Identify Your Anchor

What would you love to be rid of by New Year's Eve next year?

What is slowing you down or getting in your way? Draw a bullseye on it in your mind and start looking for ways to purge it from your life. What's the first thing you can do to chip away at it or minimize its impact on you? Write that thing down on your planner on the first day where you have a free hour. Do it.

Comments

[Dinah]

For me, this has often been debt, but sometimes it's also been an unsatisfactory work or living arrangement.

Some ideas for that first action to start you moving towards the change you want:

- to conquer debt, take your charge cards out of your wallet and secure them at home. Wait 24 or more hours before making non-essential purchases. Start paying more than the minimum due on the bill.

- to increase your savings, set up an automatic transfer from your checking to your savings account to take place the day after you get paid (and if you haven't done it already, set up direct deposit of your paycheck). Note: if your company has a 401k retirement program, look into whether they match funds; it's the most simple way to give yourself a raise.

- to get a better job, update your resume. Then you can start searching for an opportunity and perhaps spreading the word among friends about what you're seeking.

- to get a better place to live, write down your minimum requirements and your nice-to-have's. Take a good hard look at your budget and see what you can really afford. Start saving (see above) for that first month & security deposit.

- to get rid of a bad habit, spend an hour or two researching different methods of quitting and try to find one with a high success rate that sounds like it will work well for you. Google "how I quit smoking" (or whatever habit you're targeting).

- to lose weight, eat better, eat less and exercise more. Start by not buying any soft drinks, donuts or potato chips the next time you shop and instead getting 8 servings each of fruit and vegetables you like. And find one place in your daily routine where you can increase your activity, for example, by taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

[Edward Vielmetti]

The one big lump of stuff I want to get rid of sooner rather than later is our old car. We got a newer one last year, and rather than trade it in or dispose of it right away we kept it.

Sitting.

In our driveway, undrivable because the battery was dead.

Now it has a new battery, and it starts and runs OK but rough. I'm going to take it to the corner garage to get it back into running condition (or to figure out that it is undrivable in which case it will get donated pronto.)