26Jul 2020 by CJ
The grass is always greener blinds you from seeing what you already have

The grass is always greener blinds you from seeing what you already have

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
On WritingExplained.org, the phrase, “The grass is always greener on the other side” is defined as such: “When someone is not satisfied with their own lot in life and always assumes that there are better things in other places.” Sound like anyone you know? I can think of a handful people off the top of my head. Actually, on occasion, I’d group myself into that category. I think a lot of us subscribe to the notion that “the grass is always greener” as we’ve become a society who spends far too much time worried about what other people have when compared to what our own lives might be lacking. My wife and I have remained fairly confined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some might consider us overly cautious, and that’s just…
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20Jul 2020 by CJ
An emergency fund is an important investment in yourself

An emergency fund is an important investment in yourself

Information & Education, Life & Living
During this global pandemic, many financial experts have offered advice on how much money should be in your emergency fund. Popular responses range from three to six months, with famed personal finance expert Suze Orman bucking that trend and recommending eight months. In her recent LinkedIn post, Orman says, “I have long told everyone to build an eight month emergency fund. And my goodness, I get plenty of blowback for that. The critics say it is too much and too impossible.” I offer the following statistics from a CNBC article on why Americans struggle to save for retirement, by contributor Steve Adcock. Adcock says, “A 2019 report from Ladder, a life insurance company, found that the average adult spends $1,497 per month on non-essentials. That’s roughly $18,000 a year on things…
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19Jul 2020 by CJ
Motivate yourself by getting off the couch and doing something

Motivate yourself by getting off the couch and doing something

Information & Education, Life & Living
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer I’m sure I’m not alone with my admission that the topics of health, finances, job security and fulfillment often litter my thoughts – more so than ever before. The burden of such thoughts occasionally leads to a sleepless night, and an impending day where it seems almost impossible to motivate yourself to do anything constructive. At times, my mental state has been known to dip below normal levels, which renders me somewhat unpleasant and difficult to be around. This past week felt like one of those occasions and I suspect a combination of the topics above were the definite contributor. This inability to motivate yourself during such emotional fragility is a time drainer, no…
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09Jul 2020 by CJ
What you say in not always what other’s will hear

What you say in not always what other’s will hear

Life & Living
In Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear, author Frank Luntz says: “You can have the best message in the world, but the person on the receiving end will always understand it through the prism of his or her own emotions, preconceptions, prejudices and preexisting beliefs. It's not enough to be correct or reasonable or even brilliant. The key to successful communication is to take the imaginative leap of stuffing yourself into your listener's shoes to know what they are thinking and feeling in the deepest recesses of their mind and heart. How that person perceives what you say is even more real, at least in a practical sense, than how you perceive yourself.” Have you ever had someone say to you, “I don’t understand…
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27Jun 2020 by CJ
GM and FCA lawsuit presided over by a judge leaving a trail

GM and FCA lawsuit presided over by a judge leaving a trail

Life & Living
Regardless of how you get your news, there isn’t much going on to feel all that hopeful about. But then I came across this post which definitely caught my eye. A federal judge is really tired of GM and FCA shit. For those of you who find the topic of cars about as interesting as discussing the details of a route canal, let me enlighten you a bit on the subject above concerning General Motors and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (GM and FCA). In November of 2019, GM filed a racketeering lawsuit against FCA alleging bribery and corruption with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. GM claims that unfair bargaining has cost them some $6 billion, which is the damages they are seeking from FCA in the lawsuit. As you might expect,…
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