7 Habits of Highly Frugal People EmailEmail One of the most direct way to change your life, you need to change your attitude. No one else is responsible for what happens to you but you, so you can either complain about the things you don’t like in your life or you can set about changing them. Not surprisingly, this directly relates to the state of your finances. If you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, having your phone regularly cut off, or making excuses to skip dinners with your friends, then you can use these seven habits to take control of your money situation and live a happier and more frugal lifestyle. Habit One: Be Proactive The first habit to develop is to take responsibility; if you fail, you have no one to blame but yourself. [Here are 6 action steps to take when you feel financially vulnerable.] What most people forget is that though you can’t control the stimulus, you can control your response. How to be proactive for effective frugality: Take the first step. Habit Two: Begin with the End in Mind
50 Things You Need To Give Up Today!! When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you. So starting today… Give up trying to be perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Give up comparing yourself to others. – The only person you are competing against is yourself. Give up dwelling on the past or worrying too much about the future. – Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now is life. And remember, mistakes make us human, failures help us grow, hope keeps us going and love is the reason we’re alive. Source: Marcandangel
Productivity: Accomplish More in Your Home Studio Workflow and time management are crucial in any endeavor. Home studios are no different. I am constantly amazed at how much time I waste in my studio. I could easily spend two hours simply “setting things up” or “trying things out.” By the time I could feasibly begin recording or making music, I’m either tired or have run out of time. Most of us pursue music in our spare time. Just this weekend I was planning to make some serious progress on my album. What do I waste my time on? Rearranging my setup – “Maybe the laptop could go here and the MIDI controller could go here. These are just a few. What I’ve come to realize is that I need to treat my home studio like a professional studio. The problem with home studios is that we have the luxury of time. Let me encourage you to view the time you spend in your studio as if you were paying $500 an hour for it. It’s very important for me that I don’t spend all weekend in the studio and neglect spending time with my wife. Related Articles
51 Things That Will Make You Smile Some days, it’s easy to smile. You wake up to the sounds of birds chirping, with the warm glow of the morning sun cradling your face. You take several deep, cleansing breaths standing beneath a perfectly cascading shower, just before drawing a smiley face on the steamed-up glass with your index finger. Your roommate or significant other makes your coffee, just the way you like it. You hit every traffic light. But not every day starts this way. You struggle, you fight yourself and other people, and you find yourself wishing you could stop the world so you could get off for a while. But there is an alternative. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. Video Credits: Editing/Song: “Moving Towards Love” by Cheryl B. Readers who contributed: Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Airplane Travel Tips - 100 Words or Less - Gadling Don't take sleep aids until you're in the air - Airplane tip by Melanie Linn Gutowski (RSS feed) on Aug 9th, 2010 at 11:16AM Though it may seem appealing to sleep through those long waits on the tarmac, avoid the temptation to take a sleep aid until you're up in the air. You may miss important announcements, or, worse yet, you may be asked to disembark and wait for a later plane. If you plan to take a sleep aid, be sure to take a seat where you are less likely to block in other passengers, like a window seat or a middle seat. Your fellow passengers don't want to climb over your dead weight in the middle of the night. [Photo: Flickr | mirjoran] Swap shelves in airport bookstores - Airplane tip by Erin Frank (RSS feed) on Aug 9th, 2010 at 10:16AM I've been noticing swap shelves in airport bookstores lately. A few airports, like Portland International, have used bookstores where someone has undoubtedly just sold back that bestseller you wanted, and you can pick it up for less than full price. Hi.
10 Life-Enhancing Things You Can Do in Ten Minutes or Less By Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D. It usually takes us much longer to change our moods than we’d like it to take. Here are ten things you can do in ten minutes or less that will have a positive emotional effect on you and those you love. 1. Watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Paus ch . 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Sadly, many people measure happiness by how long the experience lasts. Dr. 30 Challenges for 30 Days Did you know that it takes 30 days to form a new habit? The first few days are similar as to how you would imagine the birth of a new river. Full of enthusiasm it gushes forth, only to be met by strong obstacles. The path is not clear yet, and your surroundings don’t agree. Old habits urge you to stay the same. But you need to stay determined. So, take a moment to reflect on the question ‘Who do I want to be in 5 years?’ Check out this short TED talk first to get inspired: Now pick one or more challenges and stick with them! However, be cautioned, picking too many challenges at the same time can easily result in a failure of all of them. #1 Write a I-Like-This-About-You note/text/email each day for someone (Easy) This is the perfect way to let someone else know you care. #2 Talk to one stranger each day (Hard) This is a great one to cure approaching anxiety. #3 Take one picture each day (Hard) #4 Re-evaluate one long-held belief each day (Intermediate) Do you love yourself? We recommend:
Motivational Jiu-Jitsu: Staying Positive in the Face of Negativity & Indifference It’s easy to stay motivated when you are on the receiving end of a lot of positive feedback. When your boss, your clients, and your coworkers are giving you high fives and telling you what great work you are doing, you can glide from day to day, churning out more and more great work. Unfortunately, most of us are not riding a tidal wave of high-fives through our workday. If anything, the more demanding your job is, the more likely it is that you are having to field negative criticism on a regular basis. Or, maybe you work alone, and you just don’t get that much feedback — negative or positive — from anyone. Aside from the stress and anxiety it induces, this sort of environment also makes it quite difficult to turn out great work. So how can we stay motivated in the face of negativity or just plain indifference? I have a simple activity that I do to identify the problem areas, and think about how I can counteract them. Start with the people that give you no feedback. –What’s Your Approach?