All posts by ECVtalks

Health and Fitness, Physical

Slim Chicks SHOULD Workout 2

Leave a comment

Ms. ME here on a #WomensWellnessWednesday and I’m revisiting a post originally written back in 2013 on one of our previous platforms. Seems like at the start of each year people make plans to start taking their physical fitness more seriously. Why do you think you start seeing more gym ads in December?

Vote below to tell us what you think of that hashtag.

So why did I feel the need to revisit this post. Because here we are eight years later and I still, prior to the corona-tine (Covid-19 quarantine), heard the same annoying, comments:

“You are so slim. You don’t need to workout.”

“What are you working out for as skinny as you are?”

“You must not eat. That’s why you don’t gain any weight.”

That last comment was made by one of my current associates who should I guess it is wasn’t for distancing due to Covid-19 would recall that I do eat ALOT, and might even be able to recognize how my weight does fluctuate up and down. But sadly the other comments often come from women older than me and also noticeably larger than me. I don’t say this to insult but only to point out that maybe it never dawned on them that the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” could be applicable in the area of weight and size maintenance.

All of the currently slim women out there, please don’t wait until your weight becomes a problem to get active. On some level I’m talking to myself also as I have been ignoring my daily reminders to exercise lately. In another post I mentioned that I will start later this month because I have some things going on, one of which is making sure you all have new posts on a consistent basis.

But back to the point…

Do you realize how much harder it is to get a 190 pound load moving as opposed to a 120 pound one? This just goes back to science class, you know, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. The same applies to an object, in this case your body, being in motion.

This doesn’t mean that you need to start some intense 2 hour daily workout plan tomorrow. It’s difficult enough to get motivated these days with everything that 2020 threw at us. If you’re struggling to get motivated, click here for some suggestions.

Literally, most mornings I get up, stretch and do a couple of good ol’ jump ‘n’ jacks. It’s mostly about creating the habit of working out now. Having that habit increases your chance of maintaining a healthy weight (whatever that is for you) and decreases the likelihood of you becoming an overweight older woman sending negative vibes to a younger woman trying to take care of herself .

What exercises do you like to maintain your physical wellness? 

*The actions recommended in this post are the author's personal thoughts and not to be viewed as medical or professional recommendations.
Financial, Health and Fitness

How Financially Literate are you?

Leave a comment

As one year transitions into another, we always see a sudden rush to get or start getting your financial house in order. A lot of bulleted or numbered lists come out of things to do without necessarily explaining why you need to do it. Maybe the assumption is that you already know which begs the question if you did know, wouldn’t your finances already be in order?

The reality is that many people who live in the US are not financially literate or put another way they don’t fully understand the language of money. That lack of understanding is what leads to having a financial mess on your hands. Let’s be clear though – IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT!

Nowhere in the education system in this country is financial literacy CONSISTENTLY taught. That one glaring absence leads to almost half of the population not knowing things that are key to keeping your bank accounts and overall finances in the black.

https://howmoneyworks.com/marieedwards/challenge

Think we’re kidding? Take the quiz on the website above and then post your score in the comments below if you’re brave. Are you financially literate?

If you get a score that you feel is too low to post, here’s how you change it. Register for this free course happening January 6th at 8 PM EST and increase your financial literacy in record time!

Financial, Health and Fitness, Lifestyles

Opportunity Cost and Your Career

Leave a comment

“Opportunity cost” refers to what you can potentially lose by choosing one option over another – even when you aren’t thinking about it.

Nearly every choice you make precludes something else that might have been.

Opportunity cost exists in everything from relationships to finances to career choices, but here we’ll focus on that last one. Over a lifetime, the cost of career decisions can be massive.

numbers money calculating calculation
Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

The math
For opportunity costs that can be measured, usually in dollars, there’s even a math equation. (FYI, Ms. ME spent a few years as a Mathematics instructor.)

What I sacrifice / What I gain = Opportunity cost[i]

Let’s say you have two career choices. One is to work as a mechanic at $50 per hour and the other is to work as a karate instructor at $20 per hour.

Opportunity A / Opportunity B = Opportunity cost

Here it is with numbers: $50 / $20 = $2.50

To translate that, for every $1 you earn as a karate instructor, you could have earned $2.50 as a mechanic. The ratio remains the same whether it’s for one hour worked or 1,000 hours worked because it’s based on earnings per hour.

round silver colored wall clock
Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Pexels.com

Adding a time element
We can only work a certain number of hours in a week and we can only work for a certain number of years in a lifetime. Adding time into the discussion doesn’t change the math relationship between the opportunities but it does recognize real-world constraints. Sometimes these limits are by choice. You could be both a full-time mechanic and a full-time karate instructor, but most people don’t want to work 80 hours per week. Something has to give, and that’s where considering opportunity cost comes in.

