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Saturday 28 February 2015

Lessons About Success We Can Learn From The $500 Million Man


PRODUCTIVITY BY 
commirzaCom Mirza, also known as the $500 Million Man, started out small with a lemonade stand. Since then, he’s launched tons of businesses. After multiple failures and bankruptcies, Mirza hit his stride. Now, he lives the good life. Through Mirza Ventures, Com invests in more than 20 different companies–all while spending his time in countries all over the world. What can we learn from Mirza’s journey from humble lemonade stand to multi-million dollar sucess? Read on to find out.

1. Start now

Whether you’re young, old, broke, a student, or stuck in a job–now is the time to start working towards your goals. Com Mirza didn’t wait until he had a degree or until he had some “extra time.” He constantly searched for entrepreneurship opportunities.
Learn from Mirza and stop making excuses. Write down your goals and start doing at least one thing every day that moves you towards that goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing something big or small. Just doing somethingis enough to get you started.

2. Create a daily ritual

One of the best ways to stay on top of things and improve your productivity during the day is to create a daily ritual. Com Mirza isn’t the only person who does this–hundreds of CEOs and successful entrepreneurs swear by their rituals.
Need help making one? Here are daily routines of 7 entrepreneurs to help get you started.

3. Word hard (but more importantly, work smart)

The $500 Million Man believes in working hard. But, let’s be honest, anyone can work hard. Mirza knows this. That’s why he advocates not only working hard, but working smart. This means finding better ways to do things in less time. Your goal shouldn’t be to just get something done–it should be to get it done in a consistent, efficient, and intelligent manner. Here are 10 things highly productive people don’t do. Stop grinding. Start working smart instead.

4. Don’t let failure stop you

Com Mirza likes to say he failed more times than Thomas Edison did when he was inventing the lightbulb. Mirza went bankrupt and had numerous unsuccessful businesses during his journey. But he didn’t stop.
In a study among school children the best determiner of success in classes was not IQ, but rather grit. Someone who has grit thinks long-term. They don’t let failures get in their way. Their motivation allows them to endure hardship no matter what. Com Mirza has grit. It allowes him to push past his failures and drives him to success. Be someone with grit and don’t let failures stop you.

5. Give back

Com Mirza dedicates much of his time to philanthropy–to giving back to communities and helping others. He supports organizations that save lives. Don’t worry–you don’t need to do anything that grand. You could start by volunteering some time each week to helping others. This will help keep you grounded. It promotes gratefulness. Volunteering will keep you spiritually healthy too.

6. Always be learning

It’s important that one never stops learning. Wondering the best way to learn? Reading. Yes, books. They’re not too expensive and they are filled with more value than you’d believe. Some of the smartest people in history have poured their lessons into words set into the pages of books. Remember that daily ritual we talked about? Schedule at least 15 minutes a day to reading books that will contribute to your goals. Do this for at least a week. Try speed reading too. You’ll be amazed by how much you can learn from just a little bit of reading each day.
Need some books to read? Check out this list of life-changing autobiographies.

7. Make the right decisions

It can be hard to make the right decisions. Sometimes you’ll mess up. That’s okay. Remember number four: don’t let failures stop you. At the same time, it’s important that you don’t make your decisions blind. You should be confident in your decisions and try to make the best ones possible.
Here’s a little exercise from the $500 Million Man. You’ll need a pen and paper. Now write down all of the big decisions you need to make on your way towards your goal. For each decision, write down why you are making the decision. If you can’t come up with any good reasons, then don’t do it.
If you can come up with good reasons, shut off your device and act on it now.
Fortune values the quick.

10 Famous Failures That Will Inspire You to Be a Success


COMMUNICATION MOTIVATION BY 
Failure occurs everyday, in school, jobs, housework, and within families. It is unavoidable, irritating and causes pessimism. While the thought of flinging your hands in the air and walking away is all too appealing, take a second to connect with the people who have been there and survived.
Here are a few successful failures who all failures around the world should consider.

1. J.K. Rowling

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During a Harvard commencement speech, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling outlined the importance and value of failure. Why? Simply because she was once a failure too. A few short years after her graduation from college, her worst nightmares were realized. In her words, “I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.” Coming out of this failure stronger and more determined was the key to her success.

