1. Register early. You can usually attend conferences and other events for a fraction of the price if you register in advance. Many events offer lower priced “early bird” pricing and then increase 2-4x if you wait until the last minute.

2. Stay at the conference hotel if you can. It may cost more, but there are many benefits to staying at the event hotel. It’s makes attending the event a lot less of a hassle. If you have a few extra minutes or need to grab something or get rid of your bag or briefcase, you can run to your room and back in just a few minutes.

3. Get professionally designed business cards. There is a difference, and people can tell. If you want to make a good impression and get your brand noticed, make sure you get a nice looking card to hand out along the way.

4. Plan your itinerary early. Print off the list of sessions and who is speaking. Highlight the sessions you want to attend the most, and try to resolve conflicts. If you want to attend more than one session, get a feel for which one is most important to you so you can prioritize. If you’re not getting what you want out of it, you can always check out another session on your list.

5. Know your goals. There may be folks you want to meet, or specific questions you want answered. Try to collect your thoughts in advance so you can get the most out of the event you are attending.

6. Speak if you can. You may be new to the industry and perhaps not qualified. But if you put yourself out there and can speak about something which provides value to conference attendees, you will create more opportunities to connect and meet people you might not otherwise meet.

7. Work the room but don’t hard sell. Nearly everyone is trying to sell or promote something at a conference or trade show. You probably came there to promote your business or product. If they are interested in what you offering, people you meet will ask you about it. So make sure you meet and connect with plenty of people, but don’t hard sell them during the event.

8. Dress sharp. You are going to an event to network and connect with people. So try your best to make a good first impression.

9. Take notes at sessions including potential action steps. I usually try to bring a notebook so I can jot down comments, web sites, etc. at sessions or during the day.

10. Have something to write with while you’re networking. I usually try to carry a pen and some index cards in my pocket during parties, cocktail hours, and networking events. If someone mentions an idea or suggestion that I want to remember, I write it down. This often happens in mid-conversation during evening cocktail hours and parties, and I know that I will forget their tip if I don’t write it down. So I just write down one or two words to help me remember later. I’ve tried to use my iPhone or PDA for this before, but I can’t type fast enough without disrupting the flow of the conversation. So I stick to pen and paper.

11. Make a plan of action when you leave based on what you learned.  I get excited whenever I get to attend an event. I always learn something or get a new perspective on something that I have been working on. So take advantage of this energy and make a detailed plan for how you are going to take your business or project to the next level. I usually try to do this on the flight home, since everything is fresh in my mind.

12. Link up with everyone you meet. When you get back to work and the dust settles, go through your stack of business cards and connect with folks you met on the social network of your choice. Let them know if you enjoyed meeting them or think there may be an opportunity to work together.

Make sure you follow up when you get back to work, but don’t BS people if you didn’t have a meaningful conversation. It’s fine to be honest and send someone an e-mail saying you enjoyed meeting them. But if you did not actually meet them, don’t lie about it – you will only make yourself look bad. Even though I meet dozens of people every time I attend an event, I usually remember most of them. And if someone I’ve never spoken with contacts me out of the blue and says they enjoyed meeting me when I know they never have, I find it hard to take them seriously.

13. Review your notes and action plan about a month after the event. Have you done everything you wanted to? It’s easy to get back to “the grind” and change gears and never follow through with items on your to-do list from the event. It helps to review notes a few weeks after to see if there is anything else you can take away from the event.

Not sure where the conferences are for your industry? Check out Conference Calendar – the only global conference online resource center that details specific events.

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13 Tips To Get The Most Out of Conferences

The Best Laid Plans…

School, for some people, is just one more step on a very set path. I went to college with more than a few folks who were going to get a degree, land their dream job and work their way up the ladder — you probably did, too. But now, more than ever, the real world is throwing a monkey wrench into such plans. Adaptability has become a necessary skill for any recent grad. Maybe that dream job isn’t waiting for you as soon as you pick up your degree but that doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed. You can:

• Freelance until the right job comes along (or even freelance long-term)
• Volunteer with an organization like the Peace Corps
• Find a project of your own to work on
• Team up with a few of your classmates who are in the same boat

The possibilities are endless — even without considering taking a job, any job, just to get by. You may have considerations beyond paying for room and board when it comes to finding a job — student loans, anyone? — but assuming that your dream job is the only way to cover your obligations means missing out on a lot of other opportunities.

Transition As Far As You Want To

There’s a feeling that, as soon as you graduate, you must turn into a full-fledged adult, complete with a mortgage and a car payment. But you don’t have to make a complete transition — and in many cases, it’s probably better not to. You can pick and choose what parts of your lifestyle and your spending you want to change after graduation — maybe you want to stick with living with a couple of roommates, or maybe your beater will make it a couple more years. There’s nothing wrong with keeping a college lifestyle after you’ve graduated. Even moving home after graduation is becoming fairly common, and that’s a good thing for many recent graduates. As long as you can come to a good arrangement with your parents, the financial benefits of living with your parents and avoiding setting up a separate household of your own are pretty impressive.

There are plenty of opportunities out there right now — just because you’re graduating in the middle of an economic depression doesn’t mean that you’re in an impossible situation. Instead, with a little adaptability, it’s possible to forge a new path that will work out better for you in the long run.

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Graduation: What Comes Next?

