Musings: Quote Wednesdays…
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
Sometimes wandering is the best thing to do…it’s how you find yourself. I did it for a good few years consistently – travelling from here to there, there to here – for almost 2 years I lived practically out of a suitcase just travelling and discovering new places. Now I still travel – but I’ve found a place I can so far call “home” 😉
Wandering is simply discovering. Uncovering….and gaining knowledge. It’s a subconscious desire to question everything, know new places, and unearth new things. Try “wandering” a few times a year, and see how awesome it is.
Stay cool. 😉
Rego
Tag Archives: episodic musings of a quintessential entrepreneur
Musings Episode 25: Hate For No Reason…
So this weekend’s been kind of up and down for me…
At first I thought it was a joke, but now I’ve realized a person I once talked to, got along with, and really thought was cool people hates me.
Hates me.
….and I’ve no real idea why. I’ve considered just confronting them directly about it – but a few other friends of mine have advised against it. Yet I prefer getting to the bottom of things asap – no bars, no holding back, just straight talk. In situations like these it’s better to just shoot straight, get it over and done with.
Thing is, I don’t think the person has the guts to do it [openly state their hate] to my face. Which annoys me. If someone has the audacity to hate someone – and openly state it to others – but never directly say it to the person the negative energy is directed at – then that person is a coward.
In relation to social matters, I have one main philosophy – hate for no reason, is unwarranted hostility. I don’t do well at all with unwarranted hostility. I find it unnecessary, time consuming, and a bad channel for energy. I tend to give everyone a decent level of respect, and have these mental “respect meters” in my head….if a person starts hating me for no reason though, or unnecessary negative experiences are thrown my way – the meter drops….and in turn so does my opinion of the person.
If it drops below a certain point, I no longer find it necessary for that person – that negative energy, to be in my life. Plain and simple.
This got me wanting to write a bit about why hate for no reason – or hate in general, is something that should really be avoided. Dislike is inevitable at times – especially if there are valid, legitimate reasons…but disliking/hating someone without reasoning, is probably the worst thing you can do to another human being – not to mention yourself.
I’d like to touch on this lightly, as getting dark really isn’t my cup of tea. If I go dark I’ll only do it if the situation really calls for it.
So – hate. Why do people do it…? Why does it exist…? Why is it more frequent than it’s opposite, love?
it’s far easier to hate – but it takes far more energy. Energy that easily turns into negative energy. With enough focus on hate at the end of the day someone could render themselves sick – just by the way their energy has been focused.
Negative energy is a waste of time and effort. While without it we would never know it’s opposite – positive energy – at the same time after getting familiarized with it you’d think people would prefer to avoid it. It can knock you off course, make you less focused, and consume your thoughts.
If you regularly work out, it can actually lower your immune system thus hindering workouts and performance. This is why fitness consultants advise people to try and eliminate as much stress as humanly possible from their day to day lives. Stress, anger, sadness, any kind of negative emotion that releases LDLs and VLDLs (lipoproteins that create “bad” cholesterol) more often, and contribute to excess cholesterol levels increasing. Stress has a tendency to release the “fight or flight” adrenaline used when in a dangerous situation – it pumps out adrenaline when it’s not really called for or needed.
Stress and building up hate inside yourself isn’t the only thing that can actually transmit negative energy or “vibes” your way – but interestingly enough so can someone sitting and thinking on their resentment towards you. It’s what many people, both religious and non-religious, and some cultures recognize as the evil eye.
Remember that saying “if looks could kill?” it also ties in here. This is why some cultures believe if someone is having recent, frequent negative experiences go on in their lives it’s potentially from an outside source – a person or thing that has negative energy directed at them, thus causing chaos and confusion.
This is where silver owned signifying redemption or mercy, and talismans come in. Some also believe that any negative energy can be removed with the burning of sage, etc.
Energy, a lot of times is so overlooked. It’s what people in the 70’s called “vibes” – “you’re killing my vibe man,” really in effect meant one person could be making another feel a certain pulse of unwanted energy.
So when you think about it – this applies across the board.
When people are in romantic relationships, they feel desired, wanted, loved.
When people have good platonic friendships or great family support, they feel appreciated, needed, important.
….and when people are in conflicting situations or go through negative experiences they’re left feeling disrupted, uneasy, confused, on guard.
This is why it’s so important to filter or screen. Some people can, and will suck the life out of you. Chase Amante wrote a great article on this, about “psychic vampires.”
And really that’s what life is all about – going forward, getting better, and eliminating negative experiences.
When you walk down the street, you walk around or step over shit – not go through it. It’s as simple as that – anything negative in your life, you have complete control over whether or not to keep it there.
So let go, and continue making you a better you. Just like I’m doing it’s better to kick the feeling out of your system rather than let it sit there. It just takes a little will power – hence why every single being on this earth was given free will. Humans and only humans – no thing else.
Stay sharp.
– Rego
Musings Episode 25: Hate For No Reason… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
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- Dissipation of Energy (gillspeaks.com)
- Reinvention Tip #27: Hate is almost identical to love. (destinationreinvention.com)
Musings Episode 24: Do it Yourself….
Growing up I was taught independence.
Initiative.
Self sustaining habits.
The works, really.
