This is something that I’ve talked about before, but it’s just as important today as it was back then. The long quest for success, no matter how you define it, will be met with obstacles upon obstacles. Whether or not you will ultimately succeed and attain the goals that you’ve set for yourself largely depends upon how you deal with these obstacles and handle difficult situations.

A couple of years ago I was shown an equation which I think speaks volumes. It’s possible that I liked the equation since I’m an engineer and all engineers love equations, but the information conveyed is definitely for everybody.

Persistence + Failure = Success

All of the successful people that I’ve talked with have told me that failure is part of the journey. And it’s not just one or two failures either. There will be failure after failure all along the journey. Success only comes to those who choose to be persistent through those failures and are willing to keep trying again and again. Even with what may be my limited success I’ve experienced failures along the way. They haven’t caused me to give up yet and hopefully I never will.

In order to be able to work through some of the difficult times though, you’ve got to be able to maintain a positive attitude. It’s incredibly easy to let negativity creep in to your life, especially as you encounter obstacles. And if it weren’t enough for negative thoughts to naturally enter your life, you’ll surely encounter plenty of naysayers along the way. To some of your ideas you’ll hear things like, “that’s not possible”, “you can’t do that”, or “why would you try something like that”.

In the midst of negativity, you’ve got to be able to ignore the negative, focus on the positive, and succeed like only you know you can.

About a year ago I wrote a post entitled, Living is Giving. With all of the focus that we put on our finances and trying to improve them, it’s important that we don’t forget what really matters: people.

In this spirit, I wanted to make everyone aware of an opportunity to give. JohnChow is asking for the help of his readers to support the Union Gospel Mission for their Easter meal. Apparently so far the support has been lacking and he has stepped up the incentive. He will personally match every donation 2 to 1 as well as recognize the readers who made a donation in a blog post some time today. You’ll want to check out his call to action so you can participate. It’s as simple as a PayPal transfer. Nothing complicated here.

As John says on his blog, the true measure of success is not how much you make but how much you give. Every little bit helps, and even just a donation of $2.59 is enough to feed one person. I’ve already made my donation and wanted to make you all aware of this opportunity as well.

As an added incentive, if you decide to make a donation, I will also provide a link to your site here at Fiscal Musings. I’ll be trusting and ask that you just leave a comment to this post, with your website address, stating that you donated. You don’t need to divulge the amount. Thanks in advance for your support.

As I’ve written about before, it seems that all we hear about in the financial news is that the economy is getting worse and headed for a recession (if not already in one). Most of the news is doom and gloom as is most of the associated commentary. So what is an individual to do in times such as these? I thought I would list some of the most talked about and feared areas and give some thoughts on how we can proactively handle them.

1. Gas prices are continuing to spike upwards. Some of the most recent reports have average gas prices approaching the $4 mark fairly soon. When I hear people talk about this, it’s mostly disbelief followed by a lot of complaining. Well, I hate to tell you, but complaining about the situation isn’t going to change it and make it go away. We need to think of things that we can do in order to lessen the effect of higher gas prices. For starters, we could drive less. Be conscious and aware of any unnecessary errands and trips. Make a conscious effort to lay off the gas pedal a little; there’s no rush to get to the next stop light. You might want to think about trading in your gas guzzler for something a little more efficient. The point is that we need to focus on the things that we have control over instead of just complaining about the situation.

2. The market continues to plummet. This shouldn’t be a shocking revelation to anyone at this point, but it’s still a point of concern. There are also many ways to handle the situation and you’ve got to choose what is best for you. For some people it would be best to cut your losses and have the peace of mind that you won’t lose any more money in the market. Others are able to convince themselves that they are in it for the long term and so they choose to just wait it out. Still others will see the current market as a buying opportunity and choose the role of a contrarian. I’m not going to say which of these paths is the best since everyone is in a different situation and has different risk tolerances. Again, the point is that we have choices of things that we can do.

3. The dollar continues to weaken. I’m going to say that for most people this really is that big of a concern. I don’t know how often the average person goes out and buys a bunch of Euros, but I would guess it’s infrequent. I understand that it has ramifications in the global economy and that imports can be more expensive and such, but the main concern with this would really be inflation which is also talked about quite a bit. There are volumes written already about ways to save money and to live frugally so I’m not going to go into specifics here, but rising prices can be dealt with.

These are some of the items in the financial news that I continue to hear about on a daily basis. I haven’t yet seen widespread panic in the streets, but people are getting fearful and the market will at least show you that people are panicking. While I believe and understand that there is some cause for this, I think we should worry a little less and be a little more proactive about our situations. People will get into tougher situations by letting things happen to them instead of making things happen for themselves.

So what are your thought about all of this? Am I way out in left field with it?

About a week ago my wife and I had four young guys from church over for dinner. It was just a normal Thursday evening and nothing really extravagant. Interestingly enough though, the conversation eventually turned towards finances and investing, which just happen to be two of my favorite topics. These guys were all between the ages of 19 and 21 and had a never-ending slew of questions that I did my best to answer.