Time is Money

Building and maintaining a network can be very expensive in terms of time — although it generally costs nothing in money, aside from an occasional lunch out with friends. You can generally coast on the amount of time you spend with your friends and family: your network won’t expand significantly, but you will have very valuable connections among friends and family. But if you’re expecting to need to draw on your network — like for an upcoming job search — it may be time to make an investment in your network.

Even a few hours can make a big difference in your network, as long as you have a plan on how to use those hours effectively. There are so many different ways to build a network that deciding in advance how you’ll use your time is crucial. You could attend local networking events or work on national contacts through social networking sites: your opportunities are endless, but your time is not. It’s crucial to weigh how you will invest your time, just as you consider your options when making a financial investment.

Focused Networking

When networking, you have the option of casting a wide net and seeing who you can meet. The alternative is to target some group specifically. If you were looking to change careers, for instance, you might want to meet as many people in your new career as possible — you could be looking for advice on where to start, industry connections and other value that such professionals have to offer.

Depending on who you talk to, each option is incredibly valuable. Having a very targeted network can really help you if you have a specific project in mind, while having more variety in your network means that you might see some more original ideas on how to achieve your goals and complete your projects.

Networks Versus Relationships

There is one clear indicator of value when it comes to networking: do you have connections or friends? If you have lasting relationships with the individuals in your network — if they know that they can come to you for help, just as you can go to them — they’ll prefer to have a relationship with you. But if you’re just aiming to build the biggest Rolodex in the city, your contacts really aren’t going to be so interested in helping you down the road. Building a relationship takes time, but it’s far more useful than just making contacts ever will be.

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How Much is Your Network Worth?

But that’s not necessarily the case. While not all companies have a lot of room for negotiations, you do still have some opportunities to look for a raise.

No Harm In Asking

Asking for a raise is certainly not a reason that an employer might find acceptable for sending out another pink slip. As long as you’ve been working hard, your supervisor will at least show some sympathy for your request for a little extra in your weekly paycheck. Admittedly, that isn’t something that always translates into actually offering you a raise — but don’t let the fact that times are hard keep you from asking.

Even in companies with a pay freeze, I think it’s worth asking. Of course, asking straight up for cash isn’t likely to get you a thing, but if you’ve been putting in plenty of hours, you may be able to get a pay raise in the form of some other perk you’ve been after. If you can think of a benefit that would help you save the money you have to spend in order to work, it might be worth bringing up with your supervisor.

The Work of Ten Men

If there have been cuts in your department, the odds are pretty good that you’ve been landed with extra work and responsibilities. Your paycheck covers the job you were hired to do, making it very reasonable to ask for a raise if you’re doing more than your job description. In offices where there have been layoffs, you’ll need to step carefully, but there’s still no harm in asking.

Put together your reasons ahead of time. Document extra time you’ve been putting in at the office, projects you’ve taken on and deadlines you’ve met. Make sure that you really do have the paperwork to show that you’re doing the work of multiple people. You should also have a pretty clear idea of both what you want and what you’re likely to get. It is highly unlikely that you’ll just get the salary of the people who’s responsibilities you’ve taken over added to your paycheck. But adding a few bucks on to your paycheck each week will be cheaper for your employer than finding another person to take your position — and far less paperwork if there’s a hiring freeze on.

Even if you think that a pay bump is obtainable, I encourage you to doublecheck that there aren’t any perks that would provide you with a better payoff in the long-term. If you’ve been dreaming of telecommuting, getting your supervisor to agree to such a set up is probably easier right now than getting a raise. Even better, you’ll still wind up financially ahead with the money and time you save on your commute.

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Ask For A Raise — Even If Your Company’s Been Through Layoffs

For some careers, college remains a must. Nursing, engineering, and plenty of professional careers make a bachelor’s degree the price of admission. Most of my friends who majored in a technical field are making good use of their degrees these days. At the same time, though, a liberal arts degree doesn’t get you as far as it used to. I have one friend with an English degree who’s pumping gas. Another friend, who majored in art history, is decorating cakes at a bakery. The list of underemployed college graduates in my address book is pretty long.

Can You Still Pay For A College Degree?

College degrees have become a requirement for many careers (business, especially), making it almost mandatory to get that sheepskin. But paying for a degree is getting harder. You do have multiple options, beyond the standard student loans that guarantee that you’ll be in debt for years to come: you can work and attend school part time, focus on landing every scholarship you can think of, or try to get a potential employer to cover your college expenses, or even do two years at an inexpensive community college and then transfer into a more prestigious four-year school.

The fact is that college isn’t out of reach in most cases. It may require an awful lot of work to pay for, but it’s doable. If you truly want to follow a career path where getting a degree is necessary, it’s worth going for. It’s probably worth mentioning that many careers that once required only a bachelor’s degree for advancement now consider a master’s necessary to keep climbing the corporate ranks.

Are There Options Besides College?

I think it’s worth noting that college isn’t the only option. I have a friend who went to work for an electrician, worked his way up through journeyman, and he makes far more than I do with my college degree. Attending a trade school or taking a job that offers training can be a faster route to a well paying job than a college degree. My friend has plenty of room for advancement, as well. He’s considering specializing to increase his hourly rate — but he also has the option of going into business for himself.

While a college degree can be useful, it’s important to remember that there are ways to make just as good of a living without taking on that level of debt. You’ll need to weigh the type of career you want to pursue, along with what kinds of jobs you want to take on, before deciding whether you want a college degree — or even if you can wait to get it.

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Should College Still Be On The Books?

