Do you realize how much of what you consider “personal information” is actually out there in the form of “public information?” With the advent of the Internet, courthouses are able to compile vast quantities of data on just about anyone and anything. Some companies do all the digital legwork and build large databases with this public information. By using a company like NetSleuth anyone can research public information databases in courthouses and other venues around the country on your:

• Employment
• Background
• Address history
• Professional licenses
• Marriage and divorce records

Parents are even using NetSleuth to investigate potential babysitters. Others are using it to investigate criminal history, marriage records, and property ownership of potential mates. Still others are using it to find old friends, acquaintances, and lovers.

All information is publicly available so there isn’t any breech of security per se. I’ve considered signing up for the service to investigate what information is out there on myself (especially since my identity was stolen).

How much information is too much information?

What if you could know your own genetic predisposition to certain diseases? What if you could know your child’s genetic predisposition to certain diseases? Would that allow for earlier treatment and possibly prevention and earlier recovery?

My Gene Profile claims to do the research for you. This company uses information from the Human Genome project to determine anyone’s genetic predisposition to certain diseases and then they take it a step further. They even can tell you, via genetic science, your or your child’s genetic predisposition for certain career and/or sports choices. This is called a talent profile.

The question: is this too much information? I asked my wife what she thought and her answers surprised me. She would NOT want the disease profile, but would consider the talent profile. She said she couldn’t look at her children the same way if they were genetically predisposed to get cancer or heart disease. She thought the worry of it all would drive her insane. At the same time she thought it would be neat to know if a child was genetically gifted toward music or golf or science.

I thought a little differently. My view is that knowing information on your disease predispositions could steer you into making better choices earlier. Better food choices. Better exercise choices. Better preventative doctor’s visit choices. Why wait 50 years to find out you have heart disease and were genetically predisposed to it, when you could have know decades earlier and could have done something about it? Conversely, knowing that my child is likely to be good in sports or science or music seems trivial in comparison.

What do you think? Would you want to have the information in My Gene Profile on yourself, your spouse, or your children? It’s a serious question. As a society, we’re probably headed down this road at some point in our future.

Will I sign up? I don’t know, but I’m giving it some thought.

Photo by aztore

I spent the week in Orlando on business and have decided to return with my family for Christmas this year. Woo Hoo! The weather was awesome and Disney/Sea World is calling! We plan to use our Christmas Club money from our ING savings account to pay for most of it. If you haven’t set up a dedicated account for Christmas spending, DO IT today and save for the 2010 season. I can guarantee you won’t regret saving that money.

Enjoy these links from around the blogosphere after you’ve set up that savings account with ING!

How to Buy Life Insurance – Buying life insurance can be a long and tedious process. This post explains the 7 steps you’ll need to take to finally protect your family and get a life insurance policy.

4 Ways To Develop A Thankful Heart Before Thanksgiving – This post challenges us to take a close look at our lives, and be thankful for the things we’ve been given.

It’s No Secret Why I love In-N-Out-Burger This west coast burger chain has a special place in my heart, as well as my mouth.

2010 Roth IRA Conversion Loophole – The upcoming 2010 Roth IRA conversion loophole is a great opportunity for high-income investors to save more for retirement. There are some caveats, though.

Best Employment & Job Search Websites – As part of Career Week, I took a look at some of the most popular job search websites to give you a good place to start if you’re looking for a new career.

ABCs of Investing has an awesome stocking stuffer idea – a short beginner investing book.

Individual Health Insurance vs. Group Health Insurance – group health insurance plans offer employees guaranteed healthcare coverage, but aren’t always the least expensive option if you are healthy. Compare the two plans and you may be able to save money.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended, Now For Existing Owners Too The first time home buyer tax credit was recently extended and this time it includes credit for existing home buyers as well.

Is ‘Buy and Hold’ Investing Fool’s Gold? Here’s a look at the approach to investing that largely ignores the volatility of the stock market.