2. Steve Jobs

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The now revolutionary Apple started off with two men in a garage. Years later we all know it as a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. Yet, almost unbelievably, Steve Jobs was fired from the very company he began. The dismissal made him realize that his passion for his work exceeded the disappointment of failure. Further ventures such as NeXT and Pixar eventually led Jobs back to the CEO position at Apple.
“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me,” Jobs said in 2005.
Lost your job today? Keep kicking and you could be just like this guy!

3. Bill Gates
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Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout. He co-owned a business called Traf-O-Data, which was a true failure.
However, skill and a passion for computer programming turned this failure into the pioneer of famous software company Microsoft ,and the then 31-year-old into the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
In his own words: “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
This isn’t to say that dropping out of Harvard will make you into a billionaire, but maybe that shiny degree isn’t worth as much as the drive and passion to succeed.

4. Albert Einstein
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The word ‘Einstein’ is associated with intelligence and synonymous with genius. Yet it is a famous fact that the pioneer of the theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein himself, could not speak fluently until the age of nine. His rebellious nature led to expulsion from school, and he was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
His earlier setbacks did not stop him from winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. After all, he believed that “success is failure in progress.” To this day, his research has influenced various aspects of life including culture, religion, art, and even late night TV.
Just because you haven’t achieved anything great yet, doesn’t mean you can’t be an Einstein yourself.

5. Abraham Lincoln

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Photo: Alexander Gardner
Failing in business in 1831, suffering a nervous breakdown in 1836, defeated in his run for president in 1856, Abraham Lincoln was no stranger to rejection and failure. Rather than taking these signs as a motivation for surrender, he refused to stop trying his best.
In this great man’s words: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”
Lincoln was elected in 1861 as the 16th President of the United States of America.
The amount of rejection you receive is not a defining factor. Success is still within your reach.

6. Michael Jordan

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“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” This quote by retired basketball legend Michael Jordan in a Nike advertisement speaks for itself.
It would be an easy misconception that Jordan’s basketball skills revolve around natural talent. In fact, in his earlier years,  basketball coaches had trouble looking past the fact that Jordan didn’t reach the minimum height. It was years of effort, practice, and failure that made the star we know today.

7. Steven Spielberg

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Regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Steven Spielberg is a familiar household name. It is surprising to realize therefore that the genius behind Jaws and E.Thad poor grades in high school, getting him rejected from the University of Southern California three times.
While he was in college, he caught the eye of executives at Universal, who signed him as a television director in 1969. This meant that he would not finish his college degree for another 33 years.
Perseverance and acceptance of failure is the key to success, after all. “Even though I get older, what I do never gets old, and that’s what I think keeps me hungry.” Bad grades in high school aside, there is no questioning the genius involved.
To date, Spielberg has directed 51 films and has been awarded three Oscars.

8. Walt Disney

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Mickey Mouse creator Walt Disney dropped out of school at a young age in a failed attempt at joining the army. One of his earlier ventures, Laugh-o-Gram Studios, went bankrupt due to his lack of ability to run a successful business. He was once fired from a Missouri newspaper for “not being creative enough.”
Yet today, The genius behind Disney studios is responsible for generations of childhood memories and dreams. From Snow White to Frozen, Disney will continue to entertain the world for generations to come.
The logic behind this is simple: “… we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

9. Vincent Van Gogh
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During his lifetime Vincent Van Gogh suffered mental illness, failed relationships, and committed suicide at the age of 37.
He only ever sold one painting in his life, pinning him a failure as an artist. However that did not put a damper on his enthusiasm and passion for art.
He would never know that years and years after his death he would become known as a key figure in the world of post-impressionism, and ultimately, one of the greatest artist that ever lived. He would never know that he became a hot topic in art classes and his image was going to be used in TV, books and other forms of popular culture.
In the words of this great, but tragic man, “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”

10. Stephen King

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As a paranoid, troubled child, tormented by nightmares and raised in poverty, it is no surprise that Stephen King grew up to the title: “Master of Horror”.
An addiction to drugs and alcohol were his mechanisms to cope with the unhappiness he felt with his life. The frustration he felt towards multiple rejections by publishers in combination with illicit substances caused him to mentally contemplate violence towards his own children.
These intense emotions were those that he focused onto his writing. This became his new coping mechanism, and this is how the master author we know today grew to success.