But just getting by isn’t enough. It may be slow-going, but working towards a goal can make the difference in whether you feel stuck or successful. There are several ways to keep making progress — depending on what seems to be slowing you down on your current goals.

Goals Out of Our Control — Or Are They?

If you’ve been working towards a promotion or even a new job, the current economic situation has been discouraging. Many companies have frozen pay and those that haven’t started laying workers off have certainly slowed or stopped hiring. Your employment goals may have gone out the window: when so many other people have lost their jobs, having an income at all can feel like enough.

But your employment status is still up to you. You can still approach your work with a little ambition. Just how you go about that depends on what your real goal is. Are you after a promotion in order to bring home more money? If it’s simply money, it’s worth remembering that your employer is not the only way you can get money. Taking on a new job, freelancing on the side — even selling plasma can get the dollars rolling in.

More commonly, though, money is a means to an end. Does your goal look more like an extended vacation? Or maybe remodeling your home? There are other ways to reach your goals beyond cash in hand. Maybe you can learn to do some of the remodeling work yourself or arrange some sort of telecommuting deal so that you’re still bringing in money while you travel.

Goals With Priority Issues

In particular, I’ve heard complaints from quite a few people who want to get their personal finances straightened out but can’t figure out how to pay down debt and save an emergency fund, all at the same time. This sort of priority conflict can make goals feel entirely unattainable — and if you’re splitting your attention between two options or more, you probably are going to get nowhere fast.

Instead, it’s time to sit down with a list of your goals. When you don’t have the resources to do everything you’d like to at once, pick just one goal and work on it until you complete it. This approach requires some patience — but it also let’s you see some immediate progress. For instance, if you’ve been trying to increase payments on debt at the same time as you put away money for a rainy day, it can be overwhelming: instead, get your emergency savings fund built up to a reasonable level and then switch over to paying down debt.

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Keep Moving On Your Goals

What Job Hunt Expenses Can You Deduct?

1. Resume preparation: If you hire a resume writer, the expense is deductible. That includes everything from revising your resume to tweaking it for specific employers. You can even write off the expense of having someone set you up on LinkedIn to help snag a job.
2. Newspapers and job listings: If you read the want ads, you can deduct the price of your morning paper. You can also write off any expense associated with visiting online job boards, although your actual internet access may not be deductible as long as you use it for anything besides a job hunt.
3. Traveling: If you travel in order to interview or look for a new job, you can deduct everything from plane tickets to food expenses. Even if you’re only traveling within your home town, you can write off the mileage between your house and your interview. You will need to keep a mileage log to claim that particular deduction.
4. Career coaching: You can get assessments of your current skills, help planning your goals in your current career or coaching to improve your interview skills. All of the above do more than help you land a job — they all can be written off on your taxes.
5. Entrepreneurial efforts: As long as you’re staying in your previous profession, the expenses of becoming self-employed are deductible as part of your job search. If you’re setting up your own business, though, some of those expenses also are deductible as business expenses. Be careful not to deduct them twice — the IRS doesn’t look kindly on such an approach.

Getting Your Deductions

You’ll need to keep records and receipts for any job search expenses you plan to claim on your taxes. A copy of your credit card statement isn’t enough to convince the IRS to let you make deductions. It’s worth noting that everyone’s tax situation is different and that it is impossible to offer comprehensive tax advice over the internet. It’s definitely worthwhile to consult your own tax preparer before taking these deductions.

You may be wondering why the IRS is willing to offer you so much help in finding a new job. After all, you’d think that particular government agency wouldn’t care either way. The fact of the matter, though, is that it’s good business for the IRS to help you in your job hunt. The faster you get a new job, the faster you’re back at work, earning money. The IRS can’t take a chunk of your paycheck if you’re unemployed.

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5 Job Hunt Tax Deductions You Can Take

But if you’re one of those employees, hearing that you’ll be going to part-time status is not good news. You may not be in a position to immediately take a new job — there are still jobs out there, but you may not be able to pick up the right job immediately. You’ll have some time on your hands, though, and once you’ve updated your resume, you can put that time to good use.

1. Pick up freelance work in your field. Many employers are turning to freelancers to cover holes left in their companies by lay-offs. Because freelancers aren’t full-time employees, they’re cheaper — which you can use to your advantage to bring in some extra income.
2. Teach a class. Plenty of people are trying to avoid the recession by going back to school. That means that many schools need instructors in specialized fields.
3. Sell something on eBay. If you’ve been intending to eliminate some clutter from your home, you may just have the time to do it. No point throwing away anything you could make money on, though: put it up for sale and see what you can get. Craigslist, eBay, even a garage sale can be a good approach.
4. Take on another part-time job. Two part-time jobs don’t always equal a full-time job, but grabbing a second one can make your money go farther. Even if you’re just taking part in medical testing, you can take advantage of other job opportunities out there.
5. Start your own business. Plenty of solid businesses grew out of the Great Depression: when people didn’t have any work, they worked for themselves. You can do the same — grow freelancing into a full-time career, develop a business idea — whatever you choose. The important thing is to start putting in some sweat equity, even if you aren’t ready to put in cash.

Just because you are working fewer hours at your day job doesn’t mean that you’re in a bind. As long as you look at it as an opportunity, you can still find ways to boost your income. And if you’re concerned about stability or benefits, you still have the option of finding a new full-time job. Working a part-time job even makes it possible to easily keep working while on a job hunt — no trying to schedule interviews during your lunch hour — and most employers will be understanding about your search for a new job if they’ve just cut your hours. If you’re truly crucial to the business, they may be unhappy to see you go but they also may be willing to offer you incentive to stay: from maintaining your benefits package to bringing you back up to full-time status, if your employer really doesn’t want you go, they’ll take steps to keep you.

