Tag: planning

The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen

In a previous post, I touched on the topic of going back in time and giving advice to my 16-year-old self right after the 1977 lifeguard crew photo was taken. That message would be simple.  “If I could offer you only one tip for your future, sunscreen would be it. Wear sunscreen.”  Today, my future-self of that 16-year-old lifeguard, is wearing the skin of many years of “burning to get tan”.  It’s a casual regret that requires semi-annual monitoring and with increasing frequency for removal of suspect patches. 
If the genie fantasy of the magic lamp ever fell into my possession, my only selfish wish would be to go back in time to redirect my youthful self to put a shirt on or wear sunscreen during my time in the sun. Yes, ok, I’d also slip in some additional selfish advice:  buy Microsoft, Apple and Amazon stocks and don’t sell until we recover from a global pandemic. 

Baz Luhrmann popularized a rap-like song in 1999 with words credited to an essay written as a hypothetical commencement speech by columnist Mary Schmich.  The five-minute message, for me, became the best advice that spans an entire lifetime.  I can only imagine how my response to life’s responsibilities would have been more enjoyable if I would have heard and headed this advice at a much younger age.   Spend 5 minutes watching the video.  You may have to play it back a few times because your mind will drift on a personal reflection and may miss the next nugget that comes pretty fast.   The line of “Get to know your parents….” echoes and rings true. If you can, do something about that today.  If not, find a photo and keep it out.

Without further commentary, please take the time now to click the link.  I can assure you that your thoughts and focus will be much different if you just catch one phrase and hold on to it for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

For added convenience, I found the lyrics online and are posted below.

Continue reading “The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen”

This Calculator Will Tell When You Can Quit Your Job

If you’ve been surfing around my blog, you’ve come across the expense tracking sheet and the FIRE Calculator.  (Financial Independence Retire Early).   I’ve recently come across another fabulous calculator that will run models to provide you a line of sight to when you are going to hit a financial goal.    Here’s how easy and painless it is.  All you have to do is enter the following inputs:  (You’ll need a Google Account, to access the workbook).  Continue reading “This Calculator Will Tell When You Can Quit Your Job”

Why You Should Have a Plan For FU Money

If you’ve been following this blog for any period, you may have noticed that I follow the mantra that planning is a process, not an event. Thoughtful planning is a skill that can be developed over some time using experience and the amazing plethora of resources at our fingertips.  In our age of technology, planning can occur at a moment’s notice. I occasionally use OpenTable to make a restaurant reservation on the fly when walking in a particular neighborhood in Chicago and wanting someplace nice or interesting to eat that is nearby. One is always treated better with a reservation without the wait, even if it’s made fifteen or twenty minutes before walking into the restaurant door. That’s as close to impulse planning as I get.  For everything else, I strive to be a planner. Continue reading “Why You Should Have a Plan For FU Money”

8 things I learned During My Blog Start-Up

Here’s what I learned running a blog through 42 blog articles this year.
1. Learned how to start up and maintain a website.
2. Developed better writing skills.
3. Learned how to create content that adds value to 80% of the blog visitors.
4. Learned how to use web-based tools to increase security on my website.
5. Gained a better understanding of Google Analytics functionality.
6. Began learning the art of SEO management.
7. Realize that most people are online to either solve a problem or be entertained. (mostly to be entertained).
8. Discovered that gratitude is much more difficult to measure than accomplishments. Continue reading “8 things I learned During My Blog Start-Up”

Playing On The Tracks: The Origins of a Personal Escape Velocity

It has been exactly 30 years since we sold our townhouse in Skokie, IL, which we owned for less than a year, and moved to Massachusetts so that I could take a job in scientific sales & marketing. It was a significant risk for a “YUPPIE” couple that had been married for only a couple of years. mrsfromthebachrow quit her job for me to make the career leap to an area that would later become the biotech capital of the world. Did we comprehend the scale of picking up and moving in a very short period? Nope, didn’t have a clue, but the youthful exuberance and the quest to get out of a dead-end and toxic laboratory job motivated to act. After 30 years, I can now pause and reflect on parts of the experience since that risky repositioning. Continue reading “Playing On The Tracks: The Origins of a Personal Escape Velocity”

What Cooking Has In Common With Personal Finance

Goal setting and execution was covered in several posts this year, and now that we are into the last three months of the year. It’s time for a way-point check-in on your goal execution.  Woulda, shoulda, coulda, is not a way to measure progress unless, of course, you shoulda all over yourself. In this case, regrets might be the only measurable thing. One should never measure those unless you want to stack them up and use them for leverage. If that works, go for it. Don’t wait for New Year’s Eve to execute. Continue reading “What Cooking Has In Common With Personal Finance”

This Is Why You Should Prepare For The Job Interview

Planned Behavior-Based Job Interviews are popular and common and an objective tool used in many job interview processes. The questions below are just a small sample of the questions asked during this type of interview. Google “Behavior-Based Interviews” and you’ll find plenty of resources and supplemental information. You will find some clever answers to many of them.  https://www.livecareer.com/quintessential/star-interviewing   The whole point of these Behavior-Based Questions is how you clearly and effectively demonstrate how you can process information and communicate during the interview. Continue reading “This Is Why You Should Prepare For The Job Interview”