Cultivating Your Focus To Financial Freedom
by Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.divaswithapurpose.com
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I make a commission on books recommended. I will never recommend a book I have not read before.
This post is in response to Natalie Sisson’s question, “What Is The One Thing You Will Focus On In 2015?”
It is the seventh day of her 15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge.
If you want to join in on the blog challenge, you can visit here
The one thing I will focus on in 2015 is being financially independent.
The reason is because I had developed a bad spending habit over the years due to a poverty mindset.
My thinking was if I had more money or was a millionaire, I would be happy.
The problem with the thinking is that we are not satisfied with what we have.
It is one of the scriptures that said, “If you can handle the smallest things, then you can manage the bigger things. #paraphrased.
What this means is if you can’t manage the smallest amount of money, then how are you going to handle a million dollars.
Example of this is former NBA professional players who go broke after retiring because they spend on big houses and cars or lottery winners who wind up losing their earnings in a few years.
Even though the rich and the ultra rich are financially independent, the not so rich like travel writers, are also financially independent because they understand how to manage their finances.
That is why they are among the happiest people on earth because they are doing what they love.
As Rolf Potts puts it in his book, “Vagabonding,” “The only real asset we have is time.”
And to piggyback on the statement, Robert Kiyosaki mentioned in his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad “Our minds are our greatest asset.”
So basically if we feed our minds with positive information and surround ourselves around people who are successful with their finances, then we can enjoy true freedom to live our lives to the fullest.
What Is The One Thing That You Will Focus On In 2015? You can leave your comment below.
Choose Your Friends Wisely
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.blog.ezinearticles.com
It is true that we need friends in our lives to keep us company.
However, not everyone will be your friend.
Though you had a lot of friends in high school and was probably the most popular person around.
But when college arrived, everyone will go their separate ways.
That moment when you had a lot of friends was only meant for that specific season.
And that is a good thing because you might have some dreams that you want to fulfill and not everyone will be on board with your dreams.
So if you are surround yourself with people who do not believe in your dreams, you must make the choice to let them go.
If you don’t let the people who are holding you back go, your dreams will be squashed and you will be wondering what would have happened if you had pursued your dreams.
Thomas Edison had failed about 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. What would have happened if he had listened to the scaredy cats who were probably telling him to give up?
*What if Michael Jordan would have allowed the negative review from his high school coach that he was not good enough to play basketball? *paraphrased
Thank God they did not listened to the doubters and kept on pursuing their dreams.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Edison also surround themselves with the right people and cultivated successful habits like self-discipline, hard work, dedication and a tough mindset.
That is what separates the ultra-successful from the mediocre.
So if you want to be highly successful, you must let go of the people who are holding you back and develop the right habits.
Overtime, you will be able to fulfill your dreams and make the world a better place.
As for me, I am going to continue to spend time with friends on Twitter chats like Tamara McCleary, Rachel Miller, Brian Fanzo, Lorrie of Movy Stream and many others who are making people’s lives better.
I will also surround myself with etiquette experts who stay true to themselves and are genuinely humble even though they have achieved huge “success.”
And for the three habits that will allow me to achieve success, I will aim to continue to write everyday, read great books, blogs, magazines, etc. and watch inspiring videos from people who did not allow doubt or fear to stop them from achieving their goals and make other people’s lives better.
Finally, the two bad habits I will give up is comparing myself to other people and overcoming self-doubt.
What are the three successful habits you will develop in order to fulfill your dreams and make the world a better place? You can leave your comments below.
Organization Is The Best Way To Stay Productive
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.lifehack.org
This blog post is in response to the question Natalie Sisson asked in the third day of her 15-day blog challenge, “Which One Social Media Tool Will You Use To Be Productive.
If you want to join in on Natalie’s blog challenge, you can click on the link here
When you see athletes being successful at the highest level, you might wonder how they make it look easy.
Like Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who is now the National Football League (NFL) all-time leading passer in touchdowns.
You might wonder “how does Mr. Manning make it look so easy to dissect the defense on a mostly consistent basis?
What many might not know is that Mr. Manning prepares everyday for his opponent by watching game-film of the different defense formations, shows up early for practice and leaves late.
Peyton is super organized and that is why he really successful at the NFL.
What can we learn from elite athletes like Peyton Manning?
For starters, it is very important to be really organized because our brains can be at a million places.
Dr. Melissa Gratias explains it in this video below that was produced by MBG Organizing Solutions
In addition, the most successful people take the time out to plan out their day with to-do list the night before so that they can be laser focus on the task at hand.
The point is that with different social media tools that can help us to be really productive, there is no excuse on to why you can’t be productive.
For example, Natalie uses social media tools like Asana, Google Drive and Evernote to remain really organized with her business.
And since I want to be more organized, which has been a challenge, I will aim to use a lot of social media tools that will help me to stay productive.
As for today, I will start using Evernote again because it allows you to put reminders on important to do list like write 1,000 words or listen to a podcast.