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Full Time Becomes Part Time: 5 Things to Do When You’re Getting Less Hours

1. Read the Want-Ads: While I wouldn’t suggest ignoring any jobs that really appeal to you, we aren’t here to find you a new job just yet. Instead, it’s time to take a look at what position you’d like but are still a little out of reach. Look at what places them out of reach: is there a certification you don’t have? A certain skill set that’s missing? Make a list of what you need to move forward — maybe you aren’t planning for your next job, but the job after that. Start working on that list: get your certifications, experience and everything else you need in order as soon as you can.
2. Take a Look at a Resume Book: Go to your favorite bookstore and look through the books of sample resumes. No resume is perfect, but if you look at enough of them, you’ll start to see what works and what doesn’t. In particular, look at resumes from other members of your industry. If you don’t buy the books, at least take notes — and when you get home, start implementing them. Play around with your resume: it’s definitely better to spend time trying things out now when you aren’t in a rush to get that resume into a hiring manager.
3. Google Your Name: Take a look at what comes up for your name — you can be sure that a prospective employer will, and your boss might as well. If anything appears that makes you look like a problem rather than a professional, try to remedy the situation. You may be able to remove some items yourself, but you may have to concentrate on creating better search results for your name rather than trying to get someone else to take something down.
4. Set Yourself A Side Project: I know that no one wants extra work on top of their normal load, but it will be worthwhile to take on a project under your own initiative on the side. You can choose a project at your current employer, which will likely earn you a few brownie points, or do something entirely on your own. If you do decide to take on a work project, try to do at least a little groundwork before bringing the matter to the attention of higher-ups. They’ll consider you to have initiative. Home projects should still tie in to your current career (unless you’re planning a change some time soon), but you’ll want to be careful of how closely they tie into your current work: you could step on your employer’s toes, otherwise.

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4 Career Moves You Can Take Today

Right now, many people are trying to figure out how to minimize their expenses and make it through the recession. Leo suggests that, instead of stressing about your finances, you can use the situation as an opportunity. You can use it to simplify your life and actually spend time on those things you consider priorities — like family or relaxation.

A simple life is not an uncommon goal — at least financially speaking. Consumerism is a part of culture these days, but it can become a major problem for a person’s finances. What Leo is advocating requires a significant lifestyle transition to most people. But Leo is living the same lifestyle he discusses in this ebook: he truly thrives on less. As he simplified his life and concentrated on those things he actually enjoys, he eliminated his debt, tripled his income and spent more time with his six children.

Thriving on Less offers a number of different approaches to scaling back on just about everything: the clutter in your life, the money you spend on hobbies and even the time you spend on other people’s priorities. Rather than pushing so hard to get ahead — a tactic many of us have tried and few of us have succeeded at — this ebook focuses on how less can be enough. It’s a question of satisfaction:

We aren’t satisfied, because there are new ads for new iPods, for new laptops, for new iPhones, for new cars, for new clothes. We have to have those. It’s impossible to satisfy that hunger for more, because our culture is not satisfied with what we have, but is geared to wanting more. It’s consumerism, and it’s the official religion of the industrialized world.

Don’t worry — Leo’s ebook isn’t about preaching a better way. Instead, it’s a discussion of options, a review of the tactics that have helped Leo create a life that makes him happy. I’d recommend reading this ebook if only to see how Leo manages his own life so comfortably. Particularly, his explanation of how he eliminated his debt makes for a valuable read for anyone unsure on their finances. But Leo didn’t limit the ebook to his own experiences — he researched tools that could help people in very different circumstances move to a point where they could thrive on less. He also made a point of listing out resources that readers could use to find more.

This ebook is does not contain every bit of wisdom on the topic of simplicity — it doesn’t even cover all of Leo’s knowledge. It’s meant to serve as a taste of what you can find in Leo’s new book. But even if you aren’t planning to pick up The Power of Less, I’d recommend reading Thriving on Less. It’s a fast read, full of useful ideas and it’s free! You can download the ebook from Leo’s website.

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Review: Thriving on Less

No matter how firm a person’s resolve is, though, most people give up on their New Year’s resolution after only a few weeks. The issue is not how serious a person might be about getting their finances straightened out — it’s how they go about it. While most resolutions are hard to follow through on, financial resolutions are particularly difficult because most people take a very general approach. The tips below can help you make your efforts concrete — and set yourself up for success.

• Write down your resolution and how you’ll get it done. An absolutely amazing number of people set themselves goals but neglect to write them down. Most of those people simply forget their resolution. Sure, they’ll work towards it when they remember — but it’s pretty rare that someone remembers for more than a few days.
• Quantify your goal. Saving money is an extremely general goal. If you’re more specific, you’ll have a better idea of what you want to get done and you’ll know when you’ve managed it. How much money do you want to save? When do you want to save that money by? How much do you need to save each week to meet your goal? Ask yourself questions about exactly what your financial goal is and add them to your written resolution.
• Give yourself some space. While having a goal that makes you stretch is good, make sure that you don’t stretch yourself too hard. If you calculate that you can save $1,000 by the end of January if you use every available resource, consider making your goal $900 — you need the occasional break, after all, and if you save every cent that you might have spent on other things, you’ll wind up with a pretty dreary month.
• Remind yourself of what you’re working for. If your ultimate goal is a house, stick a picture of your dream house in your wallet or wherever you’ll look at it on a daily basis. Keep whatever benefit you expect to get from reaching your goal front and center in your mind.
• Check your progress regularly. There’s nothing wrong with checking your account balance on a daily basis if you’re trying to make daily progress. It can provide you with proof that you’re really succeeding, making it easier to keep momentum. It can also inspire you to do better, if you haven’t been keeping up with your plans.
• Don’t play catchup. If your goal is to set aside $50 each week and you miss a week, don’t try to set aside $100 the next week. You’ll get into the catchup mindset and let yourself slack for weeks at a time, saying that you can always catch up later.