Report a missing or stolen check card as soon as you realize it’s missing or stolen. Do you realize that debit cards have different liability rules than credit cards?

Multiple Income Streams – Why I Started 5 Companies and Maybe You Should Too a guest post at Mrs. Micah about diversifying your income.

How to Save Money with High Deductible Health Plans. A health insurance plan you might want to take a look at during open enrollment.

Investing Strategy: When to Buy Dividend Stocks – Want to learn more about dividend investing? If so, here is a simplified method of picking the right time to buy dividend stocks.

A fun guide that matches the powers of various X-Men characters to common personal finance topics.

Are twenty-something’s not saving money? – A look at whether younger generations are actually saving money.

Sacrificing Money for Mental Capacity – There are certain situations where it makes sense to give up a little bit of money (and savings interest) to get a task off of your plate.

5 Ways To Screw Your Credit Card Company — Stop screwing up your financial future by sticking it to credit cards today.

Disney photo by Burnsland
Shamu photo by mvadu

When a health insurer denies a claim, most people complain to their circle of friends and family, then roll over and accept it, arranging payments and resenting every minute of it. It was bad enough you had to wear that hospital gown, now the humiliation continues? After all, what can anyone do to fight against the big insurers and hospitals?

Plenty.

If you have health insurance through your employer, your human resources department may be willing to work through the claim and find a resolution. If not, or if your human resources department is just one person with a room full of file cabinets, you’ll have to take up the fight yourself. Here’s what you’ll need:

• A copy of your policy
• An itemized copy of your hospital and doctor’s bills
• A copy of authorization records for treatment
• A journal to keep track of who you spoke with (a spiral notebook will do)
• A chronological file with all correspondence from doctors, the hospital, and your insurer
• Copies of any checks you’ve already written

First, know your health insurance policy

Your first objective is to know your policy better than anyone. You have read it haven’t you? It’s critical that you know what is covered (according to the policy), what isn’t covered, the limitations of coverage, and all declared exclusions. If there is anything in it you don’t understand, call the customer service number and ask for an explanation. While you have them on the phone, ask about their formal appeals process and how to get it started.

The big secret: your doctor doesn’t know your policy

Doctors are in the business of patient care and she may make quick decisions (that are in your best interest by the way), thinking that she can always “backdate” the authorization. That doesn’t fly like it used to and you could find yourself inside a bureaucratic black hole with your health insurance.

The appeal

1. Review your paperwork

Review your paperwork to make sure you did everything right. Once you’ve reviewed the paperwork, call your insurer. The customer service representative should be able to explain why your claim was denied at this point. Make sure you take great notes and log everything in your journal.

2. Administrative errors?

Your claim may have been denied because of an administrative or medical coding error. If that was the case, you might be able to solve the whole problem with just one phone call or letter from your doctor. Sometimes the doctor can resubmit your claim using a different medical code that IS covered.

3. Scrutinize your itemized bill from the doctor or hospital

Analyze every single charge (I was charged $12 for an Extra Strength Tylenol once!). There are often charges on these bills for items or services that were not delivered or performed. If you find a discrepancy, notify the doctor or hospital immediately and get the bill adjusted. Then, notify your insurer. It’s a good-will gesture toward them.

If the insurance company doesn’t consider your medical procedure necessary, or says that it was “experimental” or outside their coverage area, move on to step four:

4. Request a formal review

The customer service representative can tell you the specific procedures and paperwork they require to initiate a formal review of your case. Then, state your case for appeal in writing, and “go postal” on them. Send the letter via certified mail, return receipt requested. Do this the same day you request the review over the phone. Some companies have time limits on when appeal requests can be filed. Don’t wait around.

5. Get copies of your doctor’s notes

Your insurance company might claim the cost of your care was above their usual and customary cost (U & C), request copies of your doctor’s or surgeon’s notes. These jewels of information just may show that there were unusual or mitigating circumstances in your case to justify the extra costs. Also, request any other information you need from your doctor to prove your case, and make sure you have it all in writing. Your doctor should be very accommodating on this.

