Author / Blog Writer

by Blog Writer

Get a Healthy Attitude About Food

“Let food be your medicine.”  ~ Hippocrates

Everyone should be on a diet. For me, that diet consists of just a few rules. 

  1. If it’s healthy and natural, eat it.
  2. If it’s not healthy, don’t eat it – even if it tastes good.
  3. Moderation in all things.
  4. Avoid wheat whenever possible.
  5. Avoid any processed food whenever possible.
  6. Avoid sugar or too much fruit.

A healthy diet should give you energy, make your skin glow, and keep you at a reasonable weight. If that is not you, then something is likely out of whack in your diet. Experiment and become aware of how you feel. A poor diet sets you up for health problems and unhappiness. Don’t put crap in your body just because it’s convenient or tastes good. Do the work of eating clean and you’ll likely reap the rewards of health, energy, and vigor. All the other stuff in this book won’t count for much if you feel lousy and your health is collapsing. 

Two books that I highly recommend are:

  1. Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD
  2. Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD

I’ve applied their teaching to my diet with very positive results. Try it rigidly for 30 days and see if you get the same results I did.

“Learn to preserve your health.”  ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

by Blog Writer

Always Keep Your Word

“The liar’s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”  ~ George Bernard Shaw

We’ve all known and worked with people that could not be trusted. They lie, misrepresent, and distort with half truths. You don’t want to work with them and neither does anyone else. WIthout integrity, a person’s life simply will not work. A liar cannot have a great relationship with their spouse or their children. You will not have deep, meaningful relationships, nor will people want to do business with you. You cannot lie and yet be trusted. Furthermore, you damage your confidence in yourself and your abilities. When you lie, you are saying that you can’t handle the consequences of your mistake. Getting a life means making your life work in a happy, satisfying, and proud way. You can’t get a life and remain a liar.

“Create successful relationships – personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, and all achievement in real life grows.”  ~ Ben Stein

by Blog Writer

Pie Night

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.”  ~ Albert Einstein

Here’s another event. Who doesn’t like pies? Everybody likes pie. Invite family or good friends to this event. Everyone brings a pie and you simply spend the evening eating, visiting, and laughing. What better way to spend an evening than sharing and being with the people you enjoy? Not expensive. A little unusual. Everyone leaves feeling better for the experience. Be the one to make things happen. Don’t just coast through life, mindlessly looking at a computer screen or TV show. Get engaged. Getting a life means making positive events happen. Bring value into your and others’ lives, and you’ll enjoy the ride much more.

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”  ~ George Shaw

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Tell your spouse and children you love them…everyday

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and miss it, but rather that it is too low and we reach it.”  ~ Michelangelo

Getting a life is about making your life work. It’s also about making your family’s lives  work. It’s all tied together. They need to know you care, not only with actions, but with words. Words matter. I knew my dad loved me, but he could never bring himself to say the words “I love you” or anything remotely close. When I was in my twenties, I had a friend pick up his two month old son and say, “I love you, Daddy sure does love you.” Even now, decades after that event, I remember my feelings of shock and disappointment with the lack of those words growing up. I vowed that when I had a family, they would not just know I loved them, but they would also hear I loved them – daily. I can say I’ve kept that vow and believe we are all better for it. My father was a good man, but he lived unhappy and died unhappy. Don’t let it happen to you. If you can’t show your family daily that you love them and tell them you love them, you will never be completely successful at getting a life or being happy. If this is you, face your problem, show courage, and do the work. Tell your family they are loved…every day.

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power.” ~ Tony Robbins

by Blog Writer

If you want to be successful at something, then study it

“Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”  ~ Thoreau

Why did I include a concept which seems so simple? Because so few people actually do it! Everyone wants to be rich, yet how many people actually take time to learn about wealth building? Very few. The same can be said about having a good marriage, a healthy happy relationship with your children, building and maintaining excellent friendships, and the list goes on. Most people flop around in life, frustrated because life isn’t working, but fail to do the simple task of studying how to make it happen. Others have been successful. Don’t spend your time trying to reinvent the wheel. Simpy model what others have successfully done and you’ll likely get the same result. Speed up your success in life and satisfaction with life. Identify what’s really important to you, then start studying.

