I contend there’s no better city in the world in the summertime than Chicago. Kanye put it in a song, so it must be true. Though summertime Chi does coincide with construction season (if you’re not familiar, that’s any season that there isn’t still snow on the ground), summer is a pretty magical time here. … [Read more…]
It’s a funny thing: to write about the meaninglessness of words. On a blog. Using my words. But I stumbled upon a quote that seemed really profound. Essentially, our words are who we’d like to be, but our actions are who we are. I set some lofty goals for the second quarter of this year, … [Read more…]
The calendar invite notification chirped. There it sat in my mailbox. A 9:00 am meeting appointment for three days from now with my boss. No subject. No agenda. No explanation. Despite having just completed my summative evaluation where I earned the highest rankings, I automatically assumed I was about to be fired or transferred or … [Read more…]
I’m not sure what it is about time. Some moments, it feels like it’s crawling. Then, all of a sudden, you blink and almost half the year is gone. I started off the year with good intentions. Scratch that. I started with priorities. Rather than worry about where I’m headed or how far I still … [Read more…]
To say that I’m not sold on minimalism is an understatement. Maybe it’s not minimalism as a whole that I’m skeptical of. Just the kind that comes with a podcast and a really expensive travel bag for sale. But the idea of decluttering and being more intentional with what is allowed to take up space … [Read more…]
There’s perennial talk about the importance of goal setting in personal finance. SMART goals, checklists, apps abound. All of these posts and tools are designed to set people up for success. Looking ahead, though, I am not just interested in success. I’m looking to fail. Here’s why: Looking to Fail There’s real bravery and power … [Read more…]
“It looks like an advertisement, but don’t recycle this one.” That was all the email said. After checking my work mailbox, I realized exactly what the sender meant: the piece of paper looked like any other flyer from the wellness screening our work partners with forces us to utilize. But instead of some hoaky seasonal … [Read more…]
It’s here! The most sleepy day of the year. It isn’t just the day after the start of Daylight Savings Time that makes for a tricky morning, though. In fact, there isn’t a day on the calendar that I don’t feel like I could use a little more time. In that spirit, I thought I … [Read more…]
True to tradition, I will share my debt pay down numbers for 2017 in early January. While I’m eager to crunch the numbers, I wanted to start 2018 with a slight shift. Instead of emphasizing numbers right off the bat, I wanted to share my priorities for the new year, in addition to recapping some … [Read more…]
As a recovering perfectionist, it’s hard for me to admit this. I’ve failed. Again. For the past two months, I’ve attempted the #MinsGame Challenge as a way of confronting the clutter that continues to plague my closets and home. For the past two months, I’ve failed. In September, I failed spectacularly, in October, a little … [Read more…]