There's Nothing to Fear but the Unknown...

I worked with a small business owner yesterday, she is a Massage Therapist, she worked through a hospital and over time has started working partly on her own.

She has already made the transition from entirely working for others, to partly working for herself.  She loves working for herself, it is the part of her routine that gives her the most enjoyment, the more fulfillment, and it could easily reward her better.

The really exciting part is that on her own she isn't limited by the hours she's allowed to have, or the pay they want to give her, she can be unlimited in her ability to find a better way.

But she was hesitant to let go of the familiar position.  It felt safe.

We talked about what her goals were, for her life, for her business.  We talked about what's currently stopping her from reaching those goals, what obstacles are in her way.

And do you know what happened? She realized that the Goals were NOT that far out of reach, that the things she were afraid of weren't really scary...but they seemed scary because they were out there in the dark, unknown.

It's hard to identify what the path forward is, if you've left it completely in the dark.

Now she has a lot of hope, now she has a vision, and now she can move forward.

The hard part isn't letting go of the security you have, it's really evaluating each problem and solution, and finding out that for as many problems as we have there are just as many answers.

I would love to help you set your own goals and work through the darkness.  We can shine light onto your path forward and let the unknown be known.

Are You a Big Dog in a Small Backyard?

When you think of a big dog what do you think of?  When you think of a big dog in a back yard what do you think of?

There's two types in my mind, there's one Bulldog, massive, slobbery...passed out with it's tongue flopping out of its mouth.

I had that dog.  She was a great dog, but we eventually gave her up so that she could be with a family that had the time to take care of her, making sure she got enough play and exercise.  That was a sad feeling, to have to admit that we couldn't take proper care of a dog...one that was loyal and that we loved so much.

But we knew what was right. We let her go...be a dog.

Everybody has at least one person in the neighborhood with a dog that is GREAT when they get a lot of exercise, and TERRIBLE when it doesn't.  An Akita or Pitbull or German Shepard.  A really helpful friendly dog...that gets shut into a small gated back yard...and it gets antsy. It wants to play and have fun and see the family and go for a walk.

And some of those dogs owners get too busy, and don't admit their problem.

But this is an analogy, and my question still stands...Are you a Big Dog in a Small Backyard?  Are you falling to lethargy? Ever find yourself hearing the schlick sound as you pick your head up off the desk?

Or maybe you're just tensed up...a caged animal looking for adventure.

Or maybe you're a dog owner that should be more available for Walkies, or find someone who is.

I suddenly want to start a dog walking business. But then again...I don't know that I love dogs nearly as much as I love my dogs.

There's Nothing to it but to DO it!

I woke up feeling terribly, I tried sleeping in and that didn't work out very well.

I decided to get up and start a slow sad shamble of the "daily routine" during which I managed to work out enough kinks, solve enough problems, that I was able to come to a single actual problem that was the major result of my issues: I had a ton of mucus in my sinuses, my nose was starting to run...and I realized it had probably been running all night longs...

I had a case of snot belly.

I need to start taking Guaifenesin in the evenings to prevent this in the future....but now I feel back in the game, eating a delicious lunch, then for a great workout.

Today we start Intervals! For those of you not "in the know" with the fitness scene Intervals started becoming a big thing near the end of the 90's early 2000's.  People have called them a lot of different things, they've used them for a lot of different reasons, and they've used a lot of different activities to achieve these results...but the idea is simply this:

Do an exercise in a light capacity for a minute or so, get into a stead rhythm.  Then for 15 seconds go ALL OUT BALLS TO THE WALLS OMG THIS IS CRAZY I MIGHT DIE....then go easy for another minute or so....and then GO SUPER CRAZY RUN LIKE THERE IS A BEAR BEHIND YOU AND THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WITH YOU IS LIKE WAY AHEAD OF YOU okay the bear gave up, but you better keep going so you can get some distance, plus we don't want you to have a heart attack, so calm down.

Wait a minute! Did I just provide a real world situation that describes a scenario in which this type of activity would be natural, and NECESSARY!? Why yes I did!  It seems that this type of exercise would have been very TYPICAL of hunter gatherer homosapiens.  This kinda stuff is in our DNA.

So I went from not being able to get out of bed, to out running bears.  In just a few hours.

That's the power of DOING THINGS, of a positive mental attitude, and then just putting in WORK.

Let's go hard!

(btw, down another pound this week!)

You have to close a door, if you're going to step outside.

I quit my day job.

I put in a two week notice after an incident in which I felt I was treated rather unfairly. I worked for the next week, and then a far worse incident occurred, which also led to me losing income because customers left.