6. Appeal to a “higher authority”

No, not THAT higher authority, I’m talking about your state government. The Kaiser Family Foundation has some great information on every state’s health care rules.

• Some states mandate certain coverage even if not explicitly stated in your policy. The benefits you need may already be covered by law.
• Your state’s department of insurance should be able to inform you exactly how much assistance they can provide. Be sure to ask, and use their help in your fight.
• If you have been denied coverage due to a perceived (or contrived?) lack of medical necessity or because your insurance company considers your coverage “experimental or investigational,” most states now allow you to apply for an independent external review. Your state’s department of insurance will be able to inform you if your state is one of these.
• Some very large employers are actually self funded and they use the insurer on the front end for administrative purposes only. In this case, you may need to appeal to federal authorities. Contact the Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, and they will consider your appeal. You have a chance of winning on appeal, especially if they find that the decision in your case was inconsistent with decisions made for other plan members.

Bear in mind that many of the claims denied by insurers are legitimate denials. In those cases, it pays to have additional health insurance to back up your primary coverage.

A friend asked how many books I had read over the past few years, wanting a recommendation for something to read over the holidays. I had to pause a few minutes to think about the answer and was more than a little surprised to tell him the number: fifty-four — since January of 2008.

“Fifty-four?” he asked, “Well, which were your favorites then?”

“That’s almost like asking which of my three children I love the most,” I kidded. “I’ll make a list and email it to you.” This article is the result of that email (and these are in no particular order).

My Favorite Books

I’ve reviewed most of these on The Wisdom Journal. Feel free to check out my Book Reviews category.

How A Second Grader Beats Wall Street

Allan Roth’s book, How A Second Grader Beats Wall Street, is a MUST READ resource for anyone looking to increase their wealth with the least amount of risk and the most opportunity for growth. As a recovering “return chaser,” this book held an “AHA!” moment for me (now it’s one one of my favorite books on investing).

Hindsight is always 20/20. Humans can spot a “trend” that ties in nicely with the financial markets using anything from sunspot activity to migrating ladybugs  and it all is worthless for predicting financial markets.

Just a couple of the ideas Allan Roth covers in this book:

1. You’re paying far more in fees than you realize.
2. You cannot predict where the stock market will be in [insert ANY length of time here].
3. Wall Street gurus don’t know either. They’re just really good at convincing others that they know what they’re talking about. Remember that most “experts” were advising us to buy Lehman Brothers and Wachovia (among others) just days before they collapsed.
4. The fees and taxes we pay cause our real returns to shrink to a fraction of our perceived returns.
5. Our biases (and our financial planner’s biases) can cause us to lose big money over the long run.

Outliers: The Story of Success

In Outliers: The Story of Success one of the most delightful books I’ve read in a long, long time, author Malcolm Gladwell outlines the way people from The Beatles to the feuding Hatfields and McCoys to a struggling family in Jamaica become successful, or don’t become successful (in the case of the feud). More importantly, he argues that the complete story of success, the real underlying story, is much more complex and surprising than anyone wants to believe.

What if none of our assumptions about success were true? What if all of them were true? What if success was a unique combination of luck, skill, talent, common sense, family connections, family history, determination, perseverance, and more? What if there was no one single factor? Are you ready for that?

Debt Is Slavery

Debt Is Slavery was a book that kicked me in the teeth. It is a powerful indictment of how society has come to view the use of debt to buy worthless consumables to satisfy an insatiable need to appear successful. But when you’re a slave to anything, how can you even remotely consider yourself successful?

