Money matters

A little house on the prairie

Managing money may not be very high on your list of exciting things to do. Being forced to read bank statements, plan a budget, set priorities, and track where the money went, can feel like doing hard time in prison for some personality types.

If you need some encouragement during your Siberian-exile experience, just think about what will happen if you don’t do it. Imagine a headline that reads: “Family forced to sell clothes and join nudist colony.” Or, “Kraft Dinner diet: starving student turns orange.”

Here is a thought (please don’t be offended): Nobody is going to manage your money for you. By and large, more people out there are interested in getting you to part with your hard-earned cash, than helping you managed it wisely. Dangling “stuff equals status” messages in front of you constantly is one of the methods used to drain your bank account dry.

Just in case you are inclined to think that carefully managing your money is somehow a “selfish” thing to do, remember: yes, lots of people have needs, legitimate needs, and so do you.

Since this website is focused on helping you clarify and pursue a career that it is a fit with you are, may I point out the obvious: this will require hard work, sacrifice, and funding.

If you are spending all your money eating out in restaurants, making car payments on a new car, and living in a home or an apartment that you can just barely afford your career aspirations will likely never get off the ground.

You may need help, no matter how well you manage your finances. But at least determine to do what you can with what you have.

Your cost of living will be reduced considerably if you move, sell the new car, and eat at home most of the time. Buy things used if you can. I purchased the laptop computer I am sitting in front of for a fraction of the cost a new one. It works fine some of the time, which is about all you can expect from these often infuriating machines.

Buy a car that no criminal in his right mind (if there is such a thing) would ever even think of stealing. My main means of transportation is a 1993 Toyota Corolla. You’re feeling a bit jealous; I can tell. But, it works fine. Aside from starting spontaneously every now and then…can’t complain.

So get creative. Managing a little bit of money wisely will mean that you have a little bit more to manage.

The rating game

At January 02, 2011
By Nathan
In Career & Life Planning, Career Planning
0

If you want to be miserable, and desire to make your career quest endlessly complicated, just focus your attention on one thing: status. Always ask yourself, “What could I do today that would improve my standing in the rating game?”

Get into the polling business. Find out what you could do with your life that would impress the largest number of people. If the Mafia is admired in your circle of friends, then by all means consider a career with the mob. If the ministry is highly esteemed, then start packing your bags and preparing for a missionary career in a foreign land.

Making lots of money and being able to buy lots of things that will really impress lots of people… may turn out to rate the highest in the polls. In that case, you will certainly need to get out of the ministry and get into a mega-money-making career of some sort. Maybe you could move to China, join the communist party, and find a few thousand peasants you could exploit in your very own factory.

If fame is the main thing that matters in the latest polls, some type of music or media career might be right up your alley. Devote your life, every waking moment, to becoming the next Justin Bieber. Get into the yodeling business and attempt to win the next world championship. Campaign for a spot in the next “reality” television show. Oprah is retiring you know.

Completely disregarding what others think is not a good idea. But being controlled by what others think is a recipe for a career disaster. And the thing is, it is often very difficult to know what other people really think anyway.

It has been said before, but I’ll say it again: In your 20s you will tend to worry about what other people think about you. In your 40s you will tend not to really care that others think. And in your 60s you will realize that most people weren’t thinking about you at all.