21 Days of Abundance Day 5

Deepak Chopra 21 Day Meditation Challenge Day 3

Deepak Chopra 21 Day Meditation Challenge

I have been asked to complete a 21 day meditation challenge, set by Deepak Chopra.
I have never done this before but thought I would give it a go, and see if I benefit.

What have I got to lose?

It only takes a few minutes each day!

I will let you know how I get on!

10 Therapy Questions to Get to the Root of the Problem

5 Ways To Listen Better

Taming the Inner Advice Monster!

Are You an Advice Monster?

Do you find that you are always wanting to give advice? Do you feel that your advice is often ignored and falls on deaf ears, leaving you a bit cross and frustrated? So what is the most successful way to give advice?

This is a subject I started reflecting on this week, after reading a book by Michael Bungay Stanier called The Advice Trap (2020).

Michael talks about 3 types of Advice Monster Personas. These are

1 “Tell-It.” This monster convinces you that the only way to add value to a situation is by being the leading authority, and always having the right answers. It loves hogging the spotlight and explaining,loudly, why its opinion is more important than anybody else’s.

2  “Save-It.” This monster is more subdued, which makes it harder to spot. Although “Save-It" types won’t jump on a soapbox to shout about their ideas,  they’re equally convinced that they hold all the solutions. In addition,  they believe that only they can save the situation, and it’s their moral responsibility to do so.

3 “Control-It”  This monster is quite manipulative. It wants to convince you to keep a tight grip on all things at all times, or risk plunging your world into chaos. It convinces you that others are not to be trusted, so you must bravely take control by yourself.

Can you relate to any of these Inner advice Monsters?

Can you identify any of these traits in yourself?

Who do you know that fits these descriptions?

Have you talked to other people about a personal situation - friends and colleagues - and then have them spout off at you, telling you exactly what to do, without really listening to you properly?

Perhaps they jumped in too soon, and so did not really listen to the full facts? Or perhaps you had a number of your own ideas, which your friend or colleague did not really explore with you, and just talked about their own solution, which did not feel comfortable to you? 

What is the Best Way to Give Advice?

In his book, Michael talked about the best way he felt this should be done. 

It involves stepping back a little, really listening, and asking open ended questions.

For Example

"What`s on Your Mind?"

How does that make you feel?

What else?

What is the real challenge here?

It involves getting a full picture and encouraging the other person to fully think it through.

Careful questions could also lead the other person to start coming up with their own solutions to the problems.

You could ask

"Have you considered.....?"

"What would happen if you.....?"

"Where else could you get some help with this?"

"How would you feel if you...?"

One of the reasons people do not appear to take our advice is the human instinct of Flight or Fight.

The brain is programmed to be on the alert for threats all the time and responds immediately to anything it detects as a possible threat.

In an uncomfortable situation, where someone feels challenged about their own ideas, overwhelmed with "advice" being given, they may start to feel threatened,start being defensive, stop listening, start withdrawing or just say "yes" to everything, to get away. 

In order to take on board new ideas or advice, people need to feel comfortable, safe and unthreatened.

You can do this by being empathetic, showing respect, being an equal partner in solving the problem and managing expectations.

This is also backed up by Peter Boghossian and James A Lindsay in How to have Impossible Conversations (2019).  The authors stated that “Impossible” conversations can be productive when they become collaborative and also People are much more likely to accept “self-generated” ideas than messages delivered by others. They also emphasized the importance of listening and using "open ended" questions. 

To your success!

Kate

HISTORY OF IDEAS - Wabi-sabi

At the heart of Japanese philosophy and wisdom lies a concept called ‘wabi-sabi’; a term which denotes a commitment to the everyday, the melancholic, the somewhat broken and the imperfect. It’s a term we need a lot more of in our lives.

Deepak Chopra’s Law of Pure Potentiality Explained | 7 Spiritual Laws

Can Tuning into Nature help us be Successful?

Tuning into Nature

Can "Tuning into Nature" help people become successful?

This is something I have been thinking about this week.

A study on the effects of nature on children by Kathy Jordan in 20192019 ( from the Article “8 Ways Nature Helps Kids Learn - Childhood by Nature) stated that they found evidence that nature has a restoring effect on attention; improves self-discipline; reduces stress; increases physical activity and fitness and promotes motivation for and engagement in learning.

The benefits of exercise on our mental and physical health are well known and understood . During the height of  covid - 19 Lockdown, we were still urged to go out once a day for an hour, for exercise. 

But does it also have an effect on our levels of success?

Do successful and wealthy people commune with nature?

 

I have become increasingly aware that successful/and wealthy people generally spend time daily on exercise. 

It appears to be a general consensus, and part of the routine for many extremely successful and wealthy people

However, taking exercise and communing with nature may not be exactly the same thing. Some people may take a run along the beach each day but for others, their exercise may take place indoors in a gym or a swimming pool. 

Wabi Sabi
Beth Kempton wrote a fascinating book called Wabi Sabi.

This is apparently a concept that exists implicitly in Japan without being frequently articulated. It values simplicity and imperfection, while recognizing the impermanence of all things. There is much that we can learn from its philosophy, in regard to our relationships with others, our career paths, our approach to failure, and the way we decorate our homes. 

