Choice of Action

Improve or Enjoy. Pick One.

2012-01-07T11:45:00.000-06:00

When I focus on accomplishing goals I am not good at stopping and enjoying life. For better or for worse, I immerse myself in reaching the destination to the exclusion of enjoying the ride. This mindset has worked for me as I have reached many goals over the past couple of years both personally and professionally.

Yet, on the heels of reaching a major career goal I was left with a weird feeling. I jotted the following down a couple of days after reaching the goal:

Kind of floating through life right now. Is that a bad thing? Probably not a good thing. I am feeling more settled so what do I mean by “floating”? Not having control? Something like that.

After I reached my goal I was missing something. I realized that almost as soon as I hit success I started looking for the next challenge. I can’t help but think that this is just a cycle of hollowness. What is the point if you are never content?

The obvious solution is to just focus on being content. But this seems like an easy way out that avoids the underlying problem. I think, for me, it is almost a mental head game where I convince myself that if I am content I will not have the proper motivation and thus will be unable to succeed. In retrospect this seems illogical.

How does one actually break out of this cycle? I can’t help but think there is a certain irony to pinpointing this problem and then setting a goal to overcome it. I don't think there is a clear answer besides just enjoying the journey and the process of overcoming challenges. Because the once-I-do-this-I’ll-be-happy-cycle doesn’t end with happiness.

Photo: Salim Al-Harthy

1L Timesheet

2011-07-04T15:29:00.002-05:00

In May I finished my first year of law school at Loyola University Chicago. I ended up doing really well and just transferred into UCLA.

Prior to law school I was really anxious about doing well (or more specifically, not doing well). I read a bunch of prep books (Getting To Maybe, Law School Confidential, Law School Without Fear) and browsed through all the collective wisdom on Top Law Schools. Yet, two weeks into class I had no idea if I was doing enough. So I created a Google Doc and started to keep track of the hours I spent doing work outside of class. When I started doing work I would punch in, when I stopped I would punch out. It gave me a sense of accountability and allowed me to see exactly how much time I was devoting to each class. Also, it helped me get into a routine and set weekly goals.

I figured that I would post my timesheet for anxious 0Ls to see how one 1L studied for his first year. Feel free to ask me any questions about my first year.

My two tips for doing well: 1) Get into a good routine, and 2) Take every practice test you can.

Here are a few stats:

Total hours: 727 hrs, 25 min

1st semester: 356 hrs
2nd semester: 371 hrs, 25 min

Average week: 26 hrs, 29 min
Low week: 5 hrs (1st week, 2nd semester)
High week: 50 hrs, 20 min (week before finals, 2nd semester)

1L: 1st Semester

2010-12-26T09:37:00.000-06:00

I stopped posting on here when I started law school. While there were moments where I could have written posts, I wanted to devote my full attention to doing well. Also, in my free time I either wanted to be spending it with my wife or doing something where I did not have to think.

Here are a few of my thoughts from the previous months:

7/5/10

Quickly approaching the end of 3CR, my wedding and starting law school. A weird time. Almost like the calm before the storm. Trying to clutch to the present and enjoy my time, not really easy with how excited I am for everything.

7/15/10

Idea: Make a blog that includes things that you googled. So you have the question and then your eventual answer if you found it. (why do this? who cares??)

8/11/10

Following a great wedding and about a week before law school starts. Really excited to get started with law school. I am trying to make sure I am as prepared as I can be.

8/24/10 (first day of law school)

The school has been nothing but welcoming and open over orientation and the first day. This, I think, has helped calm down all the type-A's starting law school. Yet, under the surface level calm I have a bunch of anxiety over doing well. I get the sense that most others do too. When success is defined by one test at the end of the year you must take a certain mindset to retain your sanity. I am still trying to find that mindset.

8/26/10

Law school is tough. But not tough because it is hard to comprehend and not necessarily the workload (which can be challenging). It is tough because there are so many different routes to take and no one is exactly sure which way to go. Read the cases? Brief the cases? Hornbooks? When to outline?

This is hard and exhilarating all at the same time. I like competition and challenge.

