As the old saying goes, “The years are short but the days are long.” So I can truly say that posting for every week is an endeavor that requires an amount of motivation and dedication.
This Time
This past year has been strange and with difficulties. We’re now in the second year of Covid, most recently with the Delta variant the predominant strain. A quick review of historical information about pandemics shows that many plagues lasted more than one year. So there is no guarantee that Covid will fade quickly. Wishful thinking is not helpful.
This Year
The main thrust of this blog is financial independence through the use of dividend stocks, frugality, and general awareness of money.
And there are other areas that also get focus.
A series of posts grouped together under the subject of “attitude” are about perspectives outside of financial concerns. These posts are about areas that aim towards the freedom of thought, how one can free oneself from the confines of rigid thinking and preconceived ideas. Here are some:
I Am Not My Assumptions
Consequences of Realizing I Am Not My Assumptions
The Courage of Doubt
The Use of Doubt
Why Is My Head So Full Of Thoughts?
What Causes Human Conflict?
These posts are about disrupting ingrained and ossified thought patterns. They are about viewing one’s thinking and the world in a different way.
And Money Too
In last year’s anniversary post, I wrote:
“Getting out of debt is the financial equivalent of getting out of jail. Once out of financial jail, there are two things to focus on: staying out, and improving one’s situation.”
I am reminded of an admonition to former prisoners to help them adjust to life outside of prison: They are told:
“Follow the A B C plan for work:
A=First, get Any job, then get a
B=a Better job, then get
C=a Career.”
A wise piece of advice. It is the same idea for a beginner towards financial freedom. Just begin. The steps will fall into place if one just begins.
The steps towards financial independence never change:
1. Live below one’s means: Spend Less Than One Earns
2. Build an emergency fund. Save enough to cover emergencies
3. After paying expenses, save and invest the rest.
Here are the prior years’ review posts:
Review of year one
Review of year two
Review of year three
Smile If You Dare is Four Years Old, and that’s not nothing.
Did you have a favorite post? Let me know here.
The crown is from Nigeria, circa 1900s. Courtesy Cleveland Museum of Art,
Creative Commons License.
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