Hard Work No Guarantee of Success

Some people feel they can accomplish anything by working hard or that hard work is necessary to accomplish anything. They think hard work guarantees them good results and success.

We believe this is simply not true. In fact, we consider you can accomplish a lot and probably much more by working intelligently and doing things better.

We’re not saying to be lazy but, in the end, we are pretty sure there’s more to success than only hard work. In reality, working hard may simply not be enough.

Maybe your boss can be impressed by committed employees that work long hours. But maybe he could be impressed even more by happier efficient employees that accomplish more working less.

Doing the Right Things Right

Some people just don’t work on the right things. There’s no point on working hard if you work on irrelevant stuff.

Take some time to identify priorities and focus more on these tasks. You probably can’t accomplish everything so try to concentrate on realizing what’s truly important.

12-Minute Balance (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on May 12, 2012

Many believe that one of the most important keys to happiness is balance. Sadly, many lives equate to a never ending juggling act struggling in search of that so elusive concept.  

The 12-Minute Approach offers you simple yet powerful ways to achieve that so precious balance in your life.

Let’s hope that, by focusing on rhythm, order and harmony, these 12-Minute Ideas help you strive toward that balance so essential to your happiness and well-being.

Equal Balance between Needs and Activities

In order to stay happy yet still be effective, your life should be equally balanced between your needs and your activities.

Portfolio Update November 2020

 

Again, it’s DIY Portfolio report time!  As usual, you can expect our next update in about 12 weeks.

You can have a look at previous portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update August 2018

Portfolio Update November 2018

Portfolio Update February 2019

Portfolio Update May 2019

Portfolio Update August 2019

Portfolio Update November 2019

Portfolio Update February 2020

Portfolio Update May 2020

Portfolio Update August2020

Note that the last words of this report have been written on November 1^st, before the US presidential election.

Despite all unprecedented events, our DIY Portfolio is still in the positive this year, which is surprising. Year-to-date capital return is around zero and are modest return essentially comes from dividends. Not that bad waiting for better days.

It would be doing even better if it were not for the last week of October where it abruptly went down by a little more than 4%.  We can sense markets are getting nervous about the upcoming US election. Contested results would probably cause the most turbulence. That’s why today, we’ll try to reason not giving into fear, essential for any successful investor.

After that, we’ll discuss our own portfolio management for the upcoming months and years. For now, let’s just say things are not getting simpler. We’ll conclude with our usual roundup of portfolio transactions. You’ll see we have been doing a little bit more lately.

Once more, I’ll remind you that I am not an investment or tax professional of any kind. The intent of this blog is not to give specific investing advice. Before investing yourself, we suggest you do all necessary research and consult a licensed financial professional if need be. 

Resist Giving into Fear

With all that is happening in the world, you may be tempted to give into your fear and cash in all your investments. We have to confess that even us, as committed investors, are sometimes afraid and have our moments of doubt.

We still believe you have to resist and remain patient as efficient investing always has to be approached with a long-term perspective.

Housekeeping The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on April 12, 2012

Living in a clean environment can contribute to your well-being and happiness but proper housekeeping takes time.

So, here are some 12-Minute Ideas to keep your house neat and tidy. Hope this helps make your home more peaceful, relaxing and inspiring.

12-Minute Financial Makeover Step 6 - Ease Your Mind with Debt Freedom Plan

This is the 6^th installment of our Financial Makeover Series featuring carefully selected personal finance subjects. We hope talking about these basic principles can allow you to figure out what can help the most in your own unique situation.

We talked about avoiding fees in Part 1 and how using a no-fee online checking account could help you so.

Part 2 featured spending more on things you truly love using a fun budget approach.

We continued in Part 3 with the amazing freedom of budget choices that can allow you to realize more of your projects and dreams.

Part 4 talked about emergency savings and having a personalized contingency plan.

Part 5 suggested to hammer down boring big recurring expenses.

After these, we now feel ready to abort an even more challenging subject. So, let’s put on our armor, sharpen our sword and face on the dreaded debt beast.

 

The Right Mindset

Having too much debt is probably today’s biggest financial problem of too many families. We did not start our Financial Makeover Series here because we believe it’s better to have developed some tools before tackling on dreaded debt.

 

With some confidence in your abilities, getting out of debt can be quite straightforward. You just have to allocate money in the right way to achieve it.

 

We know getting out of debt may seen difficult or even impossible for some. Many are even addicted to debt. They know extensive use of it is bad for them yet became comfortable bathing in it. Sadly, they are so afraid about getting into that battle.

 

But after you get over that steep psychological hurdle, getting rid of debt becomes basic math. You have to believe and decide you can get out of debt. No one can do it for you. You have to commit and do it for yourself and your family. The good news is that you have that power in you.

12-Minute and Your Schedule (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on March 12, 2012

The 12-Minute Approach can be applied tons of ways to your schedule. We will submit you some ideas here but the possibilities are almost endless.

Why 12 Minutes

Using the 12-Minutes Approach will allow you to be more efficient; doing something different only 12 minutes every day can produce surprising results.

If you break down your day in 12-Minute Periods, you’ll find that there are 120 such Periods:

1 day = 24 hours x 60 minutes =

24 hours x 5 x 12-Minute = 120 x 12-Minute