Goals vs outcomes #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published two years ago:

I'm finally wrapping up my series from a couple of weeks ago!

An outcome is the final result that you desire (desired outcome), while the expected outcome is what you can expect to probably happen, while the actual outcome is what ends up happening depending on whether or not you meet your goals...which are the steps to get you to your desired outcome.

Let's say that your 25th high school reunion is coming up in a couple of months and your desired outcome is that your high school sweetheart falls in love with you again. So, here are some goals you might want to accomplish to get you to your desired outcome:

• Lose 100 pounds
• Divorce your spouse
• Get your heartthrob to divorce their spouse
• Get a job and quit living on welfare

Here were a few goals. But based on the likelihood of being able to accomplish those goals, you can pretty much assume that the expected outcome doesn't match the desired income. Maybe if there was more than a couple of months, you might be able to accomplish those goals.

Many people may have the same goal, but their likelihood of success may depend on the strategy they choose to implement. Let's assume that several people have the goal of having one million dollars in cash. I'm sure that most people have that on their wish list, but these people have decided to make that a goal. What are some of the strategies that people can use?

• Work hard at their job
• Invest in the stock market
• Win the lottery
• Rob a bank
• Join a network marketing company

Unless you're the CEO of a major corporation, your chances of earning a million dollars are quite slim. So, you may want to set a goal to become CEO first. Investing in the stock market and playing the lottery are also probably not the best ways. I've written about both of these methods somewhere, but I can't find it! But neither of those methods is ideal. We can pretty much visualize the probable outcome of robbing the bank and it's not pretty.

So, that leaves joining a network marketing company. What? Are you kidding me? No, network marketing is a viable way to earn millions of dollars. I don't know how many millionaires there are in network marketing...I saw statistics once but I can't find them again. But I do know several people personally that have made tens of millions of dollars over their career and I know of one that's currently making almost $2,000,000 a year.

Anyway, to wrap up the series - pick some items from your wish list that you would like to accomplish, figure out what goals will get you to your desired outcome and work your way towards accomplishing your goals.

I'm working on my purpose, mission and vision statements. When I come up with something, I'll let you know.

Interesting days

Today - Zoo Lovers Day, Pygmy Hippo Day and Draw a Picture of a Bird Day

Tomorrow - Unicorn Day, ASMR Day, Name Yourself Day, Cherish An Antique Day, Day Of Silence and Winston Churchill Day

Next Thursday - Husband Appreciation Day, High Five Day, That Sucks! Day, Anime Day, ASL Day, Microvolunteering Day, Take A Wild Guess Day and College Student Grief Awareness Day

May 8 - No Socks Day, Windmill Day, Train Day, World Donkey Day, Ovarian Cancer Day, Buckfast Day, Iris Day, Fair Trade Day, Bellydance Day and Free Trade Day

Week long celebrations:

May 3 - May 9: Lawyer Well-Being Week 

May 6 - May 12: Nurse’s Week

 

Will you be part of the 5%?

During last night's free training in the "She's Creating an Empire" Facebook group, this statistic was brought up. Basically, 90% of the population will be dead or dead broke by the age of 65! I've heard it before but since 4 weeks from tomorrow is my 65th birthday it really struck home:

But unless something drastic happens I won't be in the  last two categories! I will still be working, but I'm planning on being done with that in the next two years (or less!).

But what about the other two categories? I think the best definition of financial independence is this one from Robert Kiyosaki: "Stop working and when your money runs out. that's how financially free you were"

From a blog post I wrote on the subject:

In other words, if your passive income exceeds your monthly expenses then you're financially free because you won't have to work anymore. How much are your monthly bills? Then you need that much in passive income. You don't need millions of dollars in income to be free. In fact, many people have millions of dollars in income, but it's not passive, so they're not financially free.

A third of Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless; so, many of us have a week or two of financial independence.

How much will you need to live on? According to conventional wisdom, you'll need 80% of your pre-retirement income to live on. And Social Security will provide approximately half of that. Where will the other half come from?

