#80 January 20th, 2023

CPA tip of the newsletter: People ask me all the time, "Blake, I never get the chance to study for the CPA. How do I fit it in my busy schedule?" Listen, your day is going to get filled up with things. That's just life. That's why I encourage you to get your studying done FIRST thing in the morning. Before distractions of the day. Before anyone needs you. Before you can think of an excuse. Finish a focused study session in the morning and I promise you - you will make progress toward passing.

It's 2023, my friend - it's time to stop compromising your goals to serve your distractions. So, put it in the calendar. Tell your friends. Sounds simple, but remember: Common sense isn't always common PRACTICE.

Creating A Financial Emergency Response Plan For Your Family

For many families most, if not all, of the financial responsibilities may be handled by just one person. All the bank accounts, handling of bills, managing of passwords, etc. It’s not necessarily a bad thing; sometimes it’s actually very helpful given spouses can have different skill sets and interests. But what if something unfortunate happens that incapacities the person handling your finances? It could be very stressful to have to deal with tracking down passwords in addition to your partner having a health scare. These days almost all of our personal information is online, so make sure you have accounts, bills, documents, passwords, etc. written down and stored safely in a place that either person can find and access if needed. You need to have everyone on the same page and able to handle your finances even when unforeseen problems arise.

Mastering Human Relationships

This article has an interesting perspective on how to develop deep and strong relationships. It’s similar to the golden rule; whatever you want others to do for you, you must first do for them. There is a reciprocity that will naturally happen. If you want others to believe in you then you must believe in them. If you want to feel good about yourself and your self esteem you should build up others. What you give out, you will get back. I bet we all could think of examples where a focus on serving others ends up getting us what we want too because there are tons of good feelings that happen from giving and?being generous; it becomes a positive feedback cycle. If you have relationships not feel like they are not what you want, how can you take the first step of trying to create what you think they lack?

Become a Time Realist — Julie Morgenstern

Do you find yourself frequently wondering where all of the time went? Sometimes it’s a simple explanation: we’re just really bad at guessing how long things we will take. Things we enjoy may speed by before we know it because they are fun and immersive. Pain staking chores may drag on slowly. This article details how taking the time to write down how long we think something will take and then how long it actually takes can enable us to finally have a realistic picture of where our time is going. Once you’ve done that you can actually plan your days better and make time for the most important things. It’s similar to the adage of “what gets measured gets managed.”?

Trying to Control Life is Robbing You from Living, and What to Do About It — ADI REDZIC

As humans we naturally crave certainty and control because that makes us feel safe and secure, and at the end of the day that is our brain’s primary function. Survival, not necessarily happiness. But I think we all would admit that we know it is impossible to fully eliminate uncertainty. To the contrary, uncertainty and lack of control are much more common than not. The future is unpredictable, and so much is outside of our control.?Therefore, we are?often?denying reality without realizing it. As the author points out we are either trying to control the future in the hopes of gaining something that will make us happy, or we are trying to fix something in the past that did not go the way we wanted. Either of those things end up making us miss out on the current present moment. The solution is radical acceptance of whatever happens. Be open to life‘s possibilities and the possibility of “maybe.” What you desire may show up in a form that is far different from what you expected, and you may miss it if you are only looking for your specific version of what you want. There is so much peace from having the mentality of being OK and making the best with whatever happens

8 Tips to Protect Your Marriage While Paying off Debt | The Budget Mom

Many, if not most, married couples nowadays have significant debts they have to worry about paying off. It could be student loans, a car, credit cards, or all of the above. Financial stress can really harm a marriage, so you have to get on the same page in regards to your debt. It is both an emotional decision and a logical decision since numbers are involved but so are feelings and biases. Make sure both partners get the chance to voice the feelings that they have around your financial situation. Come up with a concrete plan for what order you will pay off your debts, and make it clear who is responsible for which steps in the process. Check in with each other along the way because it can be a long journey to get to debt free. You can always adjust your plans if needed. Always remember that the two of you are on the same team and you are in this together. It’s you together versus the debt, not you against each other.?

Is It Better to Do a Full Body Workout or Split Routine?

A common question when getting into weightlifting, especially for beginners, is how to split up working your various muscle groups. I do want to say any weight lifting is better than no weightlifting. The answer to the question in this article is it depends on how many times a week you will be able to work out. The more times you’re working out the further you can break down your splits. The most frequent split would be a four day “push-pull-legs-rest”cadence. If you’re working out four days a week you would probably want to do an upper body and lower body split. If you can only work out two days a week you would want to do full body for both of those (all muscle groups). Overall, you should try to hit every muscle group at least twice a week. You also can adjust as needed depending on your schedule and how sore you are as your body adapts. It’s OK to be flexible and change up your routines.?