s the first time I’ve ever used the word ‘peruse’. That was fun.
So in case you’re looking for something new to read, I thought I would share with you the top 10 books that I own (In no particular order. Note: I didn’t include the Bible because I assume most people have one and it would be on your list anyway. Don’t raise a stink about this.)
Basically the job is for you to chill on a paradise island for six months and take care of simple “care-taking” duties. If you can call them duties. Here is the nutshell of your job…
Stroll the white sands (I hate that…)
Snorkel the reef (oh darn…)
Report to an internet audience through blogs, video updates, and pictures.
In exchange for doing this “work,” here’s what you’ll get…
$105,000 salary (for only 6 months of work vacation)
Free airfare from the winner’s home country to the island
Stay rent-free in a 3 bedroom beach home (with a pool and golf buggy of course)
Just learn what millionaires do and do that. It’s not rocket science.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m training to run a half marathon this fall, so in order to learn how to train for something like that, I’ve been asking several people who have run long distance races. I don’t want the opinion of Joe-Couch-Potato (he should really change his name).
So if that’s the case, then what do millionaires do? Or better yet, what do they NOT do?
I’ve read the books The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind, both by Thomas Stanley, which were great books and highly recommend. In both books, Stanley did studies of millionaires to determine what some of their common characteristics are. But recently I came across a similar book called The Frugal Millionairesin which 70 millionaires anonymously shared their advice about money and wealth.
Over at the blog Free Money Finance, there is a great summary of this book. The concepts of the book are basically boiled down into six main ideas of how millionaires handle their money:
Delayed gratification is easy for them.
Resourcefulness in getting what they want is a key to their success.
They make living way below their means painless.
They don’t like wasting anything (especially money.)
Their sense of “self-entitlement” is highly minimized.
Spending is OK with them depending on what they are buying.
Which of these six is the easiest for you to live out? Toughest? (Comment below)
Even if you don’t have a job interview next week, these are still good ideas to keep in the back of your mind.
Why? Because chances are, you will have another job interview at some point again in your life.
Here is the list…
Showing Up Way Too Early – You’d rather be early than late, but show up no earlier than 10 minutes before your interview.
Underdressing – Dress to impress. I once interviewed to be a server at Applebees wearing a suit. And I got hired. Not sure if the suit had anything to do with it…
Dressing Like You’re In A Club – Remember you’re going to impress someone for a job, not for a night back at your place. (Can I say that?)
Flirting With The Receptionist – Turn mac-daddy mode off for a few minutes gentlemen. Be friendly and kind, but stay professional.
Asking Questions That Focus Solely On Salary & Benefits – This is a great way for an interviewer to turn you off in their mind.
Need more ideas? Pick up the all-time classic bookReality Check and read chapter 38 (How should I avoid screwing up a job interview?) and chapter 39 (What should I ask in a job interview?). Sorry for the shameless plug…please forgive me.
As we all know, today is a historic day in our Nation.
Even more symbolic, today follows the day after we celebrated the life of a man who helped pave the way for this day to be possible: Dr. Martin Luther King.
Regardless of your political views or who you voted for, you can’t deny the power of this moment.
Today is a day our children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren will learn about in school someday. It could become one of those days that years later, you will still remember where you were when that moment occurred.
It is a history-making day for all of us.
So I guess my question from all of this is what are you doing to create history?
What are you dreaming of, working towards, or planning up that will one day be discussed in the history books?
Don’t misunderstand me…we can’t all be written about in a single text book. Not everyone one of us will have a day quite like the day Barack Obama will have.
But some of us will…
Will it be you?
If you could make history for one thing, what would it be?
