The Family First
Newsletter
Promoting family unity one issue at a time
Vol. 10 Issue 1 - Week of January 1, 2007
ISSN: 1527-6201
©2007 - Joyce Pierce --All Rights Reserved
In this issue:
Benefits of a Filing System
8 Steps to Achieving and Keeping Your New Year's Resolution
Sometimes You Have to Let Go to Achieve
Mini Meatball and Broken
Spaghetti Tomato Stoup
Good morning!
I hope you had a merry Christmas and a safe New Year's Eve. Now it's on to a brand new year. Time to reflect on the past and set your sights on making 2007 an even better year.
Our sponsor this week is offering a f.r.e.e. course which will help you improve your life in whatever areas you feel you are lacking. If you've lost your passion for living, or have a dream but don't know how to achieve it, you will benefit from this course. See the ad below, or click on http://www.rejoicein2007.com to sign up. What a great way to start out the brand new year!
Please forward this issue to someone who may benefit from it!
Happy New Year
Joyce Pierce
Benefits of a Filing System
by: Joyce Moseley Pierce
With a new year comes the reality that April 15th is just around the corner! It seems that the process of gathering information for preparing taxes is almost as painful as writing that check to the IRS! However, if you have an effective filing system the process it may not hurt quite as much, and it will certainly help cut down on the time spent searching for receipts if you are currently throwing everything in a drawer.
Years ago we invested in a 4-drawer file cabinet. You may not need that much space, but whatever you use, even if it's a cardboard box, think about purchasing manila folders to create a file for each category. Set your files up in a way that makes sense to you. My file drawer includes files for homeowners insurance, health insurance, life insurance, Visa, American Express, Bank of America (for checking), Ameritrade, Yukon XL, Honda Pilot, medical, travel programs, contributions, utilities, receipts, and home. If you receive monthly statements or write checks to them, you probably need a folder.
I use a hanging file folder just so the manila folders don't get lost in the bottom of the drawer, but then I also keep a manila folder inside each hanging folder. When the end of the year approaches, I simply pull the old manila folder out of the hanging folder and replace it with a new manila folder that is marked with the new year. For instance, I will replace my "Visa 2006" folder with a new one that says, "Visa 2007."
I will put all of the 2006 files in a cardboard banker's box
with a lid, and will also create a new manila file to go in that box that says,
"Income Taxes 2006." In that file I will place statements and information that
will be necessary for claiming deductions on my tax return. It helps keep me
from scrambling at the last minute to find the mortgage statement and W2s.
In addition to these "removable files" that are designated by the year, I have
files that will remain in my cabinet until I no longer own that item. For
instance, this past year we gave one of our cars to our daughter. All I
needed to do was grab the "Ford Explorer" file and hand it to
her with the keys. That folder contains every invoice for every repair made
to that car in the past 10 years. I learned years ago that it's important to
track even the oil changes in case you have a problem that might be covered by
the warranty. The manufacturer will require proof that you have maintained your
car properly before they will honor the warranty. And, in my case, it is also helpful
to the new car owner. The file for "home" contains service
policies, receipts for the new air conditioner we had to put in this summer, and
anything relevant to operating our home. In fact, in the hanging folder for
"Home" contains several folders that separate this information.
If you don't have a serious filing system, now is the perfect time to start one
for 2007. Once you set up the system and start using it, you will see the
benefits of having your paperwork organized. It feels good to be able to locate
a receipt when you need it and may actually help you save money by being able to
provide proof of purchase.
Copyright 2007 Joyce Moseley Pierce
Joyce is a freelance writer and owner of Emerson Publications. She's a contributing author to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Visit www.emersonpublications.com for information that is pertinent to today's families.
Rejoice in 2007
|
8 Steps to Achieving and Keeping Your New Year's Resolution
Here we go again! Another year...another set of resolutions. How did you do last year? Can you remember what you promised yourself that you would accomplish? Are you one of the 80% of resolution makers that will become a resolution breaker?
If you are like most people you really have good intentions but by mid February you have abandoned your goals. Oh you may pick them up again a couple of times only to abandon them again. You really intended to lose weight, quit smoking, eat healthier, exercise, start your own business, etc.
So why can’t most people seem to stick to their goals? We forget or maybe get sidetracked. We may even not really be committed. But we set the goals every year, well, because that’s what people do, isn’t it. This year is going to be different we say. This year I will do it! This year I will be successful!
This year follow these 8 steps to ensure that you are in the top 20% of resolution keepers.
1. Make sure this is your goal.
Whatever your goal, whether it be to lose weight, exercise, go back to school or start a new business venture take some time to discover why you want this. Are you doing this for yourself or for someone else?
Do you want to lose weight because your spouse wants you to or because you really want to? Be honest. Maybe you are happy in your current profession but someone has convinced you that you should go back to school or to start a new business. If you are not 100 % invested emotionally in your goal chances are you will end up in the group of resolution breakers.