There was a period where I was home schooled, for a short time – it helped me skip two grades and graduate grade school early. This taught self-discipline and time management, which helps me a lot today.
I know – I’ve been late in posting my musings the past two weeks – but only because I’ve been working on a BIG project that’s going to provide valuable and EPIC content for all my readers.
Those are the only two hints I can give right now – anything else and I’d spoil the surprise.
Now I’m not at all a micro-manager – no way. I believe in telling someone to get something done, then sitting back and watching them execute it. Only if they’re steering off the path in a major way do I intervene.
I like to give people flexibility to try different methods, new things, and alternate solutions. If a person finds a better, more efficient way of carrying out things – I look at that as time leverage.
As long as things are done properly, and in a timely matter, I’m not bothered much by the exact means in which the result was obtained – because there’s always more than one way to an answer or a destination.
What I don’t like is someone taking forever to decide on something then waiting until the last minute to drop the hammer.
This shows indecisiveness, and inability to make a snap decision independently.
There’s two character traits I mostly live my life by – independence, being the stronger of the two – and interdependence – something that I’ve learnt over the years through relationships, both platonic and romantic.
Since I was a kid I really had no problem doing things on my own, speaking out, or learning things on my own. Because of this, I also had no problem getting into the odd scuffle every now and again – if it was warranted.
There are huge benefits in doing things yourself – in certain circumstances. Other times it’s good to allocate things to other people if it pans out to be more time consuming or impractical than it’s really worth. To put it simply, it’s better to “outsource,” when the need calls.
A quick and easy example of this could be getting your car oil changed at a mechanic or doing it yourself.
The pros and cons?
Take it to the mechanic:
Pros – You don’t have to deal with doing it yourself and could be doing other things while your car is geting serviced.
Cons – They can throw any kind of cheap oil filter in there they choose to and they may not use the ideal oil type for the engine…thus inadvertently shortening your vehicle’s engine life. If you don’t have a second car you could be stuck sitting at the mech shop waiting for your vehicle anyway.
Doing it yourself:
Pros – You know what components are going into your car and can choose quality, for practically the same price. You learn a simple service enabling you to choose whether or not you want to outsource the task.
Cons – If you don’t have the tools (ratchet, washers, oil pan) you have to eat the initial investment. It’s a learning curve – whether or not you choose to conquer it is up to you.
Pros and cons of being a Do-it-yourselfer can be spread across any and all spectrums. The thing I like about doing things myself sometimes is the education – you can learn a lot if you just take the initiative and learn the basic structure of how things work.
Learning this could even mean just interacting with people from all aspects of life who specialize in various things – from mechanics to the art of conversation, a simple one-on-one conversation and genuine interest in someone’s talent can teach a person a lot.
Once you gain the insight though, don’t become a dick.
A lot of people extract information, apply it practically, and then forget exactly how they learned it in the first place. Every do-it-yourselfer is really just someone who’s studied their interests and gained insight from multiple sources.
However, the real and final learning process lies in execution, and executing well.
I’m not saying try and do everything yourself – not in the slightest…but every once in a while it’s good to have a go at something and see if you can conquer it.
Make it your business to learn or do something new at least once a week, and you’ll find you’ll develop more skills, gain more knowledge, and have more to talk about when interacting with other people.
I do, and it’s probably the best thing I’ve kept up in my life for a while. 😉
Stay awesome.
– Rego
Musings Episode 24: Do it Yourself…. is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
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- Musings Episode 23: Hesitation… (regoslife.com)
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Musings Episode 23: Hesitation…
Alright so as you’ve all noticed I’ve been pretty busy this week….yet within all that busyness it brought to my attention the topic of hesitation.
“Hesitation will kill you.”
Is a phrase I grew up learning. So…slowly as I got older, I consciously trained myself to hesitate less and less. Keep in mind – hesitation and thinking something through before doing it are not the same thing. They’re vastly different and have their own pros and cons – hesitation having more cons. For many, hesitation increases more as they age.
My thoughts on hesitation? Personally, I think it’s inefficient. There are times when it’s beneficial, yes, but for the most part it can hold a lot of people back from their dreams, goals, and going after what they really want…and really, that’s what life is all about – moving towards those things – not being afraid and just dipping your toe in the water.
Hesitation can make you stumble and falter, where thinking things through allows you to look at a situation from all angles. Both can have the same ending, however – if you take too long in thinking something through that’s just the same as hesitation – in fact, you could almost say taking too long to think things through could turn into hesitation – merely because of the fact you may over think, thus creating fear, and in turn hesitation.
Years ago, I was on a warpath with hesitation – I’ve always been driven and ambitious, and never too fond of things that hinder my ability to do more, see more, and be better. So hesitation and I…? We never really saw eye-to-eye. I made up my mind that whatever I did I would:
- Always look at the situation from all angles
- After assessing the situation, look at how it contributed to my life
- If it did indeed have potential to contribute to my life, take the leap and rarely look back
I won’t lie – there were some hiccups where I got burned from this method of thinking – but practice makes perfect, and mistakes are an education. So eventually I learned to assess situations more quickly and accurately, look at the even bigger picture, and then watch as hesitation slowly became non-existent.
