tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80495464966235386432024-03-19T05:43:49.393-07:00Musings from the Apricot Capital of the WorldThis blog is intended for everybody and should be appropriate for all ages. My intention is to keep things positive and focus on topics of interest. Feel free to contact me for comments or questions.derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-5494646402844689332016-08-19T17:53:00.000-07:002016-08-19T17:53:10.602-07:0010 random tidbits about Eastern Europe I recently returned from a trip to Eastern Europe. It was a whirlwind experience visiting Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania. Here are 10 random tidbits from that trip.<br />
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1) <b>The best meal of the trip was in...Albania </b>- There were a lot of great meals on the trip, but the meal below was the best of the bunch. What's not pictured was some delicious garlic pita bread. </div>
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One of the differences in restaurants in Europe and in the USA is speed of service. Restaurants in Europe take their time in preparing the food, so it would often take ninety minutes to two hours to complete a meal. The food was invariably good to great, but time was needed to really enjoy.<br />
Fast food wasn't always easy to find, although McDonalds seems to be thriving in many parts of Eastern Europe. Gas station food in Europe is dramatically worse than the gas station food in the U.S. I would have given anything to find a 7-11 on some days. Most of the gas station food was pre-packaged croissants with chocolate filling. I hit my threshold after two of those. <br />
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2) <b>The roads are typically narrow and inefficient and require high alert driving</b> - There were not very many highways from city to city for most of the trip. In fact, most of the roads required going 35-40 MPH on average and going through the middle of towns and villages. This meant that I had to stay on high alert to get my rental car from crashing into anything. I saw a lot of these signs and the subsequent real life version.<br />
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3) <b>Border crossing between countries ranged from lackadaisical to hard core</b> - Some of the border crossings waved me through with just a passing glance, while others wanted to drag out the crossing with a random interview.<br />
The weirdest exchange I had was at the Albania-Montenegro border. After asking about my job in English and giving a complicated response, the border guard commented "You speak English very well. Have you ever been to America?" He was startled to learn that I live in America and have for many years. It was then that he saw my passport and waved me through.<br />
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When we were leaving Bosnia, the border guard gave me a hard time, because my rental car contract didn't list Bosnia as a country I was permitted to visit. After arguing for a minute or two about it and even getting an interpreter, he realized that the only thing he could do was let us through since we had already visited Bosnia. None of the other border crossings had any issues with my contract.<br />
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4) <b>The language barrier was sometimes a problem</b> - There were a lot of attempted conversations in two different languages. I would say something in English and they would say something in their language. After about 45 seconds of that, I would resort to gestures and body languages. At one point at a gas station in Bulgaria, the clerk eventually took out her iphone and asked me to type my question into google translate. That worked pretty well!<br />
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5) <b>The costs between countries varied dramatically</b> - Hotel nights varied dramatically depending on the country I was visiting. 4 star hotels in Serbia and Romania were less than $40/night on the low end. A similar hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia was 3 times more than that. The more expensive countries tended to also have highways and the corresponding tolls to pay for it. Croatia and Slovenia were by far the two most expensive countries. The further east I went the price dropped down.<br />
My favorite hotel was the Azure Cave Suites next to Cappadocia, which was around $50/night. The rooms were actually caves, but the reason why it was the best was due to the outstanding food and service. Here's a picture for reference.</div>
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6) <b>Some things are unforeseeable </b>- One of the evenings we flew back into Istanbul, we came back to a quiet and not very crowded airport. As we got back into our hotel, the security made us go through a medal detector and x-ray machine for our backpacks. We thought this was odd, but didn't think too much more about it. Once we arrived back to our hotel and got on the internet, we realized that there had been a terrorist attack on the other Istanbul Airport at the same time we had landed at the less crowded airport across town. Although I have had other close calls in my travels, this one hit home and made me a little bit anxious and I couldn't sleep. We flew the next morning to Serbia without incident, but it was a reminder that we live in an unpredictable and dangerous world at times. Of course, there was a coup attempt a couple weeks later, so it wasn't even the worst day of the year to be in Turkey.</div>
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7) <b>Comparisons</b> - Based on my travels, I've become a bit of a waterfall snob. I would rank Plitvice as a top 10 worldwide waterfall, but it's a 2nd or 3rd tier location compared to Victoria Falls/Iguazu (1st tier). In the U.S., I'd rank Multnomah Falls in Oregon and vicinity and Niagara Falls higher than Plitvice. That being said, it has some unique characteristics and definitely worth a visit if you ever get to Croatia.<br />
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Another comparison I made was Belogradchik Rocks as a mini-Southern Utah National Park, but with some fortress walls surrounding a few of them.<br />
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The Montenegro coast line is similar to California's, but with cities:<br />
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Durmitor National Park in Montenegro reminded me of a national park in the rocky mountains.<br />
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This bridge in Bosnia doesn't remind me of anything. It has survives some major wars.<br />
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This was my favorite castle in Hunedoara, Romania:<br />
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This was a cool spot on an island near Dubrovnik:<br />
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To end this post, here were My 3 favorite places:<br />
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8)<b> Cappadocia (Turkey)</b> - My day at Cappadocia was my favorite memory of the entire trip. The sunrise hot air balloon ride should be on everyone's bucket list. The geology and rock formations are pretty unique and it was just amazing!</div>
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9) <b>Lake Bled and the Julian Alps (Slovenia) </b>- Lake Bled and the vicinity has some of the best scenery in the world. There's a wedding chapel on an island in the middle of the lake and a castle overlooking it. This would be a great honeymoon location. After viewing the lake, the drive through the Julian Alps is jaw dropping.<br />
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Julian Alps:<br />
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10) <b>Pamukkale (Turkey)</b> - I hadn't heard much about Pamukkale until a few years ago, so I didn't have much in the way of expectations. The entrance requires you to go barefoot walking up travertine where there are a lot of pools you can wade into. It was a unique and interesting place to visit.</div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-80035332353323266272016-03-08T18:34:00.002-08:002016-03-08T18:34:37.323-08:00Why the law of specificity is so important<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of my biggest goals in high school was to run a really fast mile as a member of the track team. As a junior, I was one of the top two milers on the team and I had lofty ambitions to improve dramatically on my PR as a senior. Unfortunately, I completely whiffed on my off season strategy because I did not follow or understand the law of specificity. In my defense, I had also never heard of the law of specificity.</div>
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To provide more backstory, I had a reasonably successful cross country season improving my 5K time almost 90 seconds from my junior year. After the season ended, it was basically winter in Minnesota and the team practices disbanded until track season. My very poor strategy I planned without consultation was to run 40 miles per week on average. Almost all my runs were both alone and at a much slower pace than what I wanted to run the mile in. Fast forward to spring and I wasn't any faster than the year before...I was actually slower. It was very frustrating to work so hard and then regress. I gave myself a gold star for effort;)</div>
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What is the law of specificity? It means that you should be mimicking what you would do in a performance in your training. The more you can replicate performance conditions, the better. What did my training do for my mile time? Not much. My training method was long and low intensity running wearing different shoes on a different surface than my future races. In retrospect, I would give myself an A+ for dedication and effort and an F for training strategy.</div>
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To apply the law of specificity, I should have been wearing the exact same spikes as race day, running high intensity intervals on a track surface that would have acclimated my body to race pace. The A+ strategy would have been doing speed training on a track 2-3 times per week at race pace and faster. Mixing in base runs would have been OK, but the improvement would have happened primarily through the anaerobic workouts. The mile requires at least 25% of your training to be anaerobic. In the 800 meters, it's closer to a 50/50 split of aerobic to anaerobic workouts.</div>
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Fortunately, I didn't let the first few weeks of track running slower times dictate my whole season. At some point, my father reached out to the BYU track coach who gave him the advice that speed training was what I needed to turn the season around. Once I applied the law of specificity, I improved dramatically in a different event: the 800 meters. My last race of the year put me in the top 20 all-time 800 meter performances in school history, which still stands today.</div>
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How does this law work in other arenas? I believe that standardized test taking requires replicating test conditions in practice. I've also learned that rather than looking up the answers before figuring them out, you should struggle with the question first. Your retention rate is much higher after you struggle and then learn the proper strategy. </div>
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I would think it would work in public speaking, playing musical instruments, giving presentations, etc. You are generally more prepared if you have already replicated the conditions of the performance in advance. If you are prepared, you shall not fear is a good rule of thumb. </div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-74894241172344660532016-02-05T18:19:00.001-08:002016-02-05T18:19:35.158-08:00Denver Broncos story Most of my friends know that I am a big sports fan, especially of college football. Despite my affinity for college football, I do not follow the NFL very closely at all. For whatever reason, the NFL never had the same appeal to me as college football.<br />
One of the best players to ever play for my alma mater was Steve Young. Once he graduated from BYU in the early 1980s, he bounced around from a defunct football league called the USFL, then went to a terrible Tampa Bay Buccaneers team before eventually being traded to the San Francisco 49ers. In a lot of ways back then, the 49ers were a model franchise with a great team overall. <br />
Steve Young became Joe Montana's backup quarterback and eventually took over for him and had a hall of fame career. Since Steve Young was so successful, many people from Utah where BYU is located adopted the 49ers as their team. Consequently, the 49ers apparel was being sold all over the sporting good stores in Utah.<br />
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Of course, Steve Young ended up retiring eventually. Correspondingly, the level of interest from the State of Utah fans waned and the apparel sales seemed to suffer as a result. I don't know if all the stores got the memo right away that Steve Young was the sole reason that people from Utah were wearing 49er apparel.<br />
This is where I re-enter the story. It was a couple years after Steve Young retired and I was shopping in Utah where I found a very nice 49ers Starter brand jacket that are normally very expensive for about 90% off. Despite the fact that I didn't follow the 49ers, I snagged the jacket and put it into my wardrobe. I didn't really need it for a few years while I lived in Florida.<br />
Fast forward a few years later to 2006 when I had moved to Denver for graduate school where it is very cold in the winter. I would wear my 49ers jacket here and there and nobody ever commented on it. It was warm and it looked it looked something like this:<br />
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That's not me in case anyone is wondering;) <br />
One particular day I wore my 49ers jacket was on New Year's Eve in 2006. I was traveling that day and had just come back from the airport. There were numerous people giving me dirty looks in the terminal and especially on the parking shuttle. Finally, one of the persons staring at me spoke up and told me about an NFL game between the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers that had just ended. The 49ers were double digit underdogs with a losing record and the Broncos only needed to win to make the playoffs. The game apparently went into overtime with the 49ers ended up winning the game in a heartbreaker. The Broncos got knocked out of the playoffs. That was the source of everyone's ire! I knew nothing about any of this until just then.<br />
This is the game recap: <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261231007">http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261231007</a><br />
I stopped wearing that jacket for the rest of the Denver winter. The irony was 6 months later, I had landed a job in the bay area and the 49ers jacket fit right in. That's life.<br />
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-43992414874080033352015-11-10T17:14:00.000-08:002015-11-10T17:14:36.353-08:00The top 12 places to travel to in Europe In the last two weeks, I've received a couple of requests to provide my recommendations where I'd go in Europe. Similar to my Africa list, there are way too many great places to visit to put into this blog post. Therefore, I will just write about my twelve places I either have been or I'd really like to see. <br />
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12) <strong>Lake Bled in Slovenia</strong> - This has often been a setting for the world rowing championships, but the scenery should be enough to lure you in at other times of the year. That's a church on an island in a lake, which looks fantastic!<br />
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11) <strong>The Fjords in Norway</strong> - I haven't been to Norway, but I have a reliable source that told me that a summer trip is a must. The trifecta of Iceland, Norway, and Finland makes for a solid vacation. There are a lot of camping and hiking opportunities along the fjords, but a cruise may be the way to do. It's pretty far north, so unless you bring heavy winter gear or want to visit Lapland (in Finland) you'll probably want to target the warmer and lighter months. It stays light much later in the summer. <br />
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10) <strong>Plitvice Lakes, Croatia</strong> - This is on my short list of places to visit. My brother went earlier this year and found some legit waterfalls and incredible scenery. It's not super easy to get to, but appears to be well worth the effort.<br />
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9) <strong>Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany </strong>- This is known as the Disney Castle located in a beautiful valley in southern Germany. It's very central in Europe, although not that close to anything. I've been to this place 3 times and it's interesting every single time. <br />
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8) <strong>La Sagrada Familia in</strong> <strong>Barcelona, Spain</strong> - Somebody started building this place in 1882 and have it planned to be complete by 2026. It's the craziest looking building I've ever been to and a very interesting place to visit. There are a bunch of other places that are must-sees in Spain like Alhambra and Seville. <br />
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7)<strong> London, England</strong> - There are too many things to visit to list in the title. Buckingham Palace (and the changing of the guard), London Tower and Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. As a bonus, they speak English and drive on the wrong side of the road. The downside is its an expensive city to visit.<br />
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6) <strong>Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate in</strong> <strong>Berlin, Germany</strong> - I lived in Berlin for a few months back in the day, so I'm pretty familiar with the area. Berlin has a ton of history due to it being divided into sectors and having a wall dividing it for several decades. Most of the historical stuff is within walking distance downtown near Checkpoint Charlie and Brandenburg Gate.<br />
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5) <strong>The Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles in</strong> <strong>Paris, France</strong> - There are a lot of things to see in Paris, but nothing more iconic than the Eiffel Tower. I'd also go to the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, and then stop by the Palace of Versailles. One of the downsides to France is the French aren't always friendly to tourists that don't speak French. Nonetheless, it's still well worth visiting.<br />
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4) <strong>Prague, Czech Republic</strong> - There are lots of things to see in Prague. Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Vyšehrad, and Old Town Square are a few of them. Eat some svickova. Go to Cesky Krumlov if you want some place to visit outside the city.<br />
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3) <strong>Grindelwald, Switzerland</strong> - I challenge you to find a more beautiful place on the planet. Northern Italy, Switzerland, and southern Germany are all incredible, but I give the nod to the Grindelwald in Switzerland.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpoE_AqAWOoicYcQ0Cdh9Y8fuxX7JS99ovhqEtKSGOD1FhGujq2MMNPu0qExwDQ-hmqIaM9_5zqRWYNqyVmtqwIbfOSzVMQDlTZkjIXv4MU6k9nco2vrbtU5pxI1pLCJVYj-5aEIMaufr/s1600/grindelwald_bord_first.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpoE_AqAWOoicYcQ0Cdh9Y8fuxX7JS99ovhqEtKSGOD1FhGujq2MMNPu0qExwDQ-hmqIaM9_5zqRWYNqyVmtqwIbfOSzVMQDlTZkjIXv4MU6k9nco2vrbtU5pxI1pLCJVYj-5aEIMaufr/s320/grindelwald_bord_first.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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2) <strong>Budapest, Hungary</strong> - Budapest is easily one of the best cities in Europe to visit. You'll find bath houses like the one below of interest (Gellert). Széchenyi is another popular one. St Stephens Basilica and the Parliament are worth a stop by.<br />
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1) <strong>The Coliseum and the Vatican in</strong> <strong>Rome, Italy/Vatican City</strong> - The list is a mile long of things to see in Italy, but the two biggest in Rome are the Coliseum and the Vatican in Vatican City. These belong at the top of anybody's list. The canals of Venice, the Tower of Pisa, Pompeii are all worth visiting in other parts of Italy.<br />
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I realize I excluded places like Austria, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, the Ukraine, Sweden, and others that legitimately belong on the top places to visit depending on your priorities. I've been to all of those except the Ukraine and recommend all of those countries too along with many others. Europe can be an endless exploration venture, but you have to start somewhere. derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-35459895342205972082015-09-16T18:49:00.001-07:002015-09-16T18:49:01.714-07:00The top 10 places to travel to in AfricaI should provide the caveat that I haven't been to all ten spots on my list. However, I've heard about and researched the ones I haven't been to. <br />
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10) <strong>Namibia Sand Dunes, Cheetah Conservation Fund, and the Etosha National Park</strong> - Namibia used to be a part of South Africa before gaining its independence in 1990 and was the setting for the new Mad Max Fury Road movie. As highlighted by the movie, the sand dunes are expansive and the largest in the world. There are plenty of activities that go along with the dunes such as sky diving, 4 wheeling, and sand boarding. Since Namibia is the 2nd most sparsely populated country in the world, you are likely to not see too many people. The Cheetah Conservation Fund will allow you to get up close and personal with cheetahs and watch them run! Cheetahs are endangered, so there's only a few places that you have a decent chance at seeing them. The Etosha National Park is a good place to view the endangered black rhino.<br />
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9) <strong>Gorilla tour in the Democratic Republic of Congo</strong>- Virunga National Park seems to be the best spot in Africa to do a gorilla tour, since 3/4 of the gorilla sub-species reside there plus the scenery is excellent and there are two active volcanoes in the park. DRC is currently safe, but that should be closely monitored based on somewhat recent history. Rwanda or Uganda provide pretty good alternatives if there is any political turmoil in the DRC. <br />
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8) <strong>Perinet Reserve in Madagascar</strong> - This is the place to go if you like seeing species of animals that exist nowhere else on the planet, since there are at least 615 new ones in Madagascar. If rare wild lemurs and chameleons are your thing, this is the place to be. <br />
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If lemurs and chameleons aren't your thing, then skip Madagascar and head to island of Mauritius. This is an island most Americans haven't heard of, but it might be a cheaper alternative to visiting the Seychelles. </div>
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7) <strong>Masai Mara/Serengeti in Kenya/Tanzania</strong> - These two parks are adjacent to each other, so I've lumped them together. These are arguably the two best day safari parks for the entire continent. You get the classic savannah plains with tons of diverse wildlife. One of the most interesting things to watch for is the wildebeest migration. </div>
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The native people around there are from the Masai tribe. My sister took this picture in Tanzania back in 2006 of some Masai warriors. One of their main hobbies is jumping, which happens to be one of my hobbies. </div>
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6) <strong>Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania</strong> - This was my favorite safari area to view wildlife. There is a natural valley that contains more than 30,000 animals. It's considered the most compact wildlife venue on the planet and often gets compared to the Garden of Eden. We caught up with this lion sitting in the middle of the road:<br />
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5) <strong>The Seychelles</strong> - While this is technically Africa, it's really the island that many Europeans escape to for honeymoons and vacations. It looks to me like a worthwhile visit based on pictures alone.<br />
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4) <strong>Cape Town and vicinity in South Africa</strong> - There is a lot to do in the Cape Town area. Table Mountain provides fantastic views of Cape Town. You can tour Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Cape Point is a relatively short drive down the coast, which is the southern most point in Africa and where the scenery is top notch. Getting a tour of the townships will completely change your world view of what poverty is. This is my sister's picture from the top of Table Mountain:<br />
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3) <strong>Hike up Mount Kilimanjaro</strong> - If doing multi-day hikes at high altitude is your thing for a huge payoff, then hiking Mount Kilimanjaro might appeal to you. The hike takes about a week and ends up at around 19K feet. You get unparalleled views at least theoretically. I am not personally too excited about this hike, but I know many people who have it on their bucket list.<br />
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2) <strong>Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border</strong> - This should be on your bucket list if it isn't already. Victoria Falls is easily the 2nd best waterfall in the world. This is a picture my sister took on our visit there:<br />
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Interestingly, this waterfall is famous for being able to dangle on the edge without being sucked in. This is called Devil's Pool, which shouldn't be confused with Devil Throat at Iguazu Falls.<br />
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1) <strong>Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx</strong> - The pyramids are a world wonder and very much worth the visit. Egypt has a lot of ruins to explore, so you'll need a few days. I recommend going with a big group, because Egypt isn't the safest place and scammers are everywhere. This is a picture from my visit there.<br />