Many of the questions were specific about how this and that worked, but I did want to give them one piece of advice that I had been given. Now, I’m not all that much older than them since I’m just turning 27 in March, but I’ve put this advice into action and it has done wonders for us so far. This advice is in the from of a quote, even though I don’t know who originally said it:

“I’d rather live for a few years like most people won’t, to live the rest of my life like most people can’t.”

It’s very simple and doesn’t give you any specifics of how to accomplish things, but it’s been a great foundation for many of the decisions that I’ve made and am making. This quote is the reason that I give, save, and invest over 70% of my income. It’s the reason that I don’t have cable or satellite TV for example. Since hearing this advice, I’ve made tremendous progress that I probably wouldn’t have thought possible before. It’s also not a huge secret which is why I wanted to share it with all of you. There’s also probably many other ways to say the same thing, but it really is the best piece of advice I’ve heard so far.

With yesterday being President’s Day, many people had the day off of work. I wasn’t one of them, but the markets were closed along with government offices. Unfortunately, most people only think of what they’re going to do with their time off work and what great sale they can hit up at some store. We used to celebrate both Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays during the month of February until one day was designated President’s Day instead. So I thought I’d take a look at a few quotes from former President Lincoln that we could all learn from.

“Property is the fruit of labor…property is desirable…is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

This is a little different spin on things than what we’ve been hearing lately. Everyone seems to be so enraged with the rich, full of an entitlement attitude, and hoping that the government will somehow formulate a magical plan to take from the rich and redistribute to the poor. We could all learn to accept a little more responsibility and accountability and do like Lincoln says. Don’t try to pull down the house of another, but labor diligently to build one for yourself.

“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Too often we put things off that we know we should take care of now thinking that we can always do it later. We shouldn’t just let the years pass us by, but we should treat everyday as if it were our last. There is so much more that we could accomplish by following this advice.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

This is something that we could really learn from. How often have we heard that we should work smarter and not harder, yet we don’t really seem to ever take the advice.

Hopefully some of these quotes from President Lincoln have been helpful and somewhat inspiring. There’s a lot we can learn from some of the great men (and women) from history.

I’ve been thinking more recently about how to improve the work day. I’m not just talking about making it go by faster and surviving it easier, but how to actually enjoy the day more and feel more accomplished and fulfilled. It doesn’t strike me as an easy task but one that I think a lot of people struggle with. So here are some tips to help you enjoy the day more and just feel better in general.

1. Give Yourself Time

The day always seems to get off to a better start when you don’t have to rush. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time in the morning to get ready. Take the time to enjoy a nice breakfast. You may want to establish a simple routine that helps you mentally prepare yourself for the day. I’ve noticed that when I don’t give myself enough time and everything is rushed to get out the door, my mental state is more stressed and on edge. You should also remember that in order to have this time in the morning you need to prepare for it the night before.

2. Prioritize Your Day

You don’t want to go through the day without knowing what you’re going to do all day. You’ll be able to get more done and feel more accomplished knowing that you have an agenda and certain things to accomplish. If you’re not sure what you’re going to do on any given day, then it’s difficult to feel like you accomplished anything. You might also consider setting small daily goals so that you have something to work towards everyday.

3. Take Some Time to Relax

I see so many people that seem like they never take a break and are just continually working. This may work for some time, but it will ultimately lead to burnout and general unhappiness. I’m not saying that you need to take scheduled breaks and establish a strict routine, but you should keep it in mind. You should also know that taking a break is not a sign of inefficiency or weakness and you shouldn’t let others make you feel this way. Learning to relax every once and a while for a few minutes will actually increase your productivity and help you focus.

4. Remember to Find Balance

You can’t just work all the time. You need to balance your work life with all the other aspects of your life. Without this balance you’re work will gradually begin to define you and after a while it can really wear on you. Make sure that you involve yourself in other activities outside of work that you enjoy and where you can find another sense of fulfillment. My suggestion would be to leave work at work. Sure, there will be exceptions from time to time, but don’t let your work life consume the rest of your life.

On a personal note, I find that I have a better day when I have a Diet Coke to drink at some point during the day. I don’t really buy too many sodas, but it’s something that I enjoy. I’m not quite sure why I seem to have better days because of this but at least I recognize it and can use it to my advantage. What are some things that you have noticed help you enjoy the day more?

I was talking with an experienced (older) co-worker yesterday, and he said something that really made me think about things. We were talking about different employees from in the past and the conversation turned to work ethic. He told me about a time when he was in the service and a lot of his peers would complain all the time about different things. One day the commanding officer pulled him into his office and asked him what his secret was. He was a little confused and didn’t know exactly what he was being asked.

The officer told him that he had never heard him complaining like a lot of the other guys, and he wanted to know what his secret was. This is what he said:

I’ve worked the corn fields, I’ve worked the cotton fields, and I know that I’ve got a good job here.

He said it all depends on your perspective and many things are relative. I’m not saying that we should always be content with where we are, but we should have a little of this perspective as well and definitely not complain as much.