She still stops by to visit every now and again – but usually I close the front door in her face 😉
What I’m trying to say is, it’s not hesitation you should encourage, because really, that only breeds fear – and fear, my friend, can kill a person. So if fear is really a sense of hesitation, and people as they age become more fearful, what does that mean…?
Is exactly what that means. Which is why I’m stressing it’s better to instead stop, and think. Both with your head, and your gut. Again – this is not hesitation – but situational assessment.
So if you’ve been wanting to launch your own business or website, assess all the angles and find the best path – but don’t hesitate. Things such as “someday I’ll do that,” “someday I’ll travel there,” “someday I’ll learn this,” are just cop-outs and excuses out of fear. That word “someday” is vague and noncommittal to goal setting, which really translates to “I’m too afraid of the possible outcome which is making me hesitant so I’ll probably never do it anyway.”
How will you ever know if something will turn out right/good/successful if you never even try? An outcome from an experience is better than no outcome at all due to lack of trying the experience.
100% effort with 75% success is better than 0% effort and %100 of “what if.”
Remember this, and slowly begin to work on yourself. As we age society tries to teach us that we become wiser – yet on the back hand it also tries to teach us that we become more frail, weak, unable to do different things – especially in old age. I think this is bollocks.
Ignore that whole mantra.
Choose when you get older.
Choose when you get wiser.
Make it your business to make yourself better.
Make it your business to eliminate fear.
Make it your business to be stronger, smarter, faster, richer, well-versed, travelled, literate, suave, and anything else you can possibly fathom.
Hesitation is something that whispers in your ear you may not be good enough.
It’s up to you to push it away, put your ear buds in, and walk on to the rhythm of your own beat, your own desires, and your own, better, ideal self-image. We came to this earth to achieve perfection, to be our best selves, and to experience all the good and epic things it has to offer.
Like I mentioned in one of my previous musings, anything we imagine exists – if it didn’t exists, we wouldn’t be able to imagine it. This is how society has grown so big today – this is how inventions were made. Imagination, fueled by full on fearlessness – no hesitation, no doubts, just persistence and realization of all possible angles.
When you can do that – when you can do something, without that churning, uneasy feeling in your stomach starting up – and instead go forward with a calm, warm feeling…you’ve beaten hesitation. You know what you want, when you want it, how you want things to go, and that you deserve every good idea that pops into your head.
Keep your eye on the ball 😉
– Rego
Musings Episode 23: Hesitation… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
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Musings Episode 22: College Life…
So I met up with a friend at a bar last night, and no more than five minutes as I walk in they’re explaining to one of their buddies how they’re taking an oath to quit drinking until December.
…………
…………………..
………………………………..
Yeah….sure.
Their reason….? They’re going for their Master’s degree. So they’re trying to “straighten up” during school time.
I don’t believe it’s all about just “straightening up” or being super hard on yourself.
I remember my university days….it was epic. Topics I liked. Classes I could take naps in. Great lounge bars I could go out to. Great pre-hangover places I could eat at…which lead to no hangover.
Mind you this was only in the second year.
The first year I was hell bent on studying – I’d done all my drinking/clubbing/partying a good while before I decided to attend university…and that in itself was a real education. So I was burnt out from all that.
I think the only downside to going to uni was the limited time I had available for travel…but even then not so much, because with a smooth tongue and a skill for writing I practically had money thrown at me to travel places for “educational purposes”. Taking up Rhetoric and Logic also played a big part in my high school days as well…
…that and learning to talk to practically everyone during my party days *nods*.
Don’t get me wrong – I learned a lot. I know far more about how businesses run in other countries than I would’ve ever known had I not tried my hand at such opportunities.
There’s a certain thing about college life. It’s a time freeze between not quite growing up and the real world. It’s both haze and fantasy – for those who go straight from high school to college, it seems like ultimate freedom…but for those who take a break from the academic world and then come back to it on a level such as university/college – it’s kind of a joke.
A joke as in, sometimes, more often than not, a person can often find themselves looking around at everyone who’s freaking out, getting drunk, acting out, doing completely moronic things and think “holy shit…is this all people think there is to life…?”
This too, is a joke…and if it were the truth – all my friends in England would’ve failed miserably instead of getting epic careers all over the fucking world. Nice try, extremist chart maker.
When you avoid the what I like to call “trap” of going straight from high school to college/university – some, if not a lot of, things get shifted into perspective.
First, you discover that there’s more to life than trying to fit into a group or become the hottest thing since hot apple pie.
Next, you discover that people outside of a close, concentrated academic environment exist – and guess what…? It’s not all about cliques.
Then, you discover how glad you were that you grew up with a mix of public, private, and homeschooling – because the real world is waaaay different than 12 solid years of being around the same damn people (thank God I dodged that bullet).
Alright, so everyone’s story is different, and maybe that last sentence only applies to a few – but that’s not my point. My point is, college life can teach you a lot about yourself – if you play your cards right.
Rule number 1: It’s not always about drinking.
Rule number 2: It’s not always about getting the top grade.
Rule number 3: It’s not always about following the herd.
Rule number 4: It’s no always about shying away from the herd.
For many, if they’ve never lived on their own before, college is more like a crash course – an easy, fluff version of a crash course, mind you, if mum and dad are still supporting you – but a crash course nonetheless.