Here's an example, using a couple of rules of thumb that I've come across. We'll use an hourly wage of $18 which is certainly doable where I live...the minimum wage is $14 per hour and the median is $24.

The first rule of thumb is to multiply the hourly wage by 2,000 to get the annual wage (40 hours times 50 weeks...it's pretty close), so that comes out to $36,000 per year or $3,000 per month. Eighty percent of that is $2,400 and SS should provide about $1,200 of that (depending on how much you've made during your highest paid 35 years). The other rule of thumb is the Rule of 200...multiply your monthly income by 200 to find out how much money you'll need in savings and/or your 401k earning 6% interest to be able to live off the interest, which comes out to $240,000 (1,200 times 200). If you have $240,000 put away, you should be financially independent. But what if you don't have that much? The median 401k balance in the U.S. is $25,775 according to Business Insider, which is only 10% of what you'll need! Then you'll need $1,200 of passive income from rents, royalties, annuities or a business like a network marketing business.

What about being wealthy? Here's a great definition by Tony Robbins (also from the same blog post):

How do I plan on going from where I am to becoming wealthy in 2 years? By taking advantage of the financial education provided by "She's Creating an Empire". I invite you to join me.

Interesting days

Today - Beer Day, No Housework Day, Making The First Move Day, Day Of Hope, World Health Day, Bookmobile Day and Beaver Day

Tomorrow - Zoo Lovers Day, Pygmy Hippo Day and Draw a Picture of a Bird Day

Next Wednesday - Dolphin Day, Day of Pink and Look Up at the Sky Day

May 7 - Roast Leg of Lamb Day, Public Gardens Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Love’s Baby Soft Day, No Pants Day and Cosmopolitan Day

Week long celebrations:

May 3 - May 9: Lawyer Well-Being Week 

May 6 - May 12: Nurse’s Week

RETHINKING THE QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Today's blog post is based on a newsletter by Annie Duke:

In the February 27 newsletter, I raved about Adam Grant’s new book, Think Again. Adam really hones in on why the entanglement between your beliefs and your identity makes it so hard to admit we are wrong.

Obviously, to become a better decision maker, you need to admit when you are wrong...a lot. In fact, you need to be pretty actively on the lookout for places where your beliefs are leading you astray.

The problem is that our identity becomes entangled with our beliefs and the things we have chosen to do in the past, that becomes super hard to do because admitting an error then becomes an attack on our identity.

In a piece that Adam Grant wrote for CNBC, he points out the way in which we, as a society and as parents, exacerbate this problem by constantly asking children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

(Apologies in advance if I’m blowing up your go-to question when you’re introduced to a child in a social situation.)

Talk about training kids from the earliest age that what they do is who they are.

Many of the deeply rooted pillars of our identity -- like those that will influence our decision-making for the rest of our lives -- form when we are just children.

The problem with asking kids what they want to be when they grow up is that it implies that “what we want to be” is a stable, unchanging thing. (As well as reinforcing it because kids get asked this all the time.)

As Heraclitus wrote 2,500 years ago, “The only constant in life is change.” The world changes every single day and we should expect the same of ourselves.

Asking kids what they want to be when they grow up is the embodiment of the antithesis of the fluidity and agility needed to adapt to a changing world, and to adapt to the evolving discovery about one's own talents and preferences.

Even worse, if we don’t live up to that identity we have envisioned for ourselves, we will never feel like we’ve done enough, even though we, by definition, were too young to know with any certainty either what the world would be like when we grew up or what we would be like when we grew up.

I don’t even know that now.

Unsurprisingly, because a large part of our identities hinge on goals we set when we’re young, abandoning these goals is a long and messy process because it feels like we are abandoning who we are.

That’s why it’s dangerous, Grant notes, to lock “our life GPS onto a single target.” Why? Because it “can give us the right directions to the wrong destination.”

