Self-esteem.
I will keep those first things first in my life, every day by choosing to think and act in accordance with reason, purpose and SELF-ESTEEM.
Do you feel that you deserve to be happy?
Do you feel guilty about wanting to be happy?
If you need to ponder those things, in any way, shape or form, then your self-esteem is not where it should be.
Of course, if you do not value REASON as an ultimate value, then your lack of self-esteem may in fact be warranted, because you recognize, at least subconsciously that you are avoiding your responsibility to think and act rationally and as a result you have mixed feelings about yourself.
On the one hand, you may actually gravitate towards feeling like a victim of circumstances beyond your control, because you are not comfortable with facing the reality of your own responsibility for your situation.
This may seem harsh to some but the inevitable result of not clearly and rationally choosing and defining your own values is perennial self-doubt i.e. low self-esteem.
A lot of pop psychology admonishes you to love yourself and use positive affirmations, and while these may have some benefit, they lack the underlying prerequisites of REASON and PURPOSE that are the foundation of self-esteem and like any structure built without a proper foundation, it will surely crumble at the first true challenge.
As a rational human being, which it is your choice to be, you will realize that your highest moral purpose is your own happiness. Note that I am NOT talking about hedonistic pleasure or any false value that would be obtained at someone else's expense. Neither of these have anything to do with true happiness.
Armed with this certainty of purpose and the self-esteem that helps you to be secure that you deserve to be happy, you will be optimally aligned to achieve your true potential to be the HERO OF YOUR OWN LIFE.
Showing posts with label financial planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label financial planning. Show all posts
Jun 12, 2013
Jan 15, 2013
PURPOSE = Empowerment.
PURPOSE = Empowerment.
I will keep those first things first in my life, every day by choosing to think and act in accordance with reason, PURPOSE and self-esteem
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Reason is the tool that we must use to navigate through the many choices that we need to make throughout our lives in order to first survive and then to achieve happy lives, the latter being, or should be everyone's ultimate PURPOSE.
Happiness, as an end however, can only be achieved once an individual has taken the time to carefully and thoroughly do the introspection to determine specifically what it will take to make them happy.
The defining of this PURPOSE is perhaps one of, if not the most empowering things that anyone will ever do, for many reasons, not the least of which is that they can stop wasting time on things that don't serve this purpose.
In previous writings, I have suggested that the secret to happiness is, simply to "do and be your best", and I still believe this to be the case, albeit, this may be incomplete as a concept.
Truly doing your best will actually be far less of an effort and actually become pleasurable, without the need for huge amounts of self discipline if you are properly aligned with a clear purpose.
The saying goes, "find something you love, and you'll never have to work another day in your life".
I compare this alignment to water flow. Misalignment is like a kink in the hose. You can get water through it, but it will require a lot of discipline, perseverance and just plain hard work which will result in the water getting through IF you don't get too tired or discouraged first.
With no kink in the hose... well it just "flows". (In fact there is a book entitled "Flow" with the term being used to describe the fulfilled happy state that someone experiences when they are doing something they are so passionate about that they are completely "in the moment".)
Likewise, with clarity of purpose, we stop operating with one foot on the gas and one on the brake, and we achieve far beyond what we could without this clarity, but more importantly we are happy in the process and not just the end result.
In closing, on the subject that it should be self-evident that our own happiness should be our ultimate purpose, note that, for many that is not the case, and in my next entry, I will show that this is a result of lack of SELF-ESTEEM due to buying into the altruistic philosophy that self sacrifice is a virtue.
Thanks again for reading. Comments are always welcome!
I will keep those first things first in my life, every day by choosing to think and act in accordance with reason, PURPOSE and self-esteem
*******************************************
Reason is the tool that we must use to navigate through the many choices that we need to make throughout our lives in order to first survive and then to achieve happy lives, the latter being, or should be everyone's ultimate PURPOSE.
