Focus Upon The End Result

So the more and more that I start to focus in on this financial fitness mumbo jumbo the more that I realize there are a ton of people (just like me) who are financially out-of-shape yet try to appear as if they are financially fit. Whether it be the neighbor down the street or the stranger in the grocery store the fact is there are more and more people trying to live up to the Jones’ expectations.

Sadly though I understand that the Jones’ and my expectations are going to be two totally different concepts. To be honest with you it sucks trying to save money. It is so much easier to keep blowing money but I’d rather not have fun and reap the benefits of saving money than have to deal with the stresses of having more month than money left.

In just a few days I will be celebrating Thirty-One years of being on this earth and sadly for almost all of those years I have been held captive to the slavery of debt. Now I am hoping to break through these chains with a fierceness that will leave the debt trembling into oblivion. The focus needs to be positive and needs to hone in on the baby steps of Dave Ramsey’s program. The very first thing we are going to have to concentrate upon is going to be obtaining $1,000 in our emergency fund to get past baby step one.

Now with that said in the next couple of days it is imperative that my family and I sit down and map out the dreaded budget. It is all about trying to find the right budget though because it cannot be too tough (get discouraged and quit) and not be too loose (not make any traction). If you are where I am, or have been where I am, or you are going to be getting at my starting point….feel free to voice your opinion here.

300 days since last post…

Let’s see here…it is November 11th, 2012, and the last post that I have on here came back in January. Doing some simple math here it has been over 300 days since my last post and I am going to make a conscious effort to get my gazelle intensity back when it comes to our finances. There have been some changes in our family that I will address later as I initially just want to make sure this post gets posted.

There is going to be some changes made and it’s going to be brought forth through this blogging site and unfortunately I have been absent with my presence on this site as well as absent when it comes to making my family’s finances a main issue that we can beat. Anyways, there will be more to come….just not tonight.

Weaving the Web

It is amazing to me how easy it is to fall off the wagon of life. When I mention this wagon of life you can almost insert any word pertaining to that wagon. Whether it be working out, living on a budget, eating right, doing better at work, whatever that list might pertain the fact is it is easier to go back to slacker ways than to keep moving forward. I cannot but chuckle to myself as I looked on this site to realize that my last post for this site was almost one year ago. In fact it was 10 months ago the last time that I thought to myself I want to get back on my budget.

Truth be told I am not alone in my battle against debt. Let me take that back, I am not alone in my personal war on debt. So I am hopping on the wagon again and this time I am hoping that I can maintain my focus on slimming down my debt as well as slimming down my waistline. I love the lay out of my site here and I have decided to use this as my thoughts on everyday life. I am sure that we will laugh together, we will cry together, maybe disagree with each other, but one things for sure I plan on expressing my ideas and my goal in 2012 is to be able to claim that I am, “Debt Free!” I have made the mistake in the past of falling off the wagon and to be honest I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I’m taking the financial challenge in Twenty Twelve to becoming more financially fit as well as physically fit and this is going to be my stomping ground in doing so. Also I plan on setting the stage here as I grow as a Christian. Like I said this is going to be a mixture of all things in my life because I cannot grow in one area without growing in others. Here’s my spiderweb, let’s weave this web together!

We Hold The Key To OUR Destiny

I love the fact that I control my own destiny. The decisions we make today affect the circumstances of tomorrow. Our society in the U.S., throughout the world will never see everyone try to reach their potential. Never. Look around now and I’m sure you can name several people who are fine with barely getting by and not interested in bettering their situation. I know people like this and I know you do too. If everyone became exceptional then the next step would be to raise the bar.

Look around at the horse and buggy industry, it’s been put out of business by people who raised the bar higher and developed a better system known as the automobile. Look at the advancements in that industry seems to me the exceptionable accomplishments keep getting higher. This is one example but when you reach one plateau start going towards the next. People fail to be exceptional by becoming content with where they’re presently at.

Again a person will never be self sufficient waiting on other people to provide for them. What’s it teach? Depend upon others to get what you want? It’s just not my view of the world and everything that I have is because I have earned it. At the end of the day no one can take that away from me. I’m proud of what I have accomplished and I have had obstacles that I had to endure earlier in life that prepared me for the future.

My Passions:

Family: My goal is to be able to provide for my immediate family.  The idea being that when I find out what it is that I want to be career wise then I will be able to reach a greater fulfillment to the ones that I love.  Ideally I would like to be able to be there for my family at a drop of a hat and the last thing that I want to do is look back on my life with regrets.