Author Michael Mihalik did a fantastic job of connecting to me as a reader and he really nailed home a handful of few key points:

• Stop spending money needlessly on things that will become obsolete, things you really won’t use, things you really don’t need, and things that will never love you back.
• Avoid debt like the plague.
• Be frugal and make wise financial decisions.
• Take steps to implement extreme savings in your life.
• Ignore marketing’s siren call. Because the book is so short (88 pages), he is really blunt and to the point. This book doesn’t waste your time and at about $10 or $11 bucks, it doesn’t waste your money either.

17 Lies That Are Holding Your Back and the Truth That Sets You Free

17 Lies That Are Holding You Back and the Truth That Will Set You Free. This is a book that I personally found to be life-changing and it’s power lies in how it changes your perspective on what words I speak to myself. The book’s main purpose is to skewer the societal and personal lies that “hold people back.” What might be holding YOU back? The lies you tell yourself. All through the book, Chandler uses personal and anecdotal evidences to explaining the subtle life-denying power of these lies.

Chandler says that there are “white lies” we tell others to spare their feelings. There are public lies told by public figures. There are lies that we tell to make ourselves look better or get out of work.

Rich Like Them

In Rich Like Them: My Door to Door Search for the Secrets of Wealth in America’s Richest Neighborhoods, author Ryan D’Agostino decided the best way to learn how the richest people got that way was to simply ask. So, he did. Traveling through almost 2 dozen of the richest zip codes, he knocked on 500 doors and interviewed about 50 wealthy people, simply asking, “How did you get to live in a home like this?”

The diversity of responses was staggering, as were the variety of occupations and careers that these wealthy individuals had chosen. Roughly half of them rose through the corporate ranks, got tired of the corporate rigmarole, and struck out on their own to start their own business. His book outlines the responses of the rich to his questions and it is fascinating … and encouraging.

Secrets of Power Negotiating

Ready to stop being a doormat when it comes to the negotiation process? If so, then Secrets of Power Negotiating is for you.

Before reading this book, I was under the impression that negotiation was a process shrouded in mystique. I think that most people approach the negotiation process with a little fear because they worry they’ll be manipulated into making a decision they would not make under ordinary conditions. I now know that there is a specific sequence of events and that there are specific methods to get the other side to agree to your position.

I plan to move this article to the blue navigation bar and add to is as I read more. Check back often!

When you go through a catastrophic incident, making the decision to file a claim on your homeowners insurance is a simple issue. In other cases, it’s a little risky because you could put your name into a database that makes it difficult to obtain or even maintain coverage in the future.

Insurance exists to provide you peace of mind and to empower you financially to restore your home to its original state before the homeowners insurance claim. According to my homeowner’s agent, there are three types of claims that could potentially put your name into one of the two major databases that records homeowner’s claims.

• The Claim Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) is operated by ChoicePoint.
• A-PLUS, which stands for Automated Property Loss Underwriting System, is run by Insurance Services Offices, Inc.

Later, I’ll give you information on how to get a copy of your CLUE and A-PLUS reports. Just like your credit score, these two databases score your risk of filing a claim when it comes to both homeowners and car insurance claims. In fact, approximately 98 percent of all insurers report your claims to one or both of these databases. So which homeowner’s claims are seen as the most risky?

Water damage claims

No, I’m not talking about a flood or about the damage that results from a storm, I’m talking about the smaller leaks that cause mold (flood insurance is a different topic altogether and is rarely covered in most homeowners insurance policies).

Mold is a scary word for insurers. It can cause all sorts of ailments and many insurers have begun excluding it in their policies. Water damage in general can mean two things: poor or inadequate construction or poor maintenance practices. Either of these can spell problems in the future for the home.

Dog Bite Claims

According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites account for one-third of all homeowner’s insurance liability claims, costing $387.20 million in 2008, with 800,000 bites needing medical attention. Half of those claims occurred on the homeowner’s property.

Insurer’s keep a list of breeds that are most likely to attack and if Fido is one of those breeds, your rates could increase. If you have a single claim on your insurance because of a dog bite, your rates will almost certainly increase. You might be able to mitigate any increase by employing an animal trainer or taking your pooch to a dog psychologist … no, I’m not kidding. Other than that, you’ll have to send Rover to a new home.