9/9/10

Starting to figure everything out better. Now it is time to ratchet up the work.

10/15/10

In a good place. Up to date on my work. Outlines looking good. Into the homestretch and feeling good. Time to start ratcheting it up.

12/15/10

One semester of law school in the books. I enjoyed it, but have no idea how I did. After all the exams I couldn't help but remember the following section from One Lon finals:

I felt insulted by them--there's no other way to put it. Finals were regarded with an institutional earnestness which had left my classmates and me believing for months that the tests would offer some consummate evaluation, not simply of how well we'd learned, but--almost mystically--of the depths of our capacity in the law. Exams were something to point to, a proving ground for all the hard and sincere labor. And instead they have been intellectual quick-draw contests, frantic exercises that seemed to place no premium on the sustained insight and imagination which I most admired in others, and when they occurred, felt proudest of in myself.

I knew going in that the finals would not necessarily measure my intellectual capacity for the law, but I was (and still am) very much aware of their ability to affect my capacity to find employment.

12/26/10

Enjoying the break.

Photo: eflon

Change

2010-07-18T12:35:00.000-05:00

When you are through changing, you are through.
-Bruce Barton

I started Choice of Action one year ago. Over the last year I have tried using this blog to strike a balance of being informative for others while also being a personal tool for improvement. Looking back, I can say that it has unquestionably succeeded in helping me with my own goals. I can only hope that some of the advise was useful for others.

For me, the last year has been highlighted by anticipation for big life changes. Over the next month I will be quitting my job, getting married and starting law school. These are all things that I have been planning for quite a while so the change is not really shocking. Yet it is very difficult to stay in the moment with all of this on my mind.

I used to think of myself as someone who was not exactly comfortable with a lot of change. I now think it is more true that I am just more comfortable (and generally more successful) in familiar situations. When placed in new settings I prefer to assess, survey and see how things work on their own before acting. I anticipate I will do the same thing when I start law school, though the time to analyze will need to be short as I attempt to balance a big workload with family life.

I am not exactly sure how this blog will look in the future. Anyone who has occasionally visited it will have noticed that I stopped posting regularly months ago. The biggest success of the blog has been maintaining my workout log for over 6 months. Updating the log has provided both motivation to work out and a sense of accomplishment in looking back. I plan on continuing to post my workouts. I am also considering posting a similar log in connection with my law school studying.

Moving forward with my life I remain steadfastly excited for the future. Excited both for the beginning of a new career and for new beginnings with the woman of my dreams. Amidst years of questioning and analyzing what career to pursue, a stabilizing force in my life has been my future wife, for whom I have never doubted my pursuit.

An Examination of Routines

2010-05-27T21:31:00.002-05:00

I am the type of guy who really likes routines. I think it's tied to this weird obsession I have with finding the most efficient way to do everything. I recently stumbled across this website where the routines of famous people are listed.

One of my favorites is Benjamin Franklin:

The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time, one page in my little book contained the following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day.

5-8: Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness! Contrive day's business, and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study, and breakfast. (The Question. What good shall I do this day?)

8-12: Work.

12-2: Read, or look over my accounts, and dine.

2-6: Work.

6-10: Put things in their places. Supper. Music or diversion, or conversation. Examination of the day. (The Question. What good have I done today?)

10-5: Sleep.

Making time every day to ask "What good shall I do this day?" and "What good have I done today?" is reason enough to work on building a routine. The practice clearly worked for the underrated Franklin.

Another interesting one is Barack Obama:

Although his presidency is barely a week old, some of Mr. Obama’s work habits are already becoming clear. He shows up at the Oval Office shortly before 9 in the morning, roughly two hours later than his early-to-bed, early-to-rise predecessor. Mr. Obama likes to have his workout — weights and cardio — first thing in the morning, at 6:45. (Mr. Bush slipped away to exercise midday.)

He reads several papers, eats breakfast with his family and helps pack his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, off to school before making the 30-second commute downstairs — a definite perk for a man trying to balance work and family life. He eats dinner with his family, then often returns to work; aides have seen him in the Oval Office as late as 10 p.m., reading briefing papers for the next day.

