Personal Finance From the Inside Out

I am excited to announce that my 4-week intensive course: Personal Finance from the Inside Out is now available through teleconferencing!

Yes, that is right, you do not have to live in the Monterey Bay area to partake in this transformational money management course! Whahoo!

"Take charge NOW of your financial future in a fun, inspiring and creative way"!



Learn your money personality, Feng Shui and money, A new way to plan and budget, Goal setting, Stimulate your investment ideas, improve your relationship with money and MORE!

$250.00 for the full 4-week intensive and bring a sign a friend up for FREE!
Please email me after you have paid to complete registration
(my email address is on the receipt page)

Class will begin as soon as enough people pre-register.
I intend to begin on Monday, February 8 at 6:30 p.m. (PST)

Tell me your name below

Tell me your friend's name

Thank you for making the decision to join me! This investment is one to feel great about! It is my intention that you are among the 95% who will feel the shift to empowerment and take charge for your financial well-being!

A Hands-On Goal Setting Workshop

GOALS The Power Line to Success and Achievement
A Hands-On Goal Setting Workshop
By Glen Hopkins

WHY DO WE NEED GOALS?

• Goals give you direction in all areas of your life – Personal, Career, Spiritual, Material, and Contribution
• Goals give you a purpose in life. A reason to get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night
• Goals will put drive and passion into your life
• Not having goals is similar to sailing a ship across the Atlantic without a map. Goals, like maps, help you get to your destination much faster than sailing though life aimlessly

HOW DO I SET GOALS?

• First you must dream! Dream of everything you want, and have always wanted in every facet of your life.
• There are no limits. Ask yourself, “What would I attempt to do, if I knew I could not fail?” “What would I want for my life if I knew I could have it?”
• Allow yourself to dream like you did as a child. Let your imagination run wild!
• Brainstorm
• Write your ideas down on paper and decide which ones are the most important to you.
• Review what you have written down on paper.
• Now its is time to define your dream precisely. Which of these goals are most important to you, and why?
• On a fresh piece of paper, write down one goal at a time. Beside the heading, write down a deadline for achieving that goal. Be sure that the deadline is realistic.
• To help achieve the long term goal, set a timeline using short term goals. For example, if your long term personal goal is to loose 60 lbs. in one year, set short term goals leading up to the long term goal. In this example you might set short term goal to loose 5 lbs. per month. This is an effective way to evaluating your progress helping you to determine if you have to make changes to your action plan.

THE SECRETS OF ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
1. Make your goals Inspirational

• You need to set goals grand enough to challenge yourself. Remember that if you don’t have to push yourself beyond your current limits to reach your goals, you’re not really achieving anything. To truly be successful, and reach your true potential, you must constantly push yourself to move outside of your “comfort zone”.

2. Define your goals with Clarity

• Be precise in what you want. The more clearly defined your goal is, the easier it will be to attain. For example, let’s say you want to buy a house. To say you want to buy a house is not enough. To find a house you’ll really be happy with, you have to specify exactly what you want. Do you want to live in the country or the city? Do you want a two storey or a bungalow? Do you want a brick house or a wood house? How many square feet do you want? Do you want a pool? How much can you afford? As you can see there are many questions to ask.
• The more questions you ask yourself, and are able to answer, the clearer your goal will be.
• Once you know the exact outcome you want, you will be able to create an action plan that will ensure your success.

3. Write a Paragraph

• Write a paragraph or two describing exactly why you absolutely must attain your goal. Write down all the reasons why you are committed to attain your goal. Feel the emotion stir up inside of you. Feel the passion and drive. This will bring the goal to life!
• How would you feel one year from now if you were to attain all your goals? How would that make you feel about yourself? Would your feel proud? Would your self-esteem be increased? Would you feel unstoppable? Would you feel more confident in your ability? What results would you get from reaching your goals? Would you have greater job security? Would you be up for a promotion? Would you be earning more money? Would your family and friends be proud of you? How would that make you feel?

4. Write Another Paragraph!

• This paragraph or two should explain what will happen if you don’t attain your goal. How will you feel? What will happen to your lifestyle? Will you be embarrassed? Will you loose self-esteem? Will you loose your job? The more emotion you can put behind the reasons why you must succeed and why you must not fail, the more committed to attaining your goals you will become.

5. Constantly Evaluate Your Progress

• Having an action plan is not enough. The captain in the previous example will have to constantly evaluate his progress in order to be sure he is on target. Unforeseen obstacles are sure to arise, such as a hailstorm, or increased southerly winds. As a result, he may have to increase his speed or guide the boat in a more westerly direction. In other words, notice what is working and what is not. If an approach is not working, don’t waste your time with it. Change your approach.

6. Never Lose Sight of Your Goal

• Take the time to review your goals every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed. This will keep them fresh in your mind. If you think reviewing your goals twice a day is too much to ask, maybe you should reevaluate what it is you want. Ask yourself, “How important is it to me that I attain my goals?”