Oh you will probably have lots of good reasons why you didn’t succeed and I am sure none of them will be your fault but the truth is that the goal was never yours to begin with. You simply cannot achieve other people’s goals. Write a list of 10 benefits you will receive if you achieve this goal. If you find this task easy you are on the right track. Keep going. If it is hard to come up with 10 benefits you probably need to rethink this goal.
2. Quantify
Most people are too vague about their goals. “I want to lose weight? I want to start a new business. I want to quit smoking. I want to become healthier. I want to exercise more.” etc.
Define the what, when, why and how. Let’s use weight loss for an example since this is a popular goal. a) What amount do you want to lose? b) When do you want to lose it? c) Why do you want to lose this weight? d) How do you plan to lose it?
If you don’t know where you are going how will you ever know when you have arrived? Be specific. I want to lose 50 pounds by August 1st so that I fit comfortably into the beautiful dress I see myself wearing at my son’s wedding. I plan to exercise 2 to 3 times each week for an hour each time. I will also walk the dogs 5 times a week for 30 to 40 minutes each time. I will attend weight watchers each week and follow their program and I will listen to a hypnotic weight loss program 3 to 5 times each week to ensure that I stay on track with my goals.
This is a goal that will most likely be achieved.
3. Pace Yourself
Chances are you have many years left to come. You don’t have to do everything this year. Pick one or two goals to focus on, any more and you may become overwhelmed. Wouldn’t it be better to achieve only one or two goals than to abandon 10?
Again, spend some time alone to discover what it is that you really want this year. What would make you feel on top of the world? Maybe it’s getting that degree or at least starting school or maybe finally losing the weight you want or getting off of your blood pressure or diabetes medication by taking better care of your body.
If you have a long list and are not sure where your focus should be try this exercise. One by one visualize yourself achieving each goal. Which one makes you smile when you think your success? This is a good place to start.
4. Enlist help.
Nobody ever said you had to do everything alone. If you want to get in better physical shape maybe you need to enlist the help of a personal trainer. Wanting to double your business revenues this year? Get a Business Coach. Wanting to change careers? A Career Coach will keep you focused. Wanting to lose weight? There are a number of options here from Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers to a Life Coach or Hypnosis recordings. Want to get a more balanced life? Take a meditation class or enroll in yoga.
Successful people know the benefits of hiring help. Professional athletes all have trainers and coaches and successful business people have mentors and coaches. Smart people ask for and get the help they need to achieve their goals.
5. Buddy up
The buddy system really does work. The key is to find someone who has the same goals in mind as you do and the same level of commitment and work at your goals together. Go to the gym together, check in daily to see if you each stuck to your diet, meet once a week to go over your business goals and to help push each other along to keep focused. In other words hold each other accountable. If you know that someone else is counting on you to show up and to do what you said you would do it is easier to stay focused.
6. Set Realistic Goals
Is your goal realistic? Being a positive thinker I believe that anything is possible however I have often seen clients abandon their goals because they just didn’t think they would ever be able to achieve them. Sometimes it is easier to take small steps instead of one giant leap.
Instead of 50 pounds by August 1 maybe you could break it down into more manageable and easily attainable goals. I will lose 8 pounds in January and 7 pounds each month after that until I reach my ideal weight. Now doesn’t that sound easier to accomplish?
7. Visualize your Success
Spend a few minutes each morning visualizing or just imagining how you will feel when you achieve your goal. Get as detailed as possible. Where will you be, what will you be doing, how will you look and feel. Visualize or imagine how other people will react to you. This only takes a few minutes and can be done while you are in the shower, shaving, brushing your teeth, etc.
8. Celebrate each and every success!
Don’t wait until you have reached “The goal” to celebrate. Give yourself a pat on the back all along the way. Praise yourself for every accomplishment.
Start a journal and each day write down something that you did to move you closer to your goal. If you have a day when you can’t find anything that you did right (we all have those days) simply write that you are focused on moving forward tomorrow.
Kathryn Watson is a
Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Stress Management Trainer and Speaker. She works with both individuals and groups to help her clients achieve and maintain the focus that is needed to reach their goals. Her philosophy is that we all have incredible power to achieve happiness in all areas of our life. She will give you the tools to find that power. Kathryn Watson may be contacted at http://www.relaxforsuccess.com or kwatson@relaxforsuccess.com
The methods
explained in this book will get you name
brand groceries for free or at the minimum
50% off without spending more than two
minutes of your precious time and without
have to clip another coupon ever again!
These are secrets that manufacturers of
these products don't want you to find out!
http://hop.clickbank.net/?emerson89/sales0101
Sometimes You Have to Let Go to Achieve
Recently, two personal friends have made major changes in their life's pursuits. Each took a leap that would drastically alter her life. Each set aside a significant portion of her life to pursue a goal that heretofore seemed unachievable.