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There are a lot of things to do in Africa. I could have expended my list to 25 and filled it up with all the wonderful places to visit. My first visit in 2006 changed my world view dramatically. Even though I came as a tourist, my eyes were really opened to how differently much of the world lives. Even though visiting can be high stress in places, it's worth visiting at least once. derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-3771715860855644522015-04-03T22:40:00.001-07:002015-04-03T22:40:46.003-07:00Life Experience vs Material Things<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043858/world-changing-ideas/the-science-of-why-you-should-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing?utm_source=facebook">This article</a> came across my facebook news feed recently. The premise of the article is that if we spend our discretionary income on one-time experiences versus buying upgraded material things it will lead to greater happiness. Even though it's a somewhat counter intuitive premise to throw your discretionary income at say a 10 day vacation versus driving a nicer car for the next 5 years, it seems like a no brainer choice for me to take the vacation and drive a worse car.</div>
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The article pointed out that one of the detriments to having upgraded material things is that you eventually adapt to them. Adapting to nice things may seem like a net positive, but I see it as a net negative. You really only enjoy new things the first few weeks of having them and then there's a 'meh' effect. The upgraded material thing become the new status quo and you start taking it for granted. Even worse, it is much harder to appreciate lesser quality things in the future. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVMt554r8vSLoXDjKnpUNuImkuZFs5dHkzMqsVkjwU-T1qPB7_EslTju1tdec8UjV1k00ivuuYuH3Z2kUPtcvdPEAshz5pqL2bAKNQ_9vcaOlmxpjfpIZGD-Y3P1cJJVDcNy8RzVm5p-9/s1600/Jan6th_2014_quote_the_best_things_in_life_are_the_people_you_love_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVMt554r8vSLoXDjKnpUNuImkuZFs5dHkzMqsVkjwU-T1qPB7_EslTju1tdec8UjV1k00ivuuYuH3Z2kUPtcvdPEAshz5pqL2bAKNQ_9vcaOlmxpjfpIZGD-Y3P1cJJVDcNy8RzVm5p-9/s1600/Jan6th_2014_quote_the_best_things_in_life_are_the_people_you_love_resized.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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If the truth be told, it's unrealistic and probably not advisable to spend 100% of your income on buying your way into experience based activities. There has to be some sort of balance. You have to live somewhere, have some mode of transportation, and have enough decent clothes to change regularly and present yourself effectively. If you decide to buy a house and a car you like, it doesn't make you materialistic or a poor steward over your money. Having a place that serves as a sanctuary at home and on the move is highly beneficial to productivity and making progress towards your life goals.</div>
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What does experience have to offer that material things can't? You gain memories from experience that can never be taken from you, whereas material things degrade over time. Experience makes you more interesting and gives you a different perspective than anybody else. Even if you travel to the same place as someone else, chances are you will stay at a different place, eat at different places, get different weather, and meet different people along the way. On the other hand, if you buy a nice car, there is probably someone else who has the exact same model and features. Even most houses are not unique.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQymLKEmBQObe3P3iEzm37p9MpVZdd-ncEEmiY_9riTX0cvwO0pmXffvSsNsZ9qMYyDfRhd2OV2FzBBMnVaNFY7RdiplygMS9gvHOI6fw0jggVpEkFrQ8BHnKlkyyEc5pCnyV8S2Vd4T9P/s1600/travel_makes_you_richer_postcard-re11075bedd6840c5afd607868ac09126_vgbaq_8byvr_324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQymLKEmBQObe3P3iEzm37p9MpVZdd-ncEEmiY_9riTX0cvwO0pmXffvSsNsZ9qMYyDfRhd2OV2FzBBMnVaNFY7RdiplygMS9gvHOI6fw0jggVpEkFrQ8BHnKlkyyEc5pCnyV8S2Vd4T9P/s1600/travel_makes_you_richer_postcard-re11075bedd6840c5afd607868ac09126_vgbaq_8byvr_324.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I will conclude this post with a line from the new Cinderella movie: She was imprisoned in her attic by her stepmom and chose to stay positive, because she knew that her time with her parents and the prince would become beautiful distant memories (paraphrased). Even Cinderella understood that material possessions degrade and devalue over time, whereas good memories can be brought back in an instant no matter how dire life's circumstances are. </div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-82182716092165184982014-12-10T15:05:00.004-08:002014-12-10T15:05:55.490-08:00What we do know is that we don't know<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">During my recent trip to Chile and Argentina traveling by myself, I thought a lot about the unpredictability of life. Ten years ago today I was in my first semester of my second year of law school in Florida studying for finals. Lots of events have happened between then and now both good and bad that have impacted where I am today. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">My natural tendency is to react to events in terms of short-term implications, because long-term implications are impossible to determine. One of the decisions I made in 2006 after finishing law school was to move to Denver to attend the University of Denver and its Master's in Real Estate program. The short-term implication of that decision was to forego taking the Florida bar exam and leaving the state of Florida where job opportunities had the highest probability of coming to fruition based on the alumni network of the law school. I will never know the opportunity cost of leaving. There are a myriad of possible outcomes if I had stayed. At the end of the day, I did a cost-benefit analysis and then lived with my choice.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_VVA6EQ0PGqMSWEcfqEm6eAW6ytAFP9F9W0cdu5ozJOhBuXXzDtpouHgLCLMnCBfa3QTFl5yMpXYa3DdI77nemn6BvKgYqpUoqTZdBBhPYr8Ij3ogBqqQ-ODvp3ilqIeREt3nWkVsqbO/s1600/shutterstock_1021461221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_VVA6EQ0PGqMSWEcfqEm6eAW6ytAFP9F9W0cdu5ozJOhBuXXzDtpouHgLCLMnCBfa3QTFl5yMpXYa3DdI77nemn6BvKgYqpUoqTZdBBhPYr8Ij3ogBqqQ-ODvp3ilqIeREt3nWkVsqbO/s1600/shutterstock_1021461221.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The program I matriculated into was highly beneficial from an educational standpoint, but there were no guarantees what job opportunities would await me upon graduation. Education these days is very expensive. It was somewhat nerve wracking not knowing if my risk and investment would lead to bigger and better things. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After finishing 50% of my classes at the University of Denver, I applied, interviewed, and received an offer to work for a renewable energy company in the bay area. The salary was a little low, but I was confident that it was a fast growing industry that would allow for advancement. The offer and acceptance allowed me to finish another quarter of the program, which would allow me to finish my final classes from a distance. I was with that company for 17 months or so before I moved on to my current company. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Most of the bigger events in my life like switching jobs, choosing an educational track, going through periods of physical injuries and then good health, moving away or deciding to stay and other events are complete unknowns about long-term impact on our futures. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL6vmqL99x9KgeyWxJ7ayOVB1Sfr-4DKMwBbJy9k-Pxsa5f2zhg2DQVdphey3Bh-H1BXZacFJy3I5OeNOyq5G-mkSv8xffiN8Zs4x_IGdzctc8fuYgXpaeUpf5ler4W01_38l0ME0RVkq/s1600/Shadow-Guy-Shrugging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL6vmqL99x9KgeyWxJ7ayOVB1Sfr-4DKMwBbJy9k-Pxsa5f2zhg2DQVdphey3Bh-H1BXZacFJy3I5OeNOyq5G-mkSv8xffiN8Zs4x_IGdzctc8fuYgXpaeUpf5ler4W01_38l0ME0RVkq/s1600/Shadow-Guy-Shrugging.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I found the following story on a message board online, which I think illustrates this theme that life events aren't always the catalyst for a downward or upward trajectory that we predict them to be. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Once upon a time In 14th
Century China, during the rule of the Ming Dynasty, there lived an old Farmer.
The farmer was a poor man. The farmer had a son, and he owned a horse. That was
all. His hut was owned by the Lord of the province, and the farmer used his
Horse and his son to work the land. The farmer labored for the lord of the
land, and in return was provided with food and a home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
One day after a hard day’s labor, the farmer's son forgot to close the corral
and the farmer’s only horse broke out and ran away. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCF6MV47kqT6K03-55l_KZR9WxEvnPkMGHJr01uEXrQ8v5SStZsbRxkebw3jtx8RpoI_kTk4apoB4MIF-XKY1mXM2XF9U6SOjEzPDt8Od6AiVHkos3anuE1GqiAvEFEGLeVvhxWExNJmz/s1600/horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCF6MV47kqT6K03-55l_KZR9WxEvnPkMGHJr01uEXrQ8v5SStZsbRxkebw3jtx8RpoI_kTk4apoB4MIF-XKY1mXM2XF9U6SOjEzPDt8Od6AiVHkos3anuE1GqiAvEFEGLeVvhxWExNJmz/s1600/horse.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The villagers, upon hearing
of the horse running away, came to the farmer's house to view the corral. As
they stood there, the villagers said, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
"We are so sorry for you. This is such bad luck!” </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The farmer replied, "Well
I don’t know if it’s bad. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I just don’t know."
<br />
<br />
The villagers thought this was odd, but left the farmer to it, and returned to
their tasks. About a week later, the horse returned, bringing with it a whole
herd of wild horses, which the farmer and his son quickly corralled. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv5n3LJBAIpLR1uVN8748bpm6pvn72FSDgAd3i1hm13VPTH-j5Ch_-PP4KeyAfIf91wVgRYbfJNzCYWFQbterEHvUdGUI7Do8f2gaEy9MvhbMjpzgEi3Emqrsn1QV48QIouV0xUHyCVnx/s1600/herd-of-wild-horses-horse-behavior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVv5n3LJBAIpLR1uVN8748bpm6pvn72FSDgAd3i1hm13VPTH-j5Ch_-PP4KeyAfIf91wVgRYbfJNzCYWFQbterEHvUdGUI7Do8f2gaEy9MvhbMjpzgEi3Emqrsn1QV48QIouV0xUHyCVnx/s1600/herd-of-wild-horses-horse-behavior.jpg" height="167" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The
Villagers, upon hearing of the corralling of the horses, came to see for
themselves. As they stood there looking at the corral filled with horses, the
Villagers said, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
"We are so pleased for you. This is such good luck!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
The farmer replied, "Well I don’t know if it’s good. Maybe it is. Maybe it
isn’t. I just don’t know." <br />
<br />
The villagers thought this was odd, but again left the farmer to it, and
returned to their tasks. A couple of weeks later, the farmer's son's legs were
badly broken when he was thrown from one of the wild horses he was trying to
break. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qb6CIW_B-P16UhyozzuC75RK7lG9bTEtf1oc9pIXH0PVoKwrJTJ9s7QfsHlBqaIyd9I14attzZCrXTvwCQGZqyaVHTUzB2E8mYhkDTOjKM2XPcQNPTI2MmB2wOfXI0BYIYDyxjdT4FBi/s1600/ptg00650429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qb6CIW_B-P16UhyozzuC75RK7lG9bTEtf1oc9pIXH0PVoKwrJTJ9s7QfsHlBqaIyd9I14attzZCrXTvwCQGZqyaVHTUzB2E8mYhkDTOjKM2XPcQNPTI2MmB2wOfXI0BYIYDyxjdT4FBi/s1600/ptg00650429.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The villagers, upon all hearing of the incident, came to see the son. As
they stood there, the villagers said, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
"We are so sorry for you. This is such bad luck!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
The farmer replied, "Well I don’t know if it’s bad. Maybe it is. Maybe it
isn’t. I just don’t know." <br />
<br />
The villagers thought this was odd, but again left the farmer to it, and
returned to their tasks. <br />
<br />
At that same time in China, a war broke out between two rival Lords. In need of
more soldiers, the Lord of the land rode down into the valley to conscript all
the young men to go off and fight in the war, a war which none of them would
survive. When the Lord came to take the farmer's son, he found the young man
with 2 broken legs. Knowing there was no way the son could fight, the Lord of
the land left him there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovUrDDtmPuXOvgk0LpK4PPFMg8EcoLWkuBRl6VxX8Kjm7ZuDUKwqMqrBqlLwPMPcjukPRej8RIJoEISp6WlzjRBebhiu5HtuQ982I_rhvISLX64zh3GCq-SQxhs8GkwhsFVLea3dSWh0T/s1600/what-seems-good-turns-bad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovUrDDtmPuXOvgk0LpK4PPFMg8EcoLWkuBRl6VxX8Kjm7ZuDUKwqMqrBqlLwPMPcjukPRej8RIJoEISp6WlzjRBebhiu5HtuQ982I_rhvISLX64zh3GCq-SQxhs8GkwhsFVLea3dSWh0T/s1600/what-seems-good-turns-bad.jpg" height="122" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
It was at this moment that the little old farmer realized, that the greatest
thing he could EVER know, was that… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
HE DIDN’T KNOW…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I like this story a lot. It illustrates the fact that uncertainty is a part of our future going forward. We have to take the good with the bad and understand that not everything is in our control. It also illustrates the point that 3rd party onlookers actually know even less about the implications of events in our lives and their input should, therefore, not be valued very highly. Even if we don't know what comes next, we can still take calculated risks and then live with the long-term outcome. Sometimes, the outcome will be good and sometimes not as good. That's life. </div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-7633703784071065752014-08-20T16:28:00.001-07:002014-08-20T16:28:39.266-07:00The Paradox of Choice: beneficial or detrimental?<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of my facebook friends recently posted an inspiring article on her wall called <a href="http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14938/why-some-people-change-their-lives-but-others-stay-stuck.html">Why Some People Change Their Lives But Others Stay Stuck</a>. The premise of the article is that some people stay stuck in lives they're unhappy with while others make wholesale changes to try and find a more desirable trajectory. The article also had a lot of parallels to the book the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005696/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408494001&sr=1-1&keywords=paradox+of+choice">Paradox of Choice: Why More if Less</a>, which I recently read.</div>
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To summarize what I learned from these two sources, the upside of having so many choices is that we live in a time and place chalk full of opportunities to build the foundation of the life that can be closely in line with our dreams. You can basically live anywhere you want, trudge down whatever career path appeals to you, choose who to date and/or marry even from afar (or stay single), and live a life according to your priorities. The world is literally our campus to enjoy and the ideas and expertise of the world carried around in our pockets.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDhldmmHe7TtwUhCyRieKlTJaYT4Zo2Yydq4dsuhyhMHiqcmOf4Oww7pxOHVrpAZXs3YblA5KxZE59N6VYKJHuJRmSjQXMHYJMQ5apg3dC4pAKITDFIRhCS2IWidTyyo90CJBh3rTCo68/s1600/photo_cvr_earth1_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDhldmmHe7TtwUhCyRieKlTJaYT4Zo2Yydq4dsuhyhMHiqcmOf4Oww7pxOHVrpAZXs3YblA5KxZE59N6VYKJHuJRmSjQXMHYJMQ5apg3dC4pAKITDFIRhCS2IWidTyyo90CJBh3rTCo68/s1600/photo_cvr_earth1_hr.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
Sounds amazing, right? With all this power and influence to impact our destinies at our fingertips, why is depression at an all-time high and why are people unhappy? It should be the opposite based on the freedoms and choices we have today. <br />
The answer to the above question is complicated. First, our expectations have been raised to unreasonable levels. Second, we are all human. Many people simply botch their major life choices. The botched choices could either be a result of picking a poor alternative that wasn't well thought out or not knowing what they want. Finally, analyzing a myriad of options can be an overwhelming process to reach a decision. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EJNte2e0ocijvD8fHSuawCZmUu3xo8nZeBxhm0YPpZV05-pFQy9fWK1sOOYAsW3EcTCugqmaWycyzsQ9i0b4WEVn7ymERJyj4f5HzRa06GkK_hCd-Qn81W1d4lirSWQbvWVZssAaes4q/s1600/imagesCAP9PZ9I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EJNte2e0ocijvD8fHSuawCZmUu3xo8nZeBxhm0YPpZV05-pFQy9fWK1sOOYAsW3EcTCugqmaWycyzsQ9i0b4WEVn7ymERJyj4f5HzRa06GkK_hCd-Qn81W1d4lirSWQbvWVZssAaes4q/s1600/imagesCAP9PZ9I.jpg" /></a></div>
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In particular, many twenty somethings end up at a crossroads suffering from a quarter-life crisis not knowing what to do to transition from adolescence to adulthood. A common scenario is they graduate college with an unmarketable degree and then move back in with their parents not knowing what to do next or work at an entry level job until another opportunity presents itself. This indecisive approach leads nowhere slowly and essentially squanders a lot of potentially robust skill development and resume building years.</div>
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Of course, the alternative to doing nothing is to just pick a path with an imperfect filtering down process. However, it's hard to reap the benefits of hard work, dedication, and perseverance if your heart was never into the path in the first place. What compounds the issue is that with so many options on the table, there is no way to really compare and contrast all of them without an exhaustive effort. Although we live in an information age where there is almost an unlimited amount of information about nearly any specific path, we need to have a methodology for narrowing down what interests you. Is it money, prestige, quality of life, subject matter or some other factor that motivates you? Honing in on what you want out of your career can narrow things down in a hurry.</div>
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Unfortunately, there will always be doubt about whether the choice you made was indeed the best one for you. You only have one life to live, so you can only start down the path you choose and hope for the best. At some point, if you find yourself burned out or unhappy you can always make adjustments and take some bigger risks to find a new trajectory. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7C8trqcldn7Jo2xg_NVzOG9qYvH8ojoEaco7v42R8BFQ3n-fDbh_Rwp56d3MG3LxYqU_2yyrUMFGG4k0Dst4RHjBgiDuIPclRmce0BfN5gHdCFLrHUrg22ZwJzcwysc76rSbfrOUlg8v/s1600/OpportunityMissed-copy-300x223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7C8trqcldn7Jo2xg_NVzOG9qYvH8ojoEaco7v42R8BFQ3n-fDbh_Rwp56d3MG3LxYqU_2yyrUMFGG4k0Dst4RHjBgiDuIPclRmce0BfN5gHdCFLrHUrg22ZwJzcwysc76rSbfrOUlg8v/s1600/OpportunityMissed-copy-300x223.jpg" /></a></div>
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Even education and experience not directly related to your prime career earning years will eventually help in other aspects of life and can be built on for future career opportunities. In other words, you don't have to find a perfect fit necessarily in your 20s and 30s. The puzzle pieces will come together in due course as long as you are building new skills and exerting effort into learning new things. God truly doesn't care what profession we choose for ourselves in most cases, so there's no reason to place a heavy burden in trying to find a perfect job.</div>
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Psychologically speaking, knowing that there are other options we left on the table we'll never know what "could have" been. We might kick ourselves for choosing a less appealing alternative or we may abort a perfectly good option midway in our career in the hopes that the grass is greener elsewhere. The dirty little secret about choices is that there is a never a perfect option. There are always flaws and tradeoffs no matter what career or path we choose. </div>
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Some people see taking ownership of their life trajectories as a burden, but I see it as a huge opportunity! It is up to you and nobody else how your life evolves, which can be a huge boon if you are methodical and ambitious about your decision making. Even though we can't blame anyone else for our failures, the career path we entered, the location or house we live in, or even the person we choose as a significant other (or the choice to be alone), I'd rather have that than be conscripted into subpar circumstances. All of the important stuff we have the power to choose from a vast array of options, which should be a good thing if you value freedom. </div>
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There are some decisions we make that having too many choices can hinder our happiness sticking with what we have already decided on. In marriage, we should be committed to our spouse and realize that some choices are permanent except in extenuating circumstances (abuse, infidelity, etc.). Even if more appealing options come along, we need to understand the value of being with the same person and the inherent value of sharing a long personal history together. I've never been married, but it's always bothered me that some people look around at other options besides their spouse because they can in a discrete way. </div>
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Choices don't have to be major life decisions. It could be which priorities we focus on and the sum total of all of our daily decisions. By way of example, we can spend some of our free time watching tv or wander into the gym for a workout. We'll eventually reap the benefits or detriments of the habits that we choose to emphasize. </div>
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If you are unhappy with your choices, then find a catalyst for change like the woman in the article I mentioned in the first paragraph. We don't need a traumatic event like hers to make major changes in our lives. We just need to wake up feeling resolved that making a u-turn or tweaking our circumstances will lead to happier days ahead. We have more control than we think and we often underestimate our abilities, but we'll never know unless we pick a path and be fully invested by sprinting down it. </div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-37675176807251840442014-08-07T16:16:00.002-07:002014-08-07T16:16:24.282-07:00Pushing past your comfort zone<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the principles that I've been thinking about a lot lately is the "law of adaptation" as it relates to my comfort zone. What it basically means is that as I push myself further than I ever have before, I will either physically or psychologically adapt to the new limit. The new limit then becomes part of my comfort zone, since I'll feel at ease and without stress having done it before.</div>
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Why is this principle important? There are great psychological benefits to be reaped from going further than you thought possible. For the rest of your life, you will know that being stretched that far is within your range and capacity. </div>
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One of my favorite tv shows is the Biggest Loser. It's inspiring to watch people who don't know what they're capable of push past their psychological and perceived physical limitations to make changes in their lives. They don't just get out of their comfort zones, they basically wrestle it to the ground and make it yell uncle. Even the ones that don't win learn an important principle that we don't have to accept ourselves as-is if we are willing to pay the price of change.</div>
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Our "normal" is often dictated by how challenging of circumstances we have had in the past. If you've lived in a tent before, you probably don't mind living in a 700 square foot apartment. On the other hand, if you've lived in a mansion your whole life you may be miserable in an apartment. As we throw ourselves into new circumstances that stretch our limits, our comfort zones become larger and larger. Our "normal" will then encompass so much that we'll feel at ease even if we are in circumstances that most people would feel stressed out in.</div>
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Many of my friends and some of my family members have several children. In fact, my oldest sister has five! Even though I have 7 siblings, I imagine that my comfort zone around children is much different than hers. That's her normal. She has been pushed far greater than I have in this arena and her psychological state reflects being at ease even with the chaos created by children around her. Hopefully, she doesn't view the challenge of having kids the same as Jim Gaffigan in this video:</div>
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One of the benefits of going to college for 9 years was that it exposed me to quite a bit of subject matter that I never would have studied otherwise. It was always surprising to me what subjects interested me and what subjects were deemed way too dry to stimulate my mind. I never would have thought that U.S. tax law would be an interesting subject!</div>
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Most of my friends know that real estate is my biggest area of interest. However, I hadn't owned any real estate up until 2011 when I bought my first house. Even today with all my real estate related education, I still haven't filed taxes on an investment property or have tried being a landlord. To accomplish my goals, I need to experience those things and maybe even make some mistakes along the way. As I do that for a year or two, I'll learn if my theoretical direction merits heavier investment or scaling back and liquidating.</div>
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To this end, if you want to succeed in the business realm you have to dip your feet into the water to gain experience before jumping into the deep end. By jumping in head first without knowing the details cold, you might set yourself back financially with higher risk business ventures. For me, having this build up and expansion of my comfort zone makes my risks much more calculated than the alternative of taking blind risks that may lead to disastrous consequences. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4J_JfSvOINGHFcKghr-7L2-4FlhK-WWeRBrF7FctqA7fuGhcNTpLzwPD2JS7z5y6qbYtSeU239jnF22-dqaPuNt8FURkhXbft52b32f0yHarMqiZvHB7iy2eWhiYQ67WtyCTVA7l30Su/s1600/blind+risks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4J_JfSvOINGHFcKghr-7L2-4FlhK-WWeRBrF7FctqA7fuGhcNTpLzwPD2JS7z5y6qbYtSeU239jnF22-dqaPuNt8FURkhXbft52b32f0yHarMqiZvHB7iy2eWhiYQ67WtyCTVA7l30Su/s1600/blind+risks.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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The law of adaptation has really been a helpful principle to understand on my journey. It has helped me improve on many of my weaknesses and to move forward with goals that weren't necessarily supposed to be up my alley. Adaptation means that an element of self-creation can open up a whole realm of possibilities that I never thought possible. </div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-5148394546040124792014-06-23T16:13:00.000-07:002014-06-23T16:17:03.352-07:00Top 5 destinations for world travel beginners<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">This
blog post is dedicated to those readers who have never left the United States.
