Immature Entrepreneur

You don’t deserve a raise. You don’t deserve a new car. You don’t deserve a vacation.

In fact, when it comes to making financial decisions, “deserve” doesn’t even get a vote.

When you work hard, it’s easy to feel as though you deserve certain things. But working hard isn’t enough. You also have to work smart. In other words, manage your money in such a way that you are able to take a vacation, you’re able to buy a new(ish) car, you’re able to spring for that designer suit/dress, and so on.

Don’t allow sly marketers to trick you into thinking you deserve. Take control of your reality and put yourself in a position where you are able to do the things you want to do.

There has recently been talk of a new “sin tax” law on soda pop, due largely in part to rising health care costs. For example, instead of paying .50 cents for a can of Coke, in the future you may pay .75 cents. The thought here is that those who need greater health care coverage as a result of unhealthy lifestyle should, in all fairness, take on more of the financial burden.

As expected, the major soda producing companies have come out swinging. They’ve got high priced lawyers scrambling and lobbyists lobbying and everyone is screaming and kicking and fighting. Maybe even crying.

Here’s a thought: why not embrace the change? It seems to be a good idea to encourage a healthier diet. How about having some of those scientists on the payroll at Coke and Pepsi cook up some healthier options and reinvent/modernize the oudated soda pop recipes? We know a lot more about nutrition and wellness today than we did when the recipe for Coca Cola was created in 1885.

Resisting change for the sake of resisting change is illogical (and ineffective). Be a student of change. After all, change is the only constant.

I received a monthly newsletter in today’s mail from my bank. It’s sort of a fun little 6 page flyer filled with local events, seasonal recipes, happenings with the bank, advertisements and so forth. I typically toss it every month without even glancing at it.

Why? Why do we throw mail away (i.e. in a landfill) every month? Why does my bank waste the money on printing these newsletters when an email is free? Why do Americans accept this?

According to a recent study, junk mail in America has the same carbon footprint in a year as nine million cars. Astounding.

I called my bank this morning to cancel my subscription to this unsolicited advertisement. The nice woman on the phone paused for a moment to think. “I’ve never had that request before. I’m not sure how to direct you.”

E-mail is fast, free, and saves trees. For all intents and purposes, the United States Postal Service is an outdated, antiquated system. Unsubscribe from mail you don’t want. Think “do not mail” when it makes sense, which is most of the time.

If you don’t like where you’re at, do something different.

Albert Einstein is credited with saying the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yet so many of us get up day after day, driving the same route to the same job simply going through the motions. Or staying in the same bad relationship. Or having the same financial worries. Insert your issue of choice here.

The point is this: you have the ability to change your reality. It’s actually not as complicated as you think. Do something different.

Your credit score does not indicate whether you’re financially successful.

That’s worth repeating: your credit score does not indicate whether you’re financially successful. What your credit score does demonstrate is whether you’re good at borrowing money and paying it back.

Rich people got to where they are by not borrowing money. They don’t live on credit. They don’t make installment payments with interest. They don’t know what the inside of a Rent-A-Center looks like. Rich people save their money until they can afford to buy what they want. And with time, they have a lot more money as a result.

Choose not to participate in the credit system. Rich people have figured it out. You can too.

Pause for a moment and look around you. Evaluate your circumstances. Did you get to where you are by happenstance or by design? Did you somehow just end up there? Do you feel trapped?

Most people go through life sort of like a pinball stuck in a pinball machine. We bounce from one event to the next and that’s how we end up where we are.

Don’t be a pinball. Take control. Move forward with intent. Decide where you want to go, then go there. The amazing thing is you truly have the power.

The economy has tanked. Companies aren’t hiring. We’re in the worst recession the country has seen in 20 years.

All true, to an extent. So due to circumstances beyond your control, you can’t find a job. Right?

You’re likely viewing the situation in a very traditional (and ineffective) way. Read this to open your eyes. You’re looking outward when you should be looking inward.

Why leave your fate in someone else’s hands? Don’t look for a job. Create one.

During both WWI and WWII, the federal government was forced to ration food due to the war effort. Labor and transportation shortages made it difficult to get produce to market. The government reached out to its citizens, encouraging them to plant “victory gardens” in order to be self-sufficient.

Any particular reason we stopped this process? Should we feed the less fortunate via welfare handouts or empower them to feed themselves? Should we continue eating mass produced fruits and vegetables sprayed with cancerous pesticides (go here) or grow our own inexpensive organic foods?

Bring back the victory gardens. Victory for independence. Victory over cancer-causing pesticides. Victory for thinking outside of your programming.

Stop donating to the victims of the oil spill. Don’t scream at the BP executives for their (lack of) efforts.

Instead, stop supporting them.

Buy an electric lawnmower here. Purchase an electric car that uses little gasoline here or one that uses zero gasoline here. Stop using plastic water bottles (which contain petroleum) and instead buy a healthier, BPA-free lifelong water bottle here.

Don’t be angry at big oil for doing what you’re asking them to. Really want to do something about the oil spill? Stop supporting them.

I see this scenario all too often. Person is driving down the road. Person realizes they’re about to miss their turn. Person stops in the middle of traffic, hoping they can get over. Cars drive by honking, the flow of traffic is disrupted, and in some cases accidents nearly occur.

Here’s the gem–sometimes you just miss your turn. Keep on driving and make a (safe) u-turn. Your insurance agent will thank me.