Slips and fall claims

Falls are the single largest reason people go to the emergency room and many are preventable. If someone slips on your front porch steps or anywhere else on your property and wishes to file a claim against your homeowners insurance, your premiums will rise.

All three are preventable

The good news is that all these claims are preventable to some degree. Water damage can be prevented by proper maintenance and if the problem was with poor construction, you can keep yourself out of trouble by using a certified home inspector with a great reputation and lots of references. Dog bite claims can be prevented by getting a breed that doesn’t bite very often and then by training your new best friend to be social. Slips and falls can be prevented by installing handrails and non-slip surfaces where water might cause slips.

Get a copy of your CLUE report

Though you can’t get a CLUE report on a home you want to buy, some home sellers use CLUE reports to their advantage by showing it to prospective buyers. I becomes a marketing tool to demonstrate to potential buyers that the home has not had a claim or to show that repairs were completed.

And if you’re interested in buying a home, make the purchase contingent upon the seller providing a copy of the CLUE report … sort of like CarFax!

Tornado photo by BakkoBrats
Mold photo by IPI Photo Gallery
Dog photo by Doxieone

We found out this week that 4 year old Owen Church has leukemia. He is the oldest son of some friends of ours. Owen has two older sisters and one younger brother and he is simply a joy to be around. He loves my kids, as do his siblings and parents and we’re  praying for them all.

He is in St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and will probably be there for a while as he gets the treatment he needs. If you feel it in your heart, please consider making a donation to St. Jude’s and be sure and check out Owen’s Caring Bridge site. You can keep up with how his treatment is going and how he and his precious family are coping.

He has years of chemotherapy (which started today) ahead of him. You can only imagine what he and his parents are going through.

After you check out Owen’s site and after you make that donation, here are some other links to take a look at:

Understanding Health Savings Accounts @ My Dollar Plan

End 87 Percent of Work Problems in 72 Hours (really, this works) @ Frugal Dad

Prevent Cord Clutter (cool video!) @ Organizing Your Way

Improve the World: See a Need and Meet It @ My Supercharged Life

Pros and Cons of Rewards Checking Accounts @ Cash Money Life

Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit May Not Benefit Existing Home Owners @ Free From BrokeExtended Home Buyer Tax Credit May Not Benefit Existing Home Owners @ Free From Broke

Rules and Limits for the Traditional IRA @ Good Financial Cents

2009 Roth IRA Contribution Limits @ Quest for Four Pillars

Great Stocking Stuffer ideas – a short beginner investing book. @ ABCs of Investing

We’re Free of Consumer Debt!!! @ Clever Dude

You Tell Me: Overdraft Opt-In Rule" @ Being Frugal

Top Low-Cost Canadian DRIP Stocks Ranked by Yield, Dividend Growth and Discounts @ Million Dollar Journey

How to Buy a Slow Cooker or Crock Pot @ Squawkfox

Listening to Financial and Life Advice From Our Elders @ My Two Dollars

The Smartest Choice We Can Make @ Marc and Angel Hack Life

When I interview potential candidates for a position, few things irritate me like an applicant who never asks any questions about the company or the position. When a candidate is engaged, asks specific questions, and even takes notes, I take note as well! It shows interest in the position and makes me think they’re probably going to perform well.

Interview the interviewer

When the questions coming from your interviewer start to wane, take charge of the interview with some questions of your own.

• Tell me about the exact nature of the job, who this position reports to, the responsibilities of the position, and the desired results.
• Tell me about the boss’ style of management.
• What are the key targets or goals of the position?
• How do you know you’re succeeding?
• What is essential for success in this position?
• What in my background makes you think I’d be a good fit for this position?
• What makes a good employee in this position?
• What characteristics to you admire in your boss?
• Why is the position open?
• What happened to the last person who held this position (quit, promoted, fired, transferred, died, retired)?
• Why is this a great job?
• What growth is projected for the future regarding the company or the position?
• Why is this a great job?