One key message of Wabi Sabi is the value of tuning into nature.

When we pay attention to nature, we begin to notice a whole world of quiet and simple magic. We also become more present.
Beth wrote that as we pay closer attention to nature, another aspect of Wabi Sabi becomes apparent as well: the transient nature of everything. Seasons come and go, flowers grow at certain times of year and then die, to be replaced by something else. In the UK, I look forward to the snowdrops in the first months of the year. These are then replaced by other spring flowers like daffodils and tulips. The trees begin to blossom. A favourite of mine are the Cherry Trees in the spring. As the season changes into summer, then autumn and winter - each season has something special about it. 

According to the concept of Wabi Sabi, this reminds us of our own impermanence, and tells us that we must focus on what really matters now, before it’s too late. We need to accept who we are and not strive for perfection, to accept change.is inevitable, to accept our own imperfection but to continue to seek perfection. 

The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success

Deepak Chopra has written a wonderful book called The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success.  I highly recommend you read it or listen to it on audible. 

The 7 Laws are:

1 The Law of Pure Potentiality

2 The Law of Giving

3 The Law of Karma

4 The Law of Least Effort

5 The Law of Intention and Desire

6 The Law of Detachment

7 The Law of Dharma

The first law - The Law of Pure Potentiality - is, according to Deepak, based on the fact that our essential state and spiritual essence is "pure consciousness" which is "infinite", unbounded" and "pure joy".

 He recommends spending time each day communing with nature and observing and appreciating nature around us - the beautiful sunset, the shape of flower petals, the sound of the birds, the smell of the grass or the ocean.

 With the pure joy that comes with this, one can tap into our infinite creativity and all possibilities are available to us. 

So at the very least, it appears that Tuning into Nature, has a beneficial effect on our mental health.

Perhaps, it also has a positive effect on achieving success too!

To Your Success

Kate

 

How to Retire Early: The Shockingly Simple Math

This is a very short video by Phil Ebiner giving an example of how to save for retirement.

It does not go into detail but the concept is simple to understand.

Obviously the practicalities are more complicated and there are many things to consider.

This is the Script that goes with the video:

Hi, my name is Phil. I’m a video creator and online instructor. I’m also a personal finance nerd. Because of that, I want to create a series of videos that breaks down some of the most mystifying topics that plague our society. In a world where people’s finances are typically locked away and not-talked about, I believe opening up the gates of financial conversation will help everyone live a better and smarter life. In this first video, I want to explain the shockingly simple math behind early retirement - thanks to one of my biggest heroes, Mr Money Mustache. While the ability to retire may seem like a distant and unreachable goal for many, the premise comes down to one thing. You need to invest money so that it earns more money. This could be investing in stocks or bonds, real estate, or any other of investment vehicles. As soon as your investments earn enough money for you to live on each year, you are able to retire. Let’s break it down further to know when you can retire. The most important concept is knowing your savings rate, basically how much you make minus your expenses. If you spend 100% of your income, you will never retire… because you will never be able to invest any money that earns money for retirement. If you spend 0% of your income, you can retire right now… because somehow you are living without needing to make any more money. Between 0% and 100% are a number of savings rates that correlate with the years it will take to retire. For this, let’s assume your annual investment return is 5% (which is conservatively low) and your withdrawal rate is 4%… meaning you spend 4% of your net worth each year. For example, if you have a $1,000,000 net worth, and you live on $40,000. If your savings rate is 10%, you will be able to safely retire after 51.4 years. Safely, meaning you will never run out of money. If your savings rate is 25%, you can retire in 31.9 years. 50%, you can retire in 16.6 years. And if you can somehow save 75% of your income, you can retire in 7.1 years. Now getting to that savings rate might not be easy in our world of societal pressures, keeping up with the Joneses, and bad habits. But you can get closer by making smart decisions, avoiding debt, and living simply. The key take away is… Cutting your spending rate is way more powerful than increasing your income because no matter how much money you make, decreasing your spending will speed up the process. A note, The math behind early retirement works if you are working a minimum wage job or a 7-figure CEO salary. It’s all about the savings rate. So if you want to retire in 10 years, the math tells us that you need to save 66% of your income. Now there is a lot that I didn’t talk about - like how to invest, and how to cut expenses to get to a high savings rate. Those will come in a future video. For now, get excited about the honest truth about retirement (and early retirement at that!)! Let me know what you think in the comments below? Is this exciting or bogus? Until next time… start being money smart.

Here is a link to further information from Phil Video School Online: http://www.videoschoolonline.com

To Your Success!

Kate.

How to Prime Your Brain For Success

Prime your Brain To Succeed

Planning Ahead for Your Retirement

Planning Ahead for Your Retirement
Well, after one year you’d have $6,000. That’s a great emergency fund – or enough to eliminate smaller debts entirely. You could also put those $500 into a Roth IRA. If you did that for ten years with an annualized 5 percent return, you’d have over $75,000 in tax-free money for retirement!
Is there anything else?