Where should you go? These are the trips I’d recommend the highest.</span> </span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alberta, Canada</b>
– Canada is a perfect dip your toes in the water destination. I tell anyone who
will listen that the benefits far outweigh the costs of visiting such lovely
places as Banff and Jasper National Parks where you’ll find Lake Louise, Lake
Moraine, and Peyto Lake (see pics below). English is the primary language, so
no language issues to deal with. The flight is short and cheap into Calgary from most
western cities. You can usually get away with not changing any money if you
have a debit/credit card. You’ll obviously need a passport, but that’s the
whole point of this post to persuade you to get one. For the most part, there
is very little downside to making Canada your first international trip. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Caveat:</b>
Go only in the summer, otherwise you may run into snow and ice. June
15-September 15.</span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Switzerland
& Italy</b> – Both of these countries got my top scores for European
destinations. If you can only visit 2 countries in Europe, these are the two
that offer the most things to do plus incredible scenery. You can usually get
by with zero foreign language skills. These countries are very safe and
friendly to tourism. Renting a car or using public transportation are both
feasible. You won’t run out of things to do in cities like Rome, Venice, Pisa,
or in Grindelwald, Interlaken, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Caveat</b>:
Don’t go in the winter months, as the roads in the Alps close and the views
aren’t quite as spectacular with less chance of sunny weather. Of course, if skiing is your primary purpose, then do the opposite</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">F</b></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">rench Polynesia</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
– My next recommended destination is the French Polynesia, specifically Bora
Bora and Moorea. These are two beautiful islands that are normally earmarked
for honeymooners. This means that you’ll spend 90% of your time in or near the
water, but it’s ok because the water colors are pretty awesome! There are also
scenic viewpoints on both islands worth visiting. Even though French is the
native language, you’ll get by just fine with English. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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want to stay a couple hundred feet inland to save big money. Winter airfare prices are much lower. In fact, package deals can be had on normally very expensive hotels.</span></span></div>
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</b>– As representation of South America, it was a tossup between Peru and Brazil. Peru has Machu Picchu,
which trumps Rio de Janeiro and Iguazu Falls. Peru is also much cheaper than Brazil. You
won’t need to spend too much for hotels, transportation, etc. in Peru. Even outside the Machu Picchu area, the Sacred Valley is very scenic and worthwhile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Caveat </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– Visiting Lake Titicaca was overrated in my view. I’d rather visit
the Amazon jungle than spend time at Lake Titicaca. There are altitude issues
in Peru for most of the touristy areas, so you’ll have to get adjusted.
Language can be a real barrier if you don’t know Spanish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">UAE
</b>– The surprising thing about Dubai and Abu Dhabi is that it’s cheap to fly
there and it’s cheap to stay there. Airline tickets can easily be had for under
$1K. Decent hotel rooms can be had for ~$50/night, because of the massive
over supply of rooms. Most of the sites worth seeing are either in malls (indoor ski hill,
aquariums, etc.) or just in the architecture of the city. The tallest building
in the world is here. There are 7 star and underwater hotels. It's a super fascinating place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Caveat </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– You only need ~3 days to see Dubai and Abu Dhabi, although
there are other things to do with more time like go play in the sand dunes. Since the flight is very long, you may
want to consider a second destination to make it worth the trip. Only go in the
winter months. The rest of the year is extremely hot and humid.</span></span></div>
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Honorable mentions:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">South Africa </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–
Picking a place in Africa was challenging, but Cape Town was definitely my
favorite city in my 4 trips to Africa. Egypt and Tanzania also have a lot to offer, but would
not recommend Egypt without a group if you are new to travelling along with
the current safety concerns. Tanzania is nice with Mount Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar beaches, and the Ngorongoro Crater. Cape Town has both beautiful scenery and
things to do like Robben Island, Table Mountain, and the Cape of Good Hope.
Hostels are pretty cheap. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Caveat </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– You have to be on high alert walking around the city.
There’s a lot of crime. Don’t go out after dark.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdPsXvLW082Zv94asadWP7-CMKwMXcpUDa8qNrnde8_koEWBA4cKKISoh89iCfHtWsPEmdAX4C9t_Wa0f-idr2NULZVBXBTROCr7XGWaAlCEh05zUrSnMwd79wA-BXmLQYuZjuijIIZAO/s1600/Table-Mountain-view-of-city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdPsXvLW082Zv94asadWP7-CMKwMXcpUDa8qNrnde8_koEWBA4cKKISoh89iCfHtWsPEmdAX4C9t_Wa0f-idr2NULZVBXBTROCr7XGWaAlCEh05zUrSnMwd79wA-BXmLQYuZjuijIIZAO/s1600/Table-Mountain-view-of-city.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beijing </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– There is a lot to
see in Beijing (the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square).
Flight costs can be reasonable. Visa requirements have been relaxed for US citizens if you only
want to spend a couple days here en route to somewhere else. Hotels are cheap along with eating out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Caveat </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– The language barrier can be huge. You will need to bring
the Chinese version of the names of your hotels to provide to taxi drivers. If
you can reserve an English speaking driver in advance, it will be a huge benefit.
Costs for that service are surprisingly cheap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-36367063903745758412014-04-30T16:15:00.002-07:002014-04-30T16:15:29.731-07:00What we can learn from Chris Colabello<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the most interesting stories of April has been the rise of baseball player Chris Colabello. Most of my readers are probably wondering "Who is <a href="http://bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/chris_villani/2014/04/villani_chris_colabello_from_milford_is_mlb_s_best_story">Chris Colabello</a>?" His name isn't very well known even among many baseball die-hards, but his story is fascinating. </div>
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In 2011, Colabello was a 28 year old first baseman playing for the Worcester Tornadoes of an independent baseball league where he had played the last 7 seasons. Before that, he played baseball for a small college and then went undrafted by major league baseball. For most people, that would have been the end of a dream. </div>
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Very few college athletes make it to the professional level, so when the best opportunity for playing ends (aka they run out of eligibility), they move on to trying to find a career path using their education and degree. The alternative for a baseball player is to play for a team like the Tornadoes for a meager $750/month as a rookie and hope they get noticed by higher paying leagues i.e. the major leagues where the minimum salary is $500k/year. </div>
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Colabello had a different mindset than most college graduates who run out of eligibility and don't get drafted. When asked why he continued to play for a living, his answer was that he always believed deep down that he was good enough to play in the major leagues if he continued to develop his skills. </div>
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Whether a person foregoes other career or life opportunities to chase a dream really depends on the answer to this one question: Do you believe deep down in your heart and soul that you can achieve it? If the answer is no, then you may as well move on now or concede that just reaching your potential or coming close is enough to warrant the effort. </div>
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The not so fun part of dream chasing is knowing when to hang up your cleats. Colabello had <a href="http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/2013/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130227&content_id=42047004&vkey=news_min&c_id=min">three stipulations</a> for continuing to play baseball: 1) He was still having fun, 2) he was able to endure financially and physically, and 3) he continued to improve. He would have walked away if one of three stipulations wasn't met. Whether the chosen discipline is a stress relief or a stress inducer would be my threshold question. Vince Lombardi believed that you have to appreciate the grind to succeed: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLoNRF2dVcC9IuQi1raK6f9K0BUnCHUVboL37JvuF_WBeaKr6mvvG75S90wS3uW04ol9zpzAepwSv1rzgxtsJyEgB7RdeagUTdPjCnb3OLLHrPkv43V_P3l3dLTvQ_ZMCHyflS3za3N_I_/s1600/lombardi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLoNRF2dVcC9IuQi1raK6f9K0BUnCHUVboL37JvuF_WBeaKr6mvvG75S90wS3uW04ol9zpzAepwSv1rzgxtsJyEgB7RdeagUTdPjCnb3OLLHrPkv43V_P3l3dLTvQ_ZMCHyflS3za3N_I_/s1600/lombardi.jpg" height="150" width="320" /></a></div>
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Fortunately for Colabello, the Minnesota Twins didn't have enough first baseman in their minor league system and were desperate for help back in 2012 when they signed him. Normally, teams don't look for 28 year olds to develop in their minor league system, but the Twins were short handed on their AA team and besides he was the MVP of the independent league he was playing in. </div>
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Colabello finally got his shot to develop under a major league team! He applied the same work ethic and attitude that got him to this point and made the decision by Twins management to promote him really easy when he tore up the minors. As with all real life stories, he faced adversity along the way. As a major league rookie, he struggled to adjust to the majors despite having gaudy minor league statistics. </div>
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Fast forward to spring training 2014 when it wasn't 100% certain that Colabello would make the team. In fact, he was offered the chance to double his salary to play for a South Korean team in a straight up trade for cash. Citing his dream to play in the major leagues, Colabello declined the doubled salary. Expectations were still really low for how his season would go based on last year's struggles, but injuries derailed the player that he was competing with for playing time at first base in the first couple days of the season. </div>
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Given the chance to play every day since the beginning of the season, Colabello just broke Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett's team record for RBI in a single month! What's interesting about this story is not that the team record got broken, but it was accomplished by a player that no other team wanted just 3 years ago. It goes to show that if you believe in yourself and dream, continue to work to improve, and market yourself anything can happen against all odds. </div>
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Unrelated to Colabello's story, I should mention and give kudos to my cousin, Garrett Crain, who plays second base for TCU. He was recently named the <a href="http://collegebaseballcentral.com/crain-rice-ferrell-castano-honored-big-12-awards/5570/">co-Big 12 player of the week</a>. I haven't seen him since he was about a foot shorter than he is now, but he has worked hard his whole life to develop the skills that are now paying dividends. Good luck to him going forward!</div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-74221808311627278252014-04-03T17:44:00.000-07:002014-04-03T17:44:02.584-07:00Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all Small Stuff <div style="text-align: justify;">
The title of my blog is actually the title of a book that I haven't read. However, that won't stop me from analyzing the quote and providing my commentary. The basic premise of the book purportedly is that we all get worked up over stuff that doesn't matter one iota in the grand scheme of things. We amplify and blow things out of proportion for no reason at all. I completely agree that we all do this on some level or another. </div>
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As I've mentioned in a past <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-10-worst-taxi-rides-and-how-to-avoid.html">post</a>, there are a lot of things that can happen that are mostly out of our control no matter what life course we choose. It's impossible to avoid the impact of other people's decision making on our lives even if you were to live and work in mostly solitude. Unforeseeable events happen to everybody! </div>
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A lot of people even paint the walls with speculation all day long about what other people think of them with or without cause or provocation. Even if others don't think highly of us, does it really matter? They win if we let it affect us. </div>
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Almost everybody commutes to work and are subjected to other people's inept or careless driving. We get to choose how we react to our endangerment even though we know nothing of the bad driver's intent. It's possible that they are from another country or are merely learning to drive.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JZm6d1u9AFy0RUqWRPjmQh8Vywe9xC6z979saixFtL104KZLCUDBW0-z4XUPt3G6rApiAxCJnr5Vgk3cWK4rN6QX_hWR4Cfa81SNocEti9hNGMuPzgN8WR6YZARq3zx_r4E6Ts-8Asuh/s1600/student_driver_too_close_funny_bumper_sticker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JZm6d1u9AFy0RUqWRPjmQh8Vywe9xC6z979saixFtL104KZLCUDBW0-z4XUPt3G6rApiAxCJnr5Vgk3cWK4rN6QX_hWR4Cfa81SNocEti9hNGMuPzgN8WR6YZARq3zx_r4E6Ts-8Asuh/s1600/student_driver_too_close_funny_bumper_sticker.jpg" height="103" width="320" /></a></div>
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An example in my life is traveling around by taxi as a primary means of transportation. The taxi driver might be dishonest, take you to the wrong location, and/or try to get you to buy his associate's souvenirs on the way to your destination. All of these things are frustrating, but they don't have to have an impact on my day or trip overall. How we react to what happens to us is completely in our control. </div>
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One of the advantages to aging is gaining perspective. As a young teenager, everything in life that went wrong seemed unfair, personal, and life altering. Failing a test, losing a race, getting injured, getting critiqued for something you think you are good at, getting fired from that stellar entry level job at Little Caesar's pizza, or even breaking up seem like genuine life altering hardships. Despite the emotional roller coaster of the teenage years, the majority of what happened back then had zero impact on how my life would evolve 10-20 years later. As you gain maturity, you learn that life moves forward even when things don't go your way.</div>
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The truth is most things that happen in life is small stuff even the seemingly big stuff. There is little reason to get worked up over very insignificant daily events. Most things are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. </div>
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Do things happen that can change your life trajectory and course? Absolutely! Not everything in life is small potatoes. We have to make major life decisions every so often that alters your course dramatically. It's also possible that you make a serious error in judgment and that wreaks havoc on your freedom. I listed a bunch of events that can become game changers for a lot of people last year in this <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/05/triumphing-over-valleys-of-life.html">post</a>. To list a few big potato things: 1) being chronically unhealthy, 2) losing someone to death, 3) being in a bad marriage/getting divorced, 4) not being successful at something you try hard to succeed at, or 5) going to jail. There are probably quite a few more I could have listed. </div>
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Many other things I didn't list are temporary valleys of life that are for our greater good. Some adversity may seem like a never ending valley of life, but we eventually pull through and appreciate life at a higher level for enduring the adversity. We won't be able to see our growth until we look at our hardships in the rear view mirror.</div>
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In summary, most stuff in life that we get worked up over is small and not worth wasting emotional energy on. We should try and recognize the small stuff to react accordingly. In contrast, we may run into a few big things that will require emotional energy to endure successfully. Life will be much more enjoyable if we worry only about the big game changer events.</div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-34030931936294783702014-03-13T16:35:00.000-07:002014-03-13T16:35:43.172-07:00Why cooking is a good life analogy <div style="text-align: justify;">
As with most teenagers, one of my first life lessons of being away from home at age 18 was learning how to cook. I would either learn to cook or starve! </div>
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Naturally, I was drawn first to cooking desserts since they were sweet empty calories. One of my first attempts at this was making doughnuts via canned biscuits fried in oil. Since I was a novice at cooking and 100% brilliant, I tried to expedite the process and put the stove on maximum heat to make the doughnuts fry faster. Using this method, the vegetable oil came to a boil hard and fast. Next, I started throwing in the biscuit dough one by one. As the oil heat escalated, the entire house got really smoky, the oil started to splatter everywhere, and the smoke alarm went off. </div>
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At the exact moment the smoke alarm started to sound, a girl from the apartment complex stopped by to visit. About 10 seconds after she stopped by after witnessing the chaos, she excused herself and took a U-turn. It was a smart move on her part, because the final outcome of waiting an hour for the smoke to clear was the doughnuts were very well done on the outside, but not cooked at all on the inside. In theory, the doughnuts should have looked like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2c9A2rivo67Ub-WXkm26uu9G93KIP0ehKAas-rvYj5lMN7zl49SbXBH5G6q6jKK6M580gNQ0rEMmPcRf_G5aceVF4Ci4xQhd6NUo4k-EhIGI4M99o3ZnUEvOig75CvjcStFi07NaMu1zI/s1600/canned+biscuit+doughnuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2c9A2rivo67Ub-WXkm26uu9G93KIP0ehKAas-rvYj5lMN7zl49SbXBH5G6q6jKK6M580gNQ0rEMmPcRf_G5aceVF4Ci4xQhd6NUo4k-EhIGI4M99o3ZnUEvOig75CvjcStFi07NaMu1zI/s1600/canned+biscuit+doughnuts.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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What I got instead was not edible resemblances to that. However, I learned 3 principles to becoming a better cook with many more life applications: </div>
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1) <strong>Following directions is a good skill to learn</strong> - This principle applies to much more than cooking. If you want to get good grades and do well in your career, learn what is expected of you (I can't emphasize this enough) and then meet or exceed those expectations. It took me a long time to learn that just spending the time to understand what your professor/boss wants will allow you to do A+ work. When I spend a lot time and energy doing things that the professor or boss doesn't value, it leads to bad results and evaluations.</div>
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I must admit that I could have used the above book in my teens and twenties. It's better to learn from those who have gone before than trying to reinvent a wheel that will probably end up crooked. The difference between success and failure often hinges on one small detail in the instructions. Skip a step and you might not like the outcome.</div>
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2) <strong>Be willing to go through trial and error</strong> - We aren't usually good at what we try the first time. This was especially true with me and cooking. Even though I consider myself only an adequate cook today, my level of expertise has increased a hundred fold from when I started. I could even make those doughnuts todays without incident (most likely).</div>
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Even the brightest people in the world failed before succeeded. Madame Marie Curie, who won two Nobel prizes, tried to isolate radium from a low-grade uranium to fight against tumors. She only succeeded after hundreds of failed experiments. Thomas Edison was also well known for many failed experiments, but is better known for his few incredible successes.</div>
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Even if we aren't as brilliant as Edison or Curie, it doesn't mean we can't try and fail. We don't need to be a superstar from day one. Most superstars in most fields have a past full of failures that they leveraged into future success. I like the mindset of Edison on this one:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETaq2AJ5rqmS2Xu0M1_Fz3fC9VlKCgxMfVdbrHQmsbqg85bErmbvNkRfQ4dI0n7Ur8jBFOnIg9BX0eVeQMoNG8boWyqZc9uu8mV11jkjdRNG_BznZXc_uOb3HDj1no0i-FAtoGc8dO2XL/s1600/edison-on-failure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETaq2AJ5rqmS2Xu0M1_Fz3fC9VlKCgxMfVdbrHQmsbqg85bErmbvNkRfQ4dI0n7Ur8jBFOnIg9BX0eVeQMoNG8boWyqZc9uu8mV11jkjdRNG_BznZXc_uOb3HDj1no0i-FAtoGc8dO2XL/s1600/edison-on-failure.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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3) <strong>Be willing to gain experience in what you aren't good at</strong> - I was a terrible cook when I had no experience just like everybody else. The people who become great cooks gain experience and learn until they have a lot of dishes mastered. <strong> </strong></div>
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Although Simon Cowell isn't a particularly good role model, he is a good example of what ambition will do for you. He worked in the mail room of a company he wanted to work for and then worked his way up the corporate ladder. Later, after he tried to start his own company and took on too much debt, he had to move back home with his parents at age 30. Of course, he stuck with his path and eventually ended up at the very top of his industry.</div>
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Even Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young wasn't a great passer coming out of high school. Here's an interesting quote by him: "I don't think we ever practiced throwing the ball in high school. We passed only under duress. I was embarrassed to throw in public..." He was the 8th string quarterback his first season at BYU and was asked to move to safety by the head coach. Fortunately, he didn't see the lack of passing experience as an 18 year old as the final outcome of his career.</div>
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Although I didn't realize it at the time I was botching my doughnuts, I was actually learning by trial and error that instructions matter. Through a lot of subsequent life experience, those lessons would become invaluable to other aspects of my life. That's the reward of trying.</div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-32902340583641687432014-01-09T14:41:00.000-08:002014-01-09T14:41:12.305-08:004 Tips to Moving Forward in 2014<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The greatest part about starting a new
year is that you can psychologically start over on things you failed to make a priority in the
previous year. Committing to be a better person tomorrow, next week, and next year
isn't enough. You will need to assess where you stand currently, where you are going in life, and what are the areas you
would like to exert effort to improve in. Here are my 4 tips to moving forward
in 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tip 1: Leave the past
behind</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – There is no doubt that you made mistakes in 2013
and in the years before that. We all make mistakes both big and small. We can
sit around and paint the walls with speculation all day long to try and change
history, but it won’t do us any good! The constructive way to deal with the past is to understand the lesson you learned to avoid repeating it and then move on. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s impossible to succeed if
you can’t psychologically forgive yourself of your past mistakes and move forward in life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can’t relive a golden opportunity
like buying Apple stock 15 years ago when somebody suggested it or getting a redo in the
high school state football championship that would have assured your future in
the NFL. You simply can’t redo your life trajectory from any point in the past without a time
machine. Here’s looking at you Uncle Rico.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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You can only change your life trajectory from today forward. If there are obstacles that are hindering you from progressing, then work on those first (ex: finances, injuries, health, psychological issues, etc.) Good things come to those who persevere. You might not reach your goals in the perfect time frame, but you will eventually. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Even if it appears that some of your
peers have more to offer or have more innate gifts than you, you need to move
forward in life with the hand that you’ve been dealt. You have a choice about
whether to waste away years of your life complaining and making excuses about
your childhood, your genetics, your family, your life circumstances or you can
accept the gifts and talents that you have received and do your best to make
progress in those priorities most important to you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tip 2: Defriend the monster
inside of your head</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – You may be thinking of a certain #1
hit song who befriended a monster under her bed as my second tip. I disagree with her advice to
get along with the voices inside of your head specifically the one belonging to the
monster. Sure it’s possible that the monster looks like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Most likely, the monster isn't as friendly as the picture indicates. There truly is a voice
inside each of our heads that spews negativity sometimes. The great thing
about being human is the monster has zero power over us, because we hold the
power to veto anything he suggests. The monster doesn't force us to quit trying or to make bad decisions to hinder our progression. Those things were merely his suggestion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tip 3: Plan ahead</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– To get somewhere in life, we need to lay the ground work to get there first.
