Without getting into any great detail here I'm going to briefly share why everyone should have an emergency fund as part of their personal financial plan. I have held a cash reserve of 6 months of living expenses for the last 3 years now and have never needed it until now. With the holidays upon all of us I have felt more prepared this year then ever. Can you imagine how something like an $1800 car repair bill could shatter the holiday budget? Well that's what happened to me. All of a sudden I feel unprepared for holiday bills, investing and other goals due to this unexpected expense....but wait....this is exactly the reason I've carried this cash in my account for so long. It was for today. I didn't know that the entire front end of the Jeep was going to burst into flames on the interstate, but it did happen, and that is the point. Life happens. Life is the air conditioner for your home going out at the first of summer. It is the hot water heater deciding to break, the unexpected medical expense that insurance did not cover, the car repair bill that jumped out of nowhere, losing your job just before a planned vacation, etc. etc. etc. The point is that while dropping such a significant amount of cash on anything unplanned hurts, it IS the reason for making an emergency fund a priority. These listed unexpected life events are going to happen. It's not a matter of if they will happen, it's a matter of when they will happen. So the question is: will you prepare for what is going to happen at some point or will you not? I personally chose 3 years ago to prepare for the inevitable and now see the true benefit of doing so. I will not be foregoing Christmas this year. I will not be foregoing social outings with family and friends and I will not spend 2012 paying off an $1800 car repair loan. That, in and of itself is enough positive news to keep a smile on my face this holiday season, and all because of a decision that was made 3 years ago. Wow, I guess our current choices do in fact, affect our future performance : ).
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
-Asher-
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Work Is Love Made Visible
Good Morning! Here is a quote I came across this morning while reading a book. I feel that it is profoundly relevant to the personal development of our lives, and that when we can truly understand the implications that it carries in our work, success, in whatever we do, will become inevitable:
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and voices of the night. All work is empty save when there is love; and when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. -Kahlil Gibran
The word "work" here I don't believe is depicted as exclusively the thing we do for financial gain (our job), but applies equally to our relationships outside of what we do to pay the bills. When we hate our jobs (as many people do), this "distaste" is spilled over into other areas our lives causing anxiety, depression and other such undesirable consequences. If this sounds like you, (as it has been me), I would challenge you to look in the mirror, and understand that YOU are responsible for not staying in a place that causes you to work with this "distaste". Continuing to do so leaves you, your family, your friends and basically everything that matters in life unfulfilled. Easier said than done? Yes. How do you find work that matters? How do I know what matters to me? How will I feed my family and pay my bills if I jump out of the toxic work I'm in? The answer is a goal, and a plan. This is the subject of our discussion, and I hope to get as many views/opinions on this as possible, because this is a subject that matters.
-Asher-
Twitter: @AsherSM
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger. And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and voices of the night. All work is empty save when there is love; and when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. -Kahlil Gibran
The word "work" here I don't believe is depicted as exclusively the thing we do for financial gain (our job), but applies equally to our relationships outside of what we do to pay the bills. When we hate our jobs (as many people do), this "distaste" is spilled over into other areas our lives causing anxiety, depression and other such undesirable consequences. If this sounds like you, (as it has been me), I would challenge you to look in the mirror, and understand that YOU are responsible for not staying in a place that causes you to work with this "distaste". Continuing to do so leaves you, your family, your friends and basically everything that matters in life unfulfilled. Easier said than done? Yes. How do you find work that matters? How do I know what matters to me? How will I feed my family and pay my bills if I jump out of the toxic work I'm in? The answer is a goal, and a plan. This is the subject of our discussion, and I hope to get as many views/opinions on this as possible, because this is a subject that matters.
-Asher-
Twitter: @AsherSM
Saturday, November 5, 2011
It's YOU in the mirror has started!
Hello and Welcome to: "It's YOU in the Mirror"! I will briefly explain how this blog came to be and the purpose of it. Ever since I was 9 years old (I am now 29), I had frequented a local music store in my town. Before reaching driving age, my Mom would drop me off at the store while she ran a host of errands that could easily span 4-5 hours. The manager of the store (we'll call him John), put up with me, and entertained me as I played every guitar in the store (none of which I could buy). Needless to say, John and I became close acquaintances and my frequent visits to the music store continued for long after I was able to drive. John was a good 27 or 28 years older then me so he often felt somewhat like a second father in a way as he would ask how school, business, and life in general were going for me. He always seemed to be smarter, more together, and wiser then myself in general, and I had always viewed him that way. He had an endless amount of knowledge and advise to offer me and I had nothing to offer him. At least that's what I had always thought.
Fast forward to a few months ago, when I received a phone call from John that went just like this: "Hey Asher, It's John. I just wanted to let you know that I got laid off at the music store yesterday, and wanted to make sure you have my cell phone number. I need some work pretty bad now, I can't lift much but I can do some things..." What on earth is going on here?! How could John, who had been working at the music store since around the year I was born, who had been such a rock for me during tough times lose his job all of a sudden?? Moreover, he's asking me to help him get work? It occurred to me that this was the kind of thing that was happening everywhere in our economic environment today. I knew that to be a fact, but until you experience it first hand it does not always register. This experience (which I have greatly condensed), got me thinking.......
The purpose of "It's YOU in the mirror", is to provide an outlet, support, and source of information on the subjects of: Personal Growth, Personal Finance, Personal Life, and the success principles that in-sue from these three areas. The fact is that none of us can get through life without the love and support from others, and I hope that "It's YOU in the Mirror" will help to encourage, motivate, and inform those who read it to take an active roll in turning a bad situation around and/or making a good situation better. While we all need the support of others, nobody will achieve our goals for us. I am the guy in the mirror that is responsible for me, and you are the guy/girl in the mirror that is responsible for you. Once that mantra is accepted, I've found that the help starts pouring in from all directions! Thanks for reading and please sent any thoughts and/or suggestions to asher2233@hotmail.com. Look forward to seeing you at the top!!
-Asher Smith-
It's YOU in the Mirror
Fast forward to a few months ago, when I received a phone call from John that went just like this: "Hey Asher, It's John. I just wanted to let you know that I got laid off at the music store yesterday, and wanted to make sure you have my cell phone number. I need some work pretty bad now, I can't lift much but I can do some things..." What on earth is going on here?! How could John, who had been working at the music store since around the year I was born, who had been such a rock for me during tough times lose his job all of a sudden?? Moreover, he's asking me to help him get work? It occurred to me that this was the kind of thing that was happening everywhere in our economic environment today. I knew that to be a fact, but until you experience it first hand it does not always register. This experience (which I have greatly condensed), got me thinking.......
The purpose of "It's YOU in the mirror", is to provide an outlet, support, and source of information on the subjects of: Personal Growth, Personal Finance, Personal Life, and the success principles that in-sue from these three areas. The fact is that none of us can get through life without the love and support from others, and I hope that "It's YOU in the Mirror" will help to encourage, motivate, and inform those who read it to take an active roll in turning a bad situation around and/or making a good situation better. While we all need the support of others, nobody will achieve our goals for us. I am the guy in the mirror that is responsible for me, and you are the guy/girl in the mirror that is responsible for you. Once that mantra is accepted, I've found that the help starts pouring in from all directions! Thanks for reading and please sent any thoughts and/or suggestions to asher2233@hotmail.com. Look forward to seeing you at the top!!
-Asher Smith-
It's YOU in the Mirror
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)