If you spend decades trying to “be” something, imagine the hit to your identity you’re facing when you think about changing course. Even in the face of clear and strong signals that we ought to change course, we’re pretty likely to construct a rationale to keep doing the same thing, resisting signals that it’s not our jam or it makes us unhappy or there’s something else we’d like more or all of the above.

It’s only natural that as we grow up, we develop our strengths, understand our weaknesses, and learn many, many other things we may like more and be better at. But, because who we aredepends so much on what we do, we ignore these signals and stick to the course.

Instead of adapting, we commit even more of our resources to our stubborn goal.

Next thing you know, you’ve passed organic chemistry and you’re headed for another six years of residency even though you don’t love what you do and might feel other professions may better suit your strengths?

Instead of listening to the signals, you escalate your commitment to the cause, staying on track because changing plans feels like admitting defeat.

The result is what psychologists call identity foreclosure. Identity foreclosure means settling prematurely on one sense of self without having done the proper due diligence to explore the ‘other selves’ we could have become.

To remedy foreclosing on possibly valuable identities, Grant says that we would “be better learning about careers as actions to take, rather than their identities.”

If we practice directing our identities away from specific goals and towards a set of aspirations, we may be able to live healthier, more meaningful lives.

In other words, being open and flexible to our changing world may, over the long run, be a winning strategy.

If we stop encouraging kids to take out an identity “mortgage” when they’re young, they’ll be less likely as adults to face identity foreclosure.

This makes three newsletters since the new year that I’ve included an item about Adam Grant. Two takeaways: (1) I must think this is an important concept if, after bringing Adam up twice already, I want to share another of his ideas. (2) Obviously, I believe Think Again is loaded with great ideas and you should get it if you haven’t already.

I haven't read Annie's new book yet, but as I mentioned before, I really liked her book "Thinking in Bets".

So, what should you say instead? Here's one option from Lifehacker “What problems do you want to solve?”

That will help broaden their thinking, rather than narrow it down to only one career.

Interesting days

Today - World Table Tennis Day, New Beer’s Eve, Plan Your Epitaph Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Army Day and Tartan Day

Tomorrow - Beer Day, No Housework Day, Making The First Move Day, Day Of Hope, World Health Day, Bookmobile Day and Beaver Day

Next Tuesday - Scrabble Day, International FND Awareness Day, Equal Pay Day, Thomas Jefferson Day and Be Kind To Lawyers Day

May 6 - No Diet Day, Password Day, Beverage Day and No Homework Day

Week long celebrations:

May 3 - May 9: Lawyer Well-Being Week 

May 6 - May 12: Nurse’s Week

 

ABCs of the Most Famous Song in the World

That's the title of a fascinating podcast from Tracing the Path, subtitled "History Connected Unexpectedly". The podcast is described as:

Tracing the Path is a 20th Century history podcast in the genre of Paul Harvey, Charles Kuralt and Charles Osgood. We tell the interconnected stories of the 20th Centuries people, products, events and ideas.

So, what is the most famous song in the world?

The most famous tune in the world has been around for 700 years as part of classical, folk, children's and pop music. It's been played by Mozart, Louis Armstrong, the Simpsons, and Lewis Carroll. In the 1800s it changed the American lexicon, and in the 1960s it became a pop song that was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for you, so go ahead and listen to the podcast...it's only about half an hour long but definitely worth the time!

How I found out about this podcast is interesting, too. The creator of the podcast, Dan R. Morris, commented on one of my blog posts from last week and included a link to the story.

There are several episodes on the website. I've also listened to "How John Williams is Connected to Every Piece of Music", since he's mentioned in "ABCs of the Most Famous Song in the World". Take another 15 minutes and check that one out too, and then feel free to check out the other episodes. I know I will!