“Even as he is sober about these challenges, I have never seen him happier,” Mr. Axelrod said. “The chance to be under the same roof with his kids, essentially to live over the store, to be able to see them whenever he wants, to wake up with them, have breakfast and dinner with them — that has made him a very happy man.”

In comparison I jotted down how my usual morning breaks down:

6:30: Wake up (sometimes set alarm at 6 and hit snooze until 6:30)
6:50: Shower/dress
7:10: Eat breakfast/check email, google reader, facebook, google news
7:45: Leave for bus
8:15-8:30: Arrive at work

My routine is far from ideal. I enjoy having time in the morning to reflect a bit on the day ahead. My current schedule usually does not allow much time for doing this.

I will be starting law school in less than three months so my routine will definitely be changing. I am planning on taking this opportunity to instill a much more structured, Franklin-like routine.

An easy criticism of these routines are that they are boring and non-spontaneous. I think this is fair. But I also think that this type of structuring can allow for maximization of time to do great things.

From looking at the routines of famous and accomplished individuals a theme seemed to emerge; rigid structure allows for focus and bursts of creativity.

A few links related to the subject:

Life Hacker: Top 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine

An interesting discussion of morning routines

Photo: cliff1066

Assorted Musings

2010-05-08T09:58:00.003-05:00

I often have flashes of seemingly great ideas or thoughts. When this happens I keep these ideas on a Google document, sometimes expanding on them and writing a blog post and sometimes never touching them again. Here is an assortment of the later.

One of my new favorite blogs is here. Which is where I stole the Assorted Musings idea from.

2/17/10

The next 5 to 10 years are going to have elevated levels of unemployment. What are ways that you can capitalize on this?

-Few people your age have an entrepreneurial attitude. This generation has been told what to do....What does this mean??

In regards to entrepreneurial thought, I see no better time in history to forge your own way in business than now. The reason: internet, globalization, etc, coinciding with an age of many young people taking the same paths their parents took. It is a completely different world.

2/18/10

The blurring of political communication with the internet is creating issues for campaign finance law....how can you get more involved in this???

2/24/10

The best thing about February is that it is only 28 days.

3/27/10

Be so good that they can't ignore you. (I believe this is a Steve Martin quote.)

4/21/10

Some really great stuff on economic thought and ideology.

"...in the course of producing and distributing goods and services, market outcomes generate incomes, wealth, status, and power. Any modification of market outcomes modifies the allocation of incomes, wealth, status, and power. So it is no wonder that the discussion has become thickly encrusted with ideology. And one convenient way to turn subtle argument into ideology is to create dichotomies where there are originally fine gradations of more and less. For example: are you for or against “the free market”?

"The market evangelists, who tend to claim more for unregulated markets than solid theory can justify, are ideologically motivated. They dislike and distrust governments so much that they overlook the exceptions and the implausible assumptions, and simply propose the blanket principle that the market knows best. What is improper in this manner of argument is the frequent casual hint that it is authorized by economic theory. Nothing so general is ever authorized by economic theory."

"Why, in the marketplace (sic!) of ideas, have the evangelists for the unrestricted market attracted so much attention and the “realists” so little? He argues, fairly convincingly, that the truth does not lie predominantly on that side of the issue. So is it that believers always make more effective advocates than skeptics do? Are we for some reason more receptive to simple answers than to complex ones? Is it that, in the nature of the case, there is more money backing one side than the other? Perhaps the long postwar prosperity provided good growing conditions for conservative political and economic ideology. If so, it will be interesting to see if the current recession and financial meltdown leave traces in the course of serious economics."

[http://www.tnr.com/print/article/books-and-arts/hedging-america]

The Difference Between Surviving and Thriving

2010-04-18T11:37:00.001-05:00

I was taught growing up to survive. By this I mean I was shown the skills needed to get by and make it in the world. Very valuable skills of which I am very thankful to have. They've allowed me to support myself, put a roof over my head and ensure that I do not go hungry.

