Posts Tagged ‘ preparation ’

A View From the Economic Cliff

By Kevin M

I don’t normally write much on economics, largely because I think its one step above fortune telling—maybe. You look into the tea leaves (“economic data”), sift it around a bit and make predictions about what you think is happening and more particularly, about what you think WILL happen.. Hence the fortune telling analogy.

So why am I sticking my hand into this hornets nest of omniscience? Mostly because I write about personal finance, and I’m of the opinion that personal finance without some concept of economics is akin to taking off in an airplane without radar. How do you know what to prepare for if you have no concept of what it is you’re heading into?

Even though my crystal ball is still malfunctioning, I figure I’ll take a stab at what I think is happening in the economy and where I think we’re heading. Heck, even without it I doubt I can do a more laughable job than the people who do it professionally, also known as “economists”.

Warning: this won’t be light reading—and for some, it won’t be at all pleasant.

Work/Life Balance: Lessons from the Sea

By Jacob Mojiwat

Being at sea for long periods of time can be isolating. You cannot access the Internet or reach your friends and family at a moments notice, but there is something wonderful about being out in a world that is just you, your crew, your boat, and the elements. I find that many of the principles I live by are ideas that I formed while I was out on these adventures, away from civilization.

Here are the main ideas that I’ve been contemplating lately, and find to be truly relevant in day-to-day life:

Sometimes you have to swim against the current if you want to get to where you are going

There are so many times in life when it feels as though everything is going wrong. They say bad luck comes in threes, but all too often it comes in a tidal wave, or at least a swiftly flowing current that feels as though it will wash us away. It is hard to swim against that current. It would be so much easier, and more peaceful, to drift along with it.

Majoring on the Majors by Learning to Say NO

Controlling our tendency toward Creative Avoidance

By Kevin M

How is it that that some people seem enormously successful, yet astoundingly they have more free time than the rest of us? Have you ever noticed as well that some people who are incredibly busy are at best only moderately successful? Perhaps you’re one of them, always busy, but not having as much to show for your efforts as you think you should.

The typical human reaction to this apparent contradiction in the natural order of things is to assume that the successful person with all the time on his hands is a) lucky, b) has an “in” with important people, and even c) must be doing something unethical, immoral or illegal.

While each of those considerations isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, there’s a far greater chance that the successful person with all of the free time on his hands has found a way to
maximize his results while minimizing his efforts. He manages to do this by saying “NO” to unproductive tasks, either by making it clear to others up front that he won’t engage himself in them, or by simply refusing to participate.

Logically, isn’t that what we should all be doing?

Jobs and Careers That Aren’t Coming Back

By Kevin M

Recently on OutOfYourRut I’ve been writing a series of posts centered on employment alternatives–self-employment, side businesses and soft employment (part-time, temporary or contract work). The purpose in discussing these alternatives is based on my belief that the weak employment environment we now find ourselves in may not be temporary, and longterm changes need to be implemented in order for us to survive in a job market that may look very different from what we’ve know for most of our lives.

( Photo by Phil Campbell )

Though connecting employment weakness to the recent recession is the standard line, doing so fails to give proper recognition to longer term trends which have had an even greater effect on the job market than we assume. Globalization, advances in technology and rising healthcare costs have marginalized much of the labor force in countries such as the United States. While technology has been eliminating jobs at home, wage arbitrage has been taking place globally, in a competition that high wage/high benefit labor bases, such as that of the U.S., are at a competative disadvantage versus low cost/unbenefited work forces in third world countries. We can protest that it’s unfair competition all we want, but it’s also the reality of our time.

Though the evidence is all around us, I stumbled upon a recent article that addresses the longer term job outlook more directly.

Radical Self Reliance in the New Economy

By Kevin M

What if the economy isn’t turning the corner? What if the “Great Recession” isn’t a recession at all, but the early stage of a longer term economic devolution?

I consider this as more than a reasonable possibility. As much as we might cling to the notion of “business as usual”, the history books tell us that long term cycles are periodically broken by the onset of a new eras. The fall of the Roman Empire was one such turn; the onset of the Industrial Revolution was another. Closer to our own time and place were the Civil War and the Great Depression. All of these events changed not only the rules of the game, but also the way the majority of people lived. And they were hardly isolated incidents.