It was a positive experience. A few of the cooks degloved and shook my hand.  A few of the servers hugged me and wished me well.  The customers I had at the time were already almost done, I apologized to them for any inconvenience, and they tipped me cash and wished me well.

Now I'm looking to the future, and looking to make a real difference. I have been hiding in a cave, and I have finally stepped out into the sun.

In that same way I have been hiding under layers of fat my entire life, and I'm shedding them at speed again.  I am two weeks into the Lean Eating Coaching Program and I am measurably smaller in all ways. I feel great, the workouts are pretty neat, though I don't know how they change next week.  I hope the next step is a bit more exciting than pre-conditioning :)

All is well and I look forward with Optimism.

Gazing Towards The Future....

One week into my Lean Eating Coaching Program, things are going well, I'm feeling pretty great and I really enjoy it!

I am excited for each workout and each habit!

I also have a super secret project that I've been working on between the two day jobs and the program.  It's not anything yet, but will whip together quickly. Worst case scenario August 11 launch.

Looking forward I realize that I truly wish to teach the concept of Serving to Sell, of offering customers excellent service and closing sales by showing a customer how your product is of the most benefit to them.

The difference between this and what people know today as "sales" a hard sell...it's astronomical.

Frankly, sales people that are incentivized to hard sell may not be providing customers with the service that leads the impression you want your company to leave!

I had a customer that wanted to do business with my company, she prefered our store to the competitors, so she came to use first. I could quickly tell that what they truly wanted...we could not provide. She would be best served to seek out our competitor, because they would have what she wanted immediately.

She thanked me for my help, she said that if the competition did not have what she wanted she would be right back.  Over the next several hours I assumed the competition had helped her and felt good that at least she was properly served.

But then she came back, with her gains from the other store...and now wished to purchase MORE things from us!  She had gotten only the very thing she could not get at our store, and came back to us for everything else!

She was so THRILLED that I had solved her REAL problem that she is now a loyal customer that truly values our integrity.

That is how you sell. That is how you make customers for life, and that is how you run a profitable business with integrity.

I could have taken her money and not given her what she truly wanted, and nobody would have made out. Instead my competitor wins because they made a sale, I win because I have a loyal customer that trusts me. My customer wins because she was taken care of, has found an ally, and knows that her best interests will be upheld when making a purchasing decisions.

Steven Covey speaks of the Win-Win situation...but what we have achieved is a win-win-win...win-win...You see the lady was purchasing for her son...so the son wins because he got ALL the cool stuff AND his mom is super happy!  And happy son and mom are going home to dad!

Well if you look at it that way, we just may have saved the world!

And into the future that's what we need more of, and what I intend to give.  More wins for everyone!

Ever hero needs an origins story

..and the "real life" heroes always get a training montage.

It's time to start my own Training Montage.

I have joined the Lean Eating Coaching Program over at Precision Nutrition: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/coaching

And I will be working very hard on the dietary and fitness goals that I have set for myself.

Part of the transformation is admitting exactly where I am right now, so I know how to get where I'm going. Here's to our brighter tomorrows, and expect to see updates as they happen.

Know Your Role

What is your role? When does that role change? When are you missing that change in your daily life?

In strategy games, games of sport and luck and skill and chance there are times where you're on top and are rewarded for being aggressive, and there are times when you're on the back foot, but will be rewarded for being cautious.

Our lives are like this in many ways as well. Sometimes we are the caretaker, and sometimes we need to be cared for. Sometimes we're the leader and others the follower.

The problems arise when we fail to notice that our role has shifted from one to another, or when other fails to recognize that you have switched, and perhaps need them to switch as well.

Sometimes the "strong" one in your relationship may need to be "soft" and sometimes the passive person may need to be assertive from time to time.

Paying close attention to these role changes is a fascinating study in human emotions. Try finding a few examples in your life this weekend, I bet you'll find more than one.

Right now I'm about to change from the role of Server to the role of Video Game Salesman, and then I'll be transitioning to Unconscious in bed returning to the grind tomorrow.

When to Say "No"

We all have to have some limits beyond which we will not cross, some boundaries.

I've been told loud and clear that one I need to set is on my bedtime.

I haven't been getting enough sleep, 2 times last week my day job called me really late at night to ask me to come in very early.  I pulled a really late night at camp when I was reading and enjoying the solitude...and then the day job called me at midnight, to ask me to come in at 5 instead of 7.

Another night without sleep, and it was too much.

Things didn't taste right and I felt like I was at the mercy of my body and everyone else, I felt like my coworkers feel most days.

So, who should you be saying No to?