I cannot help but appreciate this mindset. There is something utterly simplistic with being happy to survive.

And yet, I remain hungry for more. I do not want to just get by or just survive. I want to dominate, I want to be the best, I want to thrive.

The difference between these mindsets are relatively straightforward. Surviving is doing what is necessary to live. Thriving is not being satisfied just surviving, but reaching above this to make continual progress.

A thriving mindset is defined by continually challenging oneself. To be a better person. To be a better spouse, parent, child and friend, being more understanding, more supportive or just being there more. Challenging yourself to have a better career, being more fulfilled, being more rewarded or just being happier. Challenging yourself individually to constantly question who you are and whether this is in line with who you want to be.

The important corollary is that seeking to dominate in every aspect of your life will require trade-offs. Do you stay late at work to finish the big project (career) or leave to catch your son's soccer game (family)? A thriving mindset requires priorities. There is nothing wrong with wanting to continually improve aspects of your life, it is just important to be aware of what is most important to you.

I think everyone has the potential in them to be better. Wanting to do so is the first step, doing the little things necessary to get there is what thriving is all about.

Photo: aussiegall

Facebook Update

2010-04-17T08:02:00.000-05:00

My latest (over-the-top) post included my plan for "drastically" cutting back on the time I spent on Facebook.

So how did it go?

Overall, the plan went very well. The first few days were a bit tough because checking out Facebook became a habit I did not even really think about. After breaking through the initial barrier it was pretty easy.

The obvious benefit to checking FB and other similar sites less is more free time. (Oddly, I am not really sure what I spent the additional free time doing...It clearly was not blogging more.)

A surprising result was that I stopped caring about what was going on with the hundreds of "friends" that I had. It was calming.

Moving forward I am trying to simplify my life before heading to law school so I will definitely stick with visiting Facebook less.

How Facebook is Worse Than Smoking

2010-02-20T11:08:00.000-06:00

I am sure you've heard the statistic that for every cigarette you smoke you take 11 minutes off your life.

How about this statistic: the average U.S. Internet user spends more time on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Amazon combined. According to Facebook, the average Facebook user spends more than 55 minutes per day on the website (or 5 cigarettes a day, however you want to look at it).

The fact that you are reading this probably from a link on Facebook (however ironic) shows that I am not anti-Facebook. In fact, I like it. There are many benefits to the website. I enjoy keeping up with my friends, checking out new pictures and perusing the latest gossip.

The problem for me though (and I suspect others) is that I spend too much time on the website.

Because of this I have decided to drastically cut back on the time I spend on Facebook. I will be going on the website once, briefly in the morning for business purposes/responding to messages and that is it. No lunch time FB surfing or late night creeping.

Am I just becoming that old man who hates technology? Perhaps. But the numbers do not lie. Facebook is a time eater.

For me, the opportunity cost of Facebook is big. I have several goals I am trying to accomplish and rarely have the time to get them done. Here are a few things I will be doing instead of checking the latest updates on Facebook:

Working out: I am still working on hitting my goals previously mentioned.

Catching up on relevant news: via Google Reader, Google Fast Flip, local papers, etc.

Spending more quality time with my wonderful fiancee

Wedding planning

Anything not on a computer: I am on a computer all day at work...I do not need to be on one when I get home.

Sleeping: I am a big fan of sleep.

While I am laying off Facebook for the next few months I am not necessarily advocating that everyone should. If millions of people are spending this much time on a website it can present business and networking opportunities. It is undoubtedly a great way to spread ideas and reach out to contacts. Also, having an outlet is fun and necessary. Facebook can provide a good break from work and really is an easy way to stay connected with your friends.

It is all about balance. For me, FB can still be this outlet without eating away at my valuable time if I limit how often I check the site.

So the next time you log into Facebook think of this quote from a certain former IL Governor that I've modified for my own purpose: "[time] is a f*cking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."

Photo: Benstein

Break on Through

2010-02-06T14:39:00.001-06:00

It is really easy to get sidetracked from accomplishing goals. Spend five minutes looking through my archives and you will see some great examples.