Stephen Covey says in his book <u>7 Habits of Highly Effective People</u> to "Begin with the end in mind." People don't usually end up accomplishing big things by accident. Where do you want
to be next year? in 5 years? 10 years? 30 years? Successful people spend countless hours creating the life that
they envisioned for themselves brick by brick. As we work towards retirement or other long-term goals, remember that there are usually hundreds of little decisions that add up to favorable or unfavorable long-term life circumstances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong>Tip
4: Go all in!</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> – As legend has it, in 1519 Cortez set sail
from Spain to Mexico with 11 ships and 600 men with the mission to conquer the
Aztecs and claim all the treasure in the land. As soon as he arrived, he wanted
to make sure that his men were fully committed to achieving his objective and
ordered that the 11 ships be burned. Cortez changed the paradigm dramatically
because he didn't leave room to fail! If his crew was fearful or having
doubts, they didn’t have the option of retreating back to their ships. It was
either conquer the Aztecs or die trying! This all or nothing approach obviously
worked.<u1:p></u1:p> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicABtau1e0YJZZ6hvPQgeiORloaiC18qhY6P-Zluc234biJLsT9dASA9kwO_-79A8eeFFDwnrpTvcLSQOyixaa6utaPUVALljFb0H8x4b76JK3kX_I-IZx94FQrVhen2EsTNCXfOJmL_9C/s1600/burning_ships.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicABtau1e0YJZZ6hvPQgeiORloaiC18qhY6P-Zluc234biJLsT9dASA9kwO_-79A8eeFFDwnrpTvcLSQOyixaa6utaPUVALljFb0H8x4b76JK3kX_I-IZx94FQrVhen2EsTNCXfOJmL_9C/s1600/burning_ships.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The key principle that we can learn from
this story, whether it’s true or not, is that a half-hearted approach to
accomplishing any endeavor is much less likely to succeed than if you are 100%
committed to being the best that you can. You have to decide you want it and
then go for it with gusto! This may mean quitting the job you hate, going back to school, or simply making your goal a top priority and not being afraid to take risks. Most importantly, don't just "coast along" hoping that someday your minimal effort will pay off. Talent isn't enough to accomplish anything noteworthy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong></strong></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong>Conclusion:</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 2014 is a second
chance for each of us to assess where we are in life and where our trajectory
is likely headed. Take the new year to strategically move forward with your
life by learning from the past, living in the present, and preparing for the
future. There are good things to come in the future for those who are not
short-sighted in their approach to life decisions. </span></span></div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-45499270268728975752013-12-30T10:10:00.002-08:002013-12-30T10:20:08.386-08:00Why Timing is so Pivotal<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you are like me, as you get ready for 2014 you'll be thinking about the timing of making moves to improve your life. After all, life is about timing and timing can be pivotal to whether you succeed or fail. Some things like self improvement habits can be started on any day of the year, whereas the timing of career moves and investing should be more strategic. This blog will explore some of the pivotal scenarios and what we can do to increase our odds at good timing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgrYbWzcNZhs_qNpx9sUMJsfwQFLhm5IGN-MxrJKwMQUDfJ7_mNBhaPyFG5cM8Iiu-HWKAFg-AuDzUMRSbyGL0Cke5MVC9eMhlRv7M9wqYAeVmm2RNtQwC_tcx3PPwMyQNJIkKVbucHHt/s1600/ku-xlarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgrYbWzcNZhs_qNpx9sUMJsfwQFLhm5IGN-MxrJKwMQUDfJ7_mNBhaPyFG5cM8Iiu-HWKAFg-AuDzUMRSbyGL0Cke5MVC9eMhlRv7M9wqYAeVmm2RNtQwC_tcx3PPwMyQNJIkKVbucHHt/s1600/ku-xlarge.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><u>My personal list</u></strong></div>
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Here's a list of things in my life that I've relied on good and bad timing:</div>
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<strong>Good:</strong> buying and selling my first house</div>
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<strong>Bad:</strong> matriculating in law school in a year when the application pool doubled twice in 2 years</div>
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<strong>Good:</strong> starting college when tuition rates had not yet skyrocketed</div>
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<strong>Bad:</strong> starting graduate school after tuition rates had skyrocketed </div>
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<strong>Good:</strong> finding my first post graduate school job in an industry on the rise</div>
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<strong>Bad:</strong> finding my first job out of college in an industry that went into a recession a few months later</div>
</li>
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<strong>Good:</strong> taking a trip using frequent flier miles on a special promotion </div>
</li>
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<strong>Bad:</strong> tearing my calf muscle playing flag football when I was getting close to a peak fitness level </div>
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I could have listed dozens of more examples. Each of us will have to make decisions about when to take advantage of opportunities when the timing takes a turn for the worse. We will also have unplanned setbacks at the exact wrong time that may look like bad luck, but it may become a <a href="http://theskooloflife.com/wordpress/lifes-biggest-problems-are-the-biggest-blessings-in-disguise/">blessing in disguise</a> later on. I may do a post on this in 2014.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1oxPZbwJj1dwrHD7bIyDiKbII3X9uiL6d_AcjBs8i9eR6vIF_V11F0dVAputTk7YicTCHrimIxhDr0i8smYV7Lj1F6xYzUXMCuCuH-xmPhHA_6xRf867dTZ-dkD25_vWWHXCZnY1vfAo/s1600/58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1oxPZbwJj1dwrHD7bIyDiKbII3X9uiL6d_AcjBs8i9eR6vIF_V11F0dVAputTk7YicTCHrimIxhDr0i8smYV7Lj1F6xYzUXMCuCuH-xmPhHA_6xRf867dTZ-dkD25_vWWHXCZnY1vfAo/s1600/58.jpg" height="193" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The timing of your career path</u></b></div>
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Being strategic with your career moves is absolutely critical in today's job market, since the average worker stays at each of his or her jobs for only<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>4.4 years. Over the duration of a 35 year career, you might switch jobs 8 times. Case in point, I left my first job out of law school after less than 15 months mainly because a competing company made me a substantially better offer. Of course, the offer came only after a recruiter contacted me and I decided to interview for the position. I have been with that company now for over 5 years with no regrets.</div>
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There are a lot of factors in deciding when to make a career move. Some of the moves might be forced while others might be due to being burned out with or hating your current job or maybe you were just offered a better one. The latter scenario is almost always predicated by effort to find a new opportunity.</div>
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The industry you are working in often has either an outlook of expansion or contraction. Two middle-aged salesmen (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn) in the movie <u><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8DjuGlVknQ">The Internship</a></u> found themselves looking for a new career when the watch industry was dying and their company suddenly folded. Much like these two salesmen, you'll probably land in an industry that is cyclical at some point in your career. If you find yourself in one of those cycles, you may be on the move more often than you'd prefer. Welcome to the 21st century job market.</div>
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Opportunity recognition and having a wide array of skills will be helpful in making smooth transitions from one job to the next. Becoming qualified for jobs that are on the rise and being mindful of the warning signs of when your industry is going to collapse could have helped Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in the aforementioned movie. Doing your homework on the new company and industry you are considering will help you avoid colossal mistakes. </div>
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Conan O' Brien gave this sage advice a few years back:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I abandoned all preconceived notions of my career path and stature…Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course. </blockquote>
<b>Life lesson:</b> Be very cognizant of the future of your industry and alternate industries that have a brighter outlook you can qualify for. Your skill development over time may lead you to a field that is not even created today, so keep a flexible outlook and maintain a broad skill set.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGkkDqcGGvl_hbSIqH8C892NlAZlaN-7WayICcYUONZJGxdnZyCX2bz_5XF-8q5E32NzWVp_YBPCjJ41-SU1gFhlRbFAzuqHBau27jMfPlTSo7Zox0DlA2W3WSZ0hyphenhyphenn4BvanRsoToYIUi/s1600/juggling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGkkDqcGGvl_hbSIqH8C892NlAZlaN-7WayICcYUONZJGxdnZyCX2bz_5XF-8q5E32NzWVp_YBPCjJ41-SU1gFhlRbFAzuqHBau27jMfPlTSo7Zox0DlA2W3WSZ0hyphenhyphenn4BvanRsoToYIUi/s1600/juggling.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The timing of buying your first house</u></b> </div>
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Most people I know bought their first house just weeks or months after they qualify for a loan and had enough money for the down payment. This random approach can either be a future financial windfall or a major liability. Certain roller coaster markets like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and California the market can fluctuate dramatically depending on the year. Thus, there's a big difference between buying in a seller's market (2004-2009) when you'll eventually be underwater (i.e. owe more on your house than it's worth) or buying in a recession (2010-2012) when the property will increase in value sometimes dramatically in later years. </div>
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While it's impossible to know exactly when to buy or sell, there are definite warning signs that the market is priced too high or is in a recession. If there are multiple bidders for the house or the buyers are expected to pay closing costs or the price is at a historical high or the prices are higher than average income levels can afford, the house might be over priced. On the other hand, if prices are at historical lows, the seller is picking up all the closing costs, you are the only offer, those could be signs that it's a good time to buy. </div>
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<b>Life lesson: </b>Being in a position to take advantage of an opportunity is a good thing, but you should take your time and wait for favorable market conditions to pounce. It's not easy to be patient, but it could prove to be a financial windfall to make that sacrifice. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVe7HX9L-6So-Xnl2m_jUmXb8FB9a6CVXNkXL9byFPV46BVrEnDyytIPW6y1FNqVy_aj2EVL59cxiCSSEZcu8y0TrAdWmlSjeVonfsj-MczYrmbcV2W6lkg8fkiDjM7ml2aQpIzOOxOUT/s1600/istock_000006158192xsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVe7HX9L-6So-Xnl2m_jUmXb8FB9a6CVXNkXL9byFPV46BVrEnDyytIPW6y1FNqVy_aj2EVL59cxiCSSEZcu8y0TrAdWmlSjeVonfsj-MczYrmbcV2W6lkg8fkiDjM7ml2aQpIzOOxOUT/s1600/istock_000006158192xsmall.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The timing of investments/retirement</u></b></div>
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The timing of when to start investing in retirement plans will impact how much you can rely on compound interest to increase your nest egg. With an average 7.2% rate of return, your money doubles every 10 years. The longer you wait to start saving, the harder you'll have to work. Your best case scenario is that your disciplined approach to save money early will make you the majority of money needed to retire early. This is an absolutely no-brainer approach to the timing of saving for retirement. </div>
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Similar to real estate, being successful in making money in the stock market relies on good timing. Buying low and selling high makes each of us take educated guesses on the peaks and valleys of the market, which usually leads to a limited return. Of course, the best strategy is to hold stocks in good companies for decades. The novice investors who try to time the highs and lows don't usually do too well. However, if there is a crash, it's better to sell on the first day rather than wait it out. Some of the larger shareholders may have trouble moving their shares in a timely way. Crashes often lead to a 40% drop in your portfolio. However, after a crash is often a good time to buy. </div>
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<b>Life lesson: </b>Start early in investing for retirement and recognize the warning signs of buying and selling your investments. Buying and selling stocks can be akin to gambling if you don't know what you're doing, so be very careful. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj195O_DBoFDZaImAbEy8uzk7V6iH6_DBv4UJ8udlaQiu3GEduOMB3R-_4hs-W4KpPQfA3bjlSatl5uDsXf7PmR_IbwMODGPSTizFL5l2YCqc9KxstBP3x2JloYgM6sD1p5PW5pw3gsYbD/s1600/stock_market_crash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj195O_DBoFDZaImAbEy8uzk7V6iH6_DBv4UJ8udlaQiu3GEduOMB3R-_4hs-W4KpPQfA3bjlSatl5uDsXf7PmR_IbwMODGPSTizFL5l2YCqc9KxstBP3x2JloYgM6sD1p5PW5pw3gsYbD/s1600/stock_market_crash.jpg" height="280" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The timing of dating</u></b></div>
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The quality and quantity of your dating opportunities are greatly impacted by how old you are, how many chances you take, and whether the persons you are interested in are looking. You can't control who and when others are putting themselves out there to find a person to date. Some people are in dead end relationships, thereby losing opportunities to meet someone with long-term potential. What you can control is how many chances you take to find someone new. Increasing your odds by taking more chances to find motivated people to date can help you find the type of person you are looking for. Procrastinating making the push or making a half-hearted push to date makes it less likely that the stars will align aka the timing for the person you are interested in lines up with your timetable. </div>
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The best time to date for most people is when they are young (18-35). In fact, it's one of life's goals that procrastinating might have dire consequences. Your quality and quantity of prospects generally decline over time, so it's a risky proposition to sit at home during your prime dating years. However, you don't want to be so in love with the concept of marriage that you overlook major deficiencies in the person you are interested in. I knew someone who decided that she was going to get married in six months. She didn't know to who, but that was her goal! I don't know how that turned out for her, but I do know that it is not typically in our best interest to rush into marriage. </div>
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<b>Life lesson:</b> Date while you are young and take your shots until you find someone you're excited to be with. Take some risks and go all in. You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take.</div>
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<b><u>Conclusion</u></b></div>
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The adage that timing is everything is mostly true (being in a position and recognizing the opportunity are two other crucial elements). You will either miss opportunities or take advantage of opportunities based on timing. Although timing isn't usually 100% in our control, there are often indicators that increase our odds at success. Taking a big picture approach rather than a day by day approach in 2014 may give you the premonition to pounce during a good timing phase or to walk away before a bad timing event. Be patient and well positioned and good things will happen. </div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-6695338479058148792013-12-10T17:48:00.000-08:002013-12-10T18:02:27.861-08:00Does money buy happiness?<div style="text-align: justify;">
I recently read the book, <u>David and Goliath</u>, by Malcolm Gladwell. One of the author's contentions was that money buys happiness in an inverted U-curve sort of way. The gist of the U-curve is that having the right amount of money can make a big difference in your level of happiness. If you have too little money, you might obsess over how to get more of it to meet your basic needs. On the other hand, having too much money can create a separate set of issues that decreases your happiness. See the graphic below to illustrate:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvA554iv2bEnQnx6lLFvlozd4y_SI4_pIw7Co-6uz0bug_fsegJ0etag6-rlH_iHAuGcNLfUTtrarMaRqOUWSQ8CsBwX5zstSx-G7-5PqFZyrW_nyww1h1qnUZ1Y3NaKzjafJWg_rKBs7/s1600/fulfillmentcurve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvA554iv2bEnQnx6lLFvlozd4y_SI4_pIw7Co-6uz0bug_fsegJ0etag6-rlH_iHAuGcNLfUTtrarMaRqOUWSQ8CsBwX5zstSx-G7-5PqFZyrW_nyww1h1qnUZ1Y3NaKzjafJWg_rKBs7/s1600/fulfillmentcurve.jpg" height="280" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Gladwell didn't come up with this concept out of thin air. Researchers at Princeton examined Gallup poll data from
nearly 500,000 US households and found that higher family incomes were related
to better moods on a day to day basis. However, the positive effects of money
had no effect on people’s happiness and moods after a level of $75,000 was
attained.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Basically, the difference in happiness between earning $75,000 and $100,000 is negligible. The person earning a little bit more maybe drives a nicer car, eats out more, and has access to a few more luxuries. However, none of those things necessarily makes a person happier.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><u>Why poverty is not ideal</u></strong></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> It's probable that most Americans would agree that being below the poverty line is not ideal to happiness. When I was in college, there were days and weeks that I was flat broke. It was <span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">unrelenting, draining and stressful particularly when I felt deprived of material comforts. </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> On the other hand, the happiest poor people don't obsess over what they don't have. They are content with what they do have and value relationship building as a higher indicator of happiness than building wealth. This state of mind is something we should all strive for.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> The lyrics of the song "Through Heaven's Eyes" comes to mind when considering the value of material possessions. <em>When all you have is nothing, there's a lot to go around.</em> Life is much simpler if you lose it all. We can't take our "stuff" with us when we inevitably pass on. Here's a great version of that song:</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/a50HfPVpMZY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><u>The 3 basics of personal finance</u></strong></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> There's a reason why most women want security in marriage. <span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Life is less stressful when you don't have to
worry about money on a day to day basis. If you are financially secure, you can put a lot more time,
energy and thought into other priorities that bring contentment. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> To this end, t</span>here are 3 basics of personal finance that are important to a person's peace of mind: a savings account, a retirement account, and a positive cash flow. These three basics take care of today, tomorrow, dealing with the unpredictable events that require money to resolve, and the far future. You won't lose sleep if you have no debt or manageable debt and have all three basics set up and in progression.</span></div>
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</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Heber J. Grant had this to say on the topic:</span><br />
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</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><strong><u>Conclusion</u></strong></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Money is a vital part of life and potentially a significant factor in how happy we are.<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> However, there is a happy medium that we should try to reach in not emphasizing money so much that we lose out on irreplaceable time with our families or placing t</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">oo much importance on "stuff", which we think will become a replacement for true happiness. There will always be a crossroads in your career choices where you have to determine your emphasis on money or relationships.</span></div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-17166903016830996642013-11-21T17:52:00.000-08:002013-11-21T18:00:41.367-08:00My 10 worst taxi rides and how to avoid each one<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As
I’ve alluded to in previous blog posts, getting into taxis in other countries hasn’t
always gone well for me. This post will provide a summary of
my top 10 worst experiences and how my readers can avoid each scenario. This will countdown backwards down to the worst.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">10) The “mini” car </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">–
I once arrived at an airport near <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Victoria Falls, Zambia <o:p></o:p></span>only to find that the only available taxi was a 2
door really compact car. Since our hostel was only a mile or so down the
road, we decided it was a good idea to get a ride. Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable ride! I couldn't put my feet on the ground based on no legroom whatsoever. I put my knees up on the back of the passenger front seat and endured
