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The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

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Are you in control?

“They used to call me valued customer, now they are sending me hate mail.”

Becky Bloomwood Confessions of a Shopaholic

Every year, 1½ million Americans file for bankruptcy.

Imagine a widow with infant triplets who renews her health insurance policy the minute her old policy expires. She can't get an internet connection, and she doesn't want to risk being uninsured, so she gets up from the chair, only to trip over the power cord and fall headfirst onto a hardwood floor. She breaks 8 teeth and dislodges her lower vertebrae, requiring tens of thousands of dollars of dental work, surgery and rehab. She works as a model, so now she can't draw a paycheck for the year. Two years ago, her husband died when he happened to be driving along a faultline as an 8.0 earthquake hit, so his life insurance didn't pay out because it was an Act of God. The triplets' grandparents all live in the Czech Republic, and the woman lives on a ranch in southern Oregon, miles from any neighbor who could help her get back on her feet. So she declares bankruptcy.

How many of last year's bankruptcy claimants have similar stories, and how many bought too much junk on credit and never bothered to budget?

This might not sound kind, but most people in bad financial straits are there because they chose to be. Not in the sense that they said “I can't wait to be broke,” but in that when they were buying cars with 8.9% financing and spending $100 a week on cigarettes, they didn't think about where it would inevitably lead.

No one wants to die in a car accident, but if you drive through enough stop signs while talking on the phone, you can't be surprised if it happens. (Of course you can't be surprised, the part of your brain that senses surprise[1] is now on the asphalt next to your cerebrum and your hippocampus.)

Personal responsibility is neither quaint nor outmoded. When enough people fail to exercise it, it leads to macroeconomic calamity. Of all the financial disasters of the last few years – the subprime mortgage crisis, the monster budget deficit, the stock market losing half its value, centuries-old investment banks going out of business – every last one happened because people who could have taken responsibility for their money chose to do something else instead.

"People tell you life is short. Life is long. Especially if you make the wrong decisions."

-Chris Rock

Come check out Control Your Cash for one reason: your relationship with money is almost certainly dysfunctional. You don’t know what you don’t know, probably because nobody ever taught you.

Join, read, comment, share ideas. You can stop letting money act on you – and actually take charge of it.

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[1] The amygdala, if you care.

I meant to do that

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

Lewis Carroll

Imagine you’re sitting in an airplane. The captain gets on the intercom and says: “Folks, we’re 2nd in line for takeoff. Where would you like to go?”

If your perfect life is the destination, don’t you want to get there as quickly, easily and cheaply as possible? Maybe you can do so without creating a business plan, but I can’t imagine how. A plan will help you make better and faster decisions, decide how you spend your money or time and track your progress.

Start now.

“A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

General George S. Patton

Complete your annual plan by November so that you can relax and sit on your plan for a month or so before executing it. Review (and revise if needed) your progress quarterly. This is not a New Year’s resolution to be enacted in January and discarded by February. This is an action plan that will get you to your biggest life goals.

It’s time to focus your energy onto your goals and dreams. Find a place with trees and fresh air where you can concentrate on your future.

There are myriad ways to create your plan and they all start with a vision.

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

Hannibal Smith-The A-Team

What do you want to do, be or have in 2-5 years?

What motivates you to jump out of bed in the morning, or work late into the night?

Your vision must be:

Specific- What will it look like once you’ve reached your goal? Where will you live? What will you do each day? Who will your friends, neighbors or co-workers be?

Vivid- Realism is the key to visualization so use all of your senses when describing your goal. The goal is to make your mind believe your future outcome is happening now. With consistent visualization, your mind accepts the image of success and suddenly you're seeing inspiration and opportunity everywhere.

Compelling-How will your life (or the lives of your family members) improve once you’ve achieved your goal?

Desirable-Is this your dream or only something you think you should want? The more you want the outcome, the more likely it is you’ll achieve it. If your goal isn’t compelling, you’ll quit at the first sign of trouble.

Realistic-Do you have enough time, energy and support to reach your goal? Have others done it before? If it’s been done, there’s a proven strategy to do it, you just have to find it.

Focused- Instead of creating a to-do list, concentrate your energy on accomplishing up to 3 bigger goals.

