Categories: Yakezie, investing, goal setting
“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.”
Colin Powell
MAIN TOPIC
This week I joined a network of personal finance bloggers: the Yakezie Challenge. Yakezie is a competition for improved readership and position on the coveted Wise Bread List of top 100 personal finance blogs. The underlying concept is that the competition to increase readership and interest in our personal finance blogs will spur the members to excellence. This group of personal finance bloggers must be committed to greatness by blogging regularly and they must be committed to camaraderie by agreeing to support and promote their fellow bloggers. The underlying concept of the challenge is that the competition to increase readership and interest in our personal finance blogs will spur all of us on to excellence. You can find out about all the members and how they are doing right here.
Once the blogger commits to the challenge he/she agrees to write about it on their blog.
This is where perfection entered. Perfection is “the state of being without a flaw or defect.” As a recovering perfectionist, here is where I experienced a bit of a setback.
I procrastinated writing the “Yakezie Post” because I wanted it to be SPECTACULAR.
I wanted to show my readers and fellow Yakezie members that I was not only extremely knowledgeable about personal finance, but a wonderful writer.
Many perfectionists out there (you know who you are) are also closet procrastinators because they fear that their work won’t be perfect. This fear paralyzes the perfectionist. And the reemergence of my perfectionism caused me to delay writing the post while obsessing on how to make it PERFECT.
Fortunately, I overcame my procrastination quickly, with a small goal; in order to start writing about the Yakezie Challenge, I decided to read what some of the other members had written.
That small step motivated me to GET STARTED. The reading also inspired me to put a different spin on the topic and relate the challenge to writing and investing.
I’ve written about procrastination and goal setting before, yet I’ve never directly related the topic to investing.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
The best way to AVOID PROCRASTINATION, WRITE THE BEST ARTICLE, and to BE A SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR, is to get started IMMEDIATELY with one small step.
This concept is so important, that I’m going to restate it in different words.
THE BEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING is to GET STARTED NOW. Stop thinking and TAKE ACTION.
Take Colin Powell’s quote to heart, read it, follow it, and there is your recipe for success in life!
For the Yakezie post, my small step was to get started by reading other personal finance blogs about the Yakezie Challenge. That was all the motivation I needed to help me get started.
How to Write a Perfect Article
The way to write a PERFECT ARTICLE is about the same; get started NOW! Then motivate yourself by reading some related materials; you’ll probably get inspired to dive in and start. And you may come up with some new ideas or a different take on your old ideas.
Furthermore, realize that PERFECTION is unattainable, and persistence is much more valuable. So get started, read a bit on the subject matter, and then write a draft, revise, and you’re done! Good enough is much better than PERFECTION!
OK, done with the “How to Write a Perfect Article Section.”
Now on to INVESTING
Don’t let fear of losing money or making a mistake stop you from INVESTING FOR YOUR FUTURE. The best time to invest is now. Read this really short book and learn all you need to know about investing. Then, get started now and let the magic of compounding grow your wealth.
Investing is a very scary topic because it deals with money. But, if you break it down, there are wins and losses in every area of life; jobs, family, friends, sports etc. If you start investing now, even if you experience some short term losses, in the long run, you will have more money than if you waited longer to invest.
Continue to read BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance, because there will be A LOT MORE INVESTING DETAILS to come. But, if you are someone who is just starting out, and looking for the VERY FIRST STEP TO TAKE, then do this:
Open a brokerage account at a discount broker such as Charles Schwab, Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity etc. You don’t need to be perfect here, just pick one and get started.
And tune in for more investing information soon.
This may not be the perfect article. But if you learned these 3 things, then it was probably good enough:
- Compete with your colleagues to improve and reach your potential.
- Get started now, to reach your goals, and avoid procrastination.
- No matter how old you are, INVEST for the future to grow your financial resources.
Caveat: Before investing make sure you have taken care of these 3 steps first:
Get rid of all credit card debt.
Purchase term life insurance if you have someone (wife, husband, &/or kids depending on your income).
Save at least 6 months living expenses in a bank savings account (on-line or bricks & mortar-it does not matter which).
ACTION STEPS:
Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and store it by the computer. Use it for all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.
1. Open a brokerage account.
2. Get started on a goal you have been avoiding, NOW.
Welcome aboard Barb! Perfection is a white unicorn. It’s great you’re just doing.
Best of luck to you, and hope to see you around!
Best,
Sam
@Watches, Thank you so much for adding the article to your MYSPACE page; I’m honored;@Kaye, @Car, @Sam, @ Roshawn- Thanks sooo much for stopping by. This is way too much fun! I’m already out of the 2,000,000 and into the 1,000,000; You are all amazing. I’ll be around to pick up your feeds!!