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Setting Goals --And Sticking To Them - Will Help You Achieve Financial Independence
Don’t take our word for it. That’s the headline from an AP article than ran in hundreds of newspapers across the nation last week.
"This is definitely the time of year to get things started," was how Barry Armstrong, a Boston financial planner with Woodbury Financial Services put it.
"For some people, it's a bitter message. There are things that you don't like doing. But they have to be done."
Former waitress Pamela Newman went from hand-to-mouth living to owning two condominiums in the San Diego area. What did it take? Resolve.
Resolve to make 2006 the year you kick it up a notch. Here’s how:
http://www.isecureonline.com/Reports/700SGB/E700G121/
The Best ETF for 2006
Investors will have a tough time making serious profits in the stock market using exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Four years after the equity markets peaked, stocks are still largely overvalued. Besides, the yield curve inverted recently, and that almost invariably signals a recession within the next 12 months or so ... which is never good for stocks.
The best bet for ETF investors will be to invest in StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD) - an ETF that tracks the price of gold. GLD should reach at least $60 a share by year's end - up from its current price of around $54.
So my recommendation is to put a small portion of your savings - 5% to 10% - in the GLD ETF to protect yourself against a flat stock market while taking advantage of a strong bull market in gold.
- Andrew Gordon
[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon is the editor of The Skeptical Advisor, ETR's investment newsletter. Check it out at http://skepticaladvisor.com.]
"A healthy outside starts on the inside."
- Robert Urich
A Brand-New You: Make 2006 the Healthiest Year of Your Life
By Jon Herring
This time last year, I was 25 pounds over my ideal weight. I didn't like the way I looked, and I wasn't happy with the way I felt. My skin was broken out. My mental clarity was diminished. And my energy waned in the afternoons. Not exactly how I wanted to feel at 34 (or at any age). So I decided to do something about it.
I began by turning my complete attention to several very specific short-term goals. (In my Health brief yesterday, I recommended that you do the same thing.) I intended to lose 20 pounds in six weeks, and then to drop the other five by March.
By February 15th, I had lost the 20 pounds. And before the 1st of March, I was my ideal weight for the first time in five years. In just a few weeks time, my body became lean and muscular, my skin cleared up, and my youthful energy and mental clarity were restored tenfold.
The best part is that I maintained that state of fitness (or better) for the entire year - and it was effortless. I never went on a "diet" or denied myself the pleasures of great food, and I didn't spend hours and hours working out.
Today, I'll tell you how I did it - and how you, too, can achieve all of your most important health and fitness goals.
Why Do You Want to Be Healthy?
What are you trying to accomplish for the long term? This is important. Your reason for wanting to be healthy has to be very powerful and compelling if it's going to keep you motivated to make the right choices and develop healthy habits.
My ultimate long-term health goal is simple: I want to enjoy a healthspan that is equal to my lifespan. In other words, I intend to remain strong, active, and mentally sharp until the day I die of natural causes. To do that, I will make the choices throughout my life that will help prevent the diseases that are largely related to lifestyle - like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Maybe your long-term goal is to maintain the strength and health to enjoy a long and active retirement. And/or to be around to watch the grandkids grow up. Perhaps you want to overcome a current health problem.
Considering your long-term health goals - and keeping in mind that those long-term objectives should tie in to your health goals for the year - focus now on what you will accomplish in the next six weeks.
Maybe your six-week goal is to lower your cholesterol without drugs ... or lose 10 pounds ... or stop smoking ... or break an addiction to sugar ... or show off a new six pack ... or just feel well again.
Make it something that is significant (to you), measurable, and challenging. And you must write it down. Don't worry about the rest of the year ... just concentrate on what you will accomplish by February 15th.
Bear down for the next six weeks, and you won't even think of stopping when you get there.
Contrary to what many people believe, "becoming healthy" does not have to involve drudgery, toil, and denial. You can still eat delicious meals when you're hungry. And you can work out less than 30 minutes a day, while maintaining an amazing state of health and fitness. Here's how to do it ...
The Way You Eat
The key is not to focus on what you can't eat, but to focus on eating more of the right foods ... whole fruits and vegetables, naturally raised lean meats and poultry, wild fish, eggs, fresh herbs, nuts, berries, seeds, and all-natural (preferably raw) dairy.
You should eat breakfast every morning, followed by another four or five snacks and small meals throughout the day. By "topping off the tank" every few hours, you won't be as likely to overeat. Frequent meals will also boost your metabolism, sending a message to your body that "the hunting is good" and making it a lot easier to burn fat. And, finally, eating frequent small meals will help balance your blood sugar, resulting in fewer food cravings, more mental clarity, and a better all-around mood.
If there is any "denial" involved, this is it: I encourage you to strictly limit the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates and starches you eat. Overconsumption of these foods will not only increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, it's also a direct route to the fat farm.
Eat too many simple carbs, and your metabolism will respond by storing fat and burning sugar for energy. To lose fat, you must convert your body to a fat-burning state by limiting the foods that convert rapidly to sugar. Without the excess glucose in your system, your body will create energy by breaking down fat instead of burning sugar.
This one simple change can produce effortless weight loss and a dramatic improvement in your energy, your mood, and your health.
The Way You Exercise
You are designed to be mobile and active, and without regular physical activity your body quickly begins to deteriorate. So, choose exercises that you enjoy, and make a commitment to do SOMETHING every single day - even if it is just a walk around the block or a few stretches before going to bed.
If your goal is to burn fat, as well as making an impact on your health, focus on the intensity of your exercise more than the duration. The best way I know to do that is to practice intervals. Intervals can be applied to any form of cardiovascular exercise, even walking.
