Woman Saves $12,000 by Collecting Fives
A sum like $12,000 doesn’t usually make the news, but one Boston Globe reporter has managed to trick herself into saving that amount by adopting a creative way to save. With two daughters in college and a mortgage to pay, Marie Franklin and her husband didn’t have any extra money to put into savings. While perusing online, she came across a saving trick that suggested saving every five she acquired and depositing them into a separate savings account.
Once she’s collected ten fives in her wallet, Marie deposits the $50 into her designated savings account, and once that account has $2,000 she purchases a CD to earn higher interest. After three years of saving all of her fives, she has accumulated $12,000 in savings. Marie acknowledges that this method of saving requires discipline, but her unconventional habit has obviously worked for her.
[via SavvySugar]
The 2 Essentials For Finding Your ‘Real’ Voice
Most people are unaware that they can improve their speaking voice, that they probably should improve their voice, and that the techniques for doing so are simple and basic. And while good voice training will actually improve many other aspects of your life, not all those who teach voice understand the two essentials.
Many of us who teach voice are classically-trained singers. While I don’t teach singing anymore, I use similar principles in teaching others how to find their ‘real’ speaking voice.
Good voice training involves teaching you, first and foremost, how to breathe with the support of your diaphragm because your ‘real’ voice must be powered or amplified from the chest.
Read the story »
Some Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier in Life
As I get older, I realize I’ve learned some lessons that I wish I had picked up sooner in life. Most of these lessons were learned through experience, many through the various mentors (Thanks, guys!) I’ve had along the way and a few from various books I’ve read here and there.
When most people today hear the word “lesson,” they usually don’t think of it as a good thing. Teaching a lesson may be looked at as being bossy or perhaps a know-it-all. While having learned a lesson may be viewed as a sign of weakness.
However, learning lessons is far from being weak. In fact, George Washington once said, “We ought not to look back unless it is derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience.” Well said, sir.
Without further ado, here’s the list:
- The 80/20 rule.
- Parkinson’s Law.
- Batching.
- First, give value. Then, get value. Not the other way around.
- Be proactive. Not reactive.
- Mistakes and failures are good.
- Don’t beat yourself up.
- Your attitude changes your reality.
- Don’t compare yourself to others.
- 80-90% of what you fear will never really come into reality.
- Don’t take things too seriously.
- Write everything down.
- There are opportunities in just about every experience.
In order to save you some time, starting next week and continuing each week, I’m going to highlight one of the lessons that you can focus on throughout the week.
Until then, why not send me a note and tell me about the lessons you’ve learned along the way. I’ll add the good ones to this list.
80 How-To Sites Worth Bookmarking
Sitting on my dining room table, I currently have half a dozen projects in various states of doneness. Some involve vivisected computer parts, others will eventually be wearable and a few are just cool things I’ve ran across on the internet. I like doing things myself — I think the DIY bug is one of the best communicable diseases in the lifehack community.
These eighty sites are the places I turn to when I’m trying to figure out how to accomplish any particular goal. Any time I’m facing a new project, I start searching for how-tos that will help me figure out how other people did similar things and how likely I am to finish the project with all ten fingers still intact. I’ve broken them up into a few different categories, just to help you narrow down what you might be looking for. Some are simply archives full of tutorials. Some are blogs that publish how-tos fairly regularly. Some are just great resource sites. But they all have provided me with the information necessary to carry through on a project.
Every How-To They Can Get Their Hands On
These ten sites are more than happy to host any how-to around. I’ve seen everything from computer hardware hacks to instructions for brewing beer on these sites. This is the place to start — you can narrow down your search as you get a better idea of your project.
Life Hacks
Woman Saves $12,000 by Collecting FivesA sum like $12,000 doesn’t usually make the news, but one Boston Globe reporter has managed to trick herself into saving that amount by adopting a creative way to save. With two daughters in college...
The 75 Skills Every Man Should MasterBy Tom Chiarella A man can be expert in nothing, but he must be practiced in many things. Skills. You don’t have to master them all at once. You simply have to collect and develop a certain number...
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Leadership Training
Woman Saves $12,000 by Collecting FivesA sum like $12,000 doesn’t usually make the news, but one Boston Globe reporter has managed to trick herself into saving that amount by adopting a creative way to save. With two daughters in college...
The 2 Essentials For Finding Your ‘Real’ VoiceBy Nancy Daniels Most people are unaware that they can improve their speaking voice, that they probably should improve their voice, and that the techniques for doing so are simple and basic. And while...
Some Lessons I Wish I Had Learned Earlier in Lifeby Paul Singh As I get older, I realize I’ve learned some lessons that I wish I had picked up sooner in life. Most of these lessons were learned through experience, many through the various mentors (Thanks,...
Law of Attraction
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Make a Binding Agreement with Yourself for the Life of Your DreamsDate: May 13th, 2008 I, the undersigned, commit and agree to furnish all materials and labor necessary to design and create the LIFE OF MY DREAMS. I hereby commit to doing whatever it takes while being...
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the BetterNo matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth,...
Entrepreneurship
101 Tips to Help You Make Money Doing What You LoveThis article here comes from Paul Piotrowski at Inspired Money Maker.com. I firmly believe that you truly need to do what you enjoy, as that is where the passion lies. If you are passionate about something...
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the BetterNo matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth,...
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Cultivate Greatness
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Cultivate Greatness, Success & Passion Blog Carnival #018Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Here we are with the 18th edition of the semi-frequent Personal Development Carnival at Cultivate Greatness! A great amount of wisdom to share within this edition of...
Secrets of Greatness: What it Takes to be GreatResearch now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work By Geoffrey Colvin What makes Tiger Woods great? What made Berkshire...
Fitness & Health
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the BetterNo matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth,...
Top 10 Healthy Foods We Never EatThere are many healthy foods that never see the inside of a shopping cart or in your fridge. Some you’ve never heard of, and others you’ve simply forgotten about. That’s why we’ve rounded up the...
14 Habits That Make You Fat1. TV Watching Prolonged TV watching is a strong predictor for obesity1. Recent research2 has proved that people who watch around two hours of TV per day are much more likely to be overweight...
CG Podcasts
Skip the Tuition: 100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the WorldWe’ve shown you how to take online classes for free, but not everyone has the patience or time to spend sitting at a computer. These courses let you take your classroom with you, so you can get...
CultivateGreatness Podcast Review by PodcastJunky.co.ukThis is a review of my podcast here at CultivateGreatness. Very kind words indeed from Alex at PodcastJunky.co.uk. Thanks Alex! What I love about podcasting is the variety of podcasts available out in...