7. Don’t Procrastinate

• Procrastination is a “silent killer”. Understand that the only way to achieve your goals is to take action! Knowledge means nothing if you don’t apply it. How many people have you come across with an unbelievable amount of education working a mediocre job? The world is full of people who don’t apply their knowledge. On the other hand, chances are you know of people with less educational background who apply everything they learn. These people are usually the ones who are most successful in all areas of their lives.
• Do something right now that will help you to achieve your goals. There is no time like the present! Get the ball rolling. Each step you take brings you one step closer to the life you want.
• Remember the motto, “The road to Someday, leads to the town of Nowhere”. Someday is today!

THE BENEFITS OF GOAL SETTING

• You will notice an increase in your energy level as you begin to live your life with passion – the passion that having a meaningful goal will give you.
• You will be in control of your life and the direction you are heading. Your life does not have to be determined by fate alone. With goals, you create your destiny.
• Goals give you a purpose in life. A reason to get up early and go to bed late.

EVIDENCE
The following are examples of individuals who have achieved their goals. How has it changed their lives and possibly the lives of others?

• Mother Teresa
• Nelson Mandella
• Michael Jordan
• Mark McGwire

What goals have you achieved that have changed your life, and possibly the lives of others? Maybe it was,

• Education
• Relationship
• New car
• Job interview
• Weight loss
• Exercise program

• Everything you do is a cause set in motion. No matter how small the act may seem, it will ultimately have an effect on your life

OBSERVATIONS

• You will soon notice your mind will become a magnet for attracting any information or opportunity that can help you achieve your goals more rapidly.
• For example, have you ever played the game, “Punch Buggy?” If not, if goes something like this. When driving in a car with a friend, the first person to see a Volkswagen “Bug” gets to punch the other person in the shoulder while exclaiming the color of the car “Punch Buggy Red”!
• Once you begin playing this game, you will be surprised to find how quickly your arm becomes sore! That’s right, all of a sudden you will become a magnet for Volkswagen “Bugs”! Everywhere you look, you will see one. The same thing is true of your goals. When you know exactly what you are looking for, it will mysteriously present itself.
• This is based on the phenomenon that You Get What You Focus On.
• Remember to “enjoy the ride’. This is the key to a successful life. There is little point in only allowing yourself to enjoy life at the point of achieving a goal. If that were the case, think of all the time that would be spent not fully enjoying your life. Learn to happily achieve rather than achieving to be happy. After all, whether you are conscious of it or not, the majority of your time is spent striving to achieve goals. Such as, getting up in the morning, getting to work on time, making time to see a friend of loved one, and so on.
• Although these “goals” are pretty exciting, let’s not forget the big ones. The ones we create with passion and drive. The goals that can truly change our lives if we commit to pursuing them.

SUMMARY

• If you are dissatisfied with some aspect of your life, get excited. All it means is you now what you don’t want. Now its is time to determine exactly what you do want.
• Clarify exactly what it is you want and create a time frame for getting it.
• Write one or two paragraphs why you must attain your goals and one or two paragraphs why you must not fail to attain your goals.
• Keep a close eye on your progress. If what you are doing is not working, change your approach.
• Review your goals twice daily. This will keep you focused.
• The time to change your life is now. Not tomorrow, not the next day.
• Take time to invest in the future you want. You have the power to create your own destiny!

- Glen Hopkins
Thank You Glen!
Cheers,
Julie
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Back to School: Personal Finance From the Inside Out

Do you realize that more than 85% of the households in this country are run by women? Yet where did we learn to do this? Slowly over the last 40 years, men have turned this job over to the women!

This class is a lot of fun ... we take a closer look at the household income and expenses; Like my friend Ahnalisa says, "Cash in and cash out, it is like the breathe of the household".

CLASS BEGINS: Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:30pm to 8:30pm

• In this class, we take a look at our attitudes around money and ask our selves what financial freedom means to us.
  
• We take a look at how simple, or not as difficult as it may seem, to achieve financial freedom.
  
• We learn some simple guidelines for how to set up a budget and follow the budget.
  
• We learn some goal setting and list what needs to happen to obtain those goals.
  
• Journaling happens!
• We take a Money Personality Test; get to know your personality around money.
  
• Learn to start thinking about how you can invest and empower yourself around money! ... and more!
  

If you live local in the Monterey Bay area and want to sign up, please email me directly at: jewleyd@comcast.net I will eventually teach this course over the internet, so keep in touch if you are interested!

Cheers,
Julie

Let's Read: A Girl Needs Cash

This is the current financial book I am reading. Check out a copy at your local library or buy one and read along with me ... or check back in a couple of weeks for my review.
Cheers,
Jules

Book Review: Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan

Last month the ladies of the investment club that I belong to chose to read Suze Orman's new book. I also suggested that the readers of my monthly journal (free newsletter) read it along with us. Well, I did indeed read it and here is what I think about out it.

Her usual message comes through loud and clear, "you must commit to taking action". There is just no room for taking the back seat when it comes to understanding your financial situation and knowing what you need to do with your money.

