Life Skills
Information to enhance life skills.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE
Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three R's: respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
The Dalai Lama
GOOD KARMA
The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron
This book presents a 12-week program for getting in touch with the inner artist and unlocking your creative potential. The book suggests writing “morning pages” to clear the mental pallette, so that you can start each day fresh, and a weekly “artist’s date” to rejuvenate your soul. There is a chapter to read each week, and wonderful, practical exercises for self-discovery.
The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz
This book really makes you think about society’s conditioning, and gives advice on how to deprogram your thinking so you can be happy all the time. The four agreements are: “Be impeccable with your word”, “Don’t take anything personally”, “Don’t make assumptions”, and “Always do your best”.
The Art of Worldly Wisdom, by Balthasar Gracian, translated by Joseph Jacobs
The amazing thing about this book is that it was originally written in 1637 (by a Jesuit scholar), and the 300 maxims for living in the world are still true today. For example: “Things pass for what they seem, not for what they are. Few see inside, many get attached to appearances. It is not enough to be right if your actions look false and ill.”
The Game of Life and How to Play It, by Florence Scovel Shinn
A very powerful book about how to attract what you want in life. It was written in the 1920’s by a popular metaphysician of that time. The wisdom in this book is still applicable today.
Rules of Civility, The 110 Precepts that Guided Our First President in War and Peace, edited with commentary by Richard Brookhiser
These are rules George Washington copied into a little notebook as a young man. Some seem quaint, but they’re interesting and give insight into the man and the times in which he learned and lived.
CALCULATORS
The Choose to Save website, a product of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, has tips on saving for retirement and a “calculators” page with calculators for just about anything financial you can think of. The page has calculators for “how much am I spending”, “how much will it cost to raise a child”, “what will it take to become a millionaire”, and many more finance-related questions. A link to the site is provided at the bottom of this page.
www.choosetosave.org/calculators/
The Richest Man in Babylon, by George S. Clason
Practical advice on ensuring your financial future. Told as a parable, very easy to read, and all you need to know to learn the art of accumulating wealth.
If you have comments, or would like to contribute information to this site, please send an email to wisdomtoshare@kittyco.net.
Choose to Save financial calculators
www.choosetosave.org/calculators/
All about mortgages
www.mtgprofessor.com/
Simplify Your Life, 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter, by Elaine St. James
This little book offers 100 ways to free up space and time so that you can enjoy life more fully. Two ways that really made a difference for me were: “84. Just say no” (don’t accept social invitations you aren’t interested in), and “22. Build a simple wardrobe” (pick a simple, classic style that looks good on you and stick with it). Other examples: “86. Resign from any organizations whose meetings you dread,” and “75. If it’s not working, stop doing it”.
Money Habitudes
www.moneyhabitudes.com
OTHER LINKS:
AFFILIATE LINKS:
amazon.com
National “do not call” registry
www.donotcall.gov/
Consumer assistance site
dmaconsumers.org/
COLIN POWELL’S
13 RULES TO LIVE BY
1. It ain't as bad as you think.
It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so
close to your position that,
when your position falls,
your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose.
You may get it.
6 Don't let adverse facts stand
in the way of a good decision.
7. You can't make someone
else's choices. You shouldn't
let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10 Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don't take counsel of your
fears or nay sayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a
force multiplier.
will
insurance policies
contracts
deeds
stocks and bonds
passports”
social security cards
immunization records
bank account numbers
credit card account numbers
inventory of valuable household goods
important telephone numbers
family records
(birth, marriage, death certificates)
Glimpses from the Inside,
Reflections on life by a prisoner at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, Elizabeth Haysom
www.fluvannareview.com/columns_glimpses.aspx
Money Habitudes Cards, by Syble Solomon
Get in touch with how you relate to money and improve the choices you make. The money habitude cards are a fun and useful tool.
www.moneyhabitudes.com
Power Thought Cards, by Louise L. Hay
Start your day with these powerfully positive thoughts.
HOW TO MAKE A TREASURE MAP
A treasure map is a picture to remind you of your goals. It’s also referred to as a dream board. There are lots of different ways to make a treasure map. Here’s mine:
1. Write a letter to a long-lost friend dated ten years from today.
2. In your letter, describe all the wonderful things that have happened to you over the last ten years. The letter is a fantasy and the events you describe should be bigger than your wildest dreams.
3. Get a piece of poster board, 11 “ x 15”, a pair of scissors, a glue stick and several old magazines.
4. With your letter in the back of your mind, go through the magazines and cut out pictures, words and phrases that appeal to you.
5. Arrange them on the poster board and glue them into place.
6. You can make a reduced copy of your treasure map at Kinkos, laminate it and hang it on your refrigerator or carry it around with you.
A friend of mine invites friends to her house every New Year’s Eve to make new treasure maps for the coming year.
Sample Letter
February 1, 2017
I have finally achieved financial independence. My mortgages are paid and I own several ground floor apartments at AuburnVillage. I also own the warehouse at Bremo Bluff (now an art gallery).
I have been successful in my campaign to bring back the railroads along the Scottsville - Richmond corridor. There is now a new depot at Bremo and a little grocery store. I also acquired some bottom land and have built a nice cabana and floating dock where I host occasional concerts.
My business is booming. Nutshell Press is a concept whose time has arrived. I love packaging information, especially with a team of researchers behind me. This is my main source of income - quite a chunk - and there is an entire industry that has grown around it.
I've had amazing success combining healing with astral travel. I've also been developing my art and clairvoyant abilities.
I'm especially proud of my inventions that have made a difference to so many people in every day life. The royalties are nice too.
My registry of sacred places has spawned a new organization with amazing grass-roots support. We now have a huge map showing all the places and have a new nationally-recognized symbol. We are also working on laws to require extra steps before places on the registry can be developed.
I have been eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and living a healthier life and I have energy to spare. I have an interesting group of friends and one special one I truly enjoy.
Another page, suggested by Emily Hill, features over one hundred financial calculators. www.mortgageloan.com/calculator/
Mortgage calculators
www.mortgageloan.com/calculator/
Debt advice site
www.moneymanagement.org/
Legal forms for sale
www.nolo.com
Credit reports
www.annualcreditreport.com
Consumer Reports
www.consumerreports.org
Kiplinger tools and quizzes
www.kiplinger.com/
IMPORTANT FAMILY DOCUMENTS
FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP
This site provides exercises for finding your passion and the work you love. A stated mission (my interpretation) is to change the world by increasing the happiness of the people in it.
www.manifestyourpotential.com
The Magic Lamp - Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals, by Keith Ellis
This little book turns goal-setting into identifying what you wish for, and gives a process for making your wishes come true. I think the best part of the book is the segment on setting priorities and figuring out what your true priorities are.
Taming Your Gremlin, by Rick Carson
”A surprisingly simple method for getting out of your own way.
From Today Matters, by John C. Maxwell
Dear Lord,
So far today, I am doing all right. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent. I have not whined, cursed, or eaten any chocolate.
However, I am going to get out of bed in a few minutes, and I will need a lot more help after that. Amen.
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