I love words. It’s sometimes weird electing to spend all of my virtual free time in a world that values numbers when it is really words that speak to me. But when I look back at my progress this year, I have a confession to make: The numbers make a difference. I used to be … [Read more…]
What are you waiting for? Start now. There’s no reason not to. If you’re anything like me, you might have a handful of legitimate reasons why you can’t charge full throttle at every dream, both big and small, that you have right now. You’re don’t want to shortchange your students or your colleagues. You are … [Read more…]
$140. That’s how far we went over our budget last month. In just one category. As far as our budgets go, it was a bloodbath. It was also proof that if I give myself an inch financially, I’ll take a mile. Or at least a few hundred dollars. Rather than wring my hands or cry … [Read more…]
There’s a dirty little lie in the personal finance world. Fine. It’s not a lie. But it’s not the universal truth that it’s held up to be either. “You can always make more money.” Can you really? Can I?
“Maybe we should just give up.” A blank stare greeted me. “OK. Not give up, but we could just push a really big pause button for the next five or ten years.” I got no reaction. Instead, silence hung in the air. Finally, something. “If that’s what you want. But I know that’s not what … [Read more…]
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…]