October 25, 2006 by jacquie.

I debated about the topic for this week’s article. I considered discussing a workshop I attended about money management. Yet this week I’ve encountered several people, including me, who have trouble managing their time.  Which is more important, money or time? Hey, they go together, don’t they? It’s all about how you use what you have, so I’ll discuss both!

How do you use the money you have? Is there more going out or more coming in? Credit cards make our lives easy, and regrettably, they also make it easy to spend more than we make.  The workshop I mentioned was T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind evening, which provides an overview and information on how to enroll in the Millionaire Mind Intensive. That seminar helps people allocate their money wisely and learn how to create passive income.  It was interesting to attend that event just as Jim is retiring from his day job. This retirement is possible because of our conscientious saving and investing. We started this process totally broke and, by some standards, late. We were in our early forties. Since then, we have assisted two daughters through college, graduate school, and home buying. We have bought and paid for a house in the mountains and are still paying for our house in Berkeley. And we have created an income stream that allows us to retire early and support ourselves until we are 100, with a generous comfort level for contingencies.

So what could we need to know about money management? I always think there is something new to learn, even if it’s only to know that I did the right thing. In the case of money management, while we’ve done a lot of the right thing, what we didn’t do – yet – is to create passive income other than retirement income. It’s something I’ve had as a goal and it’s something I’m just about to launch. Ultimately my email coaching programs, Promise Power, my books and other projects are the springboard for passive income. Since we’ve set up our retirement income to live comfortably, any passive income we create will be the proverbial icing! We can use it to be generous, to support projects we value, and to splurge on a few extravagances. It’s all good.

I started this article by talking about money and time. The time issue is something I face every day, and it’s definitely critical to my development of passive income. We all have a finite number of hours and what seems like a limitless number of projects to complete in those hours. How do I divvy up my time so that I accomplish what I want, when I want? This is something I also coach clients about. Here’s how I suggest people set up their schedule.  I’m offering a test run of my Daily Success Tracker at the end of this article.

Begin by asking a few questions:

• What are the projects you have going in your life right now? Consider your career, family, and personal goals.
• What can you reasonably accomplish in each area this week?
• What do you know you can carry out today? (Set your intention to be somewhat challenging, but be careful not to over-commit yourself.)

Fill in your schedule starting with the unchangeable, add the necessary, and finally include the optional.

• Begin by entering all scheduled appointments for the week.
  Then each day, add the following:
• Add time for planning and reflection either at the beginning or end of your day.
• Add meals and snacks.
• Add rest.
• Add exercise.
• Add blocks of time to work on those tasks that you’ve identified as important in your life and work.

While it’s good to follow through with diligence, please be flexible. It’s important to plan and set reasonable, reachable goals, but life always challenges us to learn more and be more and sometimes we simply have to change our plans to stay vibrant and productive!

© 2006, Jacqueline Hale

Special Offer

Please help me test my Daily Success Tracker. Each day you’ll receive an email that helps you create a schedule that is reasonable and helps you focus on all aspects of your life: work, health, personal growth, family!  If you want to try it out for a month, send email to:

dailytracker@aweber.com

    

 

 

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October 17, 2006 by jacquie.

Half of the singers in the Pacific Mozart Ensemble did an extra gig last week with great success and to widespread acclaim. They sang backup for Sufjan Stevens, an indie rock idol who performed on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. I might have been the oldest person in the audience. My daughter thought she might have been the second oldest. Most of the singers were older than the audience. It was a young crowd, several thousand strong – two sold out nights.

Eric, one of the PME singers, made the suggestion to Sufjan to include a choral backup in this concert.  The rock star and his group were wonderfully receptive. Eric had to jump through many hoops to make it all work, arranging choral parts to blend with and enhance 17 songs, as well as planning, coordinating, and conducting many rehearsals with 24 people who already had very busy lives. They didn’t even know for sure they’d get into the show because Sufjan could pull their plug at the sound check! Scary stuff. It was daring for Eric to reach for the stars to fulfill a life-long dream! Eric’s success meant they all succeeded. Everyone, singers, instrumentalists, and audience loved the event.

The morning after the last performance, as emails of thanks and appreciation were flying around among the singers, I got news of the death of a friend. She was married to one of the founding members of PME and, although he left the group 10 years ago, he is still dearly loved. I wanted to postpone telling the ecstatic singers because I didn’t want to rain on their parade. Even though more than half of them wouldn’t even know the woman who died, surely they would be affected by the sadness the others felt. By late morning, everyone had the news.

I was surprised — the elation continued. I was elated for my husband and the other singers. I was happy for this organization to which I give so much of my volunteer time as Executive Director. And I was struck by the perspective I got from the contrast between that elation and the loss and sadness I felt for my friends. The elation felt undiminished, even dearer. The sadness felt deep and poignant.

I didn’t accomplish much more than the bare minimum that day because I was busy allowing myself to feel my emotions. I went for several walks and felt marvelously part of the world. It was actually quite wonderful to have great satisfaction in my body at the same time as a deep well of empathy.  I found myself grateful for being alive in this place, at this time, and I renewed my commitment to live the best life I can. This morning I feel deep joy about my musical family and amazing appreciation for Patty’s tenacious 25 years on kidney dialysis and profound gratitude for knowing someone as giving and committed as Kent Stewart. Indeed, I am grateful for being here writing to you.

Weekly Challenge

An exercise in Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles is a tribute to Kent and Patty who bought a home dialysis unit and a van and traveled around the country for two years. They simply didn’t let obstacles get in their way!

The challenge: create three lists of 30 items – thirty things you want to do before you die, thirty things you want to be, and thirty things you want to have.  If you’re a solitary type person, you could do this at your computer or in your journal. If you work better with support, ask a friend to prompt you and record your answers.

Often the first few items come easily.  When there’s a pause, ask yourself or instruct your friend to ask “What else do you want?” and keep asking until you get at least 30. You’ll probably find that the ends of your lists have more important items than the beginnings.

© 2006, Jacqueline Hale

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