This is a guest post by Steve Repak. Steve, CFP®, is an Army veteran, motivational speaker, consultant, and a principal at Repak Financial Services. He has helped countless ordinary people turn their finances around with his inspiring personal finance presentations and one-on-one financial counseling. You can visit his website and purchase his book.
In my book “Dollars & Uncommon Sense” I am often asked how I came up with the title of the book.

I have found that most people try to use common sense when they make decisions with their money and since most people are bad with money, you want to use Uncommon Sense so you won’t end up like most people.

For example, I tell people if they want to have more money, they need to give 10% of what they make before they do anything else. I have a lot of people who look at me crazy when I tell them that. See, it doesn’t make sense that if you are giving money away, that you can end up having more.

Now I do not have an agenda here so I am not telling you who to give your 10% to. If you are tithing, I think that is great, but if you want to give your money to a soup kitchen, the wounded warriors project, or the foundation for homeless ferret’s, it is not as important as to who you are giving the 10% to, but that you are doing it!

Of course when giving money don’t think about the money you’ll get in return, instead think about all the people you’re benefiting. A true giving comes from the heart and when it does it will return to you ten-fold.

Keep in mind, most people spend more than they make, they save what is left over and give to causes rarely. As a reminder, most people are bad with their money. Let me share with you why it works. First, I believe if you give, you’ll receive.

I can’t explain it but it just works. I also know that when people spend money it makes them feel good is the short term. The reason we like things is that we are inherently greedy. Don’t take it personal, it is just the truth.

When you start giving you have no choice but to learn how to live on less. Secondly, it feels good to give so when you give, you’ll fill that void that spending can never fill! Once you can learn that you can live on less, you’ll have more!

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This is a guest post by Natalie Hunter. Natalie is addicted to learning and research, and grateful for the invention of the internet because it allows her to spend some time outside rather than just poring through books in a library. She is fascinated by the different methodologies for education at large today, and particularly by the advent of online schools. She also loves to travel and learn via interaction with other people and cultures.

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. — Jim Rohn

Image courtesy of photostock

Learning is one of the most rewarding joys in life for many people. The continuation of learning after its obvious necessity has passed can be very helpful for people looking lead happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.

Continued education can be done anywhere at any time, from online school to reading a book. It is not just an activity for young college students, it can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for knowledge.

Boundless rewards come from learning. When new information is absorbed through either reading or auditory retention, a person feels accomplished and successful. One can never know too much; new information is the best gift in the world. Not only can a person feel proud of themselves when they learn something new, there are also proven scientific and economic results relating to happiness when people exercise their brains.

The Benefits

One obvious reason to pursue the joy of learning is for one to qualify oneself for better employment. Economic statistics state that educated workers with a bachelor’s degree in the United States earn around 60 percent more than those with a high school diploma.

Adding to the happiness of extended education, the economic benefits of doing so are limitless. While money is a positive thing, it does not always equate to happiness for individuals. Learning, on its own and the economic benefits aside, lead to many more stimulating aspects of a person’s personal fulfillment.

On that note, education comes along with personal fulfillment and pride. When one is educated, one had boundless opportunities for their professional lives. With an education, a person can pursue any vocational path they desire. The mental and stress relieving benefits of obtaining a job in a field that stimulates the mind are well worth the effort of continuing education. Such an achievement makes a person proud of themselves, and can allow them to attain their goals and dreams.

Pursuing further education has health benefits as well. Mental stimulation, just like physical exercise does for the body, prevents cognitive degeneration of the brain. Common brain problems associated with old age, such as memory loss and motor skills, comes with a lack of stimulation for the brain.

That is, if the brain is not used and exercised, it will lose much of its muscle and power, just like muscles when they are not regularly exercised. There are many exercises one can undertake to make their brain stronger and more adept.

Another great exercise for the mind and the spirit is traveling. It is thought that Homo sapiens became the dominant hominid species because of the fact that they traveled far from their comfort zones, which required our brains to be more creative in order to adapt to different situations.

Experiencing other cultures, countries, and ways of life increases one’s experiential knowledge and opens your mind up to different lifestyles and worldviews. It is important to stay resourceful when visiting an unfamiliar place, which keeps your mind attentive and creative. Besides, seeing beautiful sights, eating interesting food, and meeting new people can do wonders to refresh a stagnant spirit.

A sound education is one of life’s most rewarding and pleasurable activities. Mental stimulation opens doors to the possibilities of the world. The joy of learning is something everyone should undertake, be it for economic reasons, sheer pleasure, or for health related reasons. Learning brings joy to life in a multitude of ways that cannot be measured from any statistic.

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This is a guest post by Michele Wahlder. Michele is a Life & Career Coach, the founder of Life Possibilities, LLC and author of Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude—26 Solutions for Life’s Little Challenges.
You might fall into a career that you love by chance or you may have known since you were a child what you wanted to do when you grew up and ended up loving your chosen profession. For many of us, though, finding a career we love is not so easy.

Most of us have gone through the trial and error process, but it’s not a very strategic method for the activity you’ll be doing for forty hours a week until you retire. Considering the amount of time we spend comparing brands at the supermarket or researching vacations, shouldn’t we put a little more time and research into our career choice too?

If you’re contemplating a career move, reassessing your mid-life career choice or just entering the job market, consider working through the Three E’s to Finding the Career You Love: Exploration, Evaluation, Execution.

EXPLORATION

Before you start your job search, the first thing you’ll want to do is assess your work values. Ask yourself what you need in order to be happy in your work environment. Prepare a standard set of questions to ask on an interview based on the values you are not willing to set aside. These values provide a template for what any career you pursue should look like.

Then, assess your strengths. Once you have defined what you are naturally talented at, focus on how you can optimize those strengths and write a competitive edge statement that explains what makes you unique, different and valuable.