Happiness, as an end however, can only be achieved once an individual has taken the time to carefully and thoroughly do the introspection to determine specifically what it will take to make them happy.
The defining of this PURPOSE is perhaps one of, if not the most empowering things that anyone will ever do, for many reasons, not the least of which is that they can stop wasting time on things that don't serve this purpose.
In previous writings, I have suggested that the secret to happiness is, simply to "do and be your best", and I still believe this to be the case, albeit, this may be incomplete as a concept.
Truly doing your best will actually be far less of an effort and actually become pleasurable, without the need for huge amounts of self discipline if you are properly aligned with a clear purpose.
The saying goes, "find something you love, and you'll never have to work another day in your life".
I compare this alignment to water flow. Misalignment is like a kink in the hose. You can get water through it, but it will require a lot of discipline, perseverance and just plain hard work which will result in the water getting through IF you don't get too tired or discouraged first.
With no kink in the hose... well it just "flows". (In fact there is a book entitled "Flow" with the term being used to describe the fulfilled happy state that someone experiences when they are doing something they are so passionate about that they are completely "in the moment".)
Likewise, with clarity of purpose, we stop operating with one foot on the gas and one on the brake, and we achieve far beyond what we could without this clarity, but more importantly we are happy in the process and not just the end result.
In closing, on the subject that it should be self-evident that our own happiness should be our ultimate purpose, note that, for many that is not the case, and in my next entry, I will show that this is a result of lack of SELF-ESTEEM due to buying into the altruistic philosophy that self sacrifice is a virtue.
Thanks again for reading. Comments are always welcome!
Dec 9, 2012
REASON: A spiritual principle.
I will keep those first things first in my life, every day by choosing to think and act in accordance with REASON, purpose and self-esteem
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People often draw a separation between material and spiritual realms.
If I understand what people imply by this, it seems as though what is being suggested is that there are two separate dimensions of reality, one that is concrete and one, supposedly on some sort of higher plane (whatever that means), which is above reality. (something above reality or supernatural makes no sense to me, as, if something actually exists, then it is by definition, part of nature, if I understand nature to be 'everything that exists')
Other people will say, "I'm not religious, but I'm 'spiritual', but any definitions of spiritual I've seen in this context seem nebulous at best.
In my view, spiritual and material values are simply two different aspects of one reality.
First of all, I don't think accepting spiritual principles requires any type of blind faith. Spiritual principles are simply aspects of reality that are not corporeal but which self-evidently exist and have profound effects on our quality of life. You can't touch, feel, smell, or draw a picture of spiritual principles such as honesty, willingness, courage, REASON, happiness, enthusiasm, etc. and we may even debate their exact meanings, but no one will suggest that these principles do not exist, or that one needs to accept them on blind faith.
And material objects, those created by men, are simply the material embodiment of those spiritual principles. I consider a Ferrari, an elaborate financial plan, an iPad or a well built home to be profoundly spiritual. They are the direct result of what Stephen Covey referred to in his second habit, "Begin with the end in mind", in which he asserts correctly that there are always two creations, first in one's mind, and then the actual material product.
To the degreee that a material result is good, in that it represents excellence and quality (two other spiritual principles)is the degree to which its creation was aligned with proper principles.
Note the contrast between a beautiful, well designed, and properly maintained home and a crack house, and you will see how proper spiritual principles differ from the lack thereof, or from deeply negative principles.
Note the financial/material result for clients of a well executed financial plan vs. the result produced for Bernie Madoff's clients, and you will see the same contrast.
REASON, is first and foremost the spriritual principle that leads to optimum results, in that it is the principle that is required in order for us to deal with reality properly, (choosing to think from my last post) and to achieve the productivity (another principle)of material goods that enhance life quality.
Thanks again, for reading.... comments are welcome.
*********************************************************************
People often draw a separation between material and spiritual realms.