5 Life Lessons Everyone Should Learn From Keanu Reeves


COMMUNICATION MOTIVATION BY keanu
Keanu Reeves: actor, producer, musician, memeconspiracy theorist and notorious introvert. Throughout his life, Keanu seems to have experienced more extremes than any one person could handle. From achieving fame to losing those closest to him, Keanu Reeves’ story is arguably more interesting than any of the roles he has played in his long acting career. Here are five lessons we can learn from Keanu’s extraordinary life, and apply to our own to make the world a better place:

1. A Difficult Start Does Not Define The Rest Of Your Life.

Born in 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon to an English mother Patricia Bond (nĂ©e Taylor) and Hawaiian father Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Keanu Charles Reeves’ life began with an instability that would last throughout his childhood and teenage years. When Keanu was three-years-old his father, who would later be placed in prison for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport, abandoned their family.
In 2000, Keanu told Rolling Stone: “Jesus, man. No, the story with me and my dad’s pretty heavy. It’s full of pain and woe and f*cking loss and all that sh*t.”
After the divorce, Patricia became a costume designer and subsequently travelled around the world with her children. Keanu, his sisters and their mother lived in Sydney, Australia followed by New York City and eventually settled in Toronto, Canada, locations based largely upon who she was married to at the time. Keanu attended four high schools in the space of five years including Etobicoke School of the Arts, which he was expelled from.
Keanu would later tell Kevin J. Koffler: “I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school.”
Keanu was often far better at sports than his academic studies, possibly due to his dsylexia. He was especially good at ice hockey which he once planned to play professionally but an injury prevented his dream from coming true.
Having performed in various theatre productions since the age of nine, Keanu had had the acting for the majority of his young life by the time he reached his fourth high school Avondale Secondary Alternative School which he later dropped out to pursue a career in film.
Although Keanu didn’t begin his life in a stable, typical family environment he grew into a man who takes responsibility for his own life and decisions. Where many may have sunk into the backgrounds of the various places they visited or even resented their upbringing, it seems that Keanu chose to find stability in chasing his own aspirations.
Many of us begin our journeys on rocky ground, but you get to decide how the rest of your life will be.

2. A Generous Spirit Can Be More Rewarding Than Riches.

After moving to LA in 1986, Keanu scored his breakthrough role in a movie entitled ‘River’s Edge‘. He then went on to appear in both Bill and Tedmovies, Point BreakSpeedA Walk In The CloudsThe Devil’s AdvocateThe Replacement, and of course: The Matrix. It’s estimated that Keanu made about $10 million up-front having stared in The Matrix, which increased to $35 million when the back-end deal was made. After the sequels, Keanu is thought to have made about $110 million, $75 million of which he reportedly gave to the special effects team and costume design department. He also bought the entire stunt team their own Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Regarding Keanu’s generosity, a Reddit user wrote: “A family friend builds movie sets, doesn’t design, is one of the poor dudes that just builds. Anyways he worked on the set for the Matrix and Keanu heard about family trouble he was having and gave him a $20,000 Christmas bonus to help him out. He also was one of the only people on the set that genuinely wanted to know people’s names, would say hello and mean it, and would talk to people as they were his peers and not below him just because they were practically making nothing to build a set. I’ve never heard anyone say Keanu is douche, seems like the nicest person in Hollywood from a second hand experience.”
Over the years, Keanu has given millions to charities including PETA, the SickKids Foundation, and Stand Up To Cancer. His sister Kim has been battling Leukaemia for ten years, and Keanu has ensured she has all the help she needs by donating $5 million. He also set up a private Cancer Foundation that aids a few children’s hospitals as well as cancer research. Keanu never attaches his name to his charitable donations or gifts and never takes credit: it simply seems to be a part of his life.
In a 2003 interview with Hello! Magazine Keanu said: “Money is the last thing I think about. I could live on what I have already made for the next few centuries.”
Have you ever imagined how you would spend your money if you were to win millions? Would you buy a huge house, an array of sports cars, pay off your debts or ensure your friends and family are set for life? I know I would do all of those things! Of course, I would also give money to charities, but would I give as much as some others would? Should I?
There are many difficult questions that arise when we consider how rich some people are in comparison to billions of people who can barely get by or the causes that need constant funding to make the world a better place. Keanu is undoubtedly a generous, wonderful spirit who will hopefully inspire more people to share their wealth, whether they are wealthy in money, time or spirit: will you?

