Dealing with Life’s Challenges

Don’t let life get you down. Don’t get stuck in a never-ending circle. You have the power.

Becoming a Better You
Looking to improve yourself? We all are. What’s stopping you? 

• Figure out what you want to achieve, and what’s stopping you. Is what’s stopping you realistic or unrealistic.
• Set your goals, and plan your days to do them.
  • Want to lose weight?
    • Eat Better and Exercise More
    • There are tons of apps out there that can help!
  • Want to have more free time to do things you like to do?
    • Try Google Calendar!
  • Want to find happiness? It’s a state of mind.
    • Keep busy when necessary
    • Do things you like to do
    • Be around good company
    • Stay away from people who bring you down.
    • Don’t worry about things beyond your control.
    • Take each day one step at a time.
    • Plan for the future, but don’t let it cause you stress.
    • Be spontaneous. In the mood to do something, do it!
• No more excuses.
  • Stuff comes up, sure but that shouldn’t stop you from executing your plan of action.
  • Don’t look for ways out. Get it done.
  • Be honest with yourself why you really aren’t doing something and devise a new attack.
  • Don’t psych yourself out.
• Don’t go it alone.
  • While there are definitely some things we can do alone, there are other things that have been proven that we just can’t do without help! Like these comical items.
    • Realistically, an example would be addiction.
  • Sometimes we need to learn from others, take others advice and use the support given to us.
  • If you’ve got a buddy in a similar situation, use them as support. Complete your goals together!
• If you’re feeling lost or don’t know what to do.
  • There are lots of us who’s minds race from time to time, we all go through our down times. This is normal. If it’s causing a problem or taking away from your happiness, it needs to be rectified.
    • Write down every little thought and fear you have
    • Knock out the unrealistic thoughts and those that you cannot control.
    • Determine what you can do about each thought, fear and emotion.
      • Will it make you happier or a better person?
        • No. Focus on Something else.
        • Yes. See the first few bullet points.
  • Seek a counselor, therapist or psychiatrist
    • Everyone should have therapy at one point. It gives you the opportunity to complain until your heart’s content to a neutral party who will be unbiased in advice.
    • There are plenty of sources on the internet to get help with your problems, though keep in mind, some things can only be decided by your heart.
    • Sometimes, we just need a third party to tell us the truth for us to realize what we’re doing is irrational.
• Take constructive criticism and advice to heart.
  • Look at things from as many perspectives as you can.
  • Take advice into consideration. Be thoughtful. Who knows, you may try something that you once felt defensive about and it may work for you.
  • Bottom line, if I do this, will I feel better or happier? Some things you may never know until you try!

Money
This is the big one. I run into a lot of people who are broke all the time, living paycheck to paycheck and always seem down on their luck. It’s true, money makes the world go around, our world is full of shitty companies and people who don’t pay enough, it’s also filled with people who screw over the system to the point it may seem impossible to live. Though that’s the negative, let’s look at a few things you can do to work with the money you have and/or make some more!

• Check out Mint.com and Mint Bills. Both of these are fantastic resources for paying bills on time and budgeting with the money you have. It can also give you insights to how much you spend weekly on what and your credit as well as how to improve.
• If you are over budget on your bills
  • Try cutting back on a few things you may not need. Stop the netflix subscription. Decrease your phone minutes. Drive less. Don’t eat out as much.
• If you are under budget, yet still find yourself with no money left over
  • Try to change your bills to be timed after paychecks. For example, you get your $1000 paycheck on the 5th, but you have $950 come out on the 4th.  Space the bills out a little more so they are split between your paychecks.
  • Watch your weekly spending, and try to cut back on stuff you don’t need to buy.
  • Set up an automatic transfer to a high interest Savings account like AbleBanking.com that you don’t touch at all as your backup fund.
• Try using a prepaid card like the one from Google Wallet or Paypal to help you curb your spending
• If your credit is good enough, and you need money to get you between checks, try using a credit card. Check out Credit Karma for cards that you should get approved for with your score.
  • Just make sure you have the self control to not destroy your credit.
• Surf Craigslist for the Oddjobs. Don’t be scared to try [almost] anything. There’s a lot of internet work from home that’s legitimate.
• Consider going back to school to make yourself more appealing to the career world. Get a certification.

Hakuna Matata!