Flexible-There are lots of ways to get to your outcome. If your goal is to provide your son with an Ivy League education instead of concentrating on just one way to get there (saving lots of money), brainstorm all the ways you could make it happen (scholarships, part-time work, etc.)

Easy to communicate- Can you describe your end result concisely in terms anyone can understand?

Close your eyes and imagine your future.

Having trouble visualizing?

Look for someone who’s already achieved your goal. What does that person’s life look like? Draw, paint a picture, or write a story as if you’re reporting on your future self. Then distill that scene, picture or story into your vision statement.

Once you’ve articulated your vision, make it real.

Step 1: Writing your goal down makes it tangible and on those days when you’re frustrated or unfocused, you can look at what you’ve written and get back on track.

The more accountable you are, the more likely it is you’ll achieve your goal. Find an accountability partner who’s committed to her own goals. Better yet, find someone who already attained your goal. Tell that person your goals and ask for help in keeping your commitments.

Step 2: Determine what it will take to get there. What skills, knowledge and resources will you need?

If you want to live in France, you’ll need to learn French (skill), find a place to live (knowledge) and save money (resources.)

Step 3: Break each task down into short-term goals you can accomplish in 1,2 or 3 months.

“Set your goals high and don't stop until you get there”

Bo Jackson

Write down your top 5 values in order. If your goal conflicts with your values, you’ll never achieve it.

If you’re not sure what constitutes a value, this list can help. When you commit to your values and have written goals, choosing between competing demands gets easier. As does making decisions.

Sally’s top value is family, followed by financial independence. A single mother with 2 kids, she’s been offered a job that doubles her salary but requires her to leave town every weekend. She has to either decline the job, or rerank her values.

Acknowledging your values, prioritize your short-term goals. Your goals should have a deadline as well as a tangible, measurable end-result. Set goals that are tough but realistic to achieve.

In On Writing, Stephen King compares writing to telepathy. Even though he writes every novel, short story, and magazine article in a certain place and at a certain time, you can be miles and decades away and still receive his communication clearly.

If writing is telepathy, planning and envisioning are clairvoyance. Planning your tomorrow today will bring your vision of the future to fruition.

Sample Plan

Values:

Financial Independence

Adventure

Passion

Knowledge

Respect

Vision:

In 5 years I’ll be living throughout Western Europe, learning to cook local cuisine.

Long-term goal #1:

I’ll spend a year in Paris learning to cook , starting January 1, 2011.

By February 1, 2010

Write a budget of my projected expenses for a year in Paris

By May 1

Save 25% of that. If not, get a part-time job and put all the income to savings or paying off my credit card debt

By July 1

Pay off all my credit cards

By August 1

Arrange for a sabbatical at work

By September 1

Save half my projected living expenses

By October 1

Enroll in a French class.

By October 15

Secure a job in Paris that will pay the other half of my expenses

By November 1

Enroll in a cooking school in Paris

December 1

Rent an apartment in Paris, sublet my current place, and buy my ticket

January 1, 2011

Fly to Paris

Life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson created a manifesto that transcends temporality and continues to inspire each generation to greatness.

Among the three famous inalienable Rights of Man, Life is self-evident. We have the right to be born and the right to defend our children as well as ourselves from harm.

This basic right is at the locus of the two most debated policies of recent history; abortion & gun control.

Do you have an inalienable right to life?

The question is obviously rhetorical, but how does the answer reconcile a federal government that condones abortion?

Recent polls show most Americans oppose abortion, meaning that 2 generations removed from Roe v. Wade, maybe people are becoming aware of what an inalienable right to life means. Even Americans who support abortion in the first trimester lose their enthusiasm for killing after the 3^rd month, once an unborn baby starts to look “real”.

15 years after Jefferson wrote about the cardinality of life, his fellow Virginian James Madison introduced the concept of the Bill of Rights and its then-uncontroversial 2^nd amendment. Madison (inspired by his mentor George Mason) knew that any right to life is worthless if it can’t be defended nor preserved.

Unless each member of your family has his own 24-hour bodyguard detail, or you can somehow persuade an assailant to do whatever you tell him, you need to learn how to use a firearm. Failing to do so is an abdication of your duty as a human. This nation would be exponentially safer if everyone took responsibility for their own safety, and developed the skill to protect themselves and their families.