3. Let Passion Drive You, Not Money.

Although it may seem like a great motive to act, few people go into the profession for the money. Keanu is a prime example of this and always seems to have put his personal ambitions, morals and preferences before simply taking a job to make money. Even early on in his career he would often only act in commercials that he himself liked.
Perhaps the most famous example of Keanu’s ‘do what you love’ spirit is found when he dismissed $11 million to be in the Speed sequel or a chance to star alongside Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in the 1995 movie Heat.Instead Keanu chose to partake in a small production of Shakespeare’sHamlet at Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg, Canada.
Of Keanu’s performance, The Sunday Times theatre reviewer Roger Lewis said: “He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark … He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he is Hamlet.”
Of course, money and passion are not exclusive: it is entirely possible to have both. However, many people these days are pressured to believe money is far more important than happiness. After all, happiness can not feed you, happiness can not put a roof over your head and happiness cannot ensure you live comfortably.
Money may be a fantastic motivator for many but despite the financial losses you may endure: do you really want to waste this one life you live being miserable but comfortable? Or do you want to live by your own terms, follow your passion and take a risk that could result in a combination of everything you’ve ever wanted?

4. You Will Lose People, But Do Not Lose Yourself.

Before Keanu really became the incredibly famous actor he is today, he starred in the 1989 Steve Martin comedy Parenthood. Through this film Keanu met a man who would soon become one of his greatest friends: River Phoenix.
“Actually, I met Keanu through my ex-girlfriend Martha [Plimpton] while they were doing Parenthood — they were sucking face regularly,” River once told Interview Magazine. “My brother, Joaquin [Phoenix], otherwise known as Leaf, was also in it. So, Leaf and Martha were his buddies before I was even a friend of his. Then I met up with him on I Love You to Death. And I liked the guy. I wanted to work with him. He’s like my older brother. But shorter.”
Keanu in turn told reporters: “I enjoyed his company. Very much. And enjoyed his mind and his spirit and his soul. We brought good out in each other. He was a real original thinker. He was not the status quo. In anything.”
After starring together in I Love You To Death, the pair worked together on Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, where they would often spend nights on the street to get into character, however River went further into the seedy underworld than his co-worker and friend. River began using heroin and later overdosed in 1993 on a lethal mixture of cocaine, morphine and valium outside The Viper Room. Keanu rarely talks about his friends’ death.
Later that same decade, as Keanu began production on The Matrix, he met a young actress named Jennifer Syme at a party. By the time The Matrix was premiering around the world the two were deeply in love and expecting their first child. However, in December 1999 Ava Archer Syme-Reeves was stillborn.
Unable to recover from the grief of losing their child, the couple broke up and Jennifer became a record executive and assistant to Marilyn Manson. On April 2, 2001 Jennifer passed out at the wheel of her Jeep Cherokee and collided with three parked cards, rolling the vehicle and killing her instantly. Police found several prescription bottles in her car, whilst toxicologists found a concoction of cocaine, clonzepam and cyclobenzaprine in her system.
In an interview with Parade in 2006, Keanu said: “I miss being a part of their lives and them being part of mine. I wonder what the present would be like if they were here – what we might have done together. I miss all the great things that will never be.”
“I don’t want to flee from life, I know the beauty of it,” he continued. “I’m trying not to be alone so much. And, man, it’s a struggle. I want to get married. I want to have kids. That’s at the top of the mountain. I’ve got to climb the mountain first. I’ll do it. Just give me some time.”
There are times in your life where you will experience loss, pain, suffering, loneliness and devastation. When you are lost on the darkest paths of life, remember that you are strong enough to reach the end of the road. You are never alone, you can ask for help, you will get through this and come out into the light a braver, better person than you were before.

5. Be Excellent.

“Positive energy brings good feelings, and dark energy often means harm. But the destruction in dark energy is also a subtle aspect of construction, like how even forest fires have their benefits. Sometimes enemies are our best teachers, people can learn from their mistakes, destruction sometimes means rebirth.” – Keanu Reeves.
Despite the many tragedies that have woven their way into the seams of Keanu’s past he remains a positive force in this world. He is a generous, genuine, passionate and remarkably strong individual who breaks the mould and boundaries that are often imagined between the famous and the public.
Keanu is proof that a difficult start does not necessarily mean you will have a challenging life, and it certainly doesn’t entitle you to a bad attitude. There are many people around the world like him who would donate their time, energy and money to help those in need because life – not money – is their passion. And yes, sometimes you will experience real heartbreak and devastating events that will threaten to break you: but like Keanu says: you must be excellent to each other, and to yourself.