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.”  ~ Benjamin Disraeli

by Blog Writer

You Are Not What You Drive

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”  ~ Will Rogers

Many people’s identity and self worth are tied to what they wear, where they live, and what they drive. This sets you up for failure and unhappiness. After all, someone else is always doing better. In addition, it sets the stage for poor financial decisions. Clothes, houses, and cars do not produce income. Rather, they are an expense that slows your trajectory to time and financial freedom. While all are a necessity, spending in excess of what is necessary reduces the amount of available resources to purchase income producing assets. These assets supplement your regular income, making life easier. Eventually the supplement income may grow enough to completely replace your need to work. In my particular case, I drive a Lexus we bought used, it has over 200,000 miles, and I hope to get another 200,000 out of it. Could I afford a newer car, yes. But this one is paid for, well maintained, and very comfortable. I share this as an example of practicing what I preach, and eating my own cooking. Being frugal makes my life easier and helped me “get a life” much earlier.

“Be wasteful in nothing.”  ~ Ben Franklin

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Giving back

“The Lord does not require us to succeed. He just expects us to try.”  ~Mother Teresa

I’m a big believer in this. It’s not all about you, what you drive, the eye candy on your arm, or your net worth. When you came into the world, you found it in a certain state. Like a good Boy Scout, leave it better than you found it. 

The ways in which to accomplish this are countless. Extend kindness and emotional support to others. It costs you nothing, and most likely you’ll never know how much of a difference it will make. Twenty-five years ago, a gentleman in town wrote me a thank-you letter for helping his daughter and son-in-law. I didn’t recognize how much my assistance meant to his family. In the same way, he never knew how much his letter meant to me. Yet here I am, twenty-five years later, writing about it. 

The same can be said when forgiveness was extended to me for an error in judgement. Whether we extend kindness, forgiveness, a loan, a donation, or a simple compliment, at the end of the day we are better for having done it. Becoming a better person is part of “getting a life”.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”  ~Winston Churchill

by Blog Writer

4-7-8 Breathing

“Believing in yourself is a choice.”  ~ Jack Canfield

I take no credit for coming up with this technique. I read about it somewhere, tried it, and it works. So I’m passing it on. In high anxiety situations, it’s difficult to focus with good critical thinking skills and weigh options. High anxiety makes it easy to overreact, shove both feet in your mouth, and in general, show the red eye. 

A method to quickly get control of your emotions is to simply inhale through your nose for a count of 4 and hold for a count of 7, then exhale for a count of 8. It only takes two or three breaths to calm down. No one knows you are doing it, then you get a better grasp of the situation. No, you won’t be a zen master, but you’re less likely to make an ass of yourself. Do this breathing technique, get the confidence back, and believe in yourself. That in itself is another step toward “getting a life”.

“Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problem.” ~ Nelson A. Rockefeller

by Blog Writer

Spending a dollar doesn’t really cost a dollar

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.”  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I drive my wife crazy with this one. She thinks I’ve descended into the realm of “way too focused”. As with so many things, she is probably right. Regardless, it’s a concept that needs more consideration in order to make good financial decisions. This is one of the important money rules. 

For explanation purposes and easy math, we will assume your combined state and federal tax bracket is 30%. When you spend that after tax dollar because you’re in the 30% bracket, you had to earn approximately one dollar and 53 cents. Here’s the math:

  $1.00 for the item

  .15 – social security, etc.

.30 – state and federal tax

      .08 – sales tax

____________________________

     $1.53

I can already hear the arguments why this is not correct. Don’t bother. We are simply talking concepts. Whatever you decide the math is, one thing is true. Unless it is a deductible expense, you have to earn much more than a dollar to spend a dollar. Remind yourself of that while standing in line to purchase more useless trinkets. Getting control of your hard earned money is a necessary part of “getting a life”.

“You are neither right or wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data reasoning is correct.”  ~Benjamin Graham

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Workaholics are really just lazy people

“Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way.”  ~ Abraham Lincoln

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring.”  ~ Bill Copeland

I have no problem with hard work. I had a hay crew when I was in college. Anyone from the Midwest that has bucked bales into the top of a barn on a summer day knows what I mean. I put in lots of hours when I was building my businesses.  

What I’m talking about is the mindless dawn to dusk, six or seven day a week guy. I’m talking about the person who neglects their marriage, children, and health. They give lip service about wanting things to change. They say they want a life, but at the end of the day, nothing changes. They take the path of least resistance. Work is their identity… work is what they are comfortable with, so work is all they do. It’s just another form of laziness. You may say: “I’m indispensable, I’m the only one who can competently do this.” I say, “Bullshit”.

The bottom line is that your decisions have a huge impact on relationships. When you make the decision to bring loved ones into your life, you now live for things other than work. Your spouse and children would rather have you than all the toys. You probably don’t tolerate unfounded excuses at work; you want results. Definitely don’t tolerate excuses from yourself. So, if you find you’re spending too much time working, then wake up and do the real work of making changes. When that happens, you’ll find yourself “getting a life”.

“Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is not laziness. This is hard to accept because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.”  ~Tim Ferris, The 4-Hour Workweek