Every right implies a responsibility. (Which, according to George Bernard Shaw, is why so many people dread freedom.)

Don’t let yourself be scared into becoming a disarmed ward of the state. Here are some excuses for not owning a firearm, all of which are easily dismissed:

Guns are dangerous

Yes. They kill people. That’s what they were created for, which is sort of the point when a bad guy is trying to hurt you or your family.

In the hands of a responsible (there’s that word again) person, a gun is a tool, just like a car. If you use a car improperly, you can easily kill. But we take it for granted that the overwhelming majority of the tens of millions of car owners in this country are responsible enough not to.

Guns are illegal

No, but some states have made it difficult to buy, carry & store them. Every state allows you to keep a weapon for your home. Why? Because it’s a constitutional right, and this isn’t the United Kingdom yet.

If you live in one of the 48 states that issue concealed carry permits*, get one once you’ve determined you know how to use a gun. It takes a few hours of ridiculously simply classroom work, along with a shooting test.

With a concealed weapons permit, you can carry a gun inconspicuously (except in those few places where it’s expressly prohibited.) Or just hope you won’t be a victim. Because that works, sometimes.

Most states’ permits are honored in multiple states. (They should be honored in all 50, like driver’s licenses are, but that’s a topic for a different post.)

My gun will be used against me

No, unless you’re an idiot. If you want to take full advantage of your God-given freedom (and the responsibility that entails), take a defensive weapon class and practice a lot.

According to GunFacts.org, “For every accidental death, suicide, or homicide with a firearm, 10 lives are saved.” Even with most Americans walking around unarmed and unaware, “the rate of defensive gun use is 6 times that of criminal gun use.” (Again, according to GunFacts.org.) The criminals are there, but fortunately, the rest of us still outnumber them.

If a preponderance of weapons leads to violence, why not disarm the cops along with the rest of the citizens?

That was supposed to be sarcasm, but sometimes the more cloistered among us have a tough time with that. Let’s hear from an academic on this issue. Val Moeller, president of Columbia State Community College**, says “…when someone comes on campus and sees armed public safety officers, it indicates that the campus is not safe."

Which, of course, is why bloody massacres occur daily on every army base throughout the country. Ms. Moeller is not alone in her ludicrous beliefs. According to ArmedCampus.com, lots of campus police departments are unarmed.

Here’s CSCC Chief of Police Mike Stritenberg, who manages to give a lucid argument despite being hog-tied:

"Of course there are risks inherent to being an armed police officer, including attacks that result in your weapon being used against you and armed encounters that result in legally challenged shootings but that’s part of police work. To say that because there are risks associated with being armed, police officers shouldn’t carry guns seems mind-boggling,"

You can substitute “citizens” for “police officers” in that last sentence.

Guns are loud and look scary.

Yes. This paragraph is for the ladies:

Remember the first time you went to the gym? It’s loud, sweaty, smelly and filled with men who clearly know what they’re doing, leaving you to stand around feeling out of place.

Your first time at the range will be the same. And, because you’ve been bombarded with messages telling you how dangerous and bad guns are, you’ll be nervous. The first time you shoot, your hands will shake.

You’ll then notice that it takes some applied force to pull a trigger. Guns don’t just “go off.”

Keep going to the range. Keep practicing. You’ll eventually get used to the noise, the gun & the feeling of shooting. Don’t let fear stop you.

I don’t need a gun because the police will keep me safe

No. Whether you live in the city or the country, there aren’t enough cops to prevent crimes in progress. 95% of the time, an officer arrives on the scene too late. Response times in some cities are over 45 minutes.

Freedom means you can live where you want, speak your mind without fear of reprisal, attend the church (or not) of our choice, write critical articles about your government (or anyone else) and know your home is our castle.

If you think these rights are common throughout the world, you’ve obviously never written about Muslims in Canada, tried to Google “Tiananmen Square” in China or attempted to attend Sunday mass in Saudi Arabia.

Why do so many Americans gladly relinquish their freedoms?