it. I remember it looking something like this:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EYR0eTnDSB8k4NC9evEcJmLt2g2I79iUh0fSoHegtzdZ8dO88UKnHY4hT-7uHGtUZ8NRR_8d7KfHAPbbmyeNmsoQS9KI-WjCPJtiFKtZibVqlK6kIlo154eEZRvJaCp_gipRSbXDoEn3/s1600/ford+festiva.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EYR0eTnDSB8k4NC9evEcJmLt2g2I79iUh0fSoHegtzdZ8dO88UKnHY4hT-7uHGtUZ8NRR_8d7KfHAPbbmyeNmsoQS9KI-WjCPJtiFKtZibVqlK6kIlo154eEZRvJaCp_gipRSbXDoEn3/s1600/ford+festiva.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Don’t get in if you are afraid from a safety perspective! Be especially careful about longer taxi rides when a tour operator is involved. Wait to see the taxi before agreeing to ride in it. You might find that the ride is super uncomfortable or has no AC, but when you've already agreed and paid it's much harder to back out. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9) The scary ride </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">–
Taxi drivers have apparently desensitized themselves to dangerous driving. One
particular taxi ride to and from Katmandu, Nepal, the taxi driver was swerving in and out of traffic, speeding
through cross walks and dangerous curves, and using the shoulders to pass other
cars. My heart rate would increase each time I thought we’d crash into oncoming
traffic. Fortunately, I don’t get motion sickness easily, but that would have been a concern too on the mountain road we were on. I felt a little bit like a kid on a roller coaster.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJNlrIn0k6sPoQ9oenA11ouJVCBBSWpiNhRMJUxxf92vR9RsR6dbu-SkpEah8N8RriHloXcKLcflgVvK_F9C8J7NB34f-TNC8gFcMj0R1qY9vq-otcAuYQk_GaYQ2etesz47HfXNSBUsI/s1600/roller+coaster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJNlrIn0k6sPoQ9oenA11ouJVCBBSWpiNhRMJUxxf92vR9RsR6dbu-SkpEah8N8RriHloXcKLcflgVvK_F9C8J7NB34f-TNC8gFcMj0R1qY9vq-otcAuYQk_GaYQ2etesz47HfXNSBUsI/s1600/roller+coaster.png" height="222" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span> </div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
You won’t be able to, unless you can convince your driver to slow down. You can always offer a larger tip for being safer.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8) The non-English
speaker </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– In almost every non-English speaking country, it’s
unlikely that you’ll find bilingual taxi drivers without searching for one.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>This can be an issue if you get dropped off in the wrong location. When I arrived at 2 AM in Dubai, UAE I ended up a few blocks from the lobby of my 12 building hotel. Since my taxi driver's English was deficient, I wasn't able to communicate to him that he should stick around. Fortunately, I survived to blog about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJJjuD0IqdtCwO5td84kA86jObG868FqajBHhgRQIyPS7AP6xpenPmMqpuA184ipOak09Os2KJpDZLSJBB_DsuosYyz605Aj6SbsCt1KYH_vF9yNHV50upjBHeXiQ3wpvC19g7a2QF1c8/s1600/language+barrier.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJJjuD0IqdtCwO5td84kA86jObG868FqajBHhgRQIyPS7AP6xpenPmMqpuA184ipOak09Os2KJpDZLSJBB_DsuosYyz605Aj6SbsCt1KYH_vF9yNHV50upjBHeXiQ3wpvC19g7a2QF1c8/s1600/language+barrier.png" height="188" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> On
my most recent trip to Mexico, our driver gave us a tour of the Pyramids
of the Sun and the Moon. Unfortunately, his English was so limited that he wasn’t
able to tell us much about well…anything. We were surprised to learn that he’d
been giving tours for 10 years, but apparently mostly in Spanish!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Bring a copy of the address of the destination you are going to in the native
language of the country you are in. If you are hiring a taxi for the day, ask
to speak with them prior to making the commitment. There is nothing worse than
being in a taxi all day with someone you can’t communicate with. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7) The tourist rate</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– Invariably, if you look like a tourist and the taxi is not metered, the
driver will ask for a high amount compared to what locals are charged. We arrived very
late at night to the airport in Papeete, Tahiti and needed to get to our hotel. We didn’t know exactly how
far our hotel was, so we negotiated ~$20 for the ride. Two
minutes later we were there. The hotel was within walking distance of the
airport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4FsYktCyktSp-S4q0csvFVX3UZEbqurhsCfjvJNQ94VVM-oGmDOIeArKQ2skfrm_F_QFhzjGDy3ckGrqwOoqnCE8cpL48eXEZ9OWI60E0JRdImQWz626rO7JR5RNpYe2VZoGAMCeDpAW/s1600/oops.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4FsYktCyktSp-S4q0csvFVX3UZEbqurhsCfjvJNQ94VVM-oGmDOIeArKQ2skfrm_F_QFhzjGDy3ckGrqwOoqnCE8cpL48eXEZ9OWI60E0JRdImQWz626rO7JR5RNpYe2VZoGAMCeDpAW/s1600/oops.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Find a metered taxi or do your homework and find out from the hotel the average taxi cost to the
hotel. Many hotels have shuttles if you arrange it in advance.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6) The per person trick</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– I was travelling with a friend from Petra, Jordan to Aqaba over an hour away. As we went
out searching for a taxi, we already knew what it should cost based on previous
research on the internet. As we asked someone if they knew where we could find
a taxi, a guy volunteered to take us to the city at about 10% less than what we
thought it would be. Unfortunately, as we arrived at our destination he
informed us that the rate he quoted was per person. Don’t worry, we didn’t pay
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvFnuZW2p3WQDx3sQWkcCjdwbA_kT6cklsz8vXsFkHBbaS0nM-iiBuFxzTWdI_H6ggpeibtWC71MgdoeAqVonT-lAEjAynJe7izQ2vxhj7Q_R5I4yon1Abw4ULyCeSbrfMRxDZX1ON0Xx/s1600/say+what.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvFnuZW2p3WQDx3sQWkcCjdwbA_kT6cklsz8vXsFkHBbaS0nM-iiBuFxzTWdI_H6ggpeibtWC71MgdoeAqVonT-lAEjAynJe7izQ2vxhj7Q_R5I4yon1Abw4ULyCeSbrfMRxDZX1ON0Xx/s1600/say+what.png" height="204" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Either take a metered taxi or make sure in advance that the rate is for
everybody. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5) The detour</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– This scenario has happened to me multiple times in multiple countries. The
taxi driver decides that we are making an unscheduled stop at a souvenir shop. Essentially, he has
tourists in his control so he will send business the way of his friends. If we
happen to buy anything, the taxi driver gets a cut. Don’t try and talk them out
of stopping. Even bus drivers with 40+ passengers are in on this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAN7YQ8Sq4ATRsL5uTrg32IiAGGe4A3TfQ2L0shWOQShKE7gERQVt0eLKng8EcUFOWGkF41u_E5JXEXLGdQN02I9XPTtQ4SeYut0X4-bTC-BqFy_LOAShEMHYTXkD1o7s6yab9F3RZdgzM/s1600/souvenir+shop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAN7YQ8Sq4ATRsL5uTrg32IiAGGe4A3TfQ2L0shWOQShKE7gERQVt0eLKng8EcUFOWGkF41u_E5JXEXLGdQN02I9XPTtQ4SeYut0X4-bTC-BqFy_LOAShEMHYTXkD1o7s6yab9F3RZdgzM/s1600/souvenir+shop.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
You can’t unless you can persuade the driver that you are running late to catch
a plane. You can always buy nothing at the shop, but expect the taxi driver to not be very
cheerful the rest of the way.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4) The “I don’t have
change” trick</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – A common mistake made by tourists is
to change money at the airport where they receive very large bills. The problem
is that dishonest taxi drivers are not going to have change. They will accept the
large bill and you’ll either have to make change somewhere or just relent. This has happened a couple times to me.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkMFQHldl_cTuaik-TuCouIMeF-IM_GpiNNbeBlnt0nSUi1oTDjVff4rRFEpzRYha-NwqBPHiHxsvBQUJTHBNL5hEYz-bD_vDGzmxiSx9b8FsnV6GG2Q32CeRtR2rkr7lFv6x-ZePaodt/s1600/change.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkMFQHldl_cTuaik-TuCouIMeF-IM_GpiNNbeBlnt0nSUi1oTDjVff4rRFEpzRYha-NwqBPHiHxsvBQUJTHBNL5hEYz-bD_vDGzmxiSx9b8FsnV6GG2Q32CeRtR2rkr7lFv6x-ZePaodt/s1600/change.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Ask for smaller bills at the exchange place and expect to overpay slightly.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3) The fight and lie</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– This one morning we got out of our hotel in Aqaba, Jordan and there were two taxis waiting
outside our hotel. The drivers were standing next to each other and we told them
where we needed to go. Both drivers wanted our business, so we stood and waited
for them to determine who would take us. What happened next was an altercation.
They were standing close, yelling, and looking like they wanted to fight. They finally
started a bidding war in our favor! Each driver kept lowering their price until
the other driver wouldn’t go any lower. After we finally got into our taxi, the
driver reversed course and raised the price back up to what he quoted us in the
beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUUppLn_sCRKtg0SL2RJB5eBWUaJVLY5xjMj_YEgKXXRL-K9wT-G0UzBF6NUtrymhT3bbLcqFw9hbt_qi_nLaCJlUiR8jmti_JJh30FzwhLh3AF4LXrCUiKaI3t1vv5RvtXffD44QaAJa/s1600/whatisthis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUUppLn_sCRKtg0SL2RJB5eBWUaJVLY5xjMj_YEgKXXRL-K9wT-G0UzBF6NUtrymhT3bbLcqFw9hbt_qi_nLaCJlUiR8jmti_JJh30FzwhLh3AF4LXrCUiKaI3t1vv5RvtXffD44QaAJa/s1600/whatisthis.png" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
We were passive about which taxi we wanted, so being proactive in choosing could have made a big difference.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2) The salesman</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– In one of my longer non-metered taxi rides (from Petra, Jordan to Aqaba - this is the same as #6 above) I learned that the taxi driver was a tour
operator. For the entire ride down, I got an earful about the tours that he was
offering despite the fact that I told him that my schedule did not permit. We took our unscheduled stop to the souvenir shop and bought nothing. Needless to say, he was pretty upset at the end when we
declined his tour operating services and pulled the per person trick on us. The reason why this is #2 on my list is because he used high pressure sales tactics during the more than one hour ride, which aggravated me more than dishonesty at the end of the ride.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLG_gAw64iJRSo0I6LugZLXEkrjDaZKoKzffISLwzQGQYanLnYOiBo7se-2ONopNZshVzsBOO3TPVBkVzhyphenhyphen0RSIqDQj-D5b3iEOXggIu_6CxHsY54upR6pf3-X1BcmtwhDHTLteY9v3Fgf/s1600/salesman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLG_gAw64iJRSo0I6LugZLXEkrjDaZKoKzffISLwzQGQYanLnYOiBo7se-2ONopNZshVzsBOO3TPVBkVzhyphenhyphen0RSIqDQj-D5b3iEOXggIu_6CxHsY54upR6pf3-X1BcmtwhDHTLteY9v3Fgf/s1600/salesman.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Take a metered taxi or hope for a language barrier</span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1) The combination</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– On one unforgettable taxi ride, my brother and I needed to get to the Taj Mahal from New
Delhi after we missed the morning train. We found a tour operator who had a taxi driver on staff. We prepaid the
amount for the ride to the tour operator. Unfortunately, the taxi driver had
the world’s worst attitude. As we drove along and ran into traffic, the driver
realized that he was in for a long day. Thus, he tried everything to convince us that we didn’t
need to go all the way to the Taj Mahal or we'd miss our flight for sure. First, he said that the replica Taj
Mahal is the equivalent of going to the real thing and then tried to sell the
virtues of other attractions along the way. As I shot down each of his
suggestions, he got really angry and overbearing. We got into a shouting match. He finally
relented, but told us that we only had 10 minutes to spend at the Taj Mahal or
he'd leave without us. We told him to wait and fortunately he did (after an hour). Of course, after all of his fuss we got back to the airport earlier than
we could even check in. As we got out of the car, the driver had the gall to
hold onto our bags until we tipped him. I deemed him the world’s worst taxi
driver. I should have been forewarned by the name of the touring agency as below:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARs_sKk2rwItMuz58h7RO5_hry6wqO-9UV4R30KdNRPtmmunRTKX_kRCKrSYzumN0l6Ql1Dk3zOl1tUbKjjytrWmjIdy-XJnuh3U7YjP8T5_MvFzKVFx3Z5108MXvr29inWdQwRv3x-nI/s1600/abyss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARs_sKk2rwItMuz58h7RO5_hry6wqO-9UV4R30KdNRPtmmunRTKX_kRCKrSYzumN0l6Ql1Dk3zOl1tUbKjjytrWmjIdy-XJnuh3U7YjP8T5_MvFzKVFx3Z5108MXvr29inWdQwRv3x-nI/s1600/abyss.png" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to avoid it:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
You sometimes just get a dud. Unless you do your vetting before the trip even
starts, you might be leaving it to chance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Taxi rides and drivers can be a potential source of aggravation on trips. Be prepared to be bold with them. Many of them take advantage of tourists, because most are passive. You can choose your own philosophy, but just remember that taxis are merely a means to an end and don't have to ruin your day or trip. </span></div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-89366438065408548372013-11-15T12:20:00.001-08:002013-11-15T12:20:27.696-08:00How to approach making important career decisions<div style="text-align: justify;">
I read a <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/stop-worrying-about-making-the-right-decision/">blog post</a> earlier today from the Harvard Business Review that takes the position that we shouldn't worry so much about making the right decision, but spending more time and energy ensuring that the decision will turn out well for us after we've already made it. The blog makes that important point and then acknowledges that the decision should be both rational and emotion based. I will add my two cents to the topic and make a few additional points. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I know a bunch of people right now who are in jobs that they are unsatisfied with. As they complain about their jobs, they also mention that they haven't made any effort whatsoever to find a new job. What they, of course, realize (but do nothing about) is that there is a strong correlation between opportunities to change course and our effort to find them. If you don't exert effort to find new opportunities there are unlikely to be any big decisions to make. Giving lip service to a new or better career path isn't enough.</div>
<br />
<strong>Should you care greatly about your first career job?</strong><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the beginning of our careers we have to force the issue and pick a path to pay the bills, which means you have to answer this one question: Would you rather be on a job search longer in search of the perfect job or take an imperfect job that allows you to get by financially and learn a few things that can be built on? Beggars can't be choosers in this economy, particularly if you have no experience. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What if you make the wrong choice and your first job bites? Here's a dirty little secret: <strong><em>almost everybody's first jobs were torturous in some ways.</em></strong> Bottom of the totem pole employees usually end up doing the menial work nobody else wants to do, so your days are likely to be filled with hours and hours of mindless tasks. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1ZqCa4Fqe5a9sDQZEV5EMFY31UCtIkbiLObDZAqGWpnARnrvYe3z4x48kCm3JAruglwzO6TzfLkufb72m75rIOGh6HEi1DWPiJjtv3iy4lAKxP-hdvXCkn0plm4qErNmxBihlIGpuMln/s1600/totem+pole+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1ZqCa4Fqe5a9sDQZEV5EMFY31UCtIkbiLObDZAqGWpnARnrvYe3z4x48kCm3JAruglwzO6TzfLkufb72m75rIOGh6HEi1DWPiJjtv3iy4lAKxP-hdvXCkn0plm4qErNmxBihlIGpuMln/s1600/totem+pole+2.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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It's not all bad though. To provide some context, my first 9-6 job wasn't particularly great. My budget was barely manageable based on a meager salary level, I made a lot of mistakes in my work product, and had a lot of menial tasks to perform. Despite the drawbacks, I learned a lot about professionalism, new skills were developed, and I learned to navigate office dynamics. All of the growing pains from my 13 months at that job make me a stronger employee even today in my current job. There is value in getting your feet wet even if the job is ultimately unrelated to your long-term ambitions and you have mostly busy work on your plate.</div>
<br />
<strong>What if I miss my calling in life?</strong><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are a lot of very religious people in my network who have the added stress of believing that the work they do or career they choose will either help them fufill the purpose of their existence or they will miss the mark completely. That is a ton of stress to think that your existence hinges on picking the right career! I don't agree at all with this conclusion. All but a few people will work in jobs with very little relevance to the grand scheme of things. There are some exceptions, but not many people are lucky or talented enough to change the world dramatically because of their life's work. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A particularly good <a href="http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1900">speech</a> with a ton of great advice was given in 2010 on this topic at my alma mater. The speaker opined that if we make good life choices about amplifying the gifts and talents we have through various jobs in our early career, we will gradually and unintentionally be lead to a fulfilling profession that leverages our strengths. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTY_M6XYbeY4vw-PWIkFY-baDr1IKh_uqzPE9rRxObQFSvKvZlBnmfMnCzxTeHLPmtzkGhIRkrsL7gi9shYU9KLwkgFpI2SJhyCEAPZEIduVhOJZ8lpqHc6FYwn-y20zdl-cXcnZJVFpQ/s1600/conan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTY_M6XYbeY4vw-PWIkFY-baDr1IKh_uqzPE9rRxObQFSvKvZlBnmfMnCzxTeHLPmtzkGhIRkrsL7gi9shYU9KLwkgFpI2SJhyCEAPZEIduVhOJZ8lpqHc6FYwn-y20zdl-cXcnZJVFpQ/s1600/conan.png" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
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One of my <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/04/4-keys-to-preparing-for-unknown-future.html">earliest blog posts</a> mentioned the commencement speeches of Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien wherein they stated that they could not have predicted where they would end up in their careers. They both improvised and reinvented their visions of the future as they went along. The key was that they both worked hard for years and years, which eventually put them in a position to take advantage of jobs that didn't exist when they first started their careers. </div>
<br />
<strong>What if I run into a mulligan scenario?</strong><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As we get further along in our careers and our resumes become stronger and stronger, there will likely be opportunities to switch to new jobs. It's certainly possible that you'll eventually get lured into a job with more pay/benefits, but where you are simply a bad fit (personality clash with co-workers or the boss, long hours, assigned work is not what you signed up for, etc.). No matter how much homework you do in advance on a specific company, "bad fits" do happen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2Mx0A0IAYOYg8hi6s00V0vUT1pJjBr9zaU6vgU1CNz__yse1KHHy-ZNG1o8eDb_kT-PKcd-vk37PZzh8MCU35KH_36MTUiExfCDgI0Qkv37LLE3LurVcAX-hWdrm3Oc-v2FWGIbTHaZp/s1600/mulligan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2Mx0A0IAYOYg8hi6s00V0vUT1pJjBr9zaU6vgU1CNz__yse1KHHy-ZNG1o8eDb_kT-PKcd-vk37PZzh8MCU35KH_36MTUiExfCDgI0Qkv37LLE3LurVcAX-hWdrm3Oc-v2FWGIbTHaZp/s1600/mulligan.png" height="320" width="229" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What will that do to your resume if you are with a company for 6 months or less? That depends on your career work history. If you've switched jobs 3 times in 3 years, that will be hard to explain away. Companies don't like to invest in job hoppers. On the other hand, if you've worked at your previous company for 3+ years, it will be much easier to explain a mulligan to the next employer who interviews you. </div>
<br />
<strong>Making the "Best" Choice?</strong><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The blog post I mentioned in the opening paragraph makes the point that it's somewhat impossible to know what the best choice is if we are weighing multiple options. I agree with the author that we definitely don't have a time machine to move forward in time choosing each option and seeing where it takes us. We have to make a judgment call weighing the pros and cons and picking the one that we think will lead us to the best outcome. We do this by envisioning life if we choose each option and see how we feel about each of those scenarios. It's still somewhat of a guessing game, because there just isn't enough information usually to accurately assess future situations.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Among my religious friends, the general pattern for making a decision is as follows: 1) do your homework, 2) make a decision, 3) pray for divine guidance whether it's the right choice, and 4) wait for an answer that the decision resonates with the heart, mind and spirit of the person making the decision. The last one is sometimes the hardest step, but seems to agree with the aforementioned blog post about paying attention to both how you feel and the logical reasoning. The third step seems to be the biggest difference. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Conclusion</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No matter what your methodology is to determining your career path, you need to find job opportunities and make decisions to move forward. Don't worry if your early career jobs aren't very fulfilling, because it may just be a slow build up to something bigger in the future. We all have to start somewhere. </div>
<br />
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</div>
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</div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-4244619936468882582013-11-11T18:05:00.001-08:002013-11-11T18:12:57.475-08:00Recommendations for first time home buyers<div style="text-align: justify;">
One
survey I read recently considers buying a house more stressful than having a
child and switching jobs and nearly on par with getting married or divorced.
