Personal & Professional Growth Tips [I]

Lots of fabulous life experience, relationships and counseling has brought me to compile some insight for others wondering why their life isn't up to par. I'm only 25, so feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt, if you feel that you know better. The links inside this article will take you to professionals that I have the utmost respect for and whom have great reviews from fellow Bizniks. Consider them a personal referral in a network built on honesty, integrity and trust. Though, I always suggest doing your own research before making any financial commitments. 1. Look inside yourself for love, compassion and affirmation. You are your best support system. No one else is going to treat you the way you should be treated. No matter how much you love someone else, they love you, or how much you give to others, or they give to you, you are the only one who can truly satisfy your needs. Other people help to create a support system and can help you deal with emotional, financial, or physical situations better than simply being alone most of the time, but ultimately you are the one that has to make the final decisions on the outcomes. It's you who will make or break yourself by how you treat yourself and how much you do or don't love yourself. So, break out a mirror, be honest with yourself and start reaffirming your love! If you feel you need some help with this, I would suggest speaking with an <a href="/members/rachel-whalley">intuitive therapist</a> who will make the journey a little less painful. 2. No one is just going to hand you what you want. Save yourself some trouble and expect absolutely nothing to be given to you free of charge or without strings attached. This is a really hard lesson to learn. Depending on the way we were raised as children, we were taught that others may provide us with things we need without asking. Eventually we come to expect that food, money, clothing, and whatever else we require will be automatically provided. If you were able to grow out of that and live on your own means, you recoded yourself to know that now you were the provider and everything then relied on you and you alone. Some of us don't progress past a certain mindset. Those who remain childlike in this aspect keep waiting for someone to rescue them. Usually these individuals have a very hard time with money and holding onto it, or even desiring to make it in the first place. If you find yourself in this position, surround yourself with materials and people who will <a href="/members/rachel-whalley">counsel you emotionally</a> and <a href="/members/budy-djunaedi">tangibly</a> on how to manage your expectations and your finances. It is all about self-worth and responsibility. It will take time to bring that part of you up to speed, but you will find a new sense of worth and you will learn to greater appreciate and value what you do have, as well as what you can accomplish. 3. Avoid greedy, money hungry or broke people. I know this may sound petty, surface, and maybe even a tad shallow, but hear me out. If two people are not on an even playing field, someone is going to have to make concessions and more than likely it will be the person with more financial independence. I have been on both sides of this one and I will tell you that it is not pretty! It starts out fine, whether it be friends, family, or business. Maybe you front some goods, events, or services and you are glad to do it. The relationship is great and you don't feel resentful in any way. After a while what seemed like a few times turns into a habit of the other person simply expecting that you will continue to do what you have done before -- and you do, because now you feel compelled to follow the pattern. Eventually this situation breeds resentment. First from you who is footing the cost of the relationship, then from the other person who senses that resentment -- or who now feels the burden of having to cover what you used to, if you tried backing away from your routine. For personal relationships it's best not to ever start this pattern, because more than likely you won't be able to salvage it once the damage is done. For business, it's always best to have a contract [especially with barters], as things can easily get out of hand if you find out the person you are working with fits this description. 4. Know where your money is coming from, going to, and how it is growing. Your livelihood, as well as your business' well-being is entirely dependent upon how much money you can have available at any given time. How can you pay next month's bills, if you don't know where the money will come from? Create a schedule so you know what you having coming in and going out. Look into legitimate ways to create passive income and/or stable revenue streams. Talk with a <a href="/members/judith-stephens-mba">money strategist</a> if you are bad with research or follow through, so they can help keep you on a safe path towards retirement funds. If you are good with research and numbers, check out investing in conservative mutual funds that reap decent returns over extended periods of time (10, 20, 30 years). You'll want to setup your own IRA and invest the maximum possible every year, so that you can take advantage of tax breaks -- and later, the possibility of using some of it to purchase your first home. Utilize an <a href="/members/angela-halsey">amazing bookkeeper</a> to help you organize your paperwork and make sense of it all. Talk with a <a href="/members/audrey-godwin-cpa">knowledgeable CPA</a> who really knows how to work the tax system, so you can get your money's worth out of your investments. 5. Get a good lawyer! If you are in business for yourself, find a reliable, fair priced, <a href="/members/valerie-farris">ethical attorney</a> who specializes in your type of company. There are those who specialize in tax/government, small business, creative (music, art), and a whole host of categories. Find one that speaks to what you do and who does it well. Place a minimum of $5,000 in a trust account with them -- hence why you need to make sure they are ethical! -- and start working on creating solid contracts/agreements for your company. The initial investment may seem high, but when you are dealing with thousands of dollars on the table in typical business transactions, you had better be covered with a good contract, or one bad client and you could be cleaned out in a heartbeat. Which leads to the next tip.. 6. Get some liability insurance. If you are working with a large client base chances are you have already had a run in or two with a client you could not satisfy (see tip #3!). You might have refunded them their money and took a loss just to get rid of them. Maybe they threatened to sue you. Maybe they intimidated you into giving them extra services for free. Whatever ordeal you went through you probably held your breath and waited for the storm to pass. Then you exhaled a sigh of relief when it was over and chalked it up to a loss, but you didn't put anything in place to save you from the next storm. Yes, you were lucky that they didn't find a way to take you to court or rip you off even more, but luck only lasts so long. If you aren't already a Limited Liability Company, I sincerely recommend looking into becoming one. Did you know that a client could drag you through a long court battle that could cost you not only your business, but your home, car and financial reserves? Becoming an LLC will greatly minimize that threat and allow you to keep personal belongings outside of the business ramifications. Also, if you see clients on your property, having an insurance rider for your business doesn't hurt either. Please comment, if you like these tips. If you do, I would like to know so I can publish some more. =) 2008-09-02T10:53:13Z

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personal-professional-growth-tips-i

2008-09-02T18:31:00Z

Everything from loving yourself to hiring an attorney. Lots of fabulous life experience, relationships and counseling has brought me to compile some insight for others wondering why their life isn't up to par.

Personal & Professional Growth Tips [I]

2009-02-24T09:45:49Z