Often there is something in our lives that we want to change, we get excited, set a goal, hit a bump and become discouraged.

A big component to successfully reaching goals is being able to overcome these setbacks and mini-failures.

In light of this, here are a few tips to overcoming this cycle and associated barriers:

It's a continuous cycle. The cycle doesn't have to end after giving up once. Get back on the horse.

Progress is progress. Setting goals, making a bit of progress and failing is better than doing nothing.

Break on through. When you initially hit resistance or find yourself too busy it doesn't mean you have to quit. If, for some reason, you missed a week of working out, just start again the next week. Do not get too down on yourself because...

Everybody fails. Everybody. If you do not occasionally hit resistance you are probably not setting hard enough goals. Push yourself! (On the flip-side, if you are doing nothing but failing, set some really easy goals. Accomplish them and make the goals a little bit harder. Incrementally give yourself more confidence in your ability to succeed.)

You will always be busy, so make some time. This is the biggest one for me. It really is true-- unexpected stuff is going to come up, you will be busy...just deal with it.

Failure is part of life. Embrace it, get over it and dominate.

Photo: tpower1987

Be Content

2010-02-02T07:05:00.001-06:00

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
-Lao Tzu

My Plan for Getting Fit

2010-01-23T09:22:00.006-06:00

A few months back I posted about the benefits that tracking your progress can have on reaching your goals. Specifically, I highlighted how recording every time I worked out pushed me to keep up with my fitness goals.

With my wedding/honeymoon 6 months away I've decided to take this a step further. I am going to combine tracking my workouts with publicly broadcasting my progress (or lack thereof).

I am going to record how much I work out on this blog. I have created a "My Fitness Goals/Progress" section on the right hand side. On that link I will post my fitness goals and record all my workouts. If I start slacking I encourage any trash talk.

Photo: Sean

My Fitness Goals/Progress

2010-01-23T09:19:00.041-06:00

As discussed in my plan for getting fit, here is where I am publicly tracking my fitness goals.

New Year, New Resolutions

2009-12-31T18:00:00.001-06:00

As the crystal ball drops we descend into a new year, a new decade. A clean slate full of new opportunities.

The new year will be filled with countless resolutions, goals and promises.

While just another day, January 1st, 2010 presents a great opportunity for self improvement. Because wanting to improve is the most important step to actually improving. (In reality, any day you choose to make a conscious decision to improve is a great opportunity. This hyper-self-help sentence is super corny and yet super true.)

Going into the new year with a little preparation can make a big difference in terms of sticking with your resolutions.

A few tips for your 2010 goals

Choose something you really want do to. This is the most important tip. You won't stick to something you don't care about.

Tell someone about it or write it down. This will keep you inspired and increase accountability.

Make the resolution doable.

Set measurable benchmarks. "I want to get in shape," is a terrible resolution. What does this even mean? When will you be in shape? Where is the motivation? A better alternative: "I will work out for 10 minutes five times a week." This will keep you motivated and will allow you to track your progress.

Limit yourself. Do not spread yourself too thin. The more goals you set the less likely you will be to do them. Shoot for the one or two things you truly want.

Inching towards your goals and slowly building positive habits is a great way to make your resolutions a reality.

Cheers.

Photo: Jsome1

What is Your Goal in Life?

2009-12-12T11:53:00.005-06:00

I never really thought about what my main goal in life was until I was 17. I lived life because that is what I had always done. I tried to do well in school because I liked doing well. I had a job because I needed money. I did things to do them.

It amazes me that I floated in life for so long without really thinking about why I did anything, beyond surface reasons.

When I was first asked the "goal in life" question by my then-girlfriend, now fiancee, I did not know what to say. I thought about it for a minute and said my goal in life was to be successful. "Quick thinking," I thought to myself with a smile.

I asked her the same question. She said her goal was to be happy.

The moment she answered I knew her answer was better then mine. (She is a very smart woman.)

Having a big, overarching goal is not necessary as evidenced by my initial 17 years of existence. But it is helpful. It's helpful in those moments when you are searching for reasons to get up in the morning or deciding what type of career you should choose. It's helpful when contemplating philosophical questions like,why am I here?