Why is everybody so stressed? It's primarily because there are really a lot of
factors to think about and missing one important detail can set you back
financially at a considerable level. Even very sophisticated buyers are
susceptible to making mistakes. Nonetheless, there are a few recommendations
you should consider before buying that might save your bacon.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do a “rent versus buy”analysis</b> – The
first step in determining whether buying a house is in your best interest is to
compare the alternative of renting. This means getting out a spreadsheet that
calculates and compares your future house payment including principal,
interest, insurance, and property taxes against your rental payments. You’ll
also want to determine the amount of the mortgage loan interest deduction that
you’ll be able to take on your federal and state income taxes. If your overall
tax liability each year is low based on your income level and other deductions,
the mortgage interest deduction may do absolutely nothing to save you money. <o:p></o:p></div>
Once you
know your after tax house payment, compare it against your current rental
payment. You should be able to connect the dots from there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZS0CCJd1irt3BpGLn146WxVQVWptVHZjyEwzlkgd3KJcwosA79LBauiziB7EwEnhINiE3l5Y7FCHpeR_rrHQrs9vxobiXAT9bRQFWaViK63k1VptrjHWiWUeo9WkBuQ7No6iweIH0OHu/s1600/rent+v+buy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZS0CCJd1irt3BpGLn146WxVQVWptVHZjyEwzlkgd3KJcwosA79LBauiziB7EwEnhINiE3l5Y7FCHpeR_rrHQrs9vxobiXAT9bRQFWaViK63k1VptrjHWiWUeo9WkBuQ7No6iweIH0OHu/s1600/rent+v+buy.png" height="288" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tip:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
If the compared rental payment and house payment are about the same, you’ll
need to consider other factors like flexibility. If you decide to move within a
couple years of moving in, you may have to eat five figures in transaction costs to
sell your house. If you plan to stay for a couple decades and have a stable job,
then the comparable rental rates are less relevant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Does the house profile
as a good rental property?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> If you’ve completed the analysis
of whether buying the house is cheaper than renting, you may want to determine whether
the house can be converted into a solid rental property. This can be particularly useful if you leave abruptly for a
new job, get married or just need a change of scenery. Since nobody can predict
where the real estate market will be in a year, you will want to have the
fallback option of renting your house out in case the market is down when you
want to sell. If your house would bring in a positive cash flow if you rented
it out, the worst case scenario of buying is mitigated somewhat. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">See if you qualify for
a loan</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – It doesn’t make sense to go house shopping if you
can’t qualify for a loan to buy one. You’ll need to have enough money for a
down payment and have a verified income. I’d visit with a mortgage broker to
learn your options rather than just applying through a bank. If you’ve never
bought a house before, it may make sense to learn the qualifications to buy a
couple years before your purchase so you can save the money to be qualified. Not all homes are
move-in ready, which means you may want to do some painting, carpet work, and
other minor repairs before moving in. Furnishings and improvements should also be considered.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMpCFOJcX-Oob_6A-hNMN-lvafwOORaOKeSJPTXnF0n92NAU-2q5_LsanKjI-959jBv1dDoVRzoYfd4UK5kdR1pWfmM2X93mAi8kzkpG1mPYN68Xs6Wriso3rUt_9uzCdh9a_iC04U9xR/s1600/broker.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMpCFOJcX-Oob_6A-hNMN-lvafwOORaOKeSJPTXnF0n92NAU-2q5_LsanKjI-959jBv1dDoVRzoYfd4UK5kdR1pWfmM2X93mAi8kzkpG1mPYN68Xs6Wriso3rUt_9uzCdh9a_iC04U9xR/s1600/broker.png" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tip:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Be careful about dealing with mortgage brokers. The barriers are really low to
become qualified to become a mortgage broker and they are in a very cyclical
industry, so some brokers don’t know what they’re doing while others are just
plain dishonest particularly when business is slow. They only get
paid if you commit to a loan, so they may tell you what you want to hear rather
than the truth. Beware of inept and/or dishonest brokers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Buy a house within your
means as you define it and not what you can qualify – </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
biggest takeaway from 2005-06 real estate bubble was that some lenders are off
their rocker. Some lenders gambled that borrowers would hit the
lottery, because they lent money foolishly to borrowers who with almost no
ability to repay the loan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just because
a bank will give you the money to buy a house doesn’t mean you should take it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s your life and you should be prudent about
not becoming house poor (the payment on your house is so big that you can’t
afford anything else) or signing your name on a promissory note that you have
no hope of repaying based on your current income. There are endless amounts of nightmare
stories of people who can attest to not letting the lenders dictate the house
they buy. You also shouldn’t bank on future raises and two incomes to qualify
for your house. The Dodd-Frank Act phasing in next year might negate some of the worry about lenders offering loans to mediocre buyers.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Be prepared to ride out
market fluctuations</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Even though home price appreciation can be aggressive in certain area, nobody should be buying a house primarily
due to that reason. This was the biggest mistake people made in the market
bubble in 2005-06. They saw the market skyrocketing, so they jumped on bandwagon
near the top. While some people jumped off and made out like bandits, the
majority of homeowners ended up really far underwater i.e. their house was
worth a lot less than what they could sell it for. Buy a house at a level that
you can afford and be prepared to not care much about market fluctuations over
the life of your loan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoJHcRR2Vs5E0GGlu5AbLoPRHuqz-Q8JtDnEnhU-qtK2AOVJ8E7MZdWhkXiUGImiD0pMKllxkT-9iU6W1WFDv9e0K4tGsyXorNZAxmi_caS3WsvGopV7fE0HwNlNGElrl1V7i3CCSQnEr/s1600/vegas+chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoJHcRR2Vs5E0GGlu5AbLoPRHuqz-Q8JtDnEnhU-qtK2AOVJ8E7MZdWhkXiUGImiD0pMKllxkT-9iU6W1WFDv9e0K4tGsyXorNZAxmi_caS3WsvGopV7fE0HwNlNGElrl1V7i3CCSQnEr/s1600/vegas+chart.png" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Buy when the market is
down</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– There are a lot of people in my network who bought their first house in the
last ten years. Depending on who you talk to, it was either a really great
decision or a really poor decision. The ones who bought in 2004-09 in
rollercoaster markets usually regretted it, but the ones who bought before then
or after then usually did well. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On your first house, you should be
taking a conservative approach to buying real estate. This may take some patience, but it will
be worth it. Just remember that it’s a bad business risk to try and buy when
the market is clearly up and hope that you can sell before the music stops. Don’t
do that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Avoid HOAs in most
cases</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – There is one uncertainty about buying a house in
an HOA community: you don’t know whether the HOA fees will skyrocket. If
your idea is to buy the house to live in during retirement, you want to reduce
holding costs to a minimum. In communities that are more established and the
HOA fees have been stable, it’s less of a risk. However, your house will always
be more attractive to more buyers without an HOA fee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Should singles buy?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
Absolutely. If singles can afford to buy, it will always be a positive to own a house as long as it isn't underwater. If the house is underwater, you’d have to either sell at a loss, take a negative cash flow by
converting the house into a rental property or take a bowling ball to your
credit score through a short sale or foreclosure. On the other hand, having a good rental property is a great vehicle for retirement if the single decides to marry.</span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Other factors to
consider:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Spend
extra on the inspection to ensure that you aren’t buying a money pit. You don't want any surprises after you pay for the house and are the new owner.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnAHh3_3_zSrPjkxX_VyovZ3kMRZ4vAvadTgwJBalhzNblqBczhJLheY5scU1fO3NAq4qf5AXlQmyIYTRgXclx3uNSgYhzJzRjotBE3vcNVLrUsAw5Vl2HecNkE90vIXd5-b_xCk4A9ro/s1600/money+pit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnAHh3_3_zSrPjkxX_VyovZ3kMRZ4vAvadTgwJBalhzNblqBczhJLheY5scU1fO3NAq4qf5AXlQmyIYTRgXclx3uNSgYhzJzRjotBE3vcNVLrUsAw5Vl2HecNkE90vIXd5-b_xCk4A9ro/s1600/money+pit.png" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Consider
your target market when you want to sell. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Low end houses are the easiest to sell, but
going too small can limit your market. Very few buyers are interested in a 1
bedroom and 1 bathroom model. Likewise, very large high end homes only draw a
limited market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Be
prepared to walk away from any house you offer on. Some people get fixated on a
single house and are willing to overpay to get it. Although it’s good to have a
strong interest in buying your first house, it’s still a business transaction.
Be prepared to walk away if the monetary terms aren’t justified by the
surrounding market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Taking
your time to read through all the paperwork of the transaction will help you
have a better peace of mind about the terms of your transaction rather than
relying on others highly interested in the commission (mortgage broker/ real
estate agent) to tell you terms that don’t exist in your contract. The
contracts you sign dictate the deal, not the conversations before it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do
your homework on your real estate agent and mortgage broker. Their reputations
and track record can either be an asset or a liability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">• </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Schools
matter to most people even if they don’t to you. Being a bad school district
can limit the market to sell your house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Conclusion</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– Buying a house for the first time is a major life event. The house will be
your place of abode and where you’ll live your life for the foreseeable future.
You should care deeply about the outcome. Your effort and level of due
diligence should correspond to your interest in the outcome. If you do your
homework and give consideration to the recommendations in this post, the transaction
may turn out even better than expected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-53918826623280535462013-11-05T18:10:00.000-08:002013-11-05T18:10:29.204-08:00The 9 categories of men who are postponing marriage <div style="text-align: justify;">
Before I
jump into this topic, I will provide the caveat that this was covered by
request. The person who requested this topic wanted to know why so many men are
postponing the marriage decision. While I am no expert, I have observed some
general trends relating to my own demographic. Most single men will probably
fall into one or more of the 9 categories below:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b></b> <b>1)
The“scaredy” man </b>– According to a survey done at my alma mater, the far and
away #1 reason for marriage postponement was “the fear of making a mistake.”
Singles (both men and women) are out there scared to death of marriage. The
only safe approach is to run away from marriage all together. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some of
the rest of the remaining categories in this post are drivers of either the fear of marriage or dating. It's not an easy decision to put yourself out
there on the chopping block particularly if you've had your heart broken multiple
times. Even more difficult is to make the decision that will have a ripple
effect on the rest of your life particularly if you make the wrong choice i.e.
to get married. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvpiYj2IktVmcccRm0eyaT0Y-YtI96PqULUxhltpX9jMPETz_1550prCnQuEZ39vjnIOXcIKTjHe6ygWLrFrefcdrPM2zvVnKZxfomiW3nThknxJVjR_VLnEpbBg7x4NO2MQGC7BdMWTX/s1600/running+away.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvpiYj2IktVmcccRm0eyaT0Y-YtI96PqULUxhltpX9jMPETz_1550prCnQuEZ39vjnIOXcIKTjHe6ygWLrFrefcdrPM2zvVnKZxfomiW3nThknxJVjR_VLnEpbBg7x4NO2MQGC7BdMWTX/s1600/running+away.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<strong>Recommendation:
</strong>While it’s true that many marriages end up failing, there is no true
growth while remaining stagnant in the single life. There is also no way to take away all the risks
associated with getting married no matter how perfect a person you meet. The
only things you can control are becoming the best you can be and not being
foolish about ignoring the red flags of your future spouse. In the end, it’s
really a “leap of faith” to make the marriage decision submitting yourself to your spouse's agency. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<strong>2)
The“exhausted” man </strong>– In most of life’s endeavors, there is a correlation
between effort and success. The harder you try the more success you find. That
principle doesn’t necessarily apply in the dating world. In fact, trying too
hard can be a detriment. <o:p></o:p></div>
Men
sometimes come out of the proverbial gate enthusiastic and optimistic about
dating, but over time as their relationships fall apart time and time again,
these emotions get replaced by frustration and pessimism. Rather than subject
themselves to more rejection, awkwardness, and humiliation, they’d rather sit
on the sidelines where it is safe. I will quote Dr. Judith Sills on
this topic:<o:p></o:p><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Singles over the age of twenty five must often cope
with the long-term scars left by painful romantic experiences...After a series of connections that somehow fail to come to fruition, people
often feel a sense of personal failure, that whatever went wrong is their
fault. And often, their response is to withdraw. They give up the attempt,
retreating to their apartments, spending time in the safe world of close
friends, diving into their work. They give up because the whole courtship
ritual is too painful, too humiliating, too frustrating. </blockquote>
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxCc25nbIwtSDqXppOvXd9SC0WnMwTTosMw7NV6jpr72V-7-cepCOgL9uFpeegGtPmTgiVnA-zc4h7XLbWZRmz1CPcCe6cyoww4Q1Vs0-zkE6sVdvKWR5qOpvO_-ReCUgl6OJsy8HlWXM/s1600/working+late.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxCc25nbIwtSDqXppOvXd9SC0WnMwTTosMw7NV6jpr72V-7-cepCOgL9uFpeegGtPmTgiVnA-zc4h7XLbWZRmz1CPcCe6cyoww4Q1Vs0-zkE6sVdvKWR5qOpvO_-ReCUgl6OJsy8HlWXM/s1600/working+late.png" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span><strong>Recommendation:
</strong>The sidelines are a nice, quiet, and safe
environment to be, but </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">the end result
of sitting out is very predictable, namely a lifetime of remaining single.
Thus, it really comes down to making a choice between the 100% certainty of
remaining single by sitting on the sidelines or making an attempt to date,
exposing yourself to rejection, failure, awkwardness and frustration, but
possibly finding a suitable marriage opportunity that changes your life
forever. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>3) The
“unwanted” men </strong>–Some men are largely unwanted by
females, due to being some combination of physically unattractive, having an
unattractive personality, being socially inept, or having an inability to
support a family. There are hundreds of reasons why a man isn't dating or
marriage material. Some women can’t put into words why they like a particular
guy. A guy either has “it” or he doesn’t. “It” appears to be the total package
of what she is looking for. She likes the guy if he has “it.”If she doesn’t
think the guy has “it,” there could be a variety of reasons why.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4Z6ZRv5NNrPKNortpzvFA1Y94jPGEumi8heYKb1gUNGkEOq4j_P_J2UPJSytWrBIn4UBiiS3Y67NYIpXzvRxfXRSo7SpR9FAmMG6QB3OmdhDhiLLJjDrkVtTgxteZIN84Pf4ow6Ii5yV/s1600/redneck.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4Z6ZRv5NNrPKNortpzvFA1Y94jPGEumi8heYKb1gUNGkEOq4j_P_J2UPJSytWrBIn4UBiiS3Y67NYIpXzvRxfXRSo7SpR9FAmMG6QB3OmdhDhiLLJjDrkVtTgxteZIN84Pf4ow6Ii5yV/s1600/redneck.png" height="320" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> It’s
easy to lose confidence in dating based on too many consecutive rejections
and/or a track record of failure. One of the most well-known older LDS singles,
Sheri Dew, said it this way from a women's perspective: "Whatever it is that
attracts guys. I still haven't figured that out yet. You see all your friends
getting married, every size and shape of friend gets married but you. It internalizes
in you that there must be something defective in you...but at some point you
have to come to terms with who you are in life…"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Recommendation:</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
B</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">eing an unwanted marriage prospect now doesn't make
that your final destiny. Some of the men unwanted by women are actually good
potential husbands, but are eliminated consistently for superficial reasons.
Figure out what those reasons are and fix whatever is within your control.