Would you marry someone who has divorced at least twice?


   

 

 

Fasilat, Adebola and Samuel
People divorce for many reasons, especially when they could not reconcile their differences with their partners. However, in the quest for looking for the perfect partner, many don’t mind divorcing more than once. Saturday PUNCH asked some people if they would marry someone who has divorced legally at least twice.
I’ll put my unborn children in danger if I do
Nnadi Chidiebere
Before making decisions in life, it’s always good to think of the people that will be affected by them. Many times, it’s not about the decision maker, but the people around them. Marriage, to me, is not all about the pleasure; it’s about raising a generation. If I marry someone who has divorced more than once, how am I sure she would not leave me also after a while? If we have children in the process, what happens to them? It’s like putting them in danger, especially in the future. I don’t think such a relatonship is worth it. There are single ladies who are looking for husbands out there, so I have alternatives.
I can’t
Olanike Fasilat
It’s not even a matter of I may not; I cannot. Marriage is not about just meeting a man and getting hooked with him. It’s more than that. What are the circumstances surrounding his serial practice of divorce? Were all the women he once got married to bad? I don’t think so. Maybe he’s the one that didn’t make things work because I can’t just understand why a man will divorce more than once. That means he can’t manage relationships. It’s better to avoid such.
It’s not feasible
Ogungbile Matthew
Let me say it’s not feasible — I mean I cannot think of such happening to me. You don’t just marry a divorcee except if their partner is dead. While their partner is still alive, it is good that both of them find the means of reconciling their differences and be back together as a couple. So if I meet a divorcee whose ex is alive, I’d advise her to reconcile rather than marrying her.
I would avoid it by all means
Adepeju Adebola
There are some relationships one has to avoid by all means so that one would not jeopardise her future. Like this one, it’s evident that the man was the cause of the breakups of previous marriages. Marrying him is going to be like riding a rollercoaster, full of many ups and downs. He could have made them work. He could just want to use me as he probably used the women he previously married. That’s a great sin and he should repent by reconciling. That’s not a good lifestyle. No woman is perfect and he should have known that. You just have to make your marriage work.
If she’s a good woman, I can
Alade Kabiru
Which law on earth forbids a man from marrying a woman that he loves and cares for? The last time I checked, there was no such law. It is just that here in Africa, we so much give regard to things that are very simple to handle. It is not because we are more righteous or holier, but we tend to pretend a lot. Many people are. For instance, if she is a woman that is going to add value to me, what stops me from marrying her? It could be due to many circumstances beyond her control that she left previous marriages. She could be a good woman. If I find out she is, I can marry her.
It’s better to avoid it
Azeez Mariam
What I cannot manage I will try as much as possible to avoid. There is no assurance that a man who had divorced many women would make his next marriage work. That’s just the truth. To avoid having the same fate of his previous wives, I would avoid the relationship. I would not even want to see that kind of man as being loving and caring because if he were, he would not have taken for granted the love of the previous women in his life.
I may consider it
Oyedele Samuel
There could be many reasons behind her condition. Meanwhile, being a divorcee is not a disease and it does not call for stigmatisation. If she is not going to be a liability on me and doesn’t have more than two children, I think I can put it into consideration. She might have not had great relationships before and it is possible she has it with me. If it is according to our fate, who am I not to accept it?
It’s a complex decision to make
Mary Okumoko
There are so many questions I would ask him, aside from making my own findings. I would find out what could have led to his practice of serial divorcing. If I found out that he’s a good man, I could pray about it to know God’s will. However, it is a very complex issue. It’s not just one decision I have to take on my own. I have to involve so many people so that I would not be making a grave mistake in my life.
It’s hard to give an answer
Omotayo Emmanuel
This is definitely one of the toughest questions I’ve ever heard in my life because it doesn’t have a straightforward answer. There are certain decisions one has to be very careful before making them in life and I think this is one of them. If the lady in question is not too old and I feel like we are compatible with each other, I may marry her and we can even live happily forever. The past is gone and I should not emphasise on it. There is a better future ahead. However, one could also be walking into the pit by doing so. I’ll consider many things before I decide.
There’d always be alternatives
Okelola Ebunoluwa
Before I do that, I will think well about it. Meanwhile, he is not the only man on the earth, so I believe if I couldn’t marry him, there would be alternatives. Maybe he is a player, dumping women as he wills. It will be dangerous to fall into the hands of such a man. I think I would get mine as time goes on.
source:PUNCH.