Interview the company as much as it’s interviewing you

You are a valuable commodity! You have a unique set of skills, education, experience, and insights. Any company who thinks you’re worthy of an interview obviously saw something they liked. Make sure you cultivate their interest by showing interest in them.

The interviewer may decline to interest certain questions but even their declination can tell you something. For example, the question about what happened to the person who formerly held the position, if they were “invited to seek employment elsewhere,” the interviewer may respond with, “They’re no longer with us.” At that point, you can ask about whether the goals of the position have been met or exceeded in previous years (or quarters). If the answer is no, you might wonder if the goals were actually attainable. If the answer is yes, it might indicate that the last person was offered a position with a competitor.

An interview is like a dance

Dancing is a lot more fun when someone is doing it with you. Dancing alone while someone watches you isn’t a lot of fun so – participate! Join in the fun. Ask questions of your interviewer. Don’t be afraid to ask about how they came to be employed with the company and take a few notes.

In this employment environment, you’ve probably beat out a couple of hundred other candidates if you’ve made it to the interview. Keep your momentum going by showing sincere interest in the company by asking questions of your interviewer.

Only in the crazy world of real estate can you hear something like:

“Your return on investment for a kitchen remodel is 100 percent.”

“Your ROI on a new deck or patio is 80 percent.”

“New granite counter-tops will return 100 percent.”

“Invest that $40,000 into a new bedroom and bathroom addition and you can expect a 90 percent return.”

Here’s a news flash for the real estate agents out there: Return On Investment (ROI) isn’t measured by the return OF your money, but the return ON your money. It’s how much MORE than you invested as a percentage of WHAT you invested.

For example: If you decide that a $40,000 new bedroom and bathroom addition is critical to the viability of your current home, a 90 percent ROI would mean that your home increased in value to the tune of $76,000, not $36,000.

In this case you received “back” $36,000 of the $40,000 you “invested.” To me, that isn’t an investment at all. Would you call it a “return” even if your investment was valued at the same amount? Real estate agents would call that a “100 percent” return!

Imagine investing $40,000 into a mutual fund and at the end of one year it was worth only $36,000. The real estate agents say, “ Congratulations! You’ll get a 90 percent return when you sell!” The financial guys say you lost 10 percent.

If an upgrade will lose money, don’t do it.

That is, if money is your only reason for doing it in the first place. Your upgrade may be something that your family needs. It may be something that improves your life or something that allows you to spend more time with your kids. It may be necessary from a maintenance standpoint (the floor is in bad shape or the cabinets are deteriorating). In those cases, it becomes much harder to quantify and only you can decide if the upgrade is worth it.

Don’t fall for the real estate agent’s definition of return on investment. You know better!

Before you decide to do any upgrade be sure and check out Angie’s List where ordinary people give reviews of contractors and other professionals in your area. Find thousands of unbiased ratings on services for home improvements, car repairs, and more.

If you’ve taken the advice of most financial professionals, you own a term life insurance policy and you insure your life for 10 to 15 times your annual income. Great! But since “term” insurance is good for only a certain “term” (anywhere from one to 30 years), is there a time you should consider dropping it altogether? Does the “term” ever end?

When to drop your term life insurance

If your kids are grown, your home is paid for, you’re out of debt, and you’re on a solid investment program, you probably don’t need to sink cash into your term insurance anymore. You are “self insured.”

Once the policy has served it’s purpose (lowering your family’s risk of losing your income), you can put those funds into your investment portfolio.

Term life insurance is simple

For the most part, term life insurance is relatively simple, doesn’t have complicated formulas for the “investment” portion of the premium, and is easily converted to a whole life policy in the future.  For many people, term is the only way they can afford the coverage they want.