Interesting days

Today - Star Trek First Contact Day, Read A Road Map Day, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, Go For Broke Day, Caramel Day and Deep Dish Pizza Day

Tomorrow - World Table Tennis Day, New Beer’s Eve, Plan Your Epitaph Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Army Day and Tartan Day

Next Monday - Deskfast Day, Hamster Day, Library Workers Day, Licorice Day, Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day and Walk On Your Wild Side Day

May 5 - Nail Day, International Midwives’ Day, Hoagie Day, Revenge of the Fifth, Hug A Shed And Take A Selfie, World Maths Day, School Nurse Day and Cartoonists’ Day

Week long celebrations:

May 3 - May 9: Lawyer Well-Being Week

Your weekend guide to interesting days - April 3, 2021

This week

Sunday  Neighbor Day, Black Forest Cake Day, Something On A Stick Day and Weed Appreciation Day

Monday - Lemon Chiffon Cake Day, Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day, PayDay It Forward, World Piano Day and Smoke and Mirrors Day

Tuesday - Doctors’ Day, Take A Walk In The Park Day, Pencil Day and World TB-303 Appreciation Day

Wednesday - Crayola Crayon Day, World Backup Day, Manatee Appreciation Day, Eiffel Tower Day, Bunsen Burner Day, International Transgender Day of Visibility and Cream Cheese Frosting Day

April will be Poetic Earth Month, Stress Awareness Month, Active Dog Month, Summer Tire Changeover Month, Poetry Month, Couple Appreciation Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Decorating Month, Straw Hat Month, Garden Month, Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Month of the Military Child, Autism Awareness Month and Adopt A Ferret Month

Thursday - Fun Day, Tell A Lie Day, One Cent Day, Reading Is Funny Day and Sourdough Bread Day

Yesterday - Ferret Day, Walk to Work Day, Poet in a Cupcake Day, World Autism Day, Love Your Produce Manager Day, Peanut Butter and Jelly Day and Children’s Book Day

Today - DIY Day, Chocolate Mousse Day, World Party Day, Firewalk Day, Tangible Karma Day, Find A Rainbow Day, Pillow Fight Day, Fish Fingers and Custard Day and Tweed Day

Next week

Tomorrow - Vitamin C Day, Carrot Day, Walk Around Things Day, D.A.R.E. Day, Cordon Bleu Day, World Rat Day and Geologists’ Day

Monday - Star Trek First Contact Day, Read A Road Map Day, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, Go For Broke Day, Caramel Day and Deep Dish Pizza Day

Tuesday - World Table Tennis Day, New Beer’s Eve, Plan Your Epitaph Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Army Day and Tartan Day

Wednesday - Beer Day, No Housework Day, Making The First Move Day, Day Of Hope, World Health Day, Bookmobile Day and Beaver Day

Thursday - Zoo Lovers Day, Pygmy Hippo Day and Draw a Picture of a Bird Day

Friday - Unicorn Day, ASMR Day, Name Yourself Day, Cherish An Antique Day, Day Of Silence and Winston Churchill Day

Saturday - Golfer’s Day, International Safety Pin Day and Sibling Day

Next month

April 28 - The website is down right now

April 29 - International Dance Day, We Jump The World Day, World Wish Day and Zipper Day

April 30 - Hairball Awareness Day, Honesty Day, Oatmeal Cookie Day and International Jazz Day

May will be Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, Better Speech and Hearing Month, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month, Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month, Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, Lupus Awareness Month, Military Appreciation Month, Deck Safety Month, Bike Month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Get Caught Reading Month, Hamburger Month, Golf Month, Photo Month and Barbecue Month

May 1 - Naked Gardening Day, Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, Join Hands Day, Free Comic Book Day, Tuba Day, Therapeutic Massage Awareness Day, Global Love Day, Space Day, Purebred Dog Day, International Workers’ Day, School Bus Drivers Day, Executive Coaching Day, Mother Goose Day, New Home Owners Day, School Principals’ Day and Lei Day

May 2 - The website is down right now

May 3 - The website is down right now

Week long celebrations:

Apr 25 - May 1: Go Diaper Free Week

The week in review - April 2, 2021

Monday - "The Cost of a Thing" From The Art of Manliness. "To figure out the cost of something, we typically look to its price tag. But this number represents but a small slice of the expenditure the purchase will require."

