Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become. –Reinhold Niebuhr
It’s that time of year when we begin to think about the changes we’d like to make in our lives. Personally, I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions; I prefer to make New Life Resolutions. Still, many readers in the Liv Simpl community have been asking about nutrition, living a simple lifestyle and being healthier: it’s clear that you’re thinking about making some amazing changes!
But change is hard. How do you prepare yourself for major (or minor) lifestyle changes? Here’s where you get to take advantage of my mistakes. Experience has taught me that there are four steps that will help you succeed in any changes you want to make.
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Current Student Loan Debt: $44, 094.
Happy Holidays! It’s been just over two weeks since the last Debt Beatdown report and I’m sure you’re anxious to know how things have progressed. In my last report, I shared some of the challenges of living a systematic lifestyle during the holiday season. I’m happy to say that we made it through and I learned a lot along the way about family and compromise.
As of December 5, I finished the pre-work for DB and officially started the 12-month countdown. Yay! So what have I been doing since then? Reviewing, planning and writing.
Reviewing
To accompany my annual review, I decided to do a financial review for 2011. If you didn’t get a chance to read my annual review, check it out. I honestly had a fantastic year, financially and otherwise. Still, there’s always room for improvement. Financially, here’s what went well and what didn’t.
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In my last post, I shared some hard questions that I asked myself before even attempting to do my annual review. After answering those questions, I simplified my usual review process by using Chris Guillebeau’s two basic questions: What went well this year? and What didn’t go well this year?
As it turns out, 2011 was a pretty successful year. Of course, there are always ways to improve. I could have done a better job of launching Liv Simpl, for example. But enough generalities, here are my answers to two very revealing questions. I also share ways that my lessons can help you; hopefully they’ll inspire you to do a review of your own.
A few weeks ago I mentioned an article about Radical Honesty that I’d read on Esquire’s website. The article was incredible and, as a result, I decided to write a really great post (how presumptuous of me) about how Radical Honesty could change your life. This weekend I sat down to write that post, when it hit me: What the hell do I know about being radically honest?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a tell-it-like-it-is type person, as most of my friends can attest. But, this weekend, I finally admitted that I’ve been lying to myself for two years, maybe more. Every time I tell people that I like my job, I’m lying–it’s just okay. Every time I say I don’t mind doing something that I don’t really want to do, I’m lying. Every time I agree to take part in something that’s not really “me,” I’m lying. Some may argue that these are just minor “white lies,” but I think it’s these lies that do the most damage because they aid our self-deceit and stymie our growth. How can I even begin to talk about Radical Honesty if I can’t even be truthful with myself?
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It’s no secret: giving feels good. It warms the heart of the giver and the receiver. Maybe you’ve thought about giving back this holiday season, but aren’t sure which charity to contribute to? If so, I’ve got the answer: 12 Days of Giving.
Started by Joseph Ranseth of Social Media Adventure, the idea behind 12 Days of Giving is to highlight 12 charities over a 12 day period. Each charity is linked to 12 “influencers,” people who are closely tied to the organization’s mission.
Here’s a few of the 12 Influencers who are participating:
- Dr Andy Baldwin (@drandybaldwin) - U.S. Navy Doctor, Fitness Advocate, TV Personality
- Scott Harrison (@scottharrison) – CEO Charity Water
- Dennis Crowley (@dens) – Co-Founder of Foursquare
- Claire Diaz-Ortiz (@ClaireD) – Twitter Corporate & Author
- Beth Kanter (@kanter) – Social Media Charity Superstar
- Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) – InvisiblePeopleTV
- Amy Neumann (CharityIdeas) – Huffington Post blogger
How Does This Make Your Life Simpler?
Whether you already contribute to a charity and are looking for a new one or you are giving for the first time and don’t know where to start, 12 Days of Giving will inform you about 12 great charities doing inspiring work around the globe. Here’s a list of the 12 charities:
- St. Jude
- National Autism Association
- Camp Interactive
- Hope Runs
- Sharing Foundation
- InvisiblePeopleTV
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- Compassion International
- Grameen America
- Charity: Water
- Got Your Back Network
- Black Card Circle Foundation
How Do I Get Involved?
It’s easy:
- Visit www.givingkicksass.com for more information
- When you’re ready to donate, click on the link to Crowdrise.com or skip step 1 and just head to www.crowdrise.com/12daysofgiving.
- Spread the word! Hit up your social media outlets and let people know about 12 Days of Giving.
But hurry, today is day 2–only 10 more days left!
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