work – Annienygma

Self-Analysis

Last night I face-planted into my computer keyboard.

That was a definite sign of why I’ve become so grumpy and frustrated as of late. I’ve pushed myself a bit too hard again, sacrificing sleep for my goals.

I have really got to establish some limits here. While I’m happy that I am more productive than I’ve been in quite a while, I do not want to push myself so hard that it negatively affects my health.

On another front, a friend of mine has decided to create some goals of her own. Like mine, her goals include increasing her current income and establishing passive income.

She has heard about some local factories that may be hiring, so we have made plans to apply together at several places as soon as our days off match up. We can split the cost of fuel if we work the same shift, which will buy me some time to build up the extra funds needed to comfortably purchase a vehicle and pay for the higher insurance that I’ll be charged for the first year.

This has the potential of helping both of us if we work together. It would propel both of us income-wise, into “lower middle class.” While she is currently right on the border of that based upon her gross, I make a bit over half of her current income, so the financial change would be dramatic for me.

I would be forced to work a bit less on my studies (and my book project) but the increased income would greatly benefit my long-term goals.

That is a sacrifice that I am willing to make.

In the meantime, I clocked out early from work today since we were really slow, came home, and took a long nap. I need to start taking care of myself if I want to do this.

Surprise Promotion

While puttering around at work the other day I received a page to the office.

“What’s up?” I asked as I stuck my head in.

“Have a seat,” the main managers gestured to a chair positioned between them.

When I got up from that chair, I had been promoted to management. I started my training the next day.

I must confess that I was a bit surprised to be offered the position. Based on what I’d observed, I thought they had the management situation well in hand. I’m honored and delighted that I was wrong.

This new pay raise will make it that much easier to survive on my own. Not only that, I may actually end up with a bit of money left over each month to invest along with my book royalties, especially now that I’m taking additional steps to save money.

Even better, the extra money in my paycheck will put me one step closer to achieving my goals.

Life is truly good.

What good news do you have to share? Please share your stories in the comments below.

Carpe Annum

This is it. The dawn of an entirely new year.

I couldn’t wait to greet it. I woke up, made my coffee, and journaled as I watched the sun rise.

I changed so much in 2018. I started out the year without a single serious idea of what I wanted to do with my life. Aside from my work schedule, I didn’t even keep track of my days and I published only a single post a week on this website.

But look at me now! I came through the doldrums. I figured out what I wanted from my life. I set a new goal of financial freedom and I actively started working towards it. Starting at absolute zero, with no experience whatsoever, I managed to invest a total of $2,153.20 in stocks and precious metals.

Wow.

I did that. I did that on a part-time minimum wage income, not even bringing in $700 a month between my public job and my writing.

I accomplished more since my birthday on April 5, 2018 than I have since I can remember.

And I did it with less money coming in each month than many people earn in a week.

You look at that. You look at that long and hard. And you pay attention.

If I can invest over two thousand dollars in a year making as little as I do, knowing as little as I know then guess what?

You have no excuse.

You have absolutely no excuse for being broke. You have absolutely no excuse for living paycheck to paycheck. If I can accomplish this much making so much less than you, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t manage to save money and invest towards your future as well.

So stop your whining. Stop saying that it can’t be done. Stop with the bullshit, get off your ass, and get to work.

Cut your expenses. Do your research. And start investing towards a better future now.

Read a book. Create a habit. Start a business. Open a savings account. Invest. Do something, even if it’s wrong! Just get started. You can work out the details as you go along.

You will never change your life unless you actually do something to make it happen. So start doing it.

This is a brand-new year. This is your fresh start, your chance to transform your life into something magical.

Don’t pass it up.

The Art of Definite Action

As I mentioned in a previous post I am concerned about my finances for the upcoming winter. Rather than allow the fear to eat at me I decided to take some definite action and meet the concern head-on.

Up the street from my home is a gas station that happens to be hiring, not only for cashiers but for management as well. The work is full-time. Cashiers start out at $9 an hour so while I’ve no idea how much management earns it is safe to say they make even more.

I turned in my resume the other day. Should I receive just the cashier’s position at their starting wage I will have increased my weekly income by close to $100 a week. It will go up even more should I net a management position.

I will have to make some adjustments if this comes to pass. I’ll be working at least 15 more hours a week at a public job than I do currently so I will have to reduce my posting frequency. That said, based on my monthly expenses here I should be able to invest close to a week’s wage every month towards my goal of financial freedom even during the winter months in addition to investing my book royalties. That will cut down the amount of time needed to save up $60,000 by over half.

If other jobs come available within walking distance to my home I will apply for them as well. Something will come up. While I’m not thrilled at the thought of going back to full-time, the thought of gaining my freedom is driving me forward. I am going to do whatever it takes to achieve financial freedom again. I want the option of not having to work, whether I choose to exercise it or not.

What steps are you taking to work towards your future? Please share your stories in the comments below.

Wake Up Early

No matter how early I am scheduled to arrive at work I make sure to set my alarm clock a few hours early. This can be a challenge sometimes. I have never been a morning person and frequently stay up until the wee hours of the morning but the results are worth the extra effort.

I wake up, stumble through the house for some coffee, then plop into my computer chair. Once I wake up I write something, anything that I believe has the potential to become a blog post or a book section.

This allows me to walk to work with the knowledge that I have already made a little bit of progress towards my long-term goals. My steps are lighter and my day easier. No matter what happens at work I know that I’ve managed to accomplish something worthwhile.

Even better, I don’t have to worry about the day getting away from me. Even if I am exhausted at the end of my work shift I can rest easy with the knowledge that I haven’t let the day slip by without working at least a little bit towards my passion of writing and helping others.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of living day to day. You get up, go to work, and are so tired by the time you arrive home that you simply don’t have the energy left to work towards your goals.

This is my solution.

Have you ever thought about waking up a bit early to work towards your personal goals? Please share your stories in the comments below.

The Stupidity of Self Talk

The past few days I’ve had a sick kid at home. I’ve been chowing down on jalapeño peppers as I hacked my way through writing this novel in hopes of not catching what she has.

Brilliant woman that I am, I stayed up past five in the morning on Wednesday knowing that I had to get up at 8 to take her back to the doctor. I told myself “I’ll just take a nap once we get home and start work.”

Right. Cue Johnny Depp and the strangest dream ever to keep me from getting any sleep at all. The whole dream was nothing more than dear old gorgeous Johnny waking me up every single time I tried to visit La La Land.

So I gave up trying to sleep and made a cup of coffee. I NEEDED to work on my book despite the fact that I felt like crap. I felt so bad that I was ready to just call it a loss for the night and accept a big ugly goose egg on my word count log.

But what did I do? I fired up my ancient writing rig and started talking to myself.

“Okay, Annie, here’s the deal,” I told myself. “You wanna get this book written, right?”

“Right.” (Yup, I even answered myself.)

“Well, you ain’t gonna get it done if you don’t start writing, so sit your happy butt down and knock out a single word.”

So I did.

“Now write another one, you idiot.”

Word by word I ordered myself to write. When one sentence was done I would bully myself until I managed another. By the time I finished I had 1,200 words written for the day.

I met my daily goal and then some.

The thing about having a goal is that you won’t ever achieve it if you don’t do the work; some days you won’t feel like even bothering, just like I didn’t today. When those days come you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to force yourself to get busy. It won’t be fun, but by the time you are finished you will be that much closer to wherever you want to be.

What can you do today?