Happiness in context

Currently I am reading The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by The Dalai Lama. The main idea of the book is very clear: "the purpose of our life is happiness." The idea is discussed in the context of how it can be helpful on a day-to-day basis. Flipping through the book, here is a section from a page I dogeared:

"The purpose of our life is happiness. That simple statement can be used as a powerful tool in helping us navigate through life's daily problems. From that perspective, our task becomes one of discarding the things that lead to suffering and accumulating the things that lead to happiness. The method, the daily practice, involves gradually increasing our awareness and understanding of what truly leads to happiness and what doesn't.

When life becomes too complicated and and we feel overwhelmed, it's often useful to stand back and remind ourselves of our overall purpose, our overall goal. When faced with a feeling of stagnation and confusion, it may be helpful to take an hour, an afternoon, or even several days to simply reflect on what it is that will truly bring us happiness, and then restart our priorities on the basis of that. This can put our life back in proper context, allow a fresh perspective, and enable us to see which direction to take."

The advice is simple. Become aware of what leads to your happiness and what leads to suffering. Do what makes you happy and don't do what makes you suffer. Obviously, in our real lives it is not this simple. Little is black and white and sometimes its necessary to face the things that make us suffer before they will go away.

Whether you decide that your purpose in life is to be happy or if it's something else, the above advice can be helpful. Taking a moment to step back to ensure that our actions and decisions are in line with our ultimate goal is crucial. Because it is the accumulation of our decisions that ultimately determine who we are and who we become.

Photo: rajkumar1220

Slow and Steady...

2009-12-10T07:30:00.001-06:00

My initial foray into self improvement was fun. My ambition was so high that I felt I could truly do anything. I brainstormed all the things that I wanted to improve and set out improving. After a great 3 or 4 months I hit a plateau; I was getting stretched too thin and was not happy. What came next, I believe, happens to many who set out to improve and hit some difficulty. I shut down. I stopped working out, getting up early, reading thought provoking books, everything. I went from feeling like I could conquer the world to feeling like I couldn't get out of bed. The more I think about it now the more I am reminded of the many people who excitedly set New Year resolutions only to forget about them two weeks down the road.

Where it went wrong

I got too ambitious and confident in what I thought I could do that I did not limit the goals I set to achieve to things I really, truly wanted. I had so much on my plate that I did not have time to comfortably focus on the one or two things I really wanted to do. Additionally, I probably should have limited my pace in the beginning. I sprinted the first 5 miles of a marathon, only to come up winded a fourth of the way through. (Maybe the tortoise was really right...)

What I am doing about it

Instead of dwelling too much on my failures I know that I have to focus on the present and the things I can do now. Focus on what I want to accomplish and how I want to do it. Rather than the rigid, utilitarian approach I previously took, I am only going to set out to improve things I truly care about and make me happy. Over the next few days I will be thinking about where I am currently and where I want to be.

Photo: cliff1066

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:43:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for having a loving family, a wonderful fiancee and great friends. I am thankful for having a warm apartment to call home, with food in the cupboards. I am thankful for having the opportunity to think and write about my ideas and passions.

*Happy Thanksgiving*

Weathering the Storm

2009-11-12T21:20:00.000-06:00

I have been blogging a lot less frequently. The reason is that I have not felt like writing about self improvement. I have not felt like actively doing anything in a while. It is hard to strive for improvement when you feel like you are just getting by day to day.

Life can wear you down when you let it. And sometimes it feels like you don't really have a choice in the matter. Pretty much everything that this blog has revolved around is that we all have a choice in who we want to be and what type of life we want to lead. In theory this is a great idea and I truly do believe it. But I also recognize that in practice we don't always have the time or energy for our normal lives. In these difficult times improving and choosing to be better is an afterthought.

How you handle the difficult times can define who you are. Sometimes weathering the storm is just the best option.