The final step in the Exploration stage is to find the common “golden” threads that run through your interests and brainstorm careers that would incorporate them. For example, you may find that most of your interests tend to be individual activities that allow your mind to go somewhere else, such as reading, cycling, and playing computer games.

If you thrive working alone and enjoy the “escape” of everyday life, then think of careers that might let you use those interests. Perhaps, you’d enjoy being a writer, a truck driver, or a computer programmer. Write down all the potential careers based on your interests. Don’t edit or censor at this point, jot it all down, everything from a vague interest or silly idea to a dream job.

EVALUATION

Once you’ve explored and discovered your work values, your strengths, your interests, and brainstormed career options, it’s time to evaluate what jobs may actually be suitable for you.

Take your list of jobs and compare and contrast it with your work values and your strengths. You may find that even though being a truck driver aligns with your interests, one of your values is to have the option to work from home. Or, you may not be a very good driver. Narrow your list down to the jobs that fit with your values, use your strengths, and include some of your interests.

Once you’ve narrowed down your options, do a little “on the road” evaluating for your top three job choices—job shadowing, internships, web-research, and informational interviews.

EXECUTION

Now that you’ve learned about your options, pick the one that is the best fit for you. Then find out as much about the industry and the opportunities within that career field as you can. Re-write your resume to position yourself for this career or begin building the foundational components of the new business you would like to start.

Connect with professional organizations in your industry, take any training or educational courses you need to be competitive, and get out there and submit your resume or start that business.

Congratulations, you have arrived at a career choice that will utilize your talents, skills, and passions!

Here is a bonus video to help you get the job of your dreams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh3VV90v5po

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Have you ever tried to use the law of attraction to achieve something in your life?  Have you ever failed?

Some people when they fail decide that “it is all just a big scam” or that they just weren’t “positive” enough. In this post I want to share eight impediments to using the law of attraction successfully.

By knowing the obstacles we can avoid them and deal with them if needed, it also provides another reason for the failure.

1 Negative thoughts- these are all the thoughts that negate the idea of the achievement. Let’s say you want a promotion at work or a better paying job , negative thoughts would be thinking about all the reasons why you won’t achieve it: The economy is in recession, your coworkers have a better connection with the boss, you don’t always succeed at your job and so on.

Clearly this way of thinking is the exact opposite of what you should be doing- thinking about all the reasons why you will succeed. It doesn’t matter what you think the “reality” is.

For example let’s take the last argument- you don’t always succeed at your job, think about all the managers you (If it didn’t happen to you it probably happened to one of your friends.) had who were less qualified then you. The “reality” is fluid it constantly changes according to your point of view. When you know you deserve it you’ll achieve it.

2 You’re not motivated enough- If I tell you that you have one year to make a million dollar or else I’ll kill you or your family and you can’t go to the cops will you achieve it? This is a radical example yet it shows that with the right amount of motivation you can achieve anything.

Find what motivates you, if for instance you want a luxury car go to the dealership and ask them to test drive it. Feel what it will be like when you’ll own such a car. Collect pictures of it and anything that will make you feel that you own it. Remind yourself why you want it. There are countless resources for motivation: books, seminars ,audio cassettes use them daily.

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. — Zig Ziglar

3Patience- Although you create your reality with your thoughts and emotions, it takes time. How much time? That depends on the ratio between beneficial and negative thoughts and upon your skills. It’s a simple math, the more positive thoughts believing that it is possible for you the quicker it will be achieved.

Another example is if you are working on changing your personality (e.g. become braver or more assertive) then you have to give yourself time to change.

4 Attachment- The word attachment means that you fear you’ll fail. You’re attached to the outcome rather than release it to the universe. The attachment doesn’t have to be a word or a phrase you say to yourself, sometimes it is just a feeling, a fear that you won’t achieve your desired outcome.

To release it remember that it is your job to decide what it is you want and do whatever you can to achieve it, after that the universe will do the rest.

5Doing nothing- It is not enough to visualize your desired outcome or to repeat affirmations. You have to help god help you. If you want to lose weight and you don’t eat less or exercise you’ll probably won’t lose weight. All the techniques should supplement they aren’t the main course of action. If it is difficult try a mentor or a coach someone that achieved it already or someone that will motivate you and give you tools to succeed.

In this video Will Smith talks about the law of attraction and about the importance of work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pke9gEZfJXk

6Beliefs- Sometimes your believes get in the way of your outcome. For instance if you want to be rich but you believe that all rich people are greedy or that “money doesn’t grow on trees” and so on then even if you’ll make a lot of money you’ll find ways to get rid of it even quicker, after all you don’t want to be greedy right? You’ll need to work on those believes before you’ll see progress.

You can work on your beliefs on your own or use a professional.

7Asking god- Believe it or not asking god isn’t a good idea because:
a) He/she already knows what you want.
b) By asking you’re declaring that you don’t create your reality after all if you did you wouldn’t ask god for help right?
c) You implant the idea that you don’t have the things you ask for now.

What you can do is to feel and think as if the things you want are already present in your life. Don’t try to lie to yourself, if you’re trying to lose weight and you can’t say to yourself that you’re thin then at least you can say that you’re becoming thinner every day. Say it with emotion, really feel it and believe it.

8 Not wanting it enough- All the aforementioned impediments really come down to this one. All the obstacles are really excuses. If right now you’ll decide that you’re going to dedicate your life to become rich and really focus solely on this: you will go to seminars to get a financial education, you’ll find a mentor, you’ll work on your people skills etc, You will become rich without a doubt.

Yes it requires a sacrifice, you’ll probably have to watch less TV and maybe see your friends less often. So is it worth it? Your answer will determine your success.

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