Sometimes, it just takes an exhaustive search to find the 1 out of 100 that you
have reciprocal feelings of affection for.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>4)</strong> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The “complacent”</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">man</b> – One of my friends had set
himself up rather nicely during his single years. He found a room with free
rent and had a company car at his disposal. His location allowed him to meet
new women on a regular basis. His flexible job easily paid for his expenses
plus allowed for discretionary income. The single life was quite comfortable for him. Other singles travel freely and buy frivilous things. I've
heard countless times from other singles that "I'm happy being
single" as an excuse to stop trying.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hLo4AzFq7nGP4qZP6PMmIn8hp-GFv7MYiaYnL-efd_e3zBMS8ui1xOJ_mnR2unMVnSOUgo3E6d_ryAQGXu0YwEzMK0tqNBFe4y5ODtfT3BN52oYx70wSqnIsD4v7PRTIZyeAN7gT2avF/s1600/complacency.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hLo4AzFq7nGP4qZP6PMmIn8hp-GFv7MYiaYnL-efd_e3zBMS8ui1xOJ_mnR2unMVnSOUgo3E6d_ryAQGXu0YwEzMK0tqNBFe4y5ODtfT3BN52oYx70wSqnIsD4v7PRTIZyeAN7gT2avF/s1600/complacency.png" height="268" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Recommendation:</strong> Despite my friend’s ideal life, he
got married. Why? He wanted to grow up and become happier. Although being young and single can be pretty great, it's less appealing being old and single. And then there's the principle that marriage potentially brings about a higher level of happiness. In fact, Gordon B. Hinckley
said it this way: “<b>there is no greater happiness than </b>is found in the most
meaningful of all human relationships—<b>the companionships of husband and wife
and parents and children</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5) The “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">worldly” man</span></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
– Some men don't want to risk losing 1/2 their assets by getting married
(thereby subjecting themselves to divorce) and find girlfriends that provide
them similar benefits to marriage. They live a selfish life instead. They get
rich, but don’t develop any long-term relationships. They will have their heart set on something like this rather than a life of sacrifice for a future family:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2ihkpbh2Srx09wdEYo6yRL4T8wE0n_tdV_6qoU1kmx6XE7CX_l8Vjgq4yvbs0xiQ8ErbSvyW_10Kts6FhEo2AZJJF6CoH1q9fHvn2-IslLoD1zN6YoTUEP3pGmHFiK3-I5-r-3fitiUL/s1600/lamborghini.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2ihkpbh2Srx09wdEYo6yRL4T8wE0n_tdV_6qoU1kmx6XE7CX_l8Vjgq4yvbs0xiQ8ErbSvyW_10Kts6FhEo2AZJJF6CoH1q9fHvn2-IslLoD1zN6YoTUEP3pGmHFiK3-I5-r-3fitiUL/s1600/lamborghini.png" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Recommendation:</strong> Being single and obtaining wealth is a trajectory that a man can decide to take. He can get the biggest house, the nicest car, and have the most toys, but what kind of life is that really? His friends will someday be playing with their kids and grandkids, while the selfish guy will be by himself in a nursing home. That may be a little harsh and maybe even hyperbolic, but there is some truth to it.</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6) The
“unrealistic” man </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– Many men don’t have a handle on
what they have to offer compared to those they are chasing. This can be a real challenge in the dating scene. If men's expectations exceed reality, it's going to be a debacle most of the time.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifeponj62agYoexLQlQIIrk1k4oIeakDv_Q7fEBHN4Waya5UTcSju5s6r01UAEb8KqKMopENdoTnSIQKl2Qza5MQEGopv99_yjeyhyphenhyphen_EMoG4kRvEroKU5gIN6uTRmJ-UWDHE_F31A8-8D/s1600/reality+check.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifeponj62agYoexLQlQIIrk1k4oIeakDv_Q7fEBHN4Waya5UTcSju5s6r01UAEb8KqKMopENdoTnSIQKl2Qza5MQEGopv99_yjeyhyphenhyphen_EMoG4kRvEroKU5gIN6uTRmJ-UWDHE_F31A8-8D/s1600/reality+check.png" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Recommendation: </strong><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some men
spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about the traits that we want
in a spouse, yet it’s the characteristics that they actually possess that are
going to attract someone that is high caliber. We should
be obsessing about self-improvement over just making a long list of demands
that are unrealistic compared to what we have to offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Most picky people are trying to attract other picky people, so the scrutiny goes both ways. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7) The
eternal “shopper” man </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">– Men in demand struggle to
narrow down their options always believing there is a bigger and better deal
around the corner. This mentality is compounded by being able to get dates online, so even if all the local options dry up they can contact women in other areas. It's tough to force the music to stop when you have an endless stream of dating opportunities. Instead of focusing on moving forward, they eliminate each woman for trivial reasons and play the field endlessly.</span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaJBkaq3LbCE9LUyFS5AvbA9OyfBRX34jR6Uve4VSG-EK2lQ5MFC11uYYGIirOU5SacIr5fBQvSXoN8jNWKqoDdb5yuNTlymr9q4gc4zmDvB95VdBtBsem1XNTUThExX6eRwg40eTXlfu/s1600/single+by+choice.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaJBkaq3LbCE9LUyFS5AvbA9OyfBRX34jR6Uve4VSG-EK2lQ5MFC11uYYGIirOU5SacIr5fBQvSXoN8jNWKqoDdb5yuNTlymr9q4gc4zmDvB95VdBtBsem1XNTUThExX6eRwg40eTXlfu/s1600/single+by+choice.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Recommendation: </strong>It's going to be tough to move forward in a relationship until the day a man decides that the woman he's going to marry will be imperfect. The truth is the bigger, better deal isn't really out there. Once that realization hits, the decision needs to be made to give each woman a legitimate chance and stop eliminating them for trivial reasons.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8) The
non-apparent “issues” man </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– Some men don't think they are
suitable for marriage even though outwardly women want them. This could be a
lack of confidence to support a family, having issues that aren't seen by women
(addictions, health problems, being deep in debt, or having skeletons in their
closet). These issues are going to be a tough sell, so some men just stop trying knowing that eventually the issue will be revealed. These men won't have signs on their foreheads that detail their issues like this guy:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhex08zdttIXJKINuRhZIuJpH5DNJOuoOsZMu1jklHGo5R3ZXusPfBJxWuJRO5T8PS_Vmjp3NEfJ3Wu8EvLtYfLBi3pM1M1URWE10nxeAS6uCqypc0S_HIQpp-S9rJ9bugMX_nigxl4qZJH/s1600/debt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhex08zdttIXJKINuRhZIuJpH5DNJOuoOsZMu1jklHGo5R3ZXusPfBJxWuJRO5T8PS_Vmjp3NEfJ3Wu8EvLtYfLBi3pM1M1URWE10nxeAS6uCqypc0S_HIQpp-S9rJ9bugMX_nigxl4qZJH/s1600/debt.png" height="320" width="236" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Recommendation:</strong> Everybody has issues. Many issues are actually more easily resolved married than while single. Although some issues are really hard to gain acceptance for, we won't know unless we try. It's amazing what people will accept if they enjoy our companionship.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9) The
“no dating skills” man </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">some men don't know how to date effectively. Even if they have a lot to
offer, they can come across poorly and women walk away in droves. There are so many verbal and non-verbal signals that are sent on dates that men need to understand what they are projecting. If they can't confidently sell
themselves, it will be challenging to attract a woman for the long haul.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDvhoN2P7yTBad2exQbNm22PZ_SKRCoHBukQd_RhuSb1rKvWa4gR4JEcH2kvBqIzS-LQsVqRsXxmKBdLfRc-Q6Xi98PYdi8QkTuyrY1jIgPqJAvkqfrnBgxIX4oOm7nQ9HeaMbFLyqAc0/s1600/bad+manners+date.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDvhoN2P7yTBad2exQbNm22PZ_SKRCoHBukQd_RhuSb1rKvWa4gR4JEcH2kvBqIzS-LQsVqRsXxmKBdLfRc-Q6Xi98PYdi8QkTuyrY1jIgPqJAvkqfrnBgxIX4oOm7nQ9HeaMbFLyqAc0/s1600/bad+manners+date.png" height="114" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Recommendation:</strong> Some men get lucky that they ask someone out who overlooks their dating skill deficiencies. Most men, however, should try and learn the basics of manners, etiquette, and conversation. That might push them far enough along to have a legitimate shot at getting into a relationship that could lead to marriage.</div>
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<strong>Conclusion:</strong> The reasons for men postponing marriage are usually complex and multi-faceted. Some of the reasons for postponement may be self inflicted, while other reasons are clearly outside their control. Each man is on a very personal journey, so whatever the reasons for his single status leave him to chart his own course. </div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-29678282672234246002013-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:002013-10-28T17:52:21.298-07:00Tips for traveling on a shoestring budget One of the most common misconceptions about traveling is that it can't be done on a shoestring budget. This blog post will provide tips on how to save money when you plan your next trip. There are 5 basic categories of travel expenses that I'll cover.<br />
<br />
1) <strong>Airfare</strong> - The biggest hurdle to most people booking a flight is the expense of getting from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to go to). For the purpose of this exercise, we're going to assume that I'm looking for a round trip flight from San Francisco to Copenhagen, Denmark. Here are a few tips on minimizing the cost of airfare:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1_UxSuPdrJmq-qEa1q2E8MBOibl_5CrfH53j6F8m8S50CVsqoXcjxkAOE6JeVlV-fvYHnBwY7DHQTyCwIAwGnzCD2Nrj5phuBEpHNkrzh36TCSliQKV0EWroUPCpAbKnB1QAPHygB6-T/s1600/copenhagen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1_UxSuPdrJmq-qEa1q2E8MBOibl_5CrfH53j6F8m8S50CVsqoXcjxkAOE6JeVlV-fvYHnBwY7DHQTyCwIAwGnzCD2Nrj5phuBEpHNkrzh36TCSliQKV0EWroUPCpAbKnB1QAPHygB6-T/s1600/copenhagen.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Don't do that:</strong> <em>Be inflexible with your plans</em>. If you want to take a non-stop flight to your destination during the high season using exact dates, you might find that you pay extra for those conveniences. <strong>Cheapest fare from July 4-13, 2014 (my preferred dates): $1531</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>The just OK route:</strong> <em>Jump on a search engine like kayak.com and book the cheapest flight during a range of dates during the high season</em>. This isn't necessarily a bad approach, it's just that airlines know that their planes will sell out during the high season so there are rarely any super deals. <strong>Cheapest fare in June, 2014: $1188</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Better:</strong> <em>Research the off-peak season for your destination and then patiently wait for a cheap fare</em>. If you are patient and don't mind going in a non-summer month like May or September, you can save several hundred dollars. I check flyertalk.com almost every day to see what deals pop up. Keep in mind that the fringe weather months are where the superdeals are at (October-November and February-March) <strong>Cheapest fare in May, 2014: $785</strong>. <br />
<br />
It may be good to keep an open mind about both destination and timing, because occasionally incredible fares pop up when you least expect it. Here are a few examples of some very good all-inclusive fares I've either booked or seen: <br />
<br />
- Round trip Chicago to Istanbul for $450<br />
- Round trip Philadelphia to Rome for $500<br />
- Round trip San Francisco to Anchorage for $298 <br />
- Round trip San Francisco to Hawaii for $350 <br />
<br />
Keep in mind, the savings may not be worth it if you land in a blizzard. However, there are some places with mild enough winters to make the difference negligible like Hawaii.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Best:</strong> <em>Use frequent flyer miles to book to your destination of choice</em>. <strong>Cheapest Fare in February, 2014: $61 plus 30,000 miles.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
As I wrote in a previous <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-paradox-of-credit-cards.html">post</a>, you don't necessarily need to fly often to collect frequent flyer miles and tickets. Signing up for credit cards and collecting rewards can net you a free round trip ticket to Europe for doing next to nothing. After you look at the award charts of different airlines, you'll see that certain times of year require far less miles than others. Also, be mindful of booking fees since they can vary greatly. My next trip to Spain will cost me 15,000 miles plus the $61 fee, which made it a no-brainer trip.<br />
<br />
<strong>2) Lodging </strong>- When you land at your destination, you need to make a determination about where you are going to sleep. The options can vary from a 7 star hotel like the one seen below or staying with a friend. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KOfrbXmETPOwhFz2P3dltXMe9hhkOPtAGpKRvt53qaGxLSjrxjX8fspG3JVnzbDewnEu76lzbSw6XtIU1bKB16bIXoM_UtMns15CRtTFghy_dWSnMTB2aNY2fhp-KUni9hbCrl_EWlAe/s1600/7star+hotel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KOfrbXmETPOwhFz2P3dltXMe9hhkOPtAGpKRvt53qaGxLSjrxjX8fspG3JVnzbDewnEu76lzbSw6XtIU1bKB16bIXoM_UtMns15CRtTFghy_dWSnMTB2aNY2fhp-KUni9hbCrl_EWlAe/s1600/7star+hotel.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Don't do that: </strong><em>Book upscale hotels right in the heart of where you want to be</em>. Nice hotels in prime locations are going to cost you extra. Not only will you pay the nightly rate, but there is an expectation that you'll tip the staff. Based on my visit to Dubai a couple years back, I was told that the 7 star hotel's (pictured above) cheapest room runs about $500/night. Needless to say, I ended up staying at a $45/night hotel in a suite instead. <br />
<br />
<strong>The just OK route:</strong> <em>Book hotels in sub-prime locations or book a condo</em>. If you don't mind commuting to where you want to be the sub-prime location hotels can save you a lot of money. There are quite a few bed and breakfasts in Europe outside major cities for $30/night or less. Just don't book so far out or in a dangerous area that your day is ruined by the commute or area. Renting a condo is another ok option, because they are usually cheaper than hotels and you don't have to worry about tipping the staff frequently. <br />
<br />
On a side note, my trip to Hawaii in my senior year of college was during the off-peak season (April) and we didn't book any rooms in advance. None of the hotels filled up, so we negotiated better rates walking up than what was available on the internet. It was a hassle, but a money saver.<br />
<br />
<strong>Better:</strong> <em>Stay at hostels</em>. If you prioritize a decent location and don't care about the quality of your accommodations, then go the hostel route. $30/night and less is easier to find at a hostel. Camping is even cheaper if you don't mind it. It's not really my preference, but if it's between not going on the trip and being frugal, I choose frugal. <br />
<br />
<strong>Best:</strong> <em>Stay with a friend</em>. I realize that this isn't always possible, but it certainly provides the most savings if you can swing it. There are also couch surfing programs if you are extremely adventurous.<br />
<br />
<strong>3) Transportation</strong> - All of my vacations have required some sort of transportation from the airport and to the places I want to go. Since you are away from home, you need to decide how you will get around without your personal car.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9UrMg5AIjnM3LHGwUDAScWD2_D7A0R2Rq9ctEjeFnRK60CK3wfTB7ML0Rphyc8NPAcO8-BNfveRORV0Vhjvl0Zw519-NX4Bo9z1dGWVyr0JaBtGyGJuRcAdxPBjwJh030m1WetRbdIBS/s1600/race+taxi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9UrMg5AIjnM3LHGwUDAScWD2_D7A0R2Rq9ctEjeFnRK60CK3wfTB7ML0Rphyc8NPAcO8-BNfveRORV0Vhjvl0Zw519-NX4Bo9z1dGWVyr0JaBtGyGJuRcAdxPBjwJh030m1WetRbdIBS/s1600/race+taxi.png" height="196" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Don't do that: </strong><em>Take a taxi everywhere you want to go</em>. You'll find that taxi drivers aren't universally honest and the chances of driving up your transportation costs is high. I have so many nightmare taxi stories that it's a wonder that I ever take a taxi again.<br />
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<strong>The just OK route:</strong> <em>Hire a tour company to be your driver for the trip</em>. In some lower cost of living countries, this actually is a way to save money and simultaneously have a translator without racking up taxi costs. I think we had a $100/day rate for this service in China for the 4 of us. Split 4 ways, this actually was dirt cheap.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Better:</strong> <em>Rent a car</em>. You can save some money while having 100% time flexibility for your trip. I calculated during my last trip to Italy that taking public transportation would have cost me the same as renting a car. Just make sure you have an upgraded GPS to give you directions and that you book an automatic if you can't drive a stick shift. Automatics are very rare in most countries and a bad GPS can take you places you don't expect.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Best:</strong> <em>Get you friend to show you around and offer to pay their gas</em>. Make sure you are close with your friend before you go before banking on them. Alternatively, stay in one city and use the local public transportation. The moment you go from city to city costs go way up. Surprisingly, in Europe flying may be the cheapest mode of transportation between major cities.<br />
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<strong>4) Food</strong> - Even though you are in another country or state, you still need to eat without a kitchen/refrigerator in most cases. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOaCbCAeQ0bb8oFQWLP3-4F7_4nl5XZf9ofwAe-68NjdjQLZ_aZQ2LegTi1ykBhYRi_CD8XMQyPtoC4pFwVk-Q6CK2vy2izYOKXiJlBiC00Avt_0FMLadcb5gPjfdQUrA8gHqXoBQfpXG/s1600/hotel+restaurant.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOaCbCAeQ0bb8oFQWLP3-4F7_4nl5XZf9ofwAe-68NjdjQLZ_aZQ2LegTi1ykBhYRi_CD8XMQyPtoC4pFwVk-Q6CK2vy2izYOKXiJlBiC00Avt_0FMLadcb5gPjfdQUrA8gHqXoBQfpXG/s1600/hotel+restaurant.png" height="138" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Don't do that:</strong> <em>Eat at the hotel restaurant</em>. After a long day, the easy thing to do is eat at your hotel restaurant because it's right there and they put it on your tab that you can square up when you check out. The problem is that it's almost always going to be more expensive than going out to find a cheaper option. If it looks anything like the restaurant above, be very careful.<br />
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<strong>The just OK route:</strong> <em>Go to restaurants pointed out to you by hotel clerks</em>. It was amazing to me that I was always funneled to restaurants that had the same costs as eating out in the U.S. ($10-$15 a plate) even though we were in a foreign country with a much lower standard of living. The locals working in the tourist industry have reciprocal agreements to send you to spend more money at higher end restaurants, so look at the menu before committing to eat there.<br />
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<strong>Better:</strong> <em>Find restaurants where locals go</em>. Buying food from local vendors on the street or restaurants that don't see many tourists were dramatically less expensive. There might be a language barrier, but you probably will save money.<br />
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<strong>Best:</strong> <em>Buy your food from grocery stores</em>. The cheapest option by far is to get your food from grocery stores and make your own meals. This can be very inconvenient, but you might be able to get by on less than $10/day versus the $30+/day for eating out for every meal.<br />
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<strong>5) Entrance fees</strong> - When you travel a long way, you end up in locations that require entrance fees. You should have already made the decision in advance if you are willing to pay it. Sometimes the fees are completely justified and other times the fees don't match the value of entering.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiueLZYociVU0TQVdy4ylICIZBsbv6zYTrl_T02-81NGEpqFaygL1AQhq2avZhoqn7W5Xdg0FTOISzfWRjo-JXmpDdPCMr-Pz96DPxMkFBWYkW1MM468Nlnece2-kzSzdRVMRGR569YdEe2/s1600/coliseum.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiueLZYociVU0TQVdy4ylICIZBsbv6zYTrl_T02-81NGEpqFaygL1AQhq2avZhoqn7W5Xdg0FTOISzfWRjo-JXmpDdPCMr-Pz96DPxMkFBWYkW1MM468Nlnece2-kzSzdRVMRGR569YdEe2/s1600/coliseum.png" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
<strong>Either Pay the fees or don't:</strong> There are only two options here. Do your homework to determine whether paying the entrance fees are worth it. Paying extra to go inside the Egyptian pyramids are not worth it, but paying the entrance fee to see Machu Picchu is. You don't want to regret making the wrong choice in retrospect.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>Summary</strong></div>
There are literally thousands of money decisions you will make by traveling somewhere away from home. It's really easy to overspend and splurge while out of your comfort zone. Nonetheless, a disciplined traveler can get by on a shoestring budget if they are willing to make a few sacrifices and do their homework. You should follow an experienced traveler on your first trip to get the hang of which decisions lead to costlier paths versus the shoestring budget approach that doesn't require you to pay off credit cards when you get home.derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-69190599225991119232013-10-17T17:45:00.002-07:002013-10-17T17:45:37.564-07:00Fitness mom controversy<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Since this is such a big story this week, I wanted
to weigh in on the Maria Kang controversy. For those of you who don’t know, she
is a mother who posted a picture of herself in her workout gear alongside her
three sons. Inexplicitly, the picture went viral with over 16 million views.
Based on the photo, it’s safe to say that she’s at an elite fitness level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">It's an understatement to say that the reaction to her photo varied greatly. Although I doubt that I was intended to be in her target audience of viewing her photo, I viewed it along with the caption “What’s Your Excuse?" as being trying to motivate others almost like an advertisement to use her as a fitness trainer. The intent of why she posted the photo is more important than the photo itself in this case. Therefore, I viewed the photo in a positive light. There are a lot of inspirational photos with the same caption, so I think her intent was to show that with 3 kids you can still become elite at fitness. Here's a sample of one of those:</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eiD581Sz_PniaGWIXVGM5I-tmcuqBkw3Coty3VGfnAc8xMqXmnf3xhnFEN5DLzBn5KwT5Q0cTbISqZ3-2zcmfJcgu87TUpVWUYRVNNH-iuStqyomy9fu70ul0Ns19AbIEggUi066QC0T/s1600/kang2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eiD581Sz_PniaGWIXVGM5I-tmcuqBkw3Coty3VGfnAc8xMqXmnf3xhnFEN5DLzBn5KwT5Q0cTbISqZ3-2zcmfJcgu87TUpVWUYRVNNH-iuStqyomy9fu70ul0Ns19AbIEggUi066QC0T/s1600/kang2.png" height="242" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The online community didn’t react as positively as me. Instead, she got roughly a 7 to 1 ratio of negative to positive comments. The critics concluded that she is a “bully,” who was shaming women with bodies less fit than hers. She was accused of being a bad mother, called a braggart, and obnoxious. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I don't get the hate for the picture. Maria Kang has reached a pinnacle of success in fitness that can't be attained without some serious self-discipline and hard work while simultaneously balancing her duties as a mother. How can anyone criticize her for exercising elite stewardship over her own body particularly since they don't know anything about how she balances her fitness goals with the rest of her life responsibilities? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Her body is a culmination of thousands of little decisions day after day, week after week, and year after year of exercise and diet. That’s why it’s understandable that she’d be proud of her accomplishment.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I'll concede that Maria's fitness level is unattainable by the vast majority of women. There are genetics and health issues that make being as lean as her impossible even with maximum effort. Nevertheless, we shouldn't be measuring ourselves against Maria Kang in the first place, since she was born with innate gifts that not many people have. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive to reach our potential, whatever level that may be. I can't measure myself athletically against Usain Bolt, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see him reach his potential as a sprinter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGxYGdgJhjTCv9guYaaQMNhaRHpNrL4SpL8tQKT107sNaKjc4wNuUYYXuty1zH9SWk7hwPZfbtvEhZRNtgGbGHZRAG-Finbs7B_-7h5XV_jBLGCz4AWMMHIyJnTsbojDFePy7OuE_2yBx/s1600/bolt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGxYGdgJhjTCv9guYaaQMNhaRHpNrL4SpL8tQKT107sNaKjc4wNuUYYXuty1zH9SWk7hwPZfbtvEhZRNtgGbGHZRAG-Finbs7B_-7h5XV_jBLGCz4AWMMHIyJnTsbojDFePy7OuE_2yBx/s1600/bolt.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So if we aren't Usain Bolt or Maria Kang, then who are we? We are individuals each given stewardship over the innate gifts that we do have. Each of our bodies are unique, so why not just do the best we can to develop good exercise and eating habits aka things that are in our control. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We should not feel inadequate or frustrated because someone is at a higher level than us. </span>What's more important is the amount of effort we exert to maximize the gifts we do have. We are all way too different to compare apples to apples so to speak.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In case you were wondering, Maria did issue a quasi
apology. Of course, the apology spelled out more messages that likely won't
resonate well with her haters. I personally am glad that she wasn't contrite as
follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'm
sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way... What
you interpret is not MY fault. It's Yours.The first step in owning your life,
your body and your destiny is to OWN the thoughts that come out of your own
head... With that said, obesity and those who struggle with health-related
diseases is literally a 'bigger' issue than this photo.</blockquote>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I agree with her that
personal responsibility is undervalued by our country. Many of the people that
were critical of her photo are not exerting even a fraction of the amount of
effort that Maria is. She doesn't watch tv and wakes up at 6 AM to help
facilitate her time spent exercising. Even if she is a bit overzealous in
trying to inspire others, I'll take her attitude over the haters any day of the
week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-9553079184228725102013-09-24T17:29:00.001-07:002013-09-24T17:29:24.967-07:00The lesson learned at Mount Whitney As some of my friends know, I was able to hike Mount Whitney a few weeks ago. Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the lower 48 states culminating at 14,496 feet. Although the trail sounds intimidating, in reality it's less than 1/2 the size of Mount Everest. Nevertheless, based on the length of the hike (22 miles roundtrip) and duration (18 hours at a slow pace) it beat me like a drum. I'm sure I looked something like this guy at the top:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFQKJs1EpdB-LmDJ9AMQ7YDSg30OPb2-TII99edlt47GxQcmhwMQH1V9IPTL-xmWDk4gIcHgsEcBLyPlkRqkUImtw6wgu_f0wUsW0tTiJOSDJJd5FKODDWLukthKOlXvB02uQj51LP4mW/s1600/sequ11550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFQKJs1EpdB-LmDJ9AMQ7YDSg30OPb2-TII99edlt47GxQcmhwMQH1V9IPTL-xmWDk4gIcHgsEcBLyPlkRqkUImtw6wgu_f0wUsW0tTiJOSDJJd5FKODDWLukthKOlXvB02uQj51LP4mW/s1600/sequ11550.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since I like a good challenge, I planned the trip by driving from the bay area 7 hours to the trail head arriving in the 2 AM hour. We prepared and started the hike at around 3 AM. Since I drove the whole way, I was now beginning the hike without sleep! Needless to say, I was a little concerned that I would need a long nap somewhere along the trail.<br />
The trail head was well over 8,000 feet elevation and the trail ascended more than 6,100 feet. It was definitely a climb! My heart rate raced over 150 beats per minute for much of the hike. During the first few hours after the sun rose, I got to a point that my body really was signaling for me to turn around. I was ready to get some sleep and just rest in general. The hike is difficult to replicate at sea level, so I was really far out of my comfort zone. <br />
As I sat on a rock by myself, I considered the effort I had exerted thus far, the goal of the hike to make it to the peak, and the respect I had for my fellow hikers. We had made a pact before the hike that we would not hike alone no matter what, so my turning around meant that one of the hikers would not make it to the top.<br />
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Although I just read this yesterday, <a href="http://www.lds.org/new-era/1978/03/the-miracle-of-personality?lang=eng">these words of wisdom</a> from Sterling Sill would have been very relevant in that moment. "<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">You will reach your objectives only when you
keep them constantly in mind, and <span class="emphasis1"><span style="color: #2f393a;"><em>want, </em></span></span>and have faith in yourself. This is the miracle of
personality. <strong>The greatest fault in human beings is that we underestimate
ourselves</strong>. It’s hard for us to have faith in ourselves... Greatness is not due primarily to heredity, environment, or aptitude. Greatness has come to some men merely because they had great <span class="emphasis">want </span>to succeed."</span><br />
I didn't have those inspirational words in mind at the time and my rational thinking skills were going downhill fast due to my exhaustion. Nonetheless, I decided to keep going just at a little slower pace. I would take one step at a time and if I felt altitude sickness on top of my exhaustion I would turn around with no regrets. Fortunately, I was able to persevere and make it to the top with the encouragement of a well respected fellow hiker. <br />
With Mount Whitney now in the rear view mirror and with no desire to hike it again, I agree with Sterling Sill wholeheartedly that we do underestimate ourselves and that we can be very "average" in most subjective ways and still find a lot of success merely by exerting effort and trying things with an objective in mind. I am often surprised what I can do if I push myself beyond my comfort zone. Here's another favorite quote from Heber J. Grant:<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
I believe unless we have ambition to accomplish things and to do things
that we amount to but very little in the battle of life. I know of nothing at
the present time that seems to me sadder than to find the number of our people
who are losing the spirit of integrity and devotion and ambition to do things.
