Demolish your Obstacles...

Today I wanted to talk about obstacles.  First of all what is an obstacle?  Webster defines it as “something that impedes progress or achievement.”  Obstacles can come in many forms such as fear, embarrassment, lack of education, born on the wrong side of the tracks, lack of time, lack of energy and many other forms.  Many of us that are faced with these obstacles deem them as too hard to overcome so we stop striving for what we want to accomplish.  The problem is most of these obstacles aren’t real.  They are conceived in our minds as a hindrance to getting what we want to get.  Take fear for example.  What is fear?  Fear can manifest itself in many forms such as fear of failure, fear of embarrassment and even fear of success.  Unfortunately, many of these perceived fears stop us in our tracks.  The key to moving forward is we have to take on these obstacles one at a time.  Is it easy?  Not usually, but there is nothing sweeter than having overcome a roadblock on your highway to success.  A great way to tackle these obstacles is to ask yourself, “what is the worst thing that can happen if I confront what’s in my way?”  For most of us the worst case scenario isn’t usually that bad.  Even if your goal seems too hard to reach it’s always easier to achieve if we break our plan down into smaller steps.

For example, if you decide you want to become debt free it just doesn’t happen over night, unless you win the lottery of course but for most of us that’s not going to happen.  Write down the steps you need to take to reach this goal.  Maybe you contact a financial professional to help you get started.  But first you must overcome your fear of embarrassment or your fear of being judged and make the call and so on.  One step at a time will get you to your goal and you will blow through those obstacles quicker than you can imagine.  Are you ready to take that first step?  It makes cents to me.

Live, Love and Prosper..

Our time on this big blue planet is far too short for most of us.  So what can we do to make this life, our life, a journey to be remembered?  I have a few principles that I try to live myself, although they can certainly be challenging at times never the less it’s a good set of rules to aspire to.

Experiences are more important than money.  When we are old and feeble what are the treasures we will look back at and remember fondly?  Is it that new car we spent a year’s salary on or is it the special time we spent with our children and grand children.  That family trip to Disney or those walks on the beach.  Get your priorities right.  It doesn’t matter what other people think.  Exactly!  It doesn’t.  You need to live your life like no one is watching.  How many times have we not done something because we were afraid of what others might think?  I would assume, too many.  Never be afraid to ask for help.  Part of learning and growing is using the ability to ask for help.  I know we think it shows a sign of weakness by asking for help but actually it really shows courage to stand up and say “help”.  Life is too short to worry about money.  Yes, it is.  And anyway, worrying does nothing more than makes us sick and irritable and does nothing to help us.  Evaluate your situation and make a plan, don’t worry, act!  Always follow through on your commitments.  Not only promises you have made to others but to yourself as well.  Too many times I have seen people neglecting promises they have made to themselves to help others.  That is noble, but we have to honour ourselves as well.  Lastly, have fun, laugh, smile, and treat every precious day as if it may be your last.  Don’t put off calling a friend or family member till tomorrow, do it today.  Don’t leave any unfinished business you’ll regret.  Remember our time is short here, so live every day with life, love, vigour and no regrets!  It makes cents to me.

Your Money Tree

I want you to close your eyes (but, not for long or you won’t be able to read my column) and imagine what life would be like if you had a money tree that grew in your back yard.  Any time you needed to buy something you could just go out and pick a few bills off the branches.  Now if this was true, how would you take care of it?  I know I would water it everyday, I would put up a fence around it to keep out harmful risks, I would make sure the soil was full of nutrients, I would prune it in order to maximize the amount of fruit, or money in this case, that it would bear and I would do everything in my power to protect it from disease, death or harmful parasites.

You may think this is a joke but in fact we all have a money tree. It called “You”.  Over your lifetime you will continue to bear fruit (Money) by working.  Now you just said if you had a money tree you would take very good care of it.  You would do anything it takes to ensure it continues to bear fruit or Money in this case.  Are you doing that with yourself?  Are you eating right, exercising, pruning, protecting…??

What happens if you are sick or injured or even die?  What do you think happens to your fruit?  It stops coming in…doesn’t it?  Unless you have taken the proper steps to protect yourself against the risk of death, illness or injury you will have a fruitless tree.  There are many ways to protect yourself against these risks.  First, take care of yourself, eat properly, exercise and put a good financial plan in place that can protect you and your family in case you stop bearing fruit.  There are many products on the market today such as life insurance, disability insurance and critical illness insurance that could be put into place at a very reasonable cost when compared to the alternative.  A dead or debilitated tree!

Remember at the start, how you felt when you imagined what it would be like to have a money tree and how you would nurture and take care of it?  Well, you do and it’s time for you to do everything in your power to protect, nurture and prolong the life of your money tree.  If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your family and anyone else who relies on the fruit from your money tree.  It Makes cents to me!