Friday 27 February 2015

20 Tips For People in Their 30s To Better Manage Their Money MONEY

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MONEY BY 
Turning thirty, the big 3-0, is probably the most crucial financial crossroad in the lives of many people today. Whether you are embarking on a new career path, planning on buying a house, or preparing for the responsibility of children, how you handle this monetary pivot in your life can very well lay out the blueprint for what the rest of your finances will look like.
However, if you are willing to keep an open mind to the possibilities of new ways of thinking, there are some practical ideas that may be all the inspiration needed to take charge of your own life and financial security.
These 20 tips will give you a different perspective on managing money, well into your 30s and beyond.

1. Be patient and delay pleasure

As you approach your 30s, it is safe to assume that you have probably spent the better part of your 20s in college, surviving on ramen noodles and fast food. Your impulse upon entering your 30s will be to jump into the nice house, the cool car and begin living the American dream. But be careful not to accumulate more liabilities than you have income or assets to pay for.

2. Your house is not an asset

Most people have been conditioned to the belief that buying a house and owning real estate is the secret to financial success. This is really only half the truth. If your home is taking money out of your pocket, (i.e. in the form of a mortgage), instead of putting money in your pocket, (i.e. in the form of rentals or home businesses), it is a liability, not an asset. As you turn 30, be sure to understand the difference between assets and liabilities before making large purchases.

3. Cut back on your vices

Leaving your college years behind, you might have accumulated more vices than you care to admit – alcohol, cigarettes, and undoubtedly fast food, just to touch on a few. To be honest, I have had more than my fair share of those 3 am greasy Taco Bell runs after a night out with friends. As memorable as these times were, a realization dawns as you enter a new decade. Not only are those nights hard on your health, they are also hard on your wallet.
Also, do not forget that as you go from a fun college atmosphere to a stressful work environment, what started out as a fun way to pass the time can become a detrimental and financially draining addiction or coping mechanism.

4. Learn to cook

You don’t have to be a gourmet chef by any means, but If you are serious about managing money, you must at least know how to prepare some basic staples and simple meals that will cut back on how often you have to eat out. It can also be very helpful to plan out your meals for the week ahead of time. This will help create your grocery budget and eliminate random spending on unnecessary food.

5. Don’t be content simply being an employee

In this day and age of rising inflation and stagnant wages, you will probably find it very difficult to make enough money to save and invest after paying for basic survival essentials like food, clothing and shelter. This hardship is a consequence of generations of conditioning children to aspire to simply become employees. Whole generations are told to get a secure job with good benefits and work hard. If you find yourself feeling smarter than your job title, you probably are. As you turn 30, start thinking of ways to accumulate the knowledge that inspires you to create something of societal value.

6. Write out a budget

This might seem like an obvious duh, but how many people do you know who have actually taken the time to write a financial plan, let alone learn how to follow one? Unless you write out a detailed budget, you are playing chicken with your financial future.

7. Save first, pay bills later

Set a savings goal and adjust your lifestyle to meet it. Do not set your saving goal to meet your lifestyle, you will always be broke. Ideally, you should be saving about 25 – 30 % of your income after taxes. The logic in society today is to pay bills and then save. This way of thinking is one of misplaced priorities and an attachment to stuff. If you want to get ahead financially and create true wealth, you must learn to pay yourself first.

8. Go through your debit/credit card statements

Don’t just throw away those monthly statements from the bank, actually go through them. Think of it as a statement that reflects your spending habits or behavior. If you are running out of money before the month’s end, your statement will very well show those loose purchases that add up to cost you tons of money. Go through with a highlighter so you can color code your expenses. This system will help you build your budget.

9. Your time is your most valuable form of money

Time is the one resource we all admit to not have enough of, yet it is the most wasted of all resources.
If you spend 10 – 12 hours of your day at a job you don’t particularly enjoy, do you really believe you are managing your time well? If time is money, then you should learn to invest it in things that add value and joy to your life.