Suze first spells out very briefly the current global credit crisis. I love her parable, "Our economy is like a patient who was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. After months of aggressive intervention ... the patient is still in the Intensive Care Unit, but the prognosis is that eventually there will be a full recovery. In the meantime, the patient will move into a rehabilitation facility and start to get back on his or her feet. Before too long, the patient will be stable enough to go home, though it might be years before he of she is back to full health".

So what do you do with your money while you ride this "rehabilitation" time out?

The chapters in Suze's book are organized in nine (9) areas of money: Credit, Retirement, Savings, Spending, Real Estate, Paying for College and Family which includes insurance and job loss. Suze lists multiple scenarios for each of these area. So you must read through (a very easy read) to see which scenario might best fit your situation. Then she tells you what to do with an "action plan" for each scenario.

Please be diligent and research any advice no matter how "expert" someone maybe. For example, if you do not understand or know what a treasury money market fund is or an EFT is, then educate yourself and learn. It is important to understand why her action plans are good at this time during a general economic downturn. The economy changes and goes through its cycles; money grows well in one investment during a down turn but then may performs poorly when the economy is booming. Thus, through learning you will also see that money can grow through investments no matter how the economy is doing. I always say, "create your own economy"!

So Suze's book is a great place to start, but there is more work to be done. So get your 2009 action plan started if you have not done so already already.

When fear and doubt are in control you may make decisions that feel "right", but the biggest risk is giving in to your emotions. Do nothing rash". ~Suze Orman
Suze's Ormans 2009 Action Plan

Message from Ladybug Totem

Several months ago I was prepping windows in my living room for a fresh coat of paint. I saw something red, black and rather strange in the top corner. It was something like a wasps nest at first glance but it was red and black ... as I came closer the image that my eyes were having a difficult time identifying came clear once I realize the the black spots were not holes but dots on the backs of about 8 lady bugs clumped together. I was amazed to say the least; what a pleasant finding! But I had moved into the house in August and this was a day in December ... pondering ... what were they eating in order to live in my house? I have no plants in the house and certainly no aphids for them to eat. So I moved them ... and painted my windowsills.

Well, several weeks later I found that the lady bugs moved back -- they are back on the window again. And guess what? This corner of my house, in Feng Shui, is the wealth and luxury corner. Cool place for ladybugs to be hanging out for no apparent reason. My kids and I use the area of the house for curling up with a good book and reading and we now call it ladybug corner.

Well, today April 6, I took the kids out for something fun, first I thought we'd take a hike and have a picnic, they wanted to to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I really wanted to enjoy the outdoors. It was a warm day today and rain is due for the rest of the week. Then I remembered a beach that I had never been to an was told by a friend that there is tons of sea glass at this beach. That sounded perfect and that was were I took the kids.

Now guess what? Yes, we found tons of sea glass BUT we found two ladybugs on the sand! Again what a pleasant surprise and what an unusual place to find not one but two ladybugs!

Later in the day I took the kids over to the Farmer's Market in Pacific Grove. This market began last summer and today was our first time to this market. Shortly after our arrived this very cute little terrier came up to say hello. The owner was right behind her. After we oohed and awed over this sweet dog, her owner tells us her name is Ladybug. "Okay", my mind tells me, "look up ladybugs. There is a message here for us".

Over the years I have learned that when I hear or see things repeat, a form of my intuition is communicating to me. The following is what I learned about ladybugs today. It all feels true for me and my family (the three of us). And I think it is so darn cool how things work around here -- there are messages for us everywhere! Life is good, really really good and it is meant to be this good.

Sources: www.sayahda.com, www..starstuffs.com, www.linsdomain.com

Ladybugs are about metamorphosis, growth and manifestation of thoughts and ideas. Our wishes begin to be fulfilled. Higher goals and new successes are possible. Worries begin to dissipate. New happiness comes about. Fall and Spring are the most abundance times for a person with a Ladybug totem. Ladybug also cautions not to try to hard or go to fast to fulfill dreams. Let things flow at their natural pace. In the due course of time, wishes and desires will all come true. Ladybug's life spans are about four weeks. Several generations are produced each summer. This links the energy of the ladybug to renewal and regeneration. Those with this totem are usually family oriented with strong morals and social values. Because the life cycle of an adult ladybug is short, it teaches us to release worry and to live life to the fullest. When it appears in our life it is telling us to let go. Ladybug teaches us to restore our faith and trust in the greater spirit - God. It initiates change where it is needed most. When Ladybug appears it is asking us to get out of our own way and allow the greater spirit to enter. An adult ladybug can consume several thousands of aphids and other scale insects within a few months. Because of its diet the ladybug often has parasites and those with this medicine often need to take care of their digestive system. Now is the time to examine eating habits. Ladybug has a protective quality, keen instincts and in spite of its size it appears to be fearless. The ladybug reconnects us with the joy of living, teaching us to transform and release our fears and return to love. "ahhh", Julie