When you are young, retirement is the last thing that you think about!

Retirement is for old people and not something to plan for!

Children grow up thinking about getting a job, having fun, having relationships, having a family - all too soon, life passes by and people typically only start thinking about retirement when they are getting close to it.
 There is an expectancy that either the government welfare system will provide for you in old age, or any work related pensions will be sufficient to see you through. 

The reality is that things have changed and that is no longer the case.



People are living longer
In the Early centuries, Unhygienic living conditions and little access to effective medical care meant life expectancy was likely limited to about 35 years of age. That's life expectancy at birth, a figure dramatically influenced by infant mortality—pegged at the time as high as 30%

The current life expectancy for U.S. in 2020 is 78.93 years, a 0.08% increase from 2019. The life expectancy for U.S. in 2019 was 78.87 years, a 0.08% increase from 2018

Now some scientists believe the first human to survive to 200 or beyond may already be alive somewhere on the planet. ... Yet until recently, scientists thought there was a natural “ceiling” on human existence of about 120 years, beyond which the body could not cope

The time to plan for your retirement is NOW!
So as people are living longer, there is increasing pressure on the government, health and social care systems.

Over 53% of adults are at risk of not having enough money when they retire. 

The perfect time to start planning your future, is when you are young enough to start understanding the concept of money - older children and teenagers. Parents can have a central role in supporting their children to understand about the value of money and how to make money work for them. 

However, even if you are in your 50,s and 60,s, there is still time to put things in place. 

Without the right plan - you could end up in poverty

So what can you do?

Suze Orman is an American and in the Forbes Top 100 most powerful women list. 
in her book The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+ (2020), suze talks about changing spending habits such as Downsizing or buying a cheaper car and making it last for 10 years instead of buying a brand new car every 3 years, She goes on to explain about the importance of using those savings to invest in the retirement plans and the Stock Market 

She explains, that if you plan on working for another ten years when you take the plunge and downsize which reduces your housing costs by 25 percent, you may have $500 to spare each month. What could you do with that? 


In the UK, there is an opportunity to make the most of your ISA, which is tax free. This can be also be  turned into a Stocks and Shares Isa, and invested in the Stock Market for long term tax free investment. 

What Suze does not cover, is all the other strategies that can be put in place.
Utilising the stock market is a great strategy but not the whole picture.

The wealthy know that there are many other ways to make your money work for you - such as property investments, ecommerce, network marketing, royalties on writing books and music etc.

What about Mind Set?
Learning the right knowledge is one thing but you need to develop the right mindset too. 
Having the right mindset is essential and is another learnt skill.
Luckily - it is another skill which can be learnt at any age!

The Whole Picture
So, take the decision TODAY, to start planning for your financial future. Whether you are young or have life experience, the time to start is NOW!
Learn the skills of the wealthy - learn about money management, and mindset.
Consider the whole picture. 
It may feel daunting but just take one step at a time and commit today.

Contact me to discuss the right steps for you to take!

To Your Success!

Kate

Neurogym Level 1

NEUROGYM

I mentioned on my previous Blog about John Assaraf and Neurogym. Watch this video to find out a bit more and follow this link to join the next FREE Brain- A - Thon, which is packed full of information from world`s leading experts in this field. The World’s First Scientifically Backed, Evidence-Based Brain Imprinting Program To Quickly Install A NEW “Mindset of the Rich” Within 90 Days… So You Can Achieve Your Financial Goals FAST

 https://www.myneurogym.com/go/?p=JAAFF9459&w=LBAT2017REG

 

Once again, if you want to find out more and join a free online event where 8 world renowned brain science and success experts reveal how the latest brain science breakthroughs, findings and discoveries can help you upgrade your brain and upgrade your income so you can achieve all of your personal and financial goals. Click here:

 https://www.myneurogym.com/go/?p=JAAFF9459&w=LBAT2017REG

 To your success!

 Kate

What is FUNancial Freedom?

What is FUNancial Freedom?

Hello!

Whether you’re a parent, a grandparent, or an aunt or uncle, we want to help your child or teen to gain mastery over a subject matter that terrifies most adults.

Understanding Money

 As parents, we can’t ignore this any longer.

With everything happening in the world right now, I can’t help but wonder: If my kids were adults, would they be OK?

Right now, 22 million Americans have applied for unemployment.

Even before COVID-19, did you know that more than 1 in 3 workers had less than $1,000 saved?

So… why aren’t they teaching finance in schools? Before college, I never had a class on managing, saving and investing money.

I wish I did!

This Wednesday, the founder of a company called FUNancial Freedom is hosting an online presentation teaching children and teens how to become financially smart.

Here’s the link:

https://katemulvey--funancial.thrivecart.com/funancial-freedom-membership-internal/

Will you take an hour or so to join in and watch?

It’s something we can do – right now – to make a difference.

If anything, this virus reminds us how important it is to give our children financial freedom.

The aim of FUNancial Freedom is to teach children and teens to become financially smart. This will give them a flying start in life!

In the process, you can support them and also become financially smart.

Imagine that! The whole family can join in and have fun building a fantastic new future!

To your success!

Kate