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Set Yourself Up For Success: Plan Your Financial Goals

Every year, I spend hours looking for cheap airplane tickets so that I can go visit my family. I routinely wind up paying for more than I want to — often for the privilege of traveling at the same time that thousands of other Americans are trying to make their planes. It may not be the most enjoyable time to travel, but I’m willing to do it. That’s because I think that Thanksgiving, more than any other holiday, should be spent with friends and family.

Whenever something goes wrong, we talk to our family and friends about our problems. We spend hours agonizing over little things and listening to them do the same. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t share in each other’s burdens, but I do think that we need every chance to talk about what’s right in our lives and what we’re thankful for that we can get. Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to do just that. It’s a way to remember why we work through our troubles — why we work so hard in general.

While I’m not advocating going crazy on the Thanksgiving spending, I do believe that the cost of spending time with our friends and family shouldn’t really matter. Yes, travel and food can be expensive, but it’s money well spent: how do we know what we’re working so hard to build up savings for if we don’t get reminders from those people who mean something to us?

So, yes, I’m plunking down a few more dollars to celebrate Thanksgiving than I might choose to otherwise. I’ll spend the day surrounded by people who remind me of what I’m working for — and what I’ve already achieved. We’ll watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and eat a big dinner. We’ll have a good time and create some great memories. And every cent I’ve spent will be worth it.

It’s up to you to decide whether Thanksgiving and other time you spend with your friends and family is worth the price. Are you willing to spend a little something extra in order to enjoy a few days with them? Let me know in the comments.

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A Time For Family and Friends

While most people are familiar with major monetary issues such as compulsive shopping or pathological gambling, very few think of running up a credit card bill bigger than you can handle as an emotional issue. But over the past few years, the number of therapists focusing on money issues has multiplied. There’s money rehab, group therapy and one-on-one sessions meant to help people deal with a whole host of emotional issues associated with money.

Financial therapists have identified a few specific money disorders that seem far more minor than compulsive gambling but can just as easily slip out of control. Overspending and underspending are both in that category as is guilt associated with money and hoarding. But there are several disorders that are more complex, usually because they link both a monetary issue and a relationship problem. Financial infidelity — spending money and lying to one’s spouse about it — is one such disorder. So is financial enabling — giving large sums of money rather than encouraging someone to support themselves.

Worrying about money isn’t anything new — despite the major economic questions that need answering these days — but the financial therapy way of looking at things is newer. It’s new enough that a code of ethics is still being hammered out. According to the American Psychological Association’s professional code of ethics, therapists shouldn’t have business relationships with clients, and that includes financial planning. But some financial therapists approach their profession from more of a business planning mentality, making the ethics a little cloudy.

While it’s still rare to find a therapist who focuses only on financial issues, more and more professionals are beginning to emphasize financial therapy in their practices. Just because the term ‘financial therapy’ is new doesn’t mean that therapists aren’t used to asking questions about your pocket book. Just about every type of relationship counseling — especially for married couples — spends a little time on money; the check book, after all, is a leading trigger of divorce. If you feel like you could benefit from even a simple discussion about the motives behind your spending habits, it may be worth while to check with the local therapists in your area. Unfortunately, the easiest way seems to be either calling down the phone book’s listings for therapists or spending some time on Google.

Therapy isn’t the solution to every financial problem, of course, just as budgets aren’t the best financial planning tool for everyone. But with the economic issues making most people nervous these days, looking into a little financial therapy might be a good start to getting your financial house in order.

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Money Problems: Looking at Emotions

Most of us have an instinctive reaction whenever we see a friend or a family member in a tough spot: we offer to help. But, at least in financial situations, helping may not be such a great idea. The most common type of financial help anyone will ask you for is a loan. Can you afford to make such a loan? Will you be able to help again if their situation gets worse? You might be tempted to offer up financial advice, especially if you’ve been working on your own situation. Unfortunately, most people just don’t want to hear it.

How can you help your loved ones?

There’s nothing wrong with offering up a little cash to help your family through a tight spot if you want to. If you do so, don’t think of the money as a loan. Don’t count on getting it back. Some relatives may make the effort to repay you, and if that happens, congratulations. But if that’s not the case, you don’t want a little money interfering in your relationship with your family. Just consider it a gift and let it go.

Don’t make a habit out of loaning money to your friends and family, either. It’s tempting, but I’ve learned from experience that just means that they’ll keep coming to you for help, rather than trying to find a permanent solution to their problems.

The best help you can provide is often education on their current situation. Most people don’t particularly want advice on straightening out their finances, but if one of your friends or family members have decided that they’re ready to make some changes, offer up the resources that have worked for you. I would never suggest pushing a copy of your favorite personal finance book on your relatives. If they ask for it, though, go right ahead.