For me, it's really anyone, and anything that will prevent me from getting enough sleep, but I will also not be allowing managers access to my sleeping time in the future, I will be better about silencing my phone,and better about setting my Opportunity Clock each night.

Set Sail to Better Futures

When a ship leaves port, it knows where it's going. It has a plan to get there. The ship only ever tries to go to one place at a time, and then it will leave and go on to the next place.

Earl Nightingale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Nightingale likes to use this analogy for direction in life.  You can only ever do one thing at once, so focus on it, do it right and move on to the next thing.

They more we worry in our lives, the more stress, the harder it becomes to see our vision, to see the end destination of the work we do each day.  I've been there myself.  But when you know WHY you're going to work each day, you know WHY you're eating the chicken and green beans instead of the brownie a la mode, you stay motivated, you inspire your creative mind.  You see the opportunities you would have missed and you flourish as a result.

Just set some goals. Makes them good goals, real goals.  Make them goals you can envision.  Makes them realistic enough that you can truly believe them. If they're not high enough goals you'll meet them early, and then set new goals.  Nothing wrong with that.  Just make sure the goals are low enough that you KNOW you can hit that goal.  Maybe race your optimistic timeline for completing that goal.

Please set SMART Goals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria

S	Specific	Significant, stretching, simple
M	Measurable	Motivational, manageable, meaningful
A	Attainable	Appropriate, achievable, agreed, assignable, actionable, adjustable, ambitious, aligned, aspirational, acceptable, action-focused
R	Relevant	Result-based, results-oriented, resourced, resonant, realistic
T	Time-bound	Time-oriented, time framed, timed, time-based, timeboxed, time-specific, timetabled, time limited, trackable, tangible
E	Evaluate	Ethical, excitable, enjoyable, engaging, ecological
R	Reevaluate	Rewarded, reassess, revisit, recordable, rewarding, reaching

When you have a vision, you have a direction in which to aim. You're automatically more focused on any efforts you put forth, thus radically magnifying the effectiveness of everything that you do.

Set goals, have a vision, change your life, and change the world!

Will A. Carpenter

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Of Integrity and Faith

Definition of INTEGRITY

1

: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity

faith

 noun \ˈfāth\

1

a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty

b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith?show=0&t=1370912121

I was not treated with integrity with my dealing with a prospective job hire, so I am no longer offering my services.

In that same time, I have found a more suitable application of my skills. I have faith in this business relationship.

Directed attention truly is the key to saving everyone. Put a little sunshine on the ones you love today. Save the world.

A Little Bit of Financial Hope (For those with less than HUGE incomes)

So I did a quick Google search to find some financial calculators which lead me to, believe it or not, financialcalculators.com

I played with several, and this one can really show you the power of compound interest. Let's talk about savings.

Once I am debt free my immediate goal is to contribute to a fully funded emergency savings fund, and then proceed to retirement and investments. As I was just playing around with some numbers I decided to use my current income, and I used 15% of my income as it would grow in mutual funds over the next 30 years.

Income 26,000.
15% of income: 3,900

I said that I had a starting balance of 1000 (that's what I'll open the FIRST mutual fund with when I get to that step)

What does the math say I'll have after 30 years of saving 15% of my (current) income?
"Based on your savings schedule, you will accumulate $511,532 over the next 30 years."

Half a million dollars.  Great!  And that's not even until I'm 65...that's until I'm...well I would say 58, but I'm not debt free yet.  Let's say that's until I'm 61 years old.

REMEMBER: That is saving 15% of my 26k salary! I certainly don't plan to only make 26 for the rest of my life! In fact I just picked up a second job, so I will make more starting THIS YEAR...but 15% on 26 leaves me a half a million dollars (well more than that) to retire off of.

Here's the better news: I can invest 3000 a year (unmarried) into a Roth IRA.  Meaning that at retirement I pull it out TAX FREE. Why? Because you pay taxes on the income you receive before funding the Roth IRA, so it grows tax free.  3000 per person per year, 6000 per married couple. (with incomes under 200k annually I believe)

If I put 3000 a year into my Roth IRA between now and 65? "

"At retirement your IRA balance could be worth $1,235,562."

I'm no financial adviser, but that looks suspiciously like I'm not only a millionaire at retirement age, but I also can live rather comfortably off the interest of that nest egg, you know $98,844.96 annually.

What's the point of this?  The point is that EVERYONE with an income under 200k annually has the opportunity to save 3k annually in a Roth IRA, and if you do, you too can retire a millionaire.

So why doesn't everyone do this?  Because they would have to have control of their income, and their output. They would have to stop spending every penny they have and then borrow thousands more.  That's why.  Because while it's a VERY SIMPLE THING to do it's very HARD to actually do.

