Hello blog land!
Wow…It is almost the middle of April! 2015 is flying—we are more than a quarter of a way through it! Someone before I graduated college told me that life flies once you graduate. I am finding that to be true.
I know should be blogging on the topic of leadership but I really wanted to finish on March’s topic, life. In my first post, I addressed the four areas of life: financial, relationships, spiritual, and physical. I expanded on the topic of relationships. In this post, I will address financial, spiritual, and physical.
It is easy to relate the remaining three topics together. Personally, I have been trying to incorporate and improve in these 3 areas myself. When I first moved to Durham, a financial adviser was going door to door drumming up business and introduced me to the idea of investing. I knew I wanted my money to expand in the long run but I did not know how to do so. She invited me into her office and explained options available to me. Now, I am aware of my options and look forward to working with her in the near future so I can retire comfortably. :-)
Finances don’t have to limited to long term investments. I knew I wanted to save money for a rainy day fund but didn’t know where to start. One of my nursing professors told me about a former graduate who was just diagnosed with cancer and did not have enough savings to cover her medical expenses nor survive daily life. She advised me to save a portion of my paycheck—even it was just $10. When I started my career, I thought it would be easy to do. However, I found myself splurging on items because I was making more money than I ever had. When I met my boyfriend, he told me about a trick he does on his own to save money. He noticed that I outlined my bills each paycheck. He advised me to bill myself just like I owe a bill collector. That way, I can pay myself and save money. After I set a goal, I saw my rainy day fund increase and boy, has it came in handy.
The spiritual area in my life showed up on my doorstep as well. My best friend went to college in this area and told me about a church that had a large following. She knew about my spiritual journey and encouraged me to check out the church. Now that church is my church home where I was re-baptized and now serve on their medical ministry. On my door step, other members that I can talk about spiritual matters as well. I know I can call them and bounce off ideas concerning the different areas of my life.
At work, the one thing my co-workers notice about me is my physique. They wonder if I work out and what I eat to maintain my figure. The secret is an appropriate diet and to keep moving! Lately, I have found myself getting involved with what’s going on in the city food wise—both good and bad. The trick is—and which can be applied to both finance and spirit—is balance. Yes, you can eat the apple and have cake too. The way you will throw that balance off is if you are eating more cake than apples. Also, being active is about balance as well. I mentioned to my co-workers the other night about swimming and how I loved it and would like to be involved with lessons again. The point of mentioning that is to say: find that one exercise you enjoy and master it. By no means am I the next female Michael Phelps. However, I do not mind exploring the art of swimming and further developing my technique because it is what I enjoy and it burns the calories I have when I am enjoying that cupcake. ;-)
The best advice I could give you if you if you want to improve in any arena in your life is to start small. The key is once you start and you are starting small, it’ll be easier to stick to than overwhelming yourself with a massive undertaking. With money, I literally took cash and stashed it away. Spiritually, I listened to worship music and drove myself to church. Physically, I overcame the “black people don’t swim” stereotype and got into the water. Once you get start, keep at a slow but steady pace. Everyone knows the tortoise and hare story—the tortoise ALWAYS wins!
I would love to hear from you all on this topic. What ways do you want to improve in your life? What did you get out of this blog post? What tips/advice would you offer others?
Feel free to post on social media!
Three things:
1-My dad is coming to town! I’m excited to see him!
2-I got most of my weekends off this month. I am looking forward to enjoying them with trips and new adventures.
3-My upcoming debut as charge nurse. More of than in the next few blog posts.
Love to you all!
Barbara <3
Wow…It is almost the middle of April! 2015 is flying—we are more than a quarter of a way through it! Someone before I graduated college told me that life flies once you graduate. I am finding that to be true.
I know should be blogging on the topic of leadership but I really wanted to finish on March’s topic, life. In my first post, I addressed the four areas of life: financial, relationships, spiritual, and physical. I expanded on the topic of relationships. In this post, I will address financial, spiritual, and physical.
It is easy to relate the remaining three topics together. Personally, I have been trying to incorporate and improve in these 3 areas myself. When I first moved to Durham, a financial adviser was going door to door drumming up business and introduced me to the idea of investing. I knew I wanted my money to expand in the long run but I did not know how to do so. She invited me into her office and explained options available to me. Now, I am aware of my options and look forward to working with her in the near future so I can retire comfortably. :-)
Finances don’t have to limited to long term investments. I knew I wanted to save money for a rainy day fund but didn’t know where to start. One of my nursing professors told me about a former graduate who was just diagnosed with cancer and did not have enough savings to cover her medical expenses nor survive daily life. She advised me to save a portion of my paycheck—even it was just $10. When I started my career, I thought it would be easy to do. However, I found myself splurging on items because I was making more money than I ever had. When I met my boyfriend, he told me about a trick he does on his own to save money. He noticed that I outlined my bills each paycheck. He advised me to bill myself just like I owe a bill collector. That way, I can pay myself and save money. After I set a goal, I saw my rainy day fund increase and boy, has it came in handy.
The spiritual area in my life showed up on my doorstep as well. My best friend went to college in this area and told me about a church that had a large following. She knew about my spiritual journey and encouraged me to check out the church. Now that church is my church home where I was re-baptized and now serve on their medical ministry. On my door step, other members that I can talk about spiritual matters as well. I know I can call them and bounce off ideas concerning the different areas of my life.
At work, the one thing my co-workers notice about me is my physique. They wonder if I work out and what I eat to maintain my figure. The secret is an appropriate diet and to keep moving! Lately, I have found myself getting involved with what’s going on in the city food wise—both good and bad. The trick is—and which can be applied to both finance and spirit—is balance. Yes, you can eat the apple and have cake too. The way you will throw that balance off is if you are eating more cake than apples. Also, being active is about balance as well. I mentioned to my co-workers the other night about swimming and how I loved it and would like to be involved with lessons again. The point of mentioning that is to say: find that one exercise you enjoy and master it. By no means am I the next female Michael Phelps. However, I do not mind exploring the art of swimming and further developing my technique because it is what I enjoy and it burns the calories I have when I am enjoying that cupcake. ;-)
The best advice I could give you if you if you want to improve in any arena in your life is to start small. The key is once you start and you are starting small, it’ll be easier to stick to than overwhelming yourself with a massive undertaking. With money, I literally took cash and stashed it away. Spiritually, I listened to worship music and drove myself to church. Physically, I overcame the “black people don’t swim” stereotype and got into the water. Once you get start, keep at a slow but steady pace. Everyone knows the tortoise and hare story—the tortoise ALWAYS wins!
I would love to hear from you all on this topic. What ways do you want to improve in your life? What did you get out of this blog post? What tips/advice would you offer others?
Feel free to post on social media!
Three things:
1-My dad is coming to town! I’m excited to see him!
2-I got most of my weekends off this month. I am looking forward to enjoying them with trips and new adventures.
3-My upcoming debut as charge nurse. More of than in the next few blog posts.
Love to you all!
Barbara <3
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