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F.A.T. (Frivolously Acquiring Things)

I recently moved and in the process I discovered that I am F.A.T. – Yes, I have been known to frivolously acquire things.

For instance, why do I need to go menus to every restaurant in town, when I have Urbanspoon, Siri and a web browser? Or how many gadgets and gizmos does one need to listen to music with? And when i got to packing up my bathroom, I felt like I was cleaning out the supply closet at Sephora. Not to mention in my closet, I had enough shoes for a college football team.

Don’t act like you don’t know what I am talking about – whether you buy an “extra one” when there is no need or more than one flavor or color. Most all if us our guilty of being F.A.T.

So where does this come from? Why does it happen? How do we stop the cycle? There has to be a solution other than shopping til you drop, the store closing, running out of cash in the pocket of your designer jeans or maxing out your credit card.

Shortly after realizing I was F.A.T. the solution began to appear in my everyday life. For instance . . .

I was at the mall and before making that can’t live without purchase for my professional wardrobe, I paused to ask myself “do I really need this?” Sure enough I did not and enjoyed the rest of my day less one new pair of slacks. In fact, this week the day I wore my “old” suit I had a great day and landed a rather large contract.

This past weekend at the farmers market, I found myself consciously asking myself how much food would I actually consumer this week before my next trip to the farmers market and proceeded to purchase just enough to be satisfied. This is a lot better than having to empty my fridge ever couple weeks with all the spoiled, rotten foods that I purchased because I did not take the time to ask myself if I was being F.A.T.

So these are some if my steps to reduce overconsumption and overindulgence. What small steps can you take in your personal and professional life to stop being so F.A.T.?


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Keeping Score

When you were a child, your Teachers used report cards to track your performance. As an adult, your Managers complete performance reviews, to evaluate your work. Keeping Score, as a method of tracking performance, is nothing new in your life. Yet why do you not track your performance with respect to your personal goals and objectives?

How do you know you are constantly improving and working to better your life, without evaluating your performance?

I created a daily report card, which I use to evaluate my daily performance. I keep a daily report card journal and reference it throughout the day, checking off items, as I complete and accomplish them.

It is important to note this is not a catch-all summary of my life, rather it is a method for tracking my performance in areas, that I am working to improve.

I have found this to be a simple, stress-free method for motivating me to accomplish and achieve my daily, self improvement, goals and objectives.

I modify my daily report card template on a regular basis, as I learn new skills and set new goals. I remove items from the list, as tasks become part of my daily-routine. Any time my life feels out of place, I can reference previous daily report cards to see what I am missing, then can add those tasks back to my current daily list.

Below is a snapshot of my current daily report card.

• Maintain a clean, clear and organized environment
• Do not procrastinate
• Be overly nice to at least 3 people, per day
• Read at least 10 pages of non-fiction, per day
• Read News/Blogs a maximum of 3 times, per day
• Network for Business and Personal Life (LinkedIn, Facebook, Associations)
• Email/Call two personal contacts, per day
• Make more money, by decreasing daily expenses
• Drink at least 60 oz of water, per day
• Do a minimum of 30 push-ups, per day
• Do a minimum of 100 crunches, per day
• Run 3 times, per week

I challenge you to take a minute to start your daily report card. Just think – if I offered to let you complete your own performance review at work, you would do it without thinking twice!


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Getting ONE DEGREE CLOSER

Our goal is to help you get one degree closer to conscious living. Here are some of our favorite blogs that help us get one degree closer in our own lives:

Unclutterer

Get Rich Slowly

Zen Habits

Unwrap Your Mind

Four Hour Workweek

mnmlist

Minimal Mac

What other thought leaders and blogs help you get one degree closer to conscious living?


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To thy own self be true

“To thy own self be true” William Shakespear – just read this and really comprehended what this means. It is so true, integrity with yourself is the basis for creating a foundation upon which you have truth, honesty and integrity with other and the universe.

It can be difficult to maintain this integrity with yourself as it is very easy to get caught up in “the matrix” – you know what I am talking about, the keeping up with the Jones, the judgment and the constant need for more. It is all around us and most of the time, it pulls us out of our integrity with ourselves and what we stand for, what we want in life.

We are all guilty of it in some way shape or form of getting sucked into “the matrix”. Heck, it is hard not to, it is all around us.

Next time, rather than falling out of integrity with yourself and potentially creating a negative experience, look at it like this – each time you notice something occurring in your life that would keep you out of your own integrity, before it happens you have a choice to avoid that in your life. In that choice you create freedom!

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