They become prisoners of dependency and fear because freedom comes at a price, a cost paid both by your nation and yourself. You’ll make bad decisions on occasion. If they’re bad enough, you might go to jail, declare bankruptcy or lose your home.

When James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights, Americans who made bad decisions had not choice but to live with the consequences of their actions. Today, everyone wants to be free to make poor choices detached from consequences.

If you’re truly free, then you’re free to succeed or fail. Failure is the mechanism through which we grow & learn. For every bad decision made, you learn and correct course.

If you allow someone (e.g. the government) to control your failures, that caretaker will also limit your successes.

Are we guaranteed happiness?

Jefferson would never have imagined today’s Americans who expect society (government) to make them happy. Many believe that they have a right to own a house, work at a high paying job, obtain a college education and receive health care.

And you do.

You have the right to an equal opportunity to earn those things for yourself.

Equal access to the system of capitalism (get a job, live within your means, invest the difference) is sufficient. The rest is up to you.

Equal access is not the same as equal outcome.

According to the Department of Labor the jobs in which the highest proportion of people doing it are women: 1) secretarial; 2) nursing and 3) teaching (elementary school level).

For men: 1) Construction (including steelworkers & electricians); 2) logging and 3) heavy equipment operator.

Male secretaries, nurses or teachers (and female electricians, loggers and heavy equipment operators) prove we have the freedom to work wherever we fit best.

Why are most secretaries and nurses female? Those careers require levels of education and experience that fit with a working mother’s lifestyle.

Teaching is the ultimate mother’s job: you work when (and sometimes where) your children are in school.

Salaries in these professions are low because a lot of people can (and want) to do them.

Why don’t more women become electricians, loggers or heavy equipment operators?

Becoming an electrician requires a 4 years of apprenticeship, consisting of 144 hours of classroom training and 2,000 hours of on-the-job training. The apprenticeships are hard to get and if you drop out in the middle, you won’t get another chance. Also, seniority dictates that you need a consistent work history to become an electrician. Mothers are more likely to start and stop their education, call in sick and miss work.

You don’t need a lot of education to become a logger, but you might have to move, live onsite or drive long distances to get to the logging site. The weather can be awful, and the job is physically demanding, in addition to being about the most dangerous one in existence.

Most heavy equipment operators are high school graduates with a farming, commercial vehicle or military background. In some parts of the country (e.g. Alaska), work might be seasonal.

Most women won’t make the sacrifices to go after these well-paying jobs, but that’s hardly a failure of opportunity. Women choose a less-demanding way, and the compromise is in the compensation.

Don’t expect anyone to hand you your future. It’s your responsibility to fight for your happiness. Thousands have died to give you the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In return, the least you can do is not surrender it.

*Illinois and Wisconsin don’t allow concealed weapons. Which works beautifully, because both states reported exactly 0 violent crimes last year.

**Last year sanity & common sense prevailed and the CSCC trustees voted to arm the campus police.

Fight or flight

When adversity knocks at your door, do you answer or hide under the covers?

The passengers on United Flight 93 took a stand.

Some people trapped atop the World Trade Center flung themselves to the ground rather than wait to be incinerated.

"... maybe he didn't jump from the window as a betrayal of love or because he lost hope. Maybe he jumped to fulfill the terms of a miracle. Maybe he jumped to come home to his family. Maybe he didn't jump at all, because no one can jump into the arms of God.

Oh, no. You have to fall."

Tom Junod, The Falling Man - 9/03 issue of Esquire Magazine

When your turn comes what will you choose?

Project 2,996-Alexis Leduc

Most of us know the names (or at least the faces) of the 9-11 murderers. Today, we shed some light on the victims.

Alexis Leduc, 45, was a maintenance supervisor for Franklin Templeton Investments. He worked on the 97th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

Alexis was born into poverty in Puerto Rico. He created a comfortable, stable and loving home here in Bronx, NY with his wife Isa and children Adolfo, Cindy, Elvis & Alexia. Alexis’ legacy book site reflects the love and respect of his co-workers and neighbors. Alexia writes a heartbreaking letter to her father every year.

Alexis loved collecting antique cars, baseball cards, Spawn figurines and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.

Here is the New York Times portrait of Alexis Leduc from December 2001.