Don’t wait around for your loved ones.

I’ve talked to plenty of folks who say that they’ll work on their finances when their significant others will help. But while they wait around, their financial situations are getting worse. Their significant others may not even know that there is a problem.

Personally, I’m in favor of just getting a move on personal finance. But don’t just leave your significant other out on the project: explain what you’re trying to do. They don’t have to help — it’s nice, but there are plenty of relationships where one person is clearly in charge of the money. They should know what you’re thinking, though. Maybe you’ll be surprised. Maybe your other half has just been waiting on you.

In the end…

You can’t just fix someone else’s problems. The best you can do is make sure you’re on solid financial footing and offer help when it’s asked for.

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Fixing a Loved One’s Money Problems — Is It Worth It?

We hear the phrase “personal development” all of the time. A friend who decides to radically change his or her life tells us “I’m working on my personal development.” Our therapist tells us “there are definite areas of your personal development that need work.” When you hear “personal development” your mind might immediately jump to trust exercises where you fall back and trust the other person to catch you. You probably don’t think of things like learning better time management or applying personal development strategies to your work and financial life.

But, back to the original question: “what is personal development?”

Personal development is, by its nature, the ways in which you develop your person. This could involve learning how to be a better listener. You might work on becoming more organized. You might decide that you learn to be more patient. The ways in which you develop and become the person you want to be all fall under the umbrella term “personal development.”

So how does this apply to Wealth Junkies or your financial life?

Personal development involves things like learning to budget, learning how to spend wisely, time management, becoming more productive, becoming more proactive in areas of your life—all of these will help you build your wealth, decrease your debt and get your credit back on track!

Over the coming weeks, we here at Wealth Junkies are going to explore the area of Personal Development and show you how you can apply the different areas of personal development to your financial and business life.

After all, who doesn’t want to make more money? Who doesn’t want to be debt free? Believe it or not, becoming financially responsible involves working on who you are as a person. There is more to financial responsibility than being good at math or teaching yourself to like the generic brands instead of name brands. Anybody can reduce their debt. Keeping the debt down (or at bay) involves looking at the personal choices you make in your every day life.

Hopefully these articles will be helpful to you. Hopefully we will teach you how to be more productive, spend wisely, increase your wealth and all of those other things that you’ve always wanted to do but thought “I’ll get to that later,” or “I’ve tried to be responsible but it never sticks.”

There is more to personal development than the “touchy-feely” things that probably first jumped to your mind. Personal development is a practical approach to becoming the person you want to be!

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What is Personal Development?

I have taken the combined wisdom of a lot of people: Napoleon Hill, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and Anthony Robbins. They each tell us a few pieces. Put them together, and you have a Picasso.

This is the concentrated version of everything I have learned about success so far. If you are on the way up, you may have discovered one or two of these already. And you may know of one or two that I’m missing.

1. Have multiple projects. Donald Trump says that you should have ten deals in the air at all times. You should be focusing on your top two or three, but you should be juggling the others too. It doesn’t mean you have to work at each of these every day. It just means the project should be in progress with some defined next action.
2. Keep making progress on your projects. This is essential– you must maintain your momentum. In his book, How To Get Rich, Donald Trump talks about William Levitt as an example of why you must keep momentum. Using a philosophy like David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” to organize your projects and keep defining your next action helps for me. Getting Things Done will help you collect and take next actions on things. As long as you have a next action that is possible, defined, and in the works, you will make progress.
3. Never give up. Don’t take the results of your projects personally. Failure is bound to happen. Think of it like throwing rocks at a window: if you do it right, one will eventually break through! Whatever happens with it, you must remember that it is just one thing up in the air. You must take the next action, look at the result, and then evaluate it and determine your next action.

Don’t stop just because it looks like there are obstacles. This is your brain trying to trick you. Yes, it is easier for most people to quit than to come up with half a million dollars of “creative” financing for a project– I am dealing with these same challenges myself– but you can’t take it personally. It is business. It isn’t personal.

For example: I was very interested in obtaining inexpensive warehouse space at a huge industrial park near my home for several projects. I read that it was available and that I just needed to put forth a proposal to get a deal on the space. So I made a call. I was told they’re not sure what they are going to do and they have hired a consultant who should have an answer by the end of the year. They said they’ll “call me”.

What would you do? Throw the idea out? Wait for them to call you? Not me, I have two new actions– (1) to follow up on the 20th of January, and (2) to look for other inexpensive space in the area that might work for my projects.

4. But– just as importantly– you must be evaluating things to check whether you are approaching your goals. What you’re looking for is a real evaluation of profitability, trends, data, and what you can be doing differently. Is Tuesday your heavy day? Plan your editorial calendar around it. Polish the cannonball.
5. Look for barriers to entry. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Warren Buffett’s value investing philosophy has you looking for wide moat companies– ones with a sustainable competitive advantage. So if you were going to invest 100% of your future success on a company that you are starting, why step onto a bloody battlefield? If you want to start a business, do something that differentiates you from everyone else. Anything. Just something. Create your own niche. Sometimes crazy can be better.
6. Meet the right people– and tell them what you’re doing. According to “The Millionaire Mind”, many wealthy people have said that their people skills helped them immensely. If you don’t know who you need to meet, you don’t know what you’re doing – so spend some time thinking about it. Figure it out. And make that a project. If you are tasteful and to the point – think Donald Trump with a twist of class – it won’t be bragging, it will be sharing. If no one knows you exist, how can they send opportunities your way?
7. Make decisions. This is hard for a lot of people, including myself. But my time in the Navy gave me a lot of opportunities to react quickly, give orders, and make things happen. Ever started up a nuclear reactor? I have. And let me say that no matter how many times I did it, that complex evolution– much like any business venture– always took planning, consistent effort, a watchful eye, and lots of decison-making.
8. Ask and you shall receive. (Or, you’ll never get what you want– unless you ask for it.) Whether it is a job, date, or a million dollars in venture capital, if you want to be successful, you need to find out who can give you what you want. Then get in touch with them, and ask for it. They might say yes; they might not. But you have no chance of getting it if you don’t ask. (Thanks to Amit Gupta for mentioning this one.)