Technology: This passion stems from tinkering with computers, building databases, to utilizing the Internet.  I am fascinated with this realm and I understand there are stable companies within the computer repair market.  There must be some kind of market share that has not been tapped (as of yet) that I can cross over into.

Politics: I have my political views and let’s just say I find a passion in writing about current events.

Religion: This has not always been a strong passion of mine but the more I am immersed in the readings of the Bible the more I realize the path I need to take.  I have my religious beliefs and there is no influence in to changing my mind away from my savior, Jesus Christ.

Sales: This is a money maker for me (no pun intended).  I am very comfortable with building a rapport with others in establishing a solid trust base.  In the present and past I have had extreme success on the sales side.  I wonder what it would be like to dabble into the commission side of sales but if you go back to passion number 1 there are 3 other people depending upon my earnings.

Spanish: Even though many people will disagree with this the fact remains the United States of America is going away from an English-only speaking country to a wide array of languages being heard from coast-to-coast.  My love of the language is high and I have a general knowledge of the language but I know that I need to step up my study habits and immerse myself more into learning the language.  I know that the better my understanding of Spanish is the more opportunities will open as knowledge is power.  This power will open many doorways to regions of success unknown to me before.

Taking Can’t Out of the Vocabulary

In surfing the Internet over the past couple of days I have been searching.  Searching for people who are in debt and instead of making excuses they are actually doing something about it.  I recently came across an individual who is unemployed, stated he owes more than $60,000 in student loans and cannot get on at McDonalds.  I find this hard to believe.  This person said he is waiting on a call back, waiting to hear from them, and I believe he is waiting and holding on to the same excuses.

Yes the job market is down.  Truthfully it sucks but there are jobs out there.  It is times like these that we are living in that people need to be thankful for having employment and making for damn sure they are doing whatever necessary to stand apart from the other employees.  I work in a production based non-factory atmosphere with a lucrative bonus structure for hitting numbers and exceeding budgets.  Before I was in management my motto as an employee was I was not there for the regular paycheck, I was there to make bonus checks.  This mentality helped me achieve more bonus money and paved the way for the company advancements I have earned.

With that said I have employees who openly admit to being satisfied with the regular paycheck and it’s not that great of money so it’s not like these people are receiving fat paychecks.  The drive and mentality of people are different with each individual spoken to and what motivates me is different than what will motivate you.  I grow increasingly tired of hearing people say they cannot do this or they cannot do that. 

Folks it is time to take the word “Can’t” out of the vocabulary banks.  If a person says they cannot doing something then they will never accomplish the feat unless by pure chance and coincidence.  Show me a person who uses phrases such as “I will”, “I can”, “I have” and I’ll show you someone who is more likely to be successful than the person who constantly gives up.

As for that $60,000 person in debt who cannot get a job even at McDonalds I have to call bull shit.  Jobs are out there it takes being proactive not reactive and sometimes we have to do jobs that are below us.  Until you have done everything in your power and exhausted all options do not say “I can’t get a job” be honest with yourself and everyone else and say the real reason, “I don’t want to work at XYZ place.”

Do you fail to plan or plan to win?

I came across an interesting article by Zig Ziglar today in regards to the tendencies of individuals in sales organizations.  According to the findings of Mr. Ziglar the top sales people are seated at or very close to the front while the bottom-feeders tend to arrive late or at the last moment and unprepared.  In the article he notes these low-producing people are also the ones who most likely squirm in their seats, leave early or talk to the person next to them.

He goes on to mention a great point.  These bottom-feeders are typically the same people who arrive at an athletic or entertainment event wanting the best seat in the house.  Generally arriving in plenty of time and are irritated when there are distractions from anyone else.

This is my friend sounds to me like a Piker who is someone who holds back, looking forward to vacation time and giving very little effort at work.  In my line of work I have one person that comes to mind while I was reading Ziglar’s post.  In fact most recently he was talking about his recent trip to a professional sporting event, how the tailgating before the game was fun, how he was drunk 3 hours before the game, the annoying person in front of him, and then the after-game party.  All of this coming from the same person who shows up 1-3 minutes before his scheduled shift and he wonders why he is having a hard time producing.

I cannot help but chuckle out loud as to how right Zig Ziglar is on this.  The individuals at my work who are successful have two things in common.  They do whatever it takes, every time.  They are the people who sit in the front, who continuously want to learn, unlike the above-mentioned individual, they show up early to meetings and generally are the last people to leave.  I leave you with the closing comments from the article:

“In short, these people are winners because they plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.  That’s a good approach to life.  Try it and I’LL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!”