By Dr. Glenn Mollette
Work hard. You feel better and have more money working than if you are doing nothing. Your job is not forever. Visualize the work you want to do and then move your life toward that kind of work. This may require training. Working a low-level paying job in the profession or industry of interest to gain knowledge will help. Be flexible realizing the work you are doing now is preparing you for other opportunities. Working jobs, you don’t enjoy will still provide valuable lessons for wherever you want to be later in life. You will also have some money while figuring it out.
Save Money. This is never easy or pain free. Saving money means sacrificing today in order to have some money later in life. Life passes by quickly. Millions of Americans cannot come up with $5,000 for an emergency. An old rule for saving money is give ten percent away to your church or favorite charity, save ten to twenty percent and live on the rest. Those percentages and numbers can be tweaked to fit your life but the idea of having discipline will help you establish a plan of action. Don’t spend more than you make. If your outgo is more than your income then your upkeep will be your downfall.
Keep learning. Training is more available than ever before. Online education is accessible if you have Internet. If you don’t try to find your way to the public library. They have computers. Community colleges and trade schools are within financial reach of most Americans. Utilize your time efficiently. Do you really have time to piddle two or three years just taking classes? Make your class time financially reasonable and useful. Online education opportunities have exploded. Taking a class that adds to your skills and life is better than aimless hours of television or social media.
Be healthy today. Health, like a retirement account is not something you can put off to another day. Have annual blood work done. Keep moving. Live an active lifestyle. Sitting in a house all day is not good for anyone. Find safe places to walk and move. Eat your vegetables and fruit every day and cut way back on your fried foods and red meat.
Don’t give up. As long as you have life you have hope. You may have gone through job loss, divorce, life devastation, disease and more. Here is a word for you today. I believe in the power of a good word applied to a person’s life. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11. Will this work for you? Prosperity, hope and a future? Take hold of these words and have a great day.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is a graduate of numerous schools including Georgetown College, Southern and Lexington Seminaries in Kentucky. He is the author of 12 books including Uncommon Sense. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states.