It seems to me all wrong. Every individual should have a desire to grow and
increase in capacity and in ability to do things. Certainly by mere exertion of
the will, by mere desire, we accomplish nothing. We must put with that desire
the labor to accomplish the things we desire. I am sure that a young man who is
perfectly satisfied with what he is doing, although he may be doing very
little, and has no ambition to do more, will stand still. But I am convinced that
every individual can improve from day to day, from year to year, and have
greater capacity to do things as the years come and the years go. I believe in
that with all my heart. </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
I've always liked this quote, because it places an emphasis on things that each of us can control aka effort and labor. We don't need to be the most talented or the brightest. We just need to have the desire to make the effort and then follow through. Even though hiking Mount Whitney is probably pretty easy for many people, to me it was a big effort where I pushed myself out of my comfort zone making it a psychological "win" for me. <br />
derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-31741151033879258412013-09-09T17:23:00.000-07:002013-09-09T17:23:19.086-07:0017 Tips for Maximizing your Thirties
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This
blog post is dedicated to the thirty somethings. At least for me, my thirties
are basically my twenties with means, life experience, and wisdom. You will
need to adjust your lifestyle to some extent to adapt to a slowing metabolism
and a body that breaks down more often. Personal finance, health, family, and career
are most people’s priorities in this decade. None of my list is going to happen
to you right on your 30<sup>th</sup> birthday. It’s just very likely that in the
next ten years, you’ll have to consider a lot of these issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1) Attack your bucket list items that require youth</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Read through your bucket list and
determine which items are much easier to do when you are young such as hiking
Mount Kilimanjaro or doing the Everest Base Camp Trail. Make these the priority
for this decade. Assuming that you have sufficient means, you’ll be happy that
you saved the physically easier ones for later in life and the more challenging
ones for your thirties.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2) Have kids if you are married</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <strong>and want them</strong> – The consensus among parents is that
raising kids require a lot of energy particularly when they are very young. You
may want to get started when you have the greatest chances of healthy child
births and when you can keep up with them. There is nothing worse than needing
to take timeouts more often than your kids. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3) Keep trying to date if you are single</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Plenty of people will give you the
opposite advice to quit trying as you get older, since it just happens
naturally once you quit trying. While I agree that trying too hard is off
putting, it’s unlikely that sitting at home giving no effort will lead to dating
opportunities. You must put yourself in a position to find dating opportunities
and then have an easy come-easy go attitude as the opportunities either fail or
move forward. Just because you feel like your opportunities are slipping, be
patient instead of marrying for the sake of marrying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4) Counteract a slowing metabolism with more exercise and a
better diet </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– There is
a gradual physiological decline in your thirties wherein you’ll have a greater
susceptibility to diabetes and heart disease. You won’t see any overnight
changes, but your body’s metabolism will slow down. This means that the days of
eating anything you want are over. You can have the same caloric intake of your
twenties, but it won’t burn off nearly as quickly as you get older. You will
need to counteract your metabolism with physical exercise and eating healthier,
unless you don’t mind gaining weight. If you are already at your ideal weight,
you should have no problem maintaining it by adapting to the changes of your
body. This can’t be stressed enough that exercise is HUGE in your thirties! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5) Pick a fight with Father Time</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – As noted in the previous tip, you’ll
face a gradual physiological decline in this decade. This could mean that you
get grey hair, lose hair and/or grow hair in places that you never have before.
It will take longer to recover from workouts. You will be more injury prone. You
can accept these changes or pick a fight with Father Time! There are a lot of
things you can do to look and feel younger. Use sunscreen, dye your hair, avoid
injuries by avoiding risks, etc. If you let Father Time run amok over your
body, you’ll actually look older than your age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6) Ease up on fast food and eat healthier</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – In my mid-twenties at my first
career job, I would use my lunch hour to find a fast food restaurant with the
best dollar menu, so that I only needed to spend ~$2 to finance my lunch. Since
my budget was tight and my metabolism fast, it worked out OK. Now that I’m in my
thirties and I’m at mid-level career job, I can afford to spend more than $2 on
lunch. This is a good thing, since I want to eat healthier. I’ve even shopped
around for an enjoyable salad. For the record, my favorite salad is the
California Pizza Kitchen chopped BBQ chicken salad. Times have changed
regarding our food choices both at restaurants and at the grocery store. We
used to have limited variety and mostly unhealthy eating options. Now there are
a lot of healthy eating options, although most of those foods are at a price
premium. It’s worth it to try and eat healthy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7) Dig into the details of your retirement plan</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Getting to a comfortable amount to
retire off of doesn’t happen by chance. You need to plan decades in advance how
much you will need, your investment vehicle, what you will invest in, and how
long it will take you based on your career trajectory. Since there are always detours
along the way during periods of unemployment, financial hardship, and unpredictable
inflation periods the process will need to be reevaluated time and time again.
There is a great advantage to knowing the intimate details of your plan and
getting a financial advisor to help you maximize the return on your investments.
If you wait until your 40s to get started on your retirement plan, it may mean
working years longer than you anticipated. Contributing to certain retirement
accounts allow you to postpone paying taxes on that proportion of income, which
helps you now and in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8) Don’t leverage yourself to keep up with the Joneses</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – The temptation when you are doing
well at your job is to flaunt your success by buying stuff with credit i.e. buying
a mega house, boats, fancy cars, etc. to impress your peers. This mentality is risky
since you can lose your job at any moment and lose the ability to pay your debts.
Even if you continue to work consistently, you are slowing your momentum to retire
quicker by spending money that could have otherwise been invested and compound
interest accrued. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9) Make it a goal to be out of consumer debt by age 40 </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– This doesn’t mean that you can’t
have student loans, a house payment, or a car payment at age 40. It’s just that
you should have your consumer debt paid off, as well as your long-term debt
payments consolidated at a manageable low interest level. The key is that you
don’t want excessive debt hanging over your head when you should be investing
your money for retirement. Debt payments could slow down your retirement goals
in a dramatic way. Keep the rule of 72 in mind that your money doubles every 10
years if you average a 7.2% rate of return. This is particularly valuable to
have money invested in your early career years to allow for a possibility of
doubling 3 or 4 times before you need it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">10) Finish qualifying for your career</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (if necessary) – If there are
credentials or degrees you need to progress in your career, finish it in your 30s.
Although it’s still possible to go back to school in your 40s and 50s, it’s questionable
whether the investment is worth it that late in life. Employers are less likely
to hire at an entry level and invest in you if you are already supposed to be
in your mid or late career. Taking on the debt and being out of the work force
could make sense in this decade, but definitely try and finish getting
qualified by the time you’re 35. That gives you up to 30 years of time in the
workforce before you reach retirement age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">11) Work hard at your career and become irreplaceable </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– Starting in your career job, you’ll
want to prove your worth by working hard and long hours if necessary, which
will give you job security and a strong reputation for having a strong work
ethic. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have a good work-life balance, but
a good attitude to do the job the right way will help you climb the ladder to
success.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">12) Don’t be afraid to shift career directions </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– It’s not at all uncommon to switch
career paths in today’s market even in midcareer. Many people have done it
successfully. If you are in an industry that is dying or you simply can’t bear
the thought of staying put for 30 years, this is a decade where it’s not always
foolish to take a few risks and try a new path. You may have to take a pay cut
and lose a lot of your direct work experience, but you may find the
psychological advantage of starting anew will extend your career.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">13) Keep your mind active</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Your formal education may be complete by now, but that
doesn’t mean that you should stop getting an informal education. Challenge
yourself mentally by taking on projects that require mental effort. Keep
reading books, writing, and travel the world if your priorities permit. Your
mind dulls without exercise, so keep it actively engaged. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">14) Don’t give up on your dreams: just tweak when necessary </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">– So you didn’t win American Idol
like you planned to. The windows of opportunity may close on things you aspired
to in your teens and twenties, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t build on
what you’ve worked hard for even if leads down a different path than you
envisioned. Also, don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes along the way.
Mistakes are often learning moments that often provide you wisdom that will
benefit you later in life. Aisha Tyson summed it up this way: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Your journey has molded you for your
greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think that you’ve
lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you
to the now, and now is right on time.</blockquote>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">15) Stand for something</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Now that you are an adult, it’s time to stand up for the
principles that you believe in whatever they may be. If you allow the winds of
life and societal trends to shape your philosophy, you won’t recognize who you
will become in the future. “</span><span class="bqquotelink1"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mauricesaa510349.html" title="view quote"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">If you stand for something you will have people for you and people
against you. But if you stand for nothing you will have nobody for you and
nobody against you.</span></a></span></span></span><span class="bqquotelink1"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>16) Everybody is on an individual journey that can’t be adequately
judged by others </strong>– Just because you are going at a slower pace than your peers,
it doesn’t make you a failure. You can go at whatever pace makes you and your
family happy. No matter what anyone else thinks of your path, it is still yours
to choose. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>17) Life is a marathon so pace yourself</strong> – With the advances in medicine, it's very likely that many people will live past 80. This means that your thirties are really in the first half of life and the first third of your adult years. There are certain opportunities that are more easily accomplished in these years than in the golden years, so don't procrastinate. At the same time, life could be long so you don't need to do everything in your 30s. Pace yourself. </span></span></div>
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derblitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11253145504815169996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049546496623538643.post-43501190605450771942013-09-08T19:28:00.001-07:002013-09-08T19:38:59.088-07:0017 Tips for Maximizing your Twenties<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This
blog post is dedicated to the twenty somethings. It's not easy to transition into adulthood with limited life experience and life skills. These are the things I wish I
had known and the advice I’d give to the younger generation leaving home for the first time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1) <b>Listen
to your parents...sometimes. </b>I know that this is a major philosophical shift
from your teenage years, but as you matriculate into adulthood you might
remember that there is a source of information available to you that has
decades of experience being an adult and who are overly
anxious to help you resolve life dilemmas according to the philosophy you were raised with.
The beauty about being an adult away from home is that you get to veto whatever
advice doesn't resonate with you without repercussion. Nonetheless,
you might find that your parents actually have wisdom and
experience potentially useful to you if you heed their advice sometimes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2) <b>Date
even if you aren't ready for marriage.</b> It may seem counter intuitive to
date for fun, but there are a lot of benefits to gaining experience as a dater. Dating allows you to develop "dating skills" that will eventually be useful to you when you want to find someone to marry. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For most people, there will never be a time when the demand to be with you is greater than when you are young. It's true that you may have very little to offer a marriage particularly in your early 20s, but don't underestimate the appeal of youth and companionship in the dating market.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3) <strong>Recognize
that turning 30 is not the end of an era. </strong>A lot of twenty somethings see age 30 as some barrier when life goals must be accomplished by. Keep in mind that t<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">urning 30 is merely psychological. There is no sudden physiological decline or any consequences for being a work in progress. In reality, you are
in the prime of your life with a myriad of opportunities that you didn't have
in your 20s because you probably have more means and life experience. There is life after 30.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4)<b>Take
care of your body. </b>During your twenties, you'll want to shape how you want your
body to look and feel the rest of your life. It's much easier to maintain your
body in its ideal form than to try and get in shape after your metabolism comes to a screeching halt. Did I mention
that your long-term health depends on how well you treat your body and that
your dating life depends on being in shape? It only gets harder to get in shape when you get older, so get in shape now and maintain it!</span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5) <b>Learn
to cook.</b> You are probably going to eat at least 3 times a day for the rest
of your life. Cooking allows you to eat healthy and to save tons of money. If
you want to legitimately take care of your body, nutrition is a very important
element. My first year away from home I ate only what I could afford and cook,
which happened to be a lot of ramen noodles. The consequence was that I was
malnourished and lethargic resulting in a mild case of anemia. I burned a lot of meals, but eventually my trial and error approach paid off into healthy cooked meals because I already went through a mistake prone era of burnt foods like below. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6) <b>Learn
the value of money and the power of compound interest.</b> All of our lives are
affected by money. You can either learn money lessons the hard way or you can
get an education in personal finance. Have you ever tried paying off credit
cards at over 20% interest while making $8/hour? I have. It’s not particularly
cost effective and you become a slave to your debt just to keep up. Learning
about the power of compound interest will help you decide to avoid excessive
debt and get your investments rolling early.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7) <b>Be
prudent about where you choose to attend college.</b> There is a ridiculous
disparity in tuition rates across the country. The thing is many of the degrees
with expensive tuitions lead to basically the same value of degree among
employers as cheaper tuition schools. Want an
example? The $6K that University of Florida students pay per year gets you a
similar education as the $40K/year in tuition at the University of Denver. This
isn’t a knock on the University of Denver. It is a very good school.. The issue is that after 4 years, a student at
each school will have dropped either $160K in tuition or merely $24K with no distinct advantage to having either degree. The bottom line is that there are
bargain basement tuition rates at top notch schools. Unless you've got funds to
burn or a scholarship, go after a bargain undergraduate education at a high quality university. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8) <b>Take
a semester or year off in college to travel the world.</b> This is actually my
biggest regret in college that I didn't go explore the world. Granted I did
take 2 years off to serve a church mission to Germany and then a post-mission
trip to a few other countries. Nonetheless, I wish that I had backpacked Europe
or southeast Asia. I'll let you in on a secret that travelling doesn't have to
be expensive for those that plan well. I flew to Rome at $500 roundtrip and
then negotiated cheap hotel rates because it was the off-peak season. Stay in
hostels, camp, or B&Bs in the suburbs. You'd be shocked at how little money
you actually need if you plan well. There are countries notorious (i.e.
Thailand, Vietnam, etc.) for being cheap to travel through, so there are vacations to be had
for less money than you think. Even airfare can be had by taking advantage of
signup bonuses on airline credit cards or study a semester abroad to allow tuition to cover your travel. A whole world is open to be explored if you get creative
with ways to finance your trips.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9) <b>Don’t
worry about finding yourself. </b>A lot of twenty somethings experiment in the
name of finding themselves. I encourage you to try new things, but not if the
experiment leads to bad habits. This quote from George Bernard Shaw sums up a
better approach that allows you to determine the person you become</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Life isn’t about finding
yourself. Life is about creating yourself. Don’t worry about searching for who
you are; focus your energies on creating the kind of person you want to be! You
will discover that as you pursue that journey you will not only find yourself,
but chances are you will be pleasantly surprised and proud of the person you
find along the way.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">10) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Value your time. </span></strong>Over
the course of a lifetime, there isn't any time period more valuable than when
you are young and energetic, have complete flexibility with your time, and are
shaping the life habits and philsophies that will ultimately determine how your
life will evolve. If you waste all your time, you may not like the quality of
your future opportunities. However, if you spend time being constructive and
investing in your future, it may lead to bigger and better opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">11) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Develop great skills.</span></strong> As Meg
Jay mentioned in her <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20.html">TED talk</a> about not wasting your twenties, you should be
investing your "identity capital" in skills that actually help you in
the future. The more time you spend spinning your wheels in jobs that don't
challenge you to grow, the less progress you'll make in your career. My last
job in my 20s taught me how to be a professional (communication, attire, manners,
etc.). Those skills helped me significantly when I landed a job that I
leveraged into my current job. Plus, girls dig great skills:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">12)<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Don't wait for the stars to align to
move forward with life.</span></strong> I realize that the economy sucks and
that you may have overburdened yourself with debt while not knowing what to do
with your life, but that doesn't mean you should postpone marriage, children, or moving to Europe until the stars align. Have a little faith that things will be OK in
the long run if you are diligent. Here's a quote from Timothy Ferriss:</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
For all of the most
important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your
job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all
be green at the same time. The universe doesn't conspire against you, but it
doesn't go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never
perfect. "Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the
grave with you...</blockquote>
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">13) <strong>Believe in yourself
because nobody else will.</strong> I blogged about this topic before <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/04/dont-stop-believing-in-yourself.html">here</a>. As David Haight used to say "You must
believe in yourself. Don’t give in when the going is rough, for you are laying
the foundation of a great work, and that great work is your life.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> We must believe that we have some purpose and vision in our
future. We can be positioning ourselves now to accomplish big things. It
doesn't matter if others don't understand what we are doing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">14) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Face adversity head on.</span></strong>
The interesting thing about being in your 20s is that we all have to pay our dues to get good at anything or to find opportunities where you are competing for a spot. You will get frustrated at times with feeling
undervalued compared to what you know you are capable of, but you need to press
on. Your Everybody faces adversity on some level.
You may have family or health issues. We can't let adversity become an excuse
for not trying and moving forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">15) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Get out of your comfort zone and take
risks.</span></strong> The best time to take risks is in your 20s. If you lose
everything you own, you have 30+ years in your career to rebuild. You can move
to Europe or start a business. Most importantly, leave your parents house and
learn to live on your own. If you don't challenge yourself, you will become
stagnant.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdxHjWfq4lvDogchqJ4zkl7Rbt5L4nYL42BdHKiXECL8bD_oFq1x23XNR05v67lg8HKt887EY0BqtTFC97xM3AaH6kLlmwYh0PnXgG3zE7CpVPgFSvqEzqi4eiMuwJms8xGanzOm4Nc7N/s1600/take-risks-live-life_mini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdxHjWfq4lvDogchqJ4zkl7Rbt5L4nYL42BdHKiXECL8bD_oFq1x23XNR05v67lg8HKt887EY0BqtTFC97xM3AaH6kLlmwYh0PnXgG3zE7CpVPgFSvqEzqi4eiMuwJms8xGanzOm4Nc7N/s1600/take-risks-live-life_mini.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">16) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Develop good habits. </span></strong>The
general rule of thumb is that a person has their life habits mostly formed by
age 25. While it's not impossible to add good habits after you turn 25, it's
much easier to develop good habits in your youth. It's also equally easy to
develop bad habits in your 20s and never be able to kick them in your lifetime.
Avoid trying things that could lead to bad habits that will hold you back from
living the life you want. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">17) <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Don't be an idiot.</span></strong> This is my final very important tip. I
will refer you here if you don't remember the rule that <a href="http://natewritesit.blogspot.com/2013/04/4-keys-to-preparing-for-unknown-future.html"><span style="color: blue;">Dwight
Schrute</span></a> set forth. The bottom line is don't ruin your life and future based
on fleeting moment of stupidity. You can have fun without risking your future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Remember that we are all on individual journeys. At the
end of the day, it's your life and your stewardship. Enjoy your twenties and invest your time well to get dividends for the rest of your life!</span></div>
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