Tuesday - "Old Habits Die Hard" From Harvey Mackay. "You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”

Wednesday - "A Crash Course in Jazz Appreciation" Another from The Art of Manliness. "If you’ve ever wanted to get into jazz, and don’t know where to start, below we’ve laid out a beginner’s introduction to the different genres of jazz, along with a few artists and songs for each that serve as good starting places for the neophyte to dip his toes."

Thursday - "Business Acceleration Workshops #TBT" Still going strong every Saturday. "The book is in three parts and we'll do one part each month on the first thru third Saturdays of the month."

Interesting days

Today - Ferret Day, Walk to Work Day, Poet in a Cupcake Day, World Autism Day, Love Your Produce Manager Day, Peanut Butter and Jelly Day and Children’s Book Day

Tomorrow - DIY Day, Chocolate Mousse Day, World Party Day, Firewalk Day, Tangible Karma Day, Find A Rainbow Day, Pillow Fight Day, Fish Fingers and Custard Day and Tweed Day

Next Friday - Unicorn Day, ASMR Day, Name Yourself Day, Cherish An Antique Day, Day Of Silence and Winston Churchill Day

May 2 - The website is down right now

Business Acceleration Workshops #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published last year:

I'm going to relaunch the Business Acceleration Workshops starting this Saturday, April 4th.

We'll meet every Saturday from 9:30 AM until noon. For the first half hour, we can socialize and network over coffee. Then from 10:00 to 11:00, we'll learn about relationship marketing by listening to the audiobook "The Power of Human Connection" by Kody Bateman, the founder of SendOutCards. And then from 11:00 to 12:00, we'll watch a video interview with a business owner or salesperson using relationship marketing in their businesses. There are handouts to go with the audiobook available here. We will be using pages 1 - 4 for the first meeting.

The book is in three parts and we'll do one part each month on the first thru third Saturdays of the month. The fourth Saturday will be system training for customers and affiliates of SendOutCards. And on the fifth Saturday (once a quarter), we'll have prize drawings. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do this yet via Zoom but we'll figure it out. Then we'll repeat the training every quarter.

Maybe in a few months we can do this in person as well as via Zoom but for now it's only via Zoom.

The Zoom Meeting ID: 569 781 8619.

I'm looking forward to helping you build your business.

We're still doing this virtually, although now I'm doing the relationship marketing part (the first 3 Saturdays) in the Relationship Marketing Tips and Techniques Facebook group, while the training on the 4th Saturday is in the Modesto GS Pros group. There aren't any events on the 5th Saturday of the month. I'm tentatively planning on holding in person meetings starting in July.

Interesting days

April will be Poetic Earth Month, Stress Awareness Month, Active Dog Month, Summer Tire Changeover Month, Poetry Month, Couple Appreciation Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Decorating Month, Straw Hat Month, Garden Month, Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Month of the Military Child, Autism Awareness Month and Adopt A Ferret Month

Today - Fun Day, Tell A Lie Day, One Cent Day, Reading Is Funny Day and Sourdough Bread Day

Tomorrow - Ferret Day, Walk to Work Day, Poet in a Cupcake Day, World Autism Day, Love Your Produce anager Day, Peanut Butter and Jelly Day and Children’s Book Day

Next Thursday - Zoo Lovers Day, Pygmy Hippo Day and Draw a Picture of a Bird Day

May will be Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, Better Speech and Hearing Month, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month, Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month, Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, Lupus Awareness Month, Military Appreciation Month, Deck Safety Month, Bike Month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Get Caught Reading Month, Hamburger Month, Golf Month, Photo Month and Barbecue Month

May 1 - Naked Gardening Day, Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, Join Hands Day, Free Comic Book Day, Tuba Day, Therapeutic Massage Awareness Day, Global Love Day, Space Day, Purebred Dog Day, International Workers’ Day, School Bus Drivers Day, Executive Coaching Day, Mother Goose Day, New Home Owners Day, School Principals’ Day and Lei Day

Week long celebrations:

Apr 25 - May 1: Go Diaper Free Week