I went to university in England…oh, and as a side note – I use college/university interchangeably throughout this whole post – due to the sole reason in the states, college is equivalent to university, BUT university in the UK is not equivalent to college – yet instead college is a precursor to uni. So it’s merely for the sake of grammatical relation across the board.
Right, so to continue….
I went to university in England – and I remember seeing students wait around for their student loans to come in…I remember the dialogues well – they were too funny not to.
“Aw man…I need my student loans like now…I’m totally skint from this month”
“What happened?”
“All the nights out…I’ve been at The Adelphi almost every night this week, too…plus me and a few mates went up to Blackpool last weekend…..but I’m gonna spend this one a bit better – I need groceries, new shoes, and I’ve gotta get a couple books I’ve not been able to find at the library.”
“Aww, that sucks. I’m in the same spot…and the pressure of my assessment being due right around the corner hasn’t been much help either. So hey – once you do get a top up how about we head over to Roper or Revolution? They’ve got drink specials going on.”
“Definitely, let’s go.”
The best part was when the deposit dates drew nearer, nearly everyone heard these sort of conversations, and when walking down the street you’d see the queue of students at the ATMs on campus around 8 o’ clock at night. I couldn’t help but laugh…not at them, more with them.
I used to be one of those students in that line. Not for the same reasons – not really pressed for cash in the usual way most of them were.
Not going to college right away was a sort of cheat sheet, for me at least…and it can, and should be, for a lot of other people.
For those of you that missed out or are about to miss out on that opportunity, however, let me shoot a few pointers your way….also PLEASE note – these pointers apply to ALL aspects of life…not just college/university. It’s a quick rundown, no more than 3 points, so don’t worry about settling in for a nap.
Managing your money is probably the first thing anyone should learn, no matter what age or what they’re doing, whether it’s schooling or career, business or just being a bum.
Drinking, is not as bad as everyone thinks – if done in moderation. For one, to an extent and with the right balance, it can open up entirely new ways of thinking….just look at all the great writers 😉
Anything’s beneficial in moderation. Except exercise – the sky’s the limit with exercise so there’s a benefit all the way. The key with drinking here though is to cut back a little on your nights out to just any old bar, and instead live like the Swedes – host house parties if you’ve got the space…the booze are less and you can use your money on other nights where the places are TOP quality, and nothing less.
Grocery shopping and what not isn’t as hard as many may think. It’s just what you eat that’s key. If you grab a good healthy cookbook, that uses a few consistent ingredients, you’ve got yourself a gold mine – which means more money to stash aside and reinvest, and more money to celebrate with because you picked a great handful of investments. So go ahead…step away from that pizza box and cup of ramen.
Grab a few solid credit cards, do NOT use them to spend stupidly – take your core bills, charge them off those credit cards according to category, and prepare to watch time leverage work in your favour….
just don’t forget to pay the bill, in full, and on time – as mentioned in my Musings Episode 19. Execute this properly and you’ll be rolling in dough.
Lastly, focusing intently on something and stressing out over it gets you nowhere.
Why? Because when you spend time running around focusing on “how is this going to get done, I’ve got this going on and this to do, the deadline’s this, the demands are that, yadda yadda yadda.”
No.
Stop the mental chatter…and focus on what’s good for you. First thing in the morning, get up to complete silence, and meditate. It doesn’t have to involve incense, it doesn’t have to involve a pray room, it doesn’t even have to involve focusing on the things that are priority. It just focuses on what’s good for you. What makes you tick, what makes you think, what makes you driven, and what makes you push forward. What makes your blood boil, what makes life life, for you.
That’s what needs to be focused on. The success will come and the anxiety will deaden, with minimal effort on your part, and a few small, simple solutions.
The thing here is to not lock onto all the issues in life – but lock onto the main things that you know will get you ahead, while having fun….then take those “issues” and try making Limoncello out of them 😉
Once you learn how to do this….
Then you’re in the right direction headed to the right track…and remember….
…so you know what to do.
Hope this helps…
– Rego
Musings Episode 22: College Life… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
Musings Episode 21: Get Organized…
Last week was crazy….and it doesn’t stop there, no, it continues onto this week. Long story short, I have a business associate I’m working with on trying to finish up a brand new, completely revamped commercial property, who is all over the board – no sense of organization or time allocation whatsoever…and it’s just about damn near driving me up the wall.
The project we’re both working on together, has been like molasses once it gets out of the bottle – initially, it trickles down slowly, reaching the spout – but once it does….it all comes out as if a landslide. Stopping it takes a bit of skill and you’ve gotta be quick enough to catch it all without spillage.
That’s pretty much the same thing I’m dealing with with the tasks at hand – it’s at the landslide part. Because of lack of organization in the beginning – everything, and I do mean everything is having to be done last minute. Now, if you were to hang out with me and get to know me on a week to week basis, over the years you would discover when it comes to business – or most things for that matter – one thing I absolutely despise is leaving things until the last minute.
It’s impractical. Leaves room for mistakes. Work gets sloppy, because things must be done in a rush and much faster. Things get forgotten, details overlooked, and in the end having to go back and correct/complete the overlooked/forgotten things actually just ends up creating more work, that takes more time.
Disorganization is not my friend.