I’m reading Survival+, Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation, where author and website host Charles Hugh Smith spells out the “Great Transformation” that we may well have entered already. The evidence to support his claim isn’t hard to find.

7 Ways to Improve the Success of Your New Business

By Kevin M

Starting a new business is often a process of navigating a series of challenges. The greatest ideas can land in a ditch for unforeseen reasons. In fact it’s often not a bad concept that causes a new business to fail, but a lack of staying power. Starting a business should be thought of as a long term plan and not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Motivational author and speaker Robert Ringer provided a user-friendly re-definition of the concept of positive thinking as positive thinking through assumption of a negative result. You don’t assume failure, but you anticipate problems and prepare for them.

There is a constructive difference between true optimism and blind optimism. True optimism is based on solid planning—it springs from preparation and planning. The more common blind version rests on vague concepts like an idea that’s “too good to fail” or “I’ll succeed because I’m me, and I believe in me”. That kind of hype can quickly vaporize in the face of an empty bank account or a failed business deal.

So what kind of preparations will stack the deck in favor of your new business venture and generate a sense of true optimism?

Face the Future Informed and Without Fear

By Kevin M

Unemployment ticked down in November for the first time in many months, some of the big banks have announced plans to pay back TARP money given to them early in the financial crisis and Wall Street is on the rise—a classic recovery is underway!

Or is it?

Before you think of this as a gloom-and-doom post, please read through to the end and you’ll see it’s anything but.
Read more »

Seek Fulfillment Beyond Your Work

STRATEGY #10 TO SURVIVE A DOWN ECONOMY

By Kevin M

When careers and money become questionable foundations in our lives, what’s left? It’s often only in bad economies that we even entertain the question.

In 10 Ways To Survive a Down Economy (published on Christianpf.com June 1) we listed ten strategies to help us deal with the bad economy. Our topic for today, the final strategy, Strategy #10:

Seek fulfillment beyond your work. In a world where careers are no longer either peaceful or progressive, self actualizing through your work may not be the path it’s been in the past. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to find fulfillment outside of work. Take more active roles in regard to your health, family, faith and community.

Cultivate Multiple Income Sources

STRATEGY #5 TO SURVIVE A DOWN ECONOMY

By Kevin M

In the dreary job market of the moment, people are having difficulty with two major areas in particular: keeping a steady income flow and increasing that flow. The increasing level of unemployment is not only eliminating jobs, but it’s also putting a lid on raises and promotion opportunities. This is in large part, the driving force behind the credit crisis and the epidemic of foreclosures and bankruptcies. Is there a way to deal with it without taking unnecessary risks?

In 10 Ways To Survive a Down Economy (published on Christianpf.com June 1) we listed ten strategies to help us deal with the bad economy. Our topic for today, Strategy #5:

Be prepared to cultivate and balance multiple income sources. You may have a full time job and a part time business, or vice versa. Think of your work in terms of an investment portfolio, in which diversification adds strength. There are probably several jobs you are potentially good at; always be on the lookout for new opportunities.

Why increasing income or broadening the income base matter

Start and Grow Your Nest Egg, Even if Your Broke

By Kevin M

If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, and struggling just to get by each month, that situation won’t improve until you reach the point where you have a cushion to back you up. You might think that the pressure would be eased by an additional income source, but the problem with higher income is that in a short time it tends to get swallowed up by Lifestyle Inflation—the more we earn, the more we spend.

Some financial types recommend paying off high interest credit cards before beginning a serious savings account. They cite math equations pointing out the numeric absurdity of carrying high interest credit cards (13% or more) while earning close to nothing in interest (1-2%) on savings. On paper, backed up by numbers, this looks very compelling.

Page 1 of 312 3 »

Pages

Posts Tagged ‘ preparation ’

A View From the Economic Cliff

Work/Life Balance: Lessons from the Sea

Sometimes you have to swim against the current if you want to get to where you are going

Majoring on the Majors by Learning to Say NO

Jobs and Careers That Aren’t Coming Back

Radical Self Reliance in the New Economy

7 Ways to Improve the Success of Your New Business

Face the Future Informed and Without Fear

Seek Fulfillment Beyond Your Work

Cultivate Multiple Income Sources

Start and Grow Your Nest Egg, Even if Your Broke

Financial Management