Photo: Kr. B

Auto-Simplify Your Life

2009-10-29T21:10:00.001-05:00

I never miss an episode of The Office. The reason? Because it’s an awesome show. Another reason is that my DVR is set to record the show automatically every Thursday at 8.

Automation is a good thing when it comes ensuring you catch your TV shows. It can also be a good tool for improving and simplifying your life in other ways.

Automating aspects of your life allows you to be lazy. I don’t know about you but I like being lazy, or at least I like having the option of being able to be lazy.

Here are a few ways to automate your life:

Set up Google Reader to automatically pull articles from your favorite blogs.

Automatically invest or save a portion of your paycheck. Take the money right off the top. It doesn’t have to be a lot. You will get used to not having that money. It will pay off in the end and cause you a lot less stress.

DVR your favorite shows. My recommendations: The Office, 30 Rock, Top Chef. Watch them without commercials and spend the extra time doing something worthwhile.

Set up your coffeemaker before you go to bed. Spend 30 seconds setting it up so you do not have to stumble around in the morning. Wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. This is also helpful in not spending a lot of money at Starbucks.

Autopay your bills. It is pretty easy and straightforward to set up autopay on most bills. I set up my bills to pay right before they are due. This is my way of sticking it to the big banks and credit card companies. (Take that Bank of America!) No late fees. No hassle.

Pack yourself a nice, healthy lunch for work. When you are at work and hungry you’ll eat anything, including a healthy lunch. If you are not a morning person pack it the night before.

These things all sound nice but the biggest hurdle to any of them is doing work now while reaping the benefits later. In our world of instant gratification investing time and energy now without immediately getting something back is rare. But it can be worth it, saving you time, energy and stress down the road. And best of all it can ensure you do not miss Michael Scott and the gang.

Photo: Toronto Rob

Fall-ing Out of Habits

2009-10-22T21:28:00.001-05:00

I am not sure if it's the cold weather, shorter days or increased football, but once fall hits it is much harder for me to get anything done. My work out goals have been sputtering. My law school applications are still not out. The frequency of my blog posts has been weak.

Overcoming these type of difficulties is just a part of the game. I am making myself finish my personal statements for law school this weekend. I also need to reassess the habits I am trying to build.

If fall is this hard, winter will be harder.

Just because things are not going well today does not mean they cannot be better tomorrow.

Photo: Per Ola Wiberg

4 Tips to Improve Your Finances

2009-10-11T09:31:00.000-05:00

For the past two weeks I have been on a binge of learning more about personal finances. Currently, I am reading Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Yes the title is blatantly over the top, but the ideas expounded in it are not. Sethi gives practical advice for how to improve your finances.

Here are some tips that I have taken from Sethi and other research on personal finance:

Improve your credit score. This can be done in a couple different ways but the easiest is getting a credit card and then paying the full amount off every month. Having a good credit score will save you thousands down the road.

Keep track of your expenses. This can be done any way that works for you. But beware, if your method of budgeting is not easy you will not do it. A website that I just discovered and am in love with right now is Mint.com. The site tracks all expenses from your debit or credit card and automatically sorts them into categories. Then you can see exactly where all of your money is going. The site lets you set budgets, gives you warning and even lets you track any loans, all income and pretty much anything else. Check it out.

Invest early. You have heard it before. I’ve heard it before. Even if you do not have a lot of money, do a little. If your employer matches your 401(k) invest what you can, otherwise you are losing free money. When figuring out your budget, try to take out a portion right off the top for investing.

Spend money on what you love. If you do not spend on the things you really enjoy you will not stick with your spending plan. Try to cut money from things you do not really care about and spend money on things you do. For me, I do not really care about the car I drive, the clothes I wear or the restaurants I go to eat. So (when not taking the bus) I drive a ’97 Bonneville, wear clothes I’ve had since high school and eat a lot of soup. I do care about my education, my future wedding and watching football games. So I spend thousands on going to school, a lot on wedding reception sites and DJs and on an HD cable package.

Personal finance is often made overly complicated with too much data and too many options. It does not have to be that hard.