Some people thrive in diving into a project where everyone’s flying by the seat of their pants. Others, like myself, don’t mind building a structured system to apply to a project that’s currently all over the board – but not often.
Getting organized really isn’t that hard. It just takes a few small simple steps on a day to day basis, until you can pretty much put everything on “auto pilot”. I’ve always liked the sound of that – maximizing time efficiency. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not at all a fan of things such as auto bill pay or cars that drive themselves.
I’m just one who appreciates shaving off a few minutes – even hours – here and there so I can enjoy the most of my day. It could be as simple as setting things out a certain way so I can breeze through my daily routine, or creating “systems” in my work to speed up the process of certain things. Even when I plan a great night out, I’ll have it laid out down to the minute detail – always of course, with room for flexibility. What I dislike, is when minds can’t be made up or large amounts of uncertainty.
Some things are made to where they seem more efficient but really end up being less so and take up more time. A good example of this is voice text – okay, so I get the basic concept and all, but honestly, has anyone really tried that shit out…? Even if you calibrate it to recognize the way you say certain words, it can still fuck up pretty bad. I’m a stickler for the smart phones with the Qwerty keyboards….like the LG Mach. At least if you make a mistake it’s purely your own grammatical error. Instead of…eh…I don’t know, implying you want someone’s grandpa dead.
….or implying you have a strange addiction to certain foods…
….or you know…just getting plain frustrated with the auto correct feature and not even being able to express said frustration.
Last one I swear.
The amount of time spent correcting mistakes made by the phone’s auto correct or voice recognition takes longer than banging out a simple text that just requires a bit of dexterity and finger work – today, I still have a Qwerty keypad phone for my personal use, and a regular “swype” keypad as one of my business phones.
But back to the main subject – being organized basically means putting a little bit of effort in day to day, so you don’t have one collective pile of stuff that’s been pushed aside coming back and slapping you in the face like an overwhelmed teen who just found out they’re pregnant.
The main thing here is to sort out the simplest things first, then work a structured plan and pace of action for the bigger fish you have to fry. Anything last minute has a bigger chance of going tits up…and and anything that’s “put aside” until later has a bigger chance of becoming unnecessarily overwhelming. If you try focusing on the biggest things first all the time, or worse, jumping from one project to the next simultaneously, you can potentially end up taxing your brain too much.
Wanna know how successful people really get things accomplished? They take more breaks. They stop multi-tasking….and the avoid bullshit time-consuming things, such as going back and forth with e-mails, instead of just picking up the goddamn phone.
There’s loads of ways that you can get organized. I may be elaborating on this in a later post. For now, this is more of a rant – I know, I’m usually not one to rant, but jesus christ disorganization is a pet peeve of mine…actually no – I don’t even want to call it a “pet.” It’s a pain in the bum.
Look out for this Thursday’s “For The Weekenders” post….I can guarantee I’ll be doing every single thing on the list…maybe even for a week…or three….thousand.
Stay cool.
– Rego
Musings Episode 21: Get Organized… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
Musings Episode 20: Early Retirement…
This past week I went out of town on business. The place I stayed in was great – beautiful beach front resort with all the bells and whistles – they pretty much won a Four Diamond award, if that’s not grounds to be impressed I don’t know what is. I’m talking about Costa d’ Este – if you haven’t been or are looking for a great place to holiday I highly recommend checking them out. Ask for an ocean view room, second floor.
So anyway, after a reluctant, late and drawn out night of “shooting the breeze” with business associates, I wake up incredibly hungover – pretty much facing up to the fact the gym will have to wait until the evening time. Yet besides the hangover, I feel great – and after grabbing a bottle of water, plop myself back into bed admiring the view.
Second floor view from my balcony.
I slowly start getting ready for the day, while listening to some chill sounds of bossa nova floating out of the in-room speakers they provide for your iPod…and when I finally am dressed, the pounding headache and insurmountable weakness from alcohol felt suddenly disappears – and the same feeling that’s always pushed me to do more and be better comes over me.
It’s the feeling of wanting more, wanting to see more, wanting to do more. It made me think of my retirement plans and how I’ve been slowly but surely building up to the ideal lifestyle I’ve had in mind for years. In experiencing all this, I wanted to share my thoughts and some discussions I’ve had regarding retirement – when I say retirement, it’s not at all what the typical meaning of it is nowadays. I’m not at all talking about going someplace nice to die once someone’s reached past the age of 65…because really when you think about it, that’s the type of retirement that’s been pitched for decades…and it’s downright depressing.
The kind of retirement I’m talking about is enjoying life now, and coming up with a way of having a consistent stream of income with minimal effort – automated practically. A lot of people raised on the standard society model deem this impossible and foolish. Even back in my university days I once had a (friendly) debate with a mate of mine who was a real penny pincher, and believed that he should be a miser so all the money he saved could be enjoyed when he turned 65.
Whenever I hear this type of logic I have a tendency to ask someone – what if they saved all that money then died the next day after they finally go to cash out? What would they have to account for it….? What could they say they did that was extraordinary with their life? What would they say they missed out on that they wished they did…?