The first who quit her career pursuits to pursue motherhood related how "liberating" it now feels not to be bound to the day-to-day tasks of her business. For my once career driven friend, the thought of being "just a mother" seemed almost like succumbing to failure -- but not anymore. It's a time when she wants to pursue her goals as a wife and mother and she's totally at peace with her new way of life and happily counting the days until the birth of her first child.
My second friend has wanted to pursue a speaking career for some time now, but with little success. Finally she came to a point where she knew that the moneymaking portion of her business was making her unhappy. It wasn't helping her achieve her goals. But how could she discard the one segment of her business that was actually succeeding in order to pursue a segment that never would materialize? She decided to forge ahead and experienced a feeling of peace about her decision. The day she announced her decision to her customers, she received a job as a product spokesperson and will be doing a 10-city speaking tour in January of 2002. Everything started falling into place the moment she committed to let go of the part of her life that was out of harmony with her goals.
The security blankets we cling to with such tenacity are often the very things we must release in order to achieve our heart's aspirations. As a person who usually has a dozen irons in the fire, I admire my friends and wonder if there is a piece of my life that should be eliminated in order to achieve greater success. It's a time of introspection as I ask myself, "What aspects of my life do not support my ultimate goals? Am I willing to so boldly relinquish them?"
What is your ultimate goal? Are you hanging onto pursuits that do not support it nor lead you toward it? Have you considered laying these activities aside? It may seem unfathomable, but entertain the thought for a moment. What if you no longer pursued those activities? What would you do instead? What would you be, have and do with the time redeemed? Perhaps it's time to consider the possibilities and receive the peaceful assurance that less is actually more.
Marnie Pehrson is the creator of www.IdeaMarketers.com, www.SheLovesGod.com, and www.BelieversAtWork.com and more. She is the author of inspirational books like Lord, Are You Sure? and historical fiction such as the best seller Angel and the Enemy. For more information on her projects, visit http://www.pwgroup.com.Marnie Pehrson may be contacted at http://www.MarniePehrson.com or marnie@pwgroup.com
Do you want time with family? Safer
consumer decisions? A better environment?
Mini Meatball and
Broken Spaghetti Tomato Stoup
On Christmas morning
while I cooked breakfast, my husband
watched Rachael Ray. Maybe he
was just hungry, but it looked so
good, he asked if I'd make this
recipe. I've been known
to substitute ingredients and then
wonder why it didn't taste as good
as I thought, so here are the
substitutes I used for this one and
it STILL turned out GREAT!
1. I didn't
have fresh parsley or basil, so I
used what I had in my spice jar.
2. I used
parmesan cheese that was freshly
grated by someone who put it in a
nice little plastic bag in the cheese department. I
didn't grate my own.
3. I didn't
have Italian bread crumbs, so I used
dry oatmeal and added lots of
Italian seasoning.
4. Finally, I
used whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
Give it a try.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Directions:
Where are your priceless photos? In a
box, on a CD, in your camera? Imagine…
your photos, along with your memories and
stories, in a library bound, hardback book,
designed online by YOU!! Making a
storybook or photo journal is so easy and
fun! Contact me for more info and a free
gift!
www.CreateHeritage.com Support Family First - visit our
sponsors and friends To view past issues:
http://www.emersonpublications.com/famfirst.htm
by Kathryn Watson
Discover how my simple
manual can quickly and easily save your
family thousands of dollars per year in
mouth watering free groceries, beginning in
as little as 24 hours!
by Marnie Pehrson
If you ever thought about wanting your own
business at home, this is the time to see
what's available. We have a very
special promotion going on this month.
Turn an everyday expense into an income.
Request information here:
www.emersonpublications.com/wahm.htm
Recipe from "Every
Day With Rachael Ray"
This recipe smelled
yum-o, as Rachael says. I
could hardly wait to eat it, and my
husband loved it, too. This is
one of her 30 minute meals (aren't
they all?) and I've already invited
friends over next Sunday so I can
share the food with someone else.
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
1 quart chicken broth
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 pound ground beef sirloin
Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (a
generous handful)
1 large egg
1/4 to 1/3 cup fine Italian bread
crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (a
generous handful), plus more to pass
around the table
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound spaghetti, broken into
thirds
1 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
1. In a large
soup pot, combine the EVOO (Extra
Virgin Olive Oil), 2 turns of the
pan, the onion, carrots, garlic and
bay leaf and cook over medium-high
heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken
broth, crushed tomatoes and tomato
sauce, cover and bring to a boil
over medium-high heat.
2. In a large bowl, using a fork,
combine the ground beef, parsley,
egg, bread crumbs and 1/4 cup
cheese; season with salt and pepper.
Roll the meat into balls the size of
a large walnut and drop each one
into the soup pot (you should have
about 16 meatballs). Simmer the
stoup for 10 minutes.
3. Stir the broken spaghetti into
the pot and cook, stirring
occasionally, until al dente, about
12 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir
in the basil and season the stoup
with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve, passing more cheese around
the table.
Copyright 2007 Joyce Moseley Pierce