The cost difference between term and whole life

In my personal experience, the annual cost of a term policy is about one tenth the cost of the whole life policy for the same amount of coverage (I don’t use tobacco). For example, to get the $1.5 million in coverage I currently have, my monthly payment would escalate from $78 to $750. That’s a big difference. A difference that goes into my savings account each month!

Reasons to KEEP your term life insurance

Some people keep their term policy much longer than necessary, but others have good reasons:

• To endow a charity
• To leave a gift to grandchildren
• To cover funeral or other final expenses (including medical)
• To continue coverage at reduced cost

The whole point of term insurance is the “what-if” factor. But if you’ve properly provided for your future and if you can let go of that “what-if” fear, you’ll place yourself in a very good financial position by investing those funds into your well diversified portfolio.

If you’re curious just how much coverage you could get, head over to NetQuote and check out their life insurance section, answer a few very simple questions, and find out how much you could be depositing into your savings account versus a whole life policy.

It’s okay, we all give up too easily sometimes. You are not alone! It doesn’t matter if it was weight loss, living by a budget, learning to play a musical instrument, blogging regularly, spending time with the kids, learning Spanish, or any one of your New Year’s Resolutions, giving up too easily is a common human condition. If you’re like me, you look back and wonder what was wrong with you. I know I ask myself repeatedly, “Why did I give up so easily?”

Why is persistence so difficult to develop?

I’ve prided myself in the past for my determination and will-power, but if I’m honest, MY determination and will-power were supplemented by a support structure, most notably from my wife and family.

“In other words, how bad do you want it? And how far are you willing to go to get it? Unless the answer is all the way, you will not persist. You will give up.”  –Napoleon Hill

Willingness to stay the course certainly plays an important part in persistence but why have you and I been unwilling in the past?

1. A purposeless existence. If we don’t know, really, really know what we want out of our lives, there isn’t a reason to persevere with a task, especially in the face of hardship.

2. Too much reliance on others. Other people won’t develop persistence inside of you – they can’t. They’re too busy with their own struggles to have to pull you up too.

3. Disorganized plans. Clutter and disorganization demotivate. Even if your plans are practical and strong, if they’re disorganized you won’t persevere.

4. Guessing about the outcome. Even “educated” guesses are less valuable than experience or observation. When we guess about how our plans will turn out, we aren’t motivated. I know I’m not.

5. Lack of desire. You’ll quit almost anything if you don’t desire it anymore. I quit piano lessons because I just didn’t care anymore – football was more important as was almost anything else. I did teach myself to play the guitar later, but that was because I wanted to learn it. Girls liked guitar players, not the classical piano geeks.

6. Uncooperative colleagues. Without empathy, understanding, “synergism,” and cooperation, your enterprise is destined for failure. Quitting will be the symptom that shows up.

7. Too many commitments. Followed by performing the task very poorly. Some people quit because continuing on means damage to their reputation because they cannot put the task in a higher priority category.

8. A habit of quitting. Persistence is a habit. Quitting is a habit. Some people have developed a habit for one or the other and that can be a factor in their persistence.

9. Not enough resistance. Sounds counterintuitive but (maybe it’s a personality flaw?), tell me I *CAN’T* do something and you better watch out. I once had a boss that told me I shouldn’t get an MBA and all that did was spur me on. I finished the program early and graduated with honors just so I could hang that diploma in my office.

10. A negative outlook. There have been times in my past that I was more than willing to concentrate my thoughts on negative and discouraging influences – and wouldn’t you know it – I quit those activities.

How to develop persistence

• Decide your purpose and back it with a burning desire.
• Create an organized, well thought out plan based on experience or observation (yours or someone you admire and trust).
• List the benefits of accomplishing your plan. Use the most detail possible.
• Ally yourself with positive people who will encourage you to follow through with your plans and your purpose.
• Seal your thought processes against negative thoughts and against anyone who would discourage you.

You can change. You’ve been changing and developing yourself your entire life. Persistence will change your life – for the better.