But it shouldn't be.  It's only hard because we don't commit to a budget. Because we don't know what our money is doing or where it's going. But it is going, it's flowing right through our hands.

You can make a very simple choice: Watch where your money is going. Set up a budget to prevent money from going where you don't want it to go, and divert a bit of that extra found money (you'll find a lot of it trust me) into a Roth IRA.

I know I know, you're going to say "But Will, I don't have 3k to put into retirement, and if I did I would put it on X"  (X = mortgage, credit cards, student loans, car payments, plastic surgery etc) If that's the case, I would encourage you to look into setting up that budget and getting out of debt.  You're losing even more money paying interest on everything than you would be making by investing it.

Debt is BAD. Debt is not a tool.  Debt is paying the bank to borrow money you didn't have, and then paying them back a LOT MORE for that privilege.

Get out of debt. Invest in the simplest and best forms for your future and your retirement.  I'll see you at retirement, I'll be the bald guy with the mile wide smile.

Where We Are, Where We're Heading

This blog is titled Where There's a  Will There's a Way, the only fun in that would be if you were to not capitalize like a title, it would then become: Where there's a Will there's a way.

You see, my full first name is Will.  Not William or Willie, not Wilbur or Billy. I'm Will, just Will.  And not Wil either.

So where there's a Will there's a way, and it just so happens to be that no matter where I go, there's a Will right there with me.

I WILL achieve my goals, I will make positive progress towards my dreams, and in order to do so I need to put out the statistics I can measure right now, so that we can measure them again later and look at the progress.

Age: 28.6
Weight: 272lbs (down from all time measured high of 352)

Financial Status: $1000 emergency savings in the bank, 6 debts that I am currently snowballing totaling: $58,134. That consists of one (1k) credit card 1 (2k) dental bill (on 0% interest CareCredit card) 15k on my car, and the rest are STUDENT LOANS.

I currently work in a restaurant as a server, making roughly 26k per year.

I am also currently living back home with my parents, an arrangement that will soon be ending as they retire and move to Florida.

The vehicle I currently own is worth about 9k, leaving me about 6k underwater, also making my total net worth at the moment: -48 THOUSAND DOLLARS

Using the Wealth Accumulation figures from The Millionaire Next Door: Age * net income * 10% = how much wealth you "should" have, having less means you're not a great accumulator or wealth (or terrible like I have been up until recently) and having more means you're a PAW Prodigious accumulator of wealth.

28 * 26,000 * 10% = 72,800

Currently 120k below where I should be.  We'll make that up over time, don't you worry.

Life Insurance: None
Health Insurance: None
Will and Testament: None
Retirement: None

This doesn't look great. But that doesn't matter. We all have to start exactly where we are, we must improve on the foundation that we have. From here I go forward, onto bigger, better, and healthier things.

Goals:
Weight: 200lbs
Finances: Debt Free, 10k in the bank
Work: Making 45k + annually, then 75k +
Home: Renting as inexpensively as possible for a few years while I dig myself out of debt and begin to save for a house. I would prefer to use the 100% down method, but once I have a significant portion of the savings I may  look into foreclosures that fall well within my budget at that time (25% of income as mortgage payment on a 15 year mortgage with a MINIMUM of 20% down)

Introductions All Around

I am creating this blog as a place for me to write about, well anything.

Topics that I am interested in that you may find here include: Personal Finance, Health and Fitness, Ketogenic Diets, Motivation and the power of a Positive Mental Attitude, and of course the various fun activities in my life such as: Disc Golf, Board and Card games and maybe even the occasional video game if I find the time.

I will also try to keep up with reviews of the books I've read, in part so I can take the time to think and discuss what I've read, but also to allow others that might enjoy my writing to enjoy the writing of the professionals that inspire me.

Mini Book Review: Dave Ramsey - The Money Answer Book

The Money Answer Books is great for those that need a good start to personal finance, but are afraid of getting too deep too quickly. I would perhaps recommend the book Total Money Makeover instead, but this book is a fantastic reference guide to keep you motivated, with clear instructions, lots of motivational quotes, and a simple layout that doesn't leave information in huge chapters, allowing for very easy bite sized consumption.

Should you read this book? Maybe. Do I recommend this book? Maybe.  What I really recommend is the Total Money Makeover, which is what this book is truly talking about, but if this small book is your toe in the water to that, then that would be a great thing.

I believe in living debt free, and am working aggressively towards the goal of becoming and staying debt free.  Before Dave I had never heard the phrase "The borrower is slave to the lender" but that's exactly how I've felt since I first had to use a credit card as an emergency fund 10 years ago.