Also, the representative from Evernote, Cristina Riesen took the time out of her busy schedule to showcase her expertise on a Twitter chat called #bizheroes a couple days ago.
That showed me Evernote’s dedication to their customers and I believed that if many businesses go out of their way to be where their fans or customers is at on social media, they will gain some new customers in the process.
So if you want to increase your productivity, you must be very organized.
Once you are organized, you will increase your chances at being successful just like Peyton Manning and Natalie Sisson.
Which social media tools do you use to be highly productive? You can leave your comments below.
Ohio State Overcomes Adversity, Wins National Championship
By Cheval John
The Ohio State Buckeyes proved the doubters wrong and won the national championship after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in Arlington, Texas.
The Buckeyes won the title under the new era of the so-called, “College Football Playoff” era.
What is really amazing about this team is the fact that they were counted out before the season begin when Braxton Miller went down with an injury.
However, backup quarterback J.T. Barrett led Ohio State to an 11-1 record before going down with an season-ending injury.
That was when the doubters came in force and wondered “loudly” if the Buckeyes would be able to win the Big Ten championship with third string quarterback, Cardale Jones.
They answered the question and dominated Wisconsin 59-0 to win the conference championship and were selected for the first annual “playoff.
The questions now were “can Mr. Jones lead Ohio State to a semifinal win against Alabama, the vaunted power of the Southeastern Conference (SEC)?
They answered the questions again and defeated the Crimson Tide 42-35 in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the title game.
From there, the Buckeyes were able to overcome four turnovers to defeat Oregon despite being underdogs again.
The lesson we can learn from this team is that you always have to believe in yourself and keep on working towards your goals.
Ohio State believed in each other and Jones kept himself ready whenever his opportunity came and is now going to be remembered for producing for his team and going 3-0 in his three starts in the postseason.
The only thing now is that Urban Meyer, now the second head coach to win national championships with two schools (Florida 2006, 2008), and his coaching staff will have a tough time deciding who will be the starting quarterback for the 2015 season.
That is a problem I suspect he is very happy to have.
What will you remember about the 2014 Ohio State Buckeye team? You can leave your comment below.
Video courtesy of ABC News
Explore Your Hometown Like A Tourist
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of taoty
Travel gives people the opportunity to explore a culture that is different from their own.
It breaks the preconceived notions of how people in a foreign country live.
Unfortunately, many only travel as a tourist to escape the rigors of work, especially here in the United States.
According to a report by CBS News, the average American only get two weeks of paid vacation time.
That same report by CBS said 25 % of Americans use the entire two weeks of their paid vacation time.
It is not surprising because we have the mindset of “Living To Work.”
We are really focused on getting the promotion we will sacrifice living just to achieve the promotion.
In reality, we were raised to believe that we had to go get good grades in school that we could get into college.
Once we get into college, we should choose the major that will get us that job and from there work until retirement.
We don’t think that it is possible to spend time in a foreign country and explore a different culture.
Another belief is that the only ones who could spend an extended period of time overseas are college students.
The truth is this type of lifestyle in overseas travel is open to anyone who really want to experience a different culture.
However, it doesn’t hurt if you start living abroad during your time in college.
According to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA), 289,408 U.S. students studied abroad during the 2012-13 school year.
That is only a small percentage of about 18 million students who attends universities in the U.S. according to the Statistic Brain report.
What this shows is that if you studied abroad and are looking to enter the workforce or try to gain an overseas assignment with a company, you will stand out from the millions of people who did not studied abroad.
And if you did studied abroad or lived abroad, you will experience re-entry culture shock.
You will start to feel like things are boring in your hometown, will feel sadness because you can’t relate to your friends or family because they have not spent time overseas.
I can tell you that if you feel that way, you should try to find people who have studied abroad themselves and learned how they overcame re-entry shock.
Also, you can start exploring your hometown like a tourist.
You can visit the museum, attend a symphony orchestra concert, go to a sporting event, etc.
That will allow you to maintain your sense of adventure when you traveled abroad to your hometown.
I can tell you that while I spent three months in Chile, (the majority of the time in Vina del Mar), I walked around the city and explored it.
Prior to spending time in Vina del Mar, I had a preconceived notion that it was going to be touristy because the city is the tourist capital of Chile.
However, I was happily surprised that it was not too touristy because I had arrived during their winter time and the weather changed a lot like here in Texas.
After returning and experiencing re-entry shock, I decided to read up on stories of people who lived overseas.
I also realized that I could walk around the city of Huntsville, which is a small town, and get around easily.
Now that I am in the Houston area, I will aim to explore Houston as much as possible while I am here.
I know that I will learn something new about the city of Houston and will also maintain my sense of adventure for travel.
Have you studied, interned or lived overseas? If you did how did you overcome re-entry shock and how have you maintained your sense of adventure in your hometown? You can leave your comments below.
This post is in response to Natalie Sisson’s question, “What is the one thing you will do to make you feel alive in your hometown as a tourist #paraphrased as part of her “15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge.”
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