Too often people are concerned about saving money for retirement, instead of saving money or utilizing credit in a sound way to build a business (see my Musings Episode 19) to where it pays you. Little do they know by the time you save that money, inflation’s already devalued it and you end up having less by the time your skin turns wrinkly. I want everyone to learn and understand that waiting until you get older is a played out method of thinking of things, and enjoying life in general. There’s no joy in going to pick up that sports car you wanted 30 years ago only to drive it slow as all get out because you’re older now.
Retirement doesn’t have to mean being over the hill and waiting until the beginning of the month for your pension check or social security – retirement can be right now – from mini holidays to treating yourself to something you’d usually steer clear of because “it’s the responsible thing to do”. I’m not saying go out there and blow your life savings on a Ferrari – that’s beyond stupid.
What I am saying is instead of planning for decades ahead, shift your focus instead towards creating an actual bucket list and starting with the simplest things to accomplish right now. If you already have a bucket list go over the things you set out to do and have accomplished, and work with it the same way – at least if you get the simplest things out of the way the bigger goals may seem like less of a challenge.
Early retirement doesn’t have to mean having all the money in the world – it can simply mean taking small steps towards your goals bit by bit. It doesn’t mean stop working all together – it simply means finding ways to check off certain things from that mental list you’ve always had. It means turning that mental list, into an actual hardcopy list.
The first place to start is imagination. It sounds childish – but really the main song that was ever so popular in the original Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory movie never rang so true. As we age, we’re taught that imagination is for kids, and that it’s time to face the real world and focus on real responsibilities. Yet no one every told us that if we continued to use our imagination, we could potentially and almost certainly come up with even better ways to take care of those responsibilities – hell, possibly even easier ways, no doubt.
I know that this may sound like a sort of rant but really it’s just a collection of thoughts I’ve had jumping around in my head for a while, that resurfaced into actual structured paragraphs and sentences since Vero. I want everyone to experience the great parts of life now, not later. There’s so much more to it than getting up and doing the same mundane process over and over, week in week out.
In the words of William Faulkner,
“It’s a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can’t eat for eight hours; he can’t drink for eight hours; he can’t make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.” – William Faulkner
While I believe that there are some things that a person can do for more than 8 hours (such as lounging on a boat 😉 ) this quote really hits home – there was something I used to say when I was a kid to my parents….
Why is it, that adults can make money to pay the bills, and adults can make it on time to their place of employment to do someone else’s work….but it’s so hard to find time for other things?
Sometimes I wonder if as humans some people get into a sort of lazy pattern…the “Who moved my cheese?” syndrome. More than likely people do – you see it everyday…but I don’t wanna focus on that – the main thing is, with enough effort, and enough energy, and enough outside-the-box thinking – I believe as humans we can have whatever we want.
It just takes some creativity. So exercise your mind – exercise your body. Join a sport. Check something of your bucket list. Don’t zone out to the daily doldrums of television – actually it’s a lot easier to live without TV than you may think – just this past month I gave up TV all together and now I only pay for telephone and internet. A) I don’t have the time for it, and B) it’s not worth giving time.
Because when you get to a point in life, where you want to watch your life unfold into something great – instead of vegging out and watching others – you’ll begin to play a whole different ball game.
Stay sharp.
– Rego
Musings Episode 20: Early Retirement… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
“Fix your eyes…
Musings: Quote Wednesdays…
“Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.” – William Ellery Channing
Probably one of my favorite quotes. This is why I say environment is key when pushing towards your goals. Be careful what you take in both aurally and visually – ergo constantly surround yourself with things that are related to and push you towards your ideal lifestyle.
Stay classy 😉
– Rego
Musings Episode 19: Turning Bills into Leverage….? The Ultimate Cheat Sheet Tip for People with New Credit
A lot of people shun new credit if someone’s in their early to mid 20s. Consider it weird…awkward….odd. As many may know, credit is a big thing in the United States of America. Not so much in the United Kingdom. So when someone wet behind the ears turns 18 – the first thing they (usually) get in the mail are a bunch of credit card offers – that’s how it was when I hit that age.
Though some things did change when Obama came into office and the biggest recession hit in 2008 since The Great Depression.
I remember when I got back to the states a few years ago, and decided to finally get into the loop of credit – but like I said – a LOT had changed then. On the one hand it was great – because it protected the less financially educated people who associated credit with consumerism – on the other hand, for the finance savvy counterparts such as myself, it made things far more difficult.
All sorts of questions were asked and statements made,
“How many lines of credit do you currently have?”
“Have you ever taken out any loans?”
“There’s no credit history of you anywhere.”
“If you don’t have any credit history we’re going to have to secure double (sometimes triple) the amount.”
“Why haven’t you gotten a credit card before?”
Question after question piled in, and after finally believing that I had no desire to really have credit cards, advice and suggestions followed.
“The fastest way to build your credit is to take out a loan…don’t pay it off early – pay it according to the payment plan until the very last installment.”
“Apply for a secure credit card – put your own money on it and borrow from yourself.”
“Get a few consumer cards under your belt – you know, places like Target, Macy’s, etc – spend and then pay the balance.”
The last one really made me laugh…firstly, because I’m not much of a consumer at all (especially not at those stores), and secondly, buying just to buy makes no sense to me. While the media pushes consumerism and teaches society to accumulate – I’ve always been one to take opposite advice – besides, I don’t like clutter.