If you only want to work 40 hours in a week, you’ll have to choose one career over the other or split your time between the two. But even in splitting your time, there is an opportunity cost. Think about it like this: Every hour spent in a lower paying job costs money if you had an opportunity to earn more doing something else.

The bigger picture
In our example using the mechanic vs. the karate instructor, the difference in annual income is over $60,000 per year ($104,000 minus $41,600). Over a 40-year working career, the difference in earnings is nearly $2.5 million, and it all happened one hour at a time.

10703511_10153286388927564_8852039904301114878_n

Life balance
Your career choice shouldn’t just be about money – you should do something you enjoy and that gives you satisfaction. There may be several other considerations as well – like opportunity to travel, the kind of people you work with, and the greater contribution you can make to the world. However, if there are two choices that meet all your criteria but one pays a bit more, just do the math!

Strange as it may sound thanks to Covid-19 and everything else that happened in 2020 many people are doing the math and reevaluating what they want to do with their lives. For some, reconnecting with a long lost passion as a side gig or even a full leap into entrepreneurship is the direction that they are considering to achieve their desired level of wellness. If you’re in this category, tell us in the comments below. 🔻

[i] https://blog.udemy.com/opportunity-cost-formula/

Financial, Health and Fitness

Set Yourself Up for (Financial) Success in the New Year

Leave a comment

A new year is a massive opportunity.

There’s something liberating about closing one chapter of your life and beginning a new one. You realize that this year doesn’t have to be like last year, and that there are countless possibilities for growth.

Now is the perfect time to write a new financial chapter of your life.

In the mindset of new beginnings, the first thing is to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and start fresh. Now is your chance to set yourself up for financial success this year and potentially for years to come. Here are three simple steps you can take starting TODAY, January 1st that might make this new chapter of your life the best one yet!

1. Automate wise money decisions ASAP

What if there were a way to go to the gym once that somehow made you steadily stronger throughout the year? One workout would be all you need to achieve your lifting goals!

That’s exactly what automating savings and bill payments does for your finances.

All you have to do is determine how much you want to save and where, set up automatic deposits, and watch your savings grow. It’s like making a year’s worth of wise financial decisions in one day!

2. Give your debt the cold shoulder

Debt doesn’t have to dictate your story in the new year. You can reclaim your cash flow from monthly payments and devote it to building wealth. Resolve to reduce how much you owe over the next 12 months, and then implement one of these two powerful debt strategies…

A. Arrange your debts on a sheet of paper, starting with the highest interest rate and working down. Direct as much financial firepower as you can at that first debt. Once you’ve cleared it, use the extra resources you’ve freed up to crush the next one even faster. This strategy is called the Debt Avalanche.

-Or-

B. Arrange your debts on a sheet paper, starting with the smallest debt and working up to the largest. Eliminate the smallest debt first and then work up to the largest debt. This is called the Debt Snowball. It can be a slower strategy over the long-haul, but it can sometimes provide more motivation to keep going because you’re knocking out smaller goals faster.

3. Start a side hustle

You might not have thought much about this before (let’s be honest if you’ve read this blog before you’ve likely had no choice but to think about it 😁), but you may have what it takes to create a successful side hustle. Just take a moment and think about your hobbies and skills. Love playing guitar? Start teaching lessons, or see if you can start gigging at weddings or events. Are you an embroidery master? Start selling your creations online. Your potential to transform your existing talents into income streams is only limited by your imagination!

Start this new year strong. Automate a year’s worth of wise financial decisions ASAP, and then evaluate what your next steps should be. You may even want to meet with a qualified and licensed financial professional to help you uncover strategies and techniques that can further reduce your debt and increase your cash flow. Whatever you choose, you’ll have set yourself up for a year full of potential for financial success!

Which step are you committed to taking today? Share below.

Uncategorized

How to Build a Business that Lasts

Leave a comment

Successful businesses are good at solving problems.

The larger the problem to solve, the more rewards you will reap. We instinctively know this is true, even if we can’t articulate it. Just look at our spending habits.

Our favorite coffee shop solves our lack-of-energy-in-the-morning problem.

Music streaming soothes our rush hour stress with our favorite tunes.

A food delivery app removes the hassle of driving to a restaurant.

Your brands of choice provide you value by solving your problems. The more they fix, the more you love them!

So, imitate your favorites. Explore the problem you’ve identified until you’re an expert. Next, develop a solution that crushes the problem.

Training your sights on providing value won’t magically make you successful. But it can serve as a guiding light when you feel directionless and unsure of your next steps.

Can’t find your target market? Brainstorm which companies or agents would gain the most from implementing your solution. Be as specific as possible in explaining the benefits.

Struggling to discover a niche in a saturated market? Look for issues that competitors and industries have ignored or missed. It might be something they’ve accepted as cost of business.

Trying to scale up? Diligently research the obstacles your new clients face and tailor your solutions to their specific needs.

Let me know if you’re hungry to start a business. We can talk about the problems facing some of the largest industries in the world and how you can provide much needed solutions.