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Recipe for Success

Step #5: If It Isn’t Working, Try Something Else.

Life is not perfect. Things do not always fall into place. In your journey to completing your objective, you are bound to try something that does not work. And that is okay.

If what you are doing is not working, stop doing it. There is no point to trying again and again to achieve a different result by doing the same thing. If what you are doing is not working, try something else! If that doesn’t work, then try something else!

The key here is to keep fine tuning your efforts. Make small changes. As you make every small course correction, you will keep moving in the right direction.

As an example, Tony explained how, on a commercial flight, the plane is actually off course over 95% percent of the time. But they still arrive at their destination. How do they do it if they are almost always off course? They look at their instruments, make the necessary adjustments, and look at the results. They fine tune there efforts periodically to ensure they achieve their desired outcome.

Computer scientists refer to this as the “brute force” method of doing things. It is. But, when it comes to your goals and dreams, you will be much better off trying something else than giving up.

According to Anthony Robbins, most people look at their objective and focus on everything they will have to do to achieve it. They get overwhelmed, and most people give up. Instead, he says you should focus on how you will feel once you achieve the outcome, and enjoy the process of getting there.

So there you have it. The “Ultimate Success Formula” seems very simple. But achieving your dreams takes effort.

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The “Ultimate Success Formula” – Part 5

Step #4: Know What You Are Getting.

You must sense if what you are doing is giving you the result you want. But you must perceive it in excrutiating detail. Tony refers to this as “sensory acuity”, and says it is a keen form of intelligence.

(Editor’s Note: According to the University of Kansas Medical Center, acuity is the process of receiving the input, i.e. using your eyes, ears, and other sensory organs. Perception, on the other hand, is a person’s ability to understand the data they took in with their acuity. Therefore, to truly understand what they are getting, it seems a person would need both acuity and perception.)

Establish a feedback mechanism. It can be anything, as long as it allows you to measure, as quickly as possible, whether or not you are heading in the right direction. You need to check this from time to time.

The genius is in the details, so understand them. Tony gave an example where he described a marker: it could be a cylinder, a red gray cylinder, a short red gray cylinder with markings, or a bright red Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Market that never gets out of your clothes.

To further illustrate his point about sensory acuity, Tony explained how the Eskimos have twelve different words for “snow”. (While this makes a great point, it is not technically correct because Tony is comparing apples and oranges. As explained here, it has more to do with the root of the words than the actual words. Using the same logic, English has approximately 22 snow lexemes.)

Although his analogies were not “spot on”, Anthony Robbins still got his points across. In order to reach the outcomes you want, you must be able to evaluate whether or not what you are doing is working. The concept is quite simple, but can be difficult to judge in practice.

Read part five.

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The “Ultimate Success Formula” – Part 4

Step #3: Take Massive Action.

If you want to achieve your desired outcome, you are going to have to take action. Massive action. It is that simple.

Tony says that anyone who has been rewarded in public for their successes has spent lots of time taking massive action in private. For example, athletes such as Tiger Woods spend years practicing before they ever make it into the public eye. They had a desired outcome, had a strong enough reason, and spent years working at it. As a result, the average person mistakes their years of experience for “natural talent” and “luck”.

As an example, Tony told the rags to riches story of Sylvester Stallone:

Years ago, Stallone was broke and living in New York. He had no money for food or electricity. He had to pawn his wife’s jewelery just for food money. Eventually, he even had to sell his dog because he could not afford to feed it and needed the money for his family.

Stallone looked for work as an actor, asking agents again and again, more than 1,000 times total. After watching a boxing match, he got the inspiration for the film “Rocky”, and spent 24 hours straight writing the first draft. Then he began trying to sell the film– with himself in the lead role. Everyone rejected it.

Eventually, he got an offer for $125,000 for his script. But they did not want him to star in it. (They envisioned Ryan O’Neil for the role.) However, Stallone wanted to be an actor, so he walked away from the offer.

The offer price rose to $250,000, and eventually to $325,000, as long as Stallone would not star in the picture. But he refused.

“Are you insane?”, they asked him.

“No, I’m Rocky”, he responded.

Stallone eventually took $35,000 plus a percentage of the profits of the film. (Obviously, things turned out well.)

After closing the deal, the first thing he did was go back to get his dog, Butkus. Stallone sold the dog for $25 just six weeks before. He offered $125, and then $500 for the dog. The new owner refused. Stallone ultimately paid $15,000 plus a part in the movie to get his dog back.

How do you get started? Develop a plan of attack– a “massive action plan”. List every outcome you want and any possible action you can take that may help you achieve your goal. Brainstorm. Even if the idea sounds crazy, write it down.