The funny thing is, though minimal – I actually had credit history – just not in the USA, but instead abroad. So for me it was a little like starting from scratch all over again, except with far more jumps and hoops.
I finally got one decent credit card, from Capital One. Starting out, I mostly used it for gas and the occasional meal, and would pay off the balance weekly. This made my credit history with Capital One soar – not to mention one insanely awkward time where they “blocked” and held one of my payments – on account of me paying the balance down too rapidly – to which they heard the far less calmer, quiet version of Rego.
After that small hiccup, shortly after they offered me a credit line increase.
I kept at this, switching my payment methods to monthly, never with a minimum payment and always in full, until after a while combined with calling up and asking when the statement dates were, I had nearly two months available to pay the balance – interest free. On top of that I was getting free cash from them as well with cash back rewards.
Within 6 months, this doubled my credit score. While this was all fine and dandy, I wanted to accelerate the process even more – and then it hit me. I was gaining leverage of time, with money that was practically mine to use without worry of giving anything back in return – just on time payments. Forget consumerism. If I was getting time, to pay something almost two months later, interest-free, and making a percentage of my cash back – why not take it a step further and pay my monthly bills with it?
Mind you, things such as accommodation and utilities, I still paid off my own separate accounts…but things like telephone, internet, insurance, even business expenses, I could easily pay off of the charge cards – and did.
There were numerous reasons why this worked out to be in my best interest:
- Leverage of time
- Money I could use practically interest free without touching my own, for almost two months (which pretty much is the same thing as leverage of time)
- Cash earned on interest free credit I was using
- Better, more secure methods of paying bills – using a credit company if need arose to dispute a charge was far easier and resolved more quickly than with a debit card
- Ability to build a track record of using lines of credit and keeping them in good standing
Present day, I stick with three solid cards, and try to keep my balances below 33% – which is extraordinarily easy. So really, if people are taught to think of credit less as a consumer opportunity, and more of a business one – there are many ways to win – allowing a person to go after bigger fish, by building credit faster.
I’ll give you guys a good example of an excellent way to build your credit, keep the balances low, and leverage your time on payments made for your monthly bills. If you take 3 cards, and split them into categories – business, mandatory living expenses, and recurring leisure expenses – you can get your mind geared towards clearer, more strategic thinking – and take your way of seeing money to a new level.
So let’s say you used one card for business expenses – i.e. if you have a recurring monthly bill from Blue Host or Host Gator for a website you have – you can put that on the business card. Business trips where you’re buying gas? Business card.
How about mandatory living expenses? I say mandatory, because with the way the world operates today, this could easily apply to internet, telephone, and auto insurance – staple things like that. So you’ve got a recurring charge that comes out every month for auto insurance – then you put it on the living expenses card.
Pretty good at managing money but still can’t let go of that Pandora One or PlayStation Plus subscription? Go weak in the knees for Netflix? Alright – that’s fine, I’ve got a weakness for Pandora One too – so put it on the leisure expense card.
It’s all very simple. If you can start looking at credit lines and charge cards this way – you can have a great time all around – and literally be laughing all the way to the bank. Because paying a credit card bill won’t seem like a task anymore – but an advantage.
I’m seeing green.
Just remember these 4 key things:
- Always pay ON TIME
- Always pay IN FULL
- Always keep spending CATEGORIZED and SEPARATE
- Always keep the balance UNDER 33%
I know the last one may be hard starting out, especially if you’re given a very low line of credit, but keep at it and you’ll see that quickly change.
Stay savvy 😉
– Rego
Musings Episode 19: Turning Bills into Leverage….? The Ultimate Cheat Sheet Tip for People with New Credit is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
Related articles
- 3 Tips to Great Credit (bestcreditrepaircompanys.com)
- New students need to use credit cards with caution (q13fox.com)
- What Really Influences Your Credit Score? (metrobrokers.com)
Musings Episode 18: Appreciation…
This week has been pretty crazy. Crazy as in busy – the good kind…I’ve been working on a treatment for a screenplay I’ve had for a while now, and in working on it I came to think of a few things.
Gratitude…no – appreciation. Appreciation for one. Why…?
Looking back on the years gone by, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot that many people wait a lifetime to do. I’ve gained a lot of skills, seen a lot of places, done a lot of things, and have had my fair share of ups and downs. The latter has always been a learning experience, and everything else an adventure as well as an education.
If I had to go back and change anything – I don’t think I would. Sure, there was the occasional foolishness – but even that I don’t think I would change. So for this episode I’d really like to discuss appreciation and seeing the bigger picture in life.
As humans we’ve all come from different backgrounds and experienced different things, learned different ideologies and adopted new ones. We’re constantly evolving and while the evolutionary process may decline, it will never stop.
It’s in our blood. Everyday, one way or another, person to person does actions that lead to different “story lines”. We feel change – in our bodies, our minds…we feel it at our very fingertips.
Without change there would never be progression – stagnation is the mother of all failures. Continuing to move forward is the way to go – and whether we decide to or not, it happens without our will. One way or another it happens. As effortless as a blade of grass or the hair on our head grows, so too does change happen.
The key is finding appreciation in the change and seeking to be proactive at every chance. I’ve come across so many people over the years that wander through life aimlessly, without thought of how much they have to appreciate – and with a little effort how much more they could appreciate and be grateful for.