If I understand what people imply by this, it seems as though what is being suggested is that there are two separate dimensions of reality, one that is concrete and one, supposedly on some sort of higher plane (whatever that means), which is above reality. (something above reality or supernatural makes no sense to me, as, if something actually exists, then it is by definition, part of nature, if I understand nature to be 'everything that exists')
Other people will say, "I'm not religious, but I'm 'spiritual', but any definitions of spiritual I've seen in this context seem nebulous at best.
In my view, spiritual and material values are simply two different aspects of one reality.
First of all, I don't think accepting spiritual principles requires any type of blind faith. Spiritual principles are simply aspects of reality that are not corporeal but which self-evidently exist and have profound effects on our quality of life. You can't touch, feel, smell, or draw a picture of spiritual principles such as honesty, willingness, courage, REASON, happiness, enthusiasm, etc. and we may even debate their exact meanings, but no one will suggest that these principles do not exist, or that one needs to accept them on blind faith.
And material objects, those created by men, are simply the material embodiment of those spiritual principles. I consider a Ferrari, an elaborate financial plan, an iPad or a well built home to be profoundly spiritual. They are the direct result of what Stephen Covey referred to in his second habit, "Begin with the end in mind", in which he asserts correctly that there are always two creations, first in one's mind, and then the actual material product.
To the degreee that a material result is good, in that it represents excellence and quality (two other spiritual principles)is the degree to which its creation was aligned with proper principles.
Note the contrast between a beautiful, well designed, and properly maintained home and a crack house, and you will see how proper spiritual principles differ from the lack thereof, or from deeply negative principles.
Note the financial/material result for clients of a well executed financial plan vs. the result produced for Bernie Madoff's clients, and you will see the same contrast.
REASON, is first and foremost the spriritual principle that leads to optimum results, in that it is the principle that is required in order for us to deal with reality properly, (choosing to think from my last post) and to achieve the productivity (another principle)of material goods that enhance life quality.
Thanks again, for reading.... comments are welcome.
Dec 1, 2012
CHOOSING TO THINK
I will keep those first things first in my life, every day by CHOOSING TO THINK and act in accordance with reason, purpose and self-esteem
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Thinking is not automatic. Thinking, in my opinion means facing reality as it is, not as we wish it were.
Not choosing to think is popularly known as "being in denial". Denying reality is the first step to causing all of our own problems and of hurting other people in the process.
Most of all, denial is a choice. It is the choice that precedes all evil acts and the choice that prevents us from courageously performing virtuous acts.
Unless you are a psychopath, you are unable to commit an evil act with full consciousness. You first need to somehow rationalize or justify through the use of denial, in effect by choosing not to think. That decision, that choice not to think, is then the actual moral choice which is wrong, and which we must avoid in oder to avoid consequences to ourselves and others.
Choosing to think, is the first step to the achievement of our personal values which will lead to our happiness. No matter how unpleasant any aspect of reality may appear, it pales in comparison to the consequences of not dealing with it. I think this is what Ayn Rand meant when she stated, "I'm not brave enough to be a coward".
Happiness (spiritual 'wealth') 'is the result of man's capacity to think". However, the capacity to think is only potential until one makes that daily and even momentary choice to actually do it.
Thanks for reading!
**************************************************************************
Thinking is not automatic. Thinking, in my opinion means facing reality as it is, not as we wish it were.
Not choosing to think is popularly known as "being in denial". Denying reality is the first step to causing all of our own problems and of hurting other people in the process.
Most of all, denial is a choice. It is the choice that precedes all evil acts and the choice that prevents us from courageously performing virtuous acts.
Unless you are a psychopath, you are unable to commit an evil act with full consciousness. You first need to somehow rationalize or justify through the use of denial, in effect by choosing not to think. That decision, that choice not to think, is then the actual moral choice which is wrong, and which we must avoid in oder to avoid consequences to ourselves and others.