When you make the list, highlight the actions that you know are essential to achieveing your goal. If you make 20 possible actions, for example, you might have five actions that must be done.

You may not know how to achieve your outcome. That is fine. Just because you do not know every step does not mean you should not begin the journey. What you need to do is try anything you can, and whatever it takes, to get you in the right direction. Once you know your outcome, focus on the process. Take it one step at a time.

Trying to learn by your own experience can be expensive in both time and money. Wherever possible, you should try to learn from others. Take some time, and do the research. Why should you spend ten years of your life learning by trial and error when you can spend a day or two reading a book?

One thing you can do to speed things up is to find someone that has done exactly what you wish to achieve. Use them as a model. And do exactly what you are doing. According to Anthony Robbins, “If there is one idea in life you want to master, it is the idea of modeling.. the idea that success leaves clues.”

One technique that Tony Robbins teaches is called RPM – the Rapid Planning Method. According to one web site, “RPM is Tony’s fastest way to results. It is a system to manage your time and also help you achieve the satisfaction you desire.”

The Rapid Planning Method consists of three parts:

• The result you want to achieve.
• Your purpose for doing so, ie. why you want that outcome.
• A massive action plan.

Details of this plan are scattered around various programs, including “Get The Edge” and “Time Of Your Life”. Fortunately, you can learn about and use this planning method without buying any Anthony Robbins programs. Here is how:

1. Read “Turning GTE/TOYL/PPII Techniques into a Workable RPM Plan”, a thread from the Anthony Robbins web community.
2. Develop a tracking system. One way is to download this Excel worksheet. It contains templates for use with the RPM planning system.
3. If you have questions or need clarification, a good place to start is the Anthony Robbins Community forums. They are a set of message boards where people like you and I can ask questions, get answers, share goals, and meet like-minded people that want to live their dreams. And best of all, they are free!

Read part four.

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The “Ultimate Success Formula” – Part 3

Step #2: Know The Reasons Why. Why is this outcome a must for you?

According to Tony, the reasons come first. Answers come second. The reasons are the fuel to get you to follow through. If you have big enough reasons why, your brain will figure out how to achieve the outcome.

In order to get ourselves to take action, we need a reason that is larger than life. We need to get leverage over ourselves so that the outcome becomes something we have to do. Something we can’t not do. Not a “should”, but a “must”.

So how can we get ourselves to this point?

Tony says that there are two driving forces that create lasting change: the forces of pain and pleasure. Everything we, as human beings, do is to avoid pain and gain pleasure. So the key to making that “should” a “must” is to understand the pain associated with not achieving the outcome, and the pleasure associated with accomplishing it. (Although you should think about both aspects, Tony says that the desire to avoid pain is stronger than the desire to gain pleasure.)

Recall, from the first installment, our example of losing weight. (The outcome was “I want to be healthy, fit, and at my ideal weight of 175 lbs. I want to be active, run a marathon, and have tons of energy every day. I want to wake up in the morning with a feeling of excitment and passion, look great in my clothes, and feel proud of myself every time I look in the mirror.”)

How do you make your outcome a “must” instead of a “should”? Consider the following example:

What would happen if I don’t lose weight? (This is the pain associated with not accomplishing the goal.)

1. I have a greater chance of dying from everything. Obesity has a massive impact on risk factors for other diseases. By being overweight, I will have an increased risk of cancer and many other illnesses.
2. If I don’t do something right now, I will start to have problems with my back and knees. I have been lucky to this point, but as I get older they will begin to bother me.
3. I will miss out on so much of life. I am missing out on spending time in the great outdoors and being active.
4. I will amplify my hereditary risk of heart disease. Since my uncle had a heart attack a few years ago, and my grandfather had one before him, there is obviously a much greater risk of heart disease in my family. I need to do something about it now or else I will be a ticking time bomb.
5. If I don’t lose weight now, I will continue to feel terrible and embarrassed every time I look in the mirror. I have felt that way for years. And I am tired of it.
6. I will always hate going out in public because I feel like people are judging me.
7. I will have to keep buying new clothes, wasting money on clothing I don’t even like because nothing else fits me.
8. It will hurt me financially. Since I am going into business, I will be dependent on sales. People are superficial, and they judge quickly. If I stay overweight, it will make me look unprofessional and will hurt my ability to sell.

Why must I lose weight? (The pleasure associated with accomplishing the goal.)

1. So I can feel sexy and confident. So I can wear form-fitting designer clothes and feel good every time I look at myself in the mirror and when I walk in public.
2. To feel energized every day. Since I am quitting my job, moving to a new home, and starting a new life and a new business, I need to hit the ground running. I need more energy now than ever before.
3. So I can enjoy all of the activities my wife and I want to do together, like scuba diving, hiking, biking, etc.
4. To set an example for my family. If I ever have children, I want them to be healthy, active, and have good habits. How can I help them if I can’t help myself?

There is no right or wrong answer to this exercise. It is all relative. The key is to come up with whatever it takes to get you emotional about the outcome.

By associated enough pain to not accomplishing the goal, and enough pleasure to achieving it, you will get to the point where you say, “Never Again!” It is at this point, where you cannot take another day without taking action, that you have what Tony refers to as “leverage” over yourself. And that is the whole point of knowing your reasons why– to get leverage.

No matter what you want to change in your life, you can change it once you get leverage. The path may not be easy, but if you truly want something different, your mind will find a way.

Read part three.

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The “Ultimate Success Formula” – Part 2