The main key in appreciation is never taking anything for granted. In doing travel photography and other mobile business ventures, I’ve lived in many well off countries, including one of the five richest countries in the world (Bermuda) – to the not so well off countries, where I’ve seen people live in poverty (Thailand). Conscienably when living in the latter, I couldn’t bring myself to stay there.
Doing photography in Thailand was one of the hardest things – to see a house of grandeur directly opposite a house made with a bare tin roof and poorly assembled wooden structure never settled well with me. My entire stay I struggled with taking my camera into my hands and doing a shoot. The people were great – I did it – but with difficulty…the shots came out well, but I still felt odd…
On the flip side, it made me appreciate more of what I had. In travelling I’ve also learned to be a minimalist. My desire for the biggest has declined over the years – and instead I seek things like location, styling, energy, “zen”, atmosphere, things to do, etc. Don’t get me wrong – I live quite comfortably and am not at all a fan of these new micro accommodations that have been popping up…yet I’m still a minimalist in many other facets.
I’m not really one to collect a lot of furniture – no…cluttered place cluttered mind. I prefer open floor plans. If I chose to get up and leave to travel non-stop for a full year – I could easily do so at the drop of a hat without having to worry about so many “things”…sure, I would still miss my place…
…because I appreciate it. From running my fingers along the walls to sitting for hours late at night with nothing but a glass of wine in one hand and the sound of music, while looking out from my balcony’s view, I appreciate every detail and even imperfection.
For a while I was in a “wandering” phase…not necessarily a negative thing, in fact it was a good thing…but for a while that “wandering” phase had me restless. Sleepless nights and the feeling of always needing to just GO. Do something, see some place, be somewhere, a wanderlust, you could say.
It was a bittersweet point in my life, being a perfectionist, I felt as if it was all I wanted yet not enough. Never enough. Then slowly, that changed. My thinking changed. Don’t get me wrong – I still have a tremendous desire to shoot for the stars and then some – but it’s no longer a gnawing, never-satisfied type desire. I still always want more – just in an entirely different sense.
I’m no longer as hard on myself as I used to be. I think of life more as a joke now. The present as a gift. There’s no tomorrow – because by the time tomorrow rolls around, it’s today. So I’ve learned to just keep moving forward – the only way the tomorrow a person wants doesn’t roll around is because they didn’t take the action now to make it happen.
I appreciate my proactivity – I suggest a person always appreciate any steps they take towards something – no matter how small. I appreciate everything from the cars I’ve driven, places lived, people met, clothing worn, places been, experiences had, determination felt, and things learnt.
So you’re probably wondering when I’m going to get to the point – exactly how should you show appreciation for everything in your life…? It’s quite simple really…and at times can be quite difficult to grasp, if you don’t keep your eye on the ball.
Appreciation is one of those things taken for granted. Many people never sit to stop and think of all the great things they have going on in their lives – the most basic example can be a cell phone. Sounds funny I know but, hear me out (no pun intended).
Before cell phones…there were two ways to get in contact with each other – I touched on this briefly in my “Musings Episode 14: Friends for Friends…or Friends for Money…?” – there was getting a phone call at home or calling someone on a payphone – or meeting up with them to talk. People don’t realize the ease and access they’ve been given today – but it’s used in the wrong way. At times, cell phones can cause a social disconnect….
…and this isn’t old fashioned thinking – this is really concept I want you to grasp. Let’s go for another example. Computers. Skype. Vonage. International Texting Plans. Me keeping in contact with the people I’ve met all over the world, with this technology, has been the most beneficial and amazing thing ever.
Before all this – it was pen pals. Waiting for weeks for a response back. Eagerly checking the mail. Day in…day out. The wait was longer but anticipation greater – we yearned for it. We appreciated it. Now, with this type of technology making things such as keeping in contact with a good friend more than 6000 miles away possible – let’s appreciate it more.
You get the general idea. The thought of appreciation can be applied to anything – food we eat, places we have accessability to shop at, entertainment venues we have to go to, sports we have to participate in – from a football/soccerball to a snowboard. Inventions.
Inventions.
Inventions fueled from creativity.
Creativity fueled from imagination.
Imagination kept alive from thinking on what already exists and how to make it better. Cooler. More enjoyable. The list goes on.
Appreciation is a state of mind. A feeling. A review of collective memories and thoughts. Mostly memories – it’s from looking back and looking currently at what we have, what we’ve done, what we’ve seen, where we’ve gone, who we’ve met….that we get that warm, fuzzy, comfortable feeling inside.
Appreciate the little things.
The big things.
The seemingly insignificant things.
…and everything in between.
Try it everyday – and realize how much you actually have. If it doesn’t seem like enough – push for more – if it seems like too much – say thank you…and don’t lose your head – stay cool.
I know I’m late in posting this – but to everyone who takes the time out to read my musings, my weekend posts, and my quotes – I appreciate you all…and when I write every post, I like to make sure there’s effort, and thought put into it – to where you can relate. Quality is key in my world – not quantity. Seriously.
Stay awesome and look out for my upcoming “For The Weekenders” post, this Saturday night.
– Rego
Musings Episode 18: Appreciation… is a post from and appeared first on Rego’s Life
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