Choosing to think, is the first step to the achievement of our personal values which will lead to our happiness. No matter how unpleasant any aspect of reality may appear, it pales in comparison to the consequences of not dealing with it. I think this is what Ayn Rand meant when she stated, "I'm not brave enough to be a coward".
Happiness (spiritual 'wealth') 'is the result of man's capacity to think". However, the capacity to think is only potential until one makes that daily and even momentary choice to actually do it.
Thanks for reading!
May 21, 2012
LIVE: Part IIIa: Financial Planning Sailboat
Today, I will align myself with cherishing reality, focusing and having fun , so that I may have the energy I need to enthusiastically, LIVE, love, learn and leave a legacy of excellence.
LIVE: Financial Sailboat: I've decided to digress for this entry from the "physical" to the "financial" side of "LIVE". Health is obviously foundational, but financial security is actually a close second. In fact, without your financial house in order, you won't have time to exercise, money to buy food or take care of health care costs, and your sleep probably won't be very sound, as you toss and turn worrying about making ends meet. Today, I give credit to Brian Burlacoff*, BA, M.Acc., MBA, CFP, CLU, RHU for putting together a simple concept that helps us all to understand the sometimes daunting topic of financial planning. It has been said, that the three threats to our financial security are living too long, dying too soon or becoming ill or having an accident along the way. Living too long means running out of money before we die. Dying too soon, means leaving others who are dependent on us with a loss of income, and unpaid debt, and becoming ill or having an accident can cut off our income as well as bring on significant expense. Brian's concept on how to address these is the Financial Planning Sailboat. A good sailboat has a strong hull, good sails, a rudder as well as safety equipment such as life preservers. The hull represents the emergency fund that we all need: 3-6 months income available in a liquid form for unexpected short term emergencies, such as unemployment, or the transmission on the car needing replacement unexpectedly. The rudder sets the direction and this represents having a proper plan in place that is reviewed regularly (checking the compass or GPS). The sails represent your investments, properly chosen with the help of a competent advisor to suit your goals, and risk profile and they take the sailboat where it needs to go. The safety equipment, proper radio, life preservers and first aid kit, represent the insurance that one needs in case of mishaps. This includes life, disability, critical illness, long term care, home, auto and liability; the one thing you would never leave shore without, especially when your family is on the boat with you. Thanks again for reading!
LIVE: Financial Sailboat: I've decided to digress for this entry from the "physical" to the "financial" side of "LIVE". Health is obviously foundational, but financial security is actually a close second. In fact, without your financial house in order, you won't have time to exercise, money to buy food or take care of health care costs, and your sleep probably won't be very sound, as you toss and turn worrying about making ends meet. Today, I give credit to Brian Burlacoff*, BA, M.Acc., MBA, CFP, CLU, RHU for putting together a simple concept that helps us all to understand the sometimes daunting topic of financial planning. It has been said, that the three threats to our financial security are living too long, dying too soon or becoming ill or having an accident along the way. Living too long means running out of money before we die. Dying too soon, means leaving others who are dependent on us with a loss of income, and unpaid debt, and becoming ill or having an accident can cut off our income as well as bring on significant expense. Brian's concept on how to address these is the Financial Planning Sailboat. A good sailboat has a strong hull, good sails, a rudder as well as safety equipment such as life preservers. The hull represents the emergency fund that we all need: 3-6 months income available in a liquid form for unexpected short term emergencies, such as unemployment, or the transmission on the car needing replacement unexpectedly. The rudder sets the direction and this represents having a proper plan in place that is reviewed regularly (checking the compass or GPS). The sails represent your investments, properly chosen with the help of a competent advisor to suit your goals, and risk profile and they take the sailboat where it needs to go. The safety equipment, proper radio, life preservers and first aid kit, represent the insurance that one needs in case of mishaps. This includes life, disability, critical illness, long term care, home, auto and liability; the one thing you would never leave shore without, especially when your family is on the boat with you. Thanks again for reading!
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