How to Make Self Improvement Fun

2009-10-02T07:08:00.007-05:00

I enjoy improving. Particularly, I enjoy seeing progress. This is one of the biggest reasons why I enjoy computer and video games. The games allow you to level-up, increase various attributes, all the while letting you see how you have improved. (Yes, I realize that I am a dork.)

Self improvement is similar in the sense that it is fun to see ourselves get better at things. But there are big differences. Virtual improvement is quick, easy and displays the improvement right away. Real improvement is not always quick, not always easy and not automatically displayed. (Another big difference is that real improvement is...actually real.)

Making self development more like a game can make the process easier and more fun. The easiest way to do this is focus on displaying or charting results and progress. I envision something similar to the Wii Fit, where every workout is recorded and displayed in various fun ways. (If only there was a Wii Diet or Wii Law School Application.)

Here are a few tips to making improving yourself more like a game and more fun:

It has to be easy. If the process to showing progress is more work than actually improving you will not stick with it.

Make it public. Making your goals public gives you a greater incentive to work towards them. It also is a lot more fun when you succeed.

Make a work out log. I am doing this right now. It has been very helpful, sometimes frustrating and other times, fun.

Try to make your goals more quantifiable. Without being able to track what you have done it is almost impossible to track progress. (This does not mean that less quantifiable goals are less worthy, just that they are harder to keep up with.)

Make a blog. Trust me, creating a blog is really easy. It allows you to publicly create goals and gives you an avenue to chart improvement. If you are thinking about doing this let me know and I will be more than happy to help out.

Find people who are looking to improve. They will motivate you. You will motivate them. Everybody wins. Places to check out: online forums/websites and even your everyday friends if you talk to them about it.

Improve things you care about. Do not try to improve just to improve. You either won't stick with or won't care after you have succeeded.

I am still working on ways that I can better chart improvement. I will keep tinkering with this blog and other avenues to see how I can make the process easier and more fun. If things are fun, we do them.

Photo: vramak

What Better Time Than Now?

2009-09-21T21:03:00.002-05:00

At this moment you are the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll ever be.

You have the most knowledge, experience and wisdom than you have had at any moment in your life.

You have the most youthful energy, optimism and drive than you will ever have.

It is the perfect time to use this combination of experience and energy to do something great.

It doesn't have to be a huge, complicated task. If you want to lose weight, go for a jog. If you love writing, start a blog. If you don't know what you want to do, think about it.

The hardest part to doing anything is just getting starting.

There will never be a better time than now.

Photo: John Morgan

Best Posts

2009-09-15T20:16:00.001-05:00

Your Political Views Are Not Right

2009-09-12T10:51:00.004-05:00

While I have not touched on politics in this blog, I work in the industry and it is a great interest of mine. Politics does not necessary fall under the self improvement category, but good public policy can improve the lives of many. (At least that is how I am justifying writing about it.)

This is not a political blog so I am not going to get into a deep conversation about the nuances of various public policy. (Whew.)

Instead I will offer a few political-related self improvement tips:

Your political views are not right. Your friends opposing views are not right either. My views are not right. They are all just snap shot judgments of reality from a particular view at a particular time. If the solutions to the worlds problems were that easy they probably would already be solved. Advancing public policy and voting on elected officials makes these judgments necessary, but it does not make them right. Additionally, your views will change as you get older. If they don't you probably are not thinking about this stuff enough.

Intolerance makes you look like an idiot. Intolerance to the views of others is one of the biggest hurdles to solving problems and collectively moving forward. I do not think people understand how ignorant they look when they know they have it right and everyone else has it wrong.

Be more critical of your own views. Mark Twain: "In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." Having the same political views as your parents does not make them right or wrong. But it should make you wonder.

Don't be ambivalent. Being ambivalent to the whole process is the easiest way out. You do not have to think about the different problems and views and political bickering. But turning a blind eye to problems does not make them go away. It only exacerbates them if enough people do it.

An overly idealistic view that I still hold is that solving problems should transcend political parties and ideologies. Striving to understand the views of others and working with them better allows us to reach the common goal of making this world a better place. We have a lot riding on us.

Photo: woodleywonderworks