The idea is to exert yourself at 70% - 80% of your maximum effort for a full minute or two. Then, while you continue to move, dial down your effort for a few minutes to recover. After a brief, active rest, raise the intensity again for a minute or two. Do this for seven or eight intervals and you're done. And you will have just completed a highly beneficial workout in less than 20 minutes.
In addition to exercises that build your heart and lung capacity, you should also do some form of resistance exercise (strength training). Resistance exercise will improve your appearance, increase the strength of your bones and muscles, and raise your metabolism (making it that much easier to burn off fat).
My favorite form of resistance training is bodyweight calisthenics. You don't need any special equipment and you can do these exercises anywhere. The best part is that you can improve your strength, balance, and flexibility and your cardiovascular conditioning all at the same time. Matt Furey, an occasional contributor to ETR, offers several products that show you how to perform a wide range of exercises suitable for any fitness level. I've used Matt's products and followed his suggestions, and I could not be happier with the results.
Make 2006 the Year You Finally Make It Happen
I urge you to make the strongest commitment to your health and fitness this year.
If you are already where you want to be with your weight and health and level of fitness, congratulations! Keep up the great work. But, if you are not, then this is YOUR year.
No matter what your age ... or prior bad habits ... or how overweight and unhealthy you might feel at the moment ... you can attain a peak level of health and fitness. And when you do, your thinking will be improved ... you will have more creativity and energy to pursue your goals ... you will feel more confident and in control of your life ... your relationships will be better ... your success will be an inspiration to others ... and you will gain the respect of those around you.
Make 2006 the year you finally make it happen!
Today's Resolution
Focus on February 15th. Take a few minutes to set several challenging, yet attainable health goals that you would like to accomplish in the next six weeks.
Choose to eat more of the foods that support your health and strength.
Choose exercises that you enjoy, and do something every day. And choose to exercise with greater intensity as opposed to greater duration.
Make these choices a habit and you'll feel a change within days. Within a week, you'll see the difference. And within a few months, you will find yourself staring in the mirror at a vision of health and fitness.
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If you are looking for a genuine chance to make a ton of money and retire early, this is one of the last entrepreneurial ventures left out there. It’s also one that you can realistically start earning income from in a matter of weeks.
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Notes From Michael Masterson's Journal: Airport Security
Almost everything about airport security is idiotic. The X-raying of shoes, the prohibition against cigarette lighters and cigar cutters, the puff machines, the random searches.
Today, a wizened (see Word to the Wise, below) old Palm Beach County airport cop dressed me down for leaving my bags "unattended" while I got myself a coffee. Rather than lug everything with me through the line, I like to put my things down on a chair that is within eyeshot of the self-service counter and get my coffee unbridled with personal crap.
That explanation didn't sit well with this crotchety fossil. He threatened to write me up, to detain me, to arrest me, even to "blow up" my bag. I wanted so much to tell him what a fool he was.
But you can't call foolery by its proper name these days. In the name of national security (whatever that is), we submit to dumb rules and dumbbell regulators ... even though we know very well that all of it put together doesn't amount to one little bit of extra safety.
Take this stupid rule about keeping your bags with you. The idea is to prevent some terrorist from planting a bomb in your suitcase. What we have learned about terrorists, however, is that they are perfectly willing to blow themselves up with their bombs. So they don't need to plant a bomb in some else's luggage. They can simply carry it on themselves.
Cigarette lighters aren't allowed on planes because they hold fuel. They are, to the minds of the people who write these regulations, little bombs. I wonder how many of them you'd have to "set off" to destroy a cloth napkin.
My favorite prohibited device is the cigar cutter - the kind that looks like a little plastic guillotine. The idea, in banning it, is not that it would be used to decapitate someone's (presumably, the terrorist's) finger ("Fly this 767 into that building or I will cut off my index finger!") but that it could be "disassembled" and the blade used as a weapon. I don't know what kind of damage you could do with a little blade like that - possibly cut off someone's suit jacket buttons.
Most people - travelers and security personnel both - know how silly all this is. The problem arises when you run into someone feebleminded enough to take the regulations seriously. Then you are in real danger - not from terrorists, of course, but from your protector.
- Michael Masterson
[Ed. Note: Tell us how you feel about airport "security" on the ETR Speak Out forum http://speakoutforum.com/forum/.]
It's Good to Know: How Consumers Rate Online Ads
The universally despised pop-up ads are on the way out - and not only because of the increasing use of technology to block them. Advertisers are finding that it's in their best interests to format their ads in ways that users consider to be less intrusive. From best to worst, here's the way consumers rank online ads:
1. Banner ads
2. Ads with video
3. Skyscraper ads
4. Ads with audio
5. Large rectangular or square ads
6. Out-of-frame/floating/overlay
7. Pop-under ads
8. Pop-in-between ads/interstitials
9. Pop-up ads
(Source: Dynamic Logic)
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The Easiest and Fastest Way to Make Quick Cash…
And I’ve Proven it Works Over 300 Times
Eight years ago, I had just come out of a failed restaurant venture, I was going through a divorce, and I had a negative net worth. I only knew two things – I had to do something and I had no money.
I took the plunge into what I saw as my safest and most immediately profitable opportunity. Within my first 8 weeks I made $14,000. Today I average $20,000 profit per deal. And I have proven this works over 300 times!
I'd like to tell you how you can take the same road… without the trial and error… and without missing out on the opportunities that are available right now...
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Word
to the Wise: Wizened
Something that is "wizened" (WIZ-und) is shriveled and dried up. The word is derived from the Old English "wisnian."
Example (as I used it today): "Today, a wizened old Palm Beach County airport cop dressed me down for leaving my bags 'unattended' while I got myself a coffee."