10. Ditch cable

With so many tools available for entertainment – i.e. Internet, YouTube, Netflix, Redbox etc. – it makes no sense to pay $150 – $200 per month to watch reruns. You are probably never home anyway and when you are, there are more effective and creative ways to pass time. Cutting your cable bill can be a good way to, over time, invest $2,000 in your future.

11. Consider the cost of having kids

Having a child is a joyous occasion. However, as you consider growing your family in your 30s, be sure to understand the cost that having a baby can add to your finances. Not to say that if you are blessed with the unexpected gift of a child you won’t be able to lead a happy and financially secure life, but it will unarguably create a few more challenges for you to overcome. The care of another’s life is a huge responsibility and should not be undertaken lightly. So in an age where birth control options are innumerable, take the responsible route and plan for the right time to add to your family.

12. Do not Cosign a loan or lend money

“The borrower is always slave to the lender.” As you get older, you may begin to have family members and friends look to you for financial assistance in getting loans. But try to remember that the bank requires a cosigner for a reason. If the borrower misses a payment, there is a good chance they will come after you. As such, be very hesitant to cosign on any loan. Not only are you risking losing your money, but you are also risking the loss of a great relationship.

13. Be careful who your teachers are and question everything

There will be lots of people, especially family and friends, wanting to give you massive amounts of financial advice as you turn 30. Remember that when it comes to money, everyone has an opinion. Most people are enthusiastically ignorant. You must take every piece of information with a grain of salt. People who may seem to be doing well financially may really be broke and living off debt. Seek not just knowledge, but understanding. Question everything and be careful not to live a different variation of somebody else’s life.

14. Your success is determined by what you do in your down time

Most wealthy people will tell you that you are only as successful as what you do during down time at your job. Marshall Mathers’s rapper counterpart “Eminem” seized every opportunity to battle in freestyle raps, even on lunch breaks at work. Those precious moments of time used turned out to be worth millions of dollars.
Remember as you approach 30 that you will be extremely busy, overwhelmed with work and bills. How you manage your down time is a good reflection on how you will probably manage money.

15. Avoid mind numbing activities

Social media and games like Candy Crush help occupy boredom. But remember that humans are most creative when bored. Just like down time, how you treat this boredom may tell how much success you have. You are more likely to think of something productive to do if you don’t numb and distract your mind with social media and games.

16. Shop by dollar amount, not by unit price or deals

In a world of coupons, mega savers and deals, do not loose money chasing a bargain. If walk into a store with a budget of $15 for a variety of groceries and see one item on sale at 10 for $10, it may not be a deal to you to get the item as your budget does not support the purchase. You simply can’t afford the deal. Going over your planed spending amount to secure a bargain will ensure that you spend the rest of your life doing just that. Again, be patient.

17. Have an emergency fund

Financial adviser Dave Ramsey has a principle that I love and practice and it is called a G.O.K. (God only knows) fund. You have probably gone through your 20s having your financial mishaps covered by Mom and Dad. However thing are about to get real in your 30s. As Mom and Dad begin to withdraw their help, you must learn to create your own safety net, lest Visa and MasterCard catch your slack.

18. Rethink higher education

As you approach your 30s, you are probably thinking of ways to increase your income. The general advice from parents and elders is to go back to school. However, there are many other ways to do this without the debt of a Masters or MBA. The train of thought that more education equals higher pay is an old way of thinking that doesn’t really apply to this generation. While a specialized degree may be relevant in some cases, you are best served to really count the cost of your education and weigh its potential return.

19. Reaize that your savings plan and 401K may not be enough for retirement

Saving money and planning for retirement are good habits to have. However they may not be enough to sustain you and your family in the future.
So far, you have learned a few new tools to aid your financial literacy. Start looking for ways to keep income coming into your pocket even well after retirement. In your 30s, you are able to take a few well informed, calculated risks.

20. Be familiar with self-reliance and D.I.Y.

Self-reliance and learning to create or do things on your own is a big part to saving money. Fortunately, we live in an age of infinite access to information. For example, vinegar and water make a cheaper replacement for Windex. These types of tips for everyday living can be found on YouTube or Google and can really help save money.
These tips aren’t a guideline to strictly follow, by any means. But they are definitely some food for thought as you enter your 30s and seek ways to really buckle down on financial stability.