‘Palm trees and margaritas’ is about living big and making plans. For some, work/life balance. None of us knows how our life will unfold so as much as we are in control, empowered living means making sure there is time in our lives for palm trees and margaritas*, however we define them.
The plan for this newsletter is to give you five minutes of reflection time on the last Friday of each month. How was your March? Did you make time for ‘palm trees and margaritas’?
I love to hear (and publish) your stories of how you are living your life. Please get in touch and share yours.
And finally, if you are looking for a speaker for an event this year, click here to talk to me about a ‘Palm trees and margaritas’ presentation.
Karen Morath
karen@mpowercct.com
www.palmtreesandmargaritas.com
March 2008
* Life can’t be all palm trees and margaritas, but there are worse game plans.
TIPS
There is a strong link between financial security and a positive frame of mind. So therefore this month's tips are all about improving life on the financial front.
1. Review all of your insurance policies - there is no need to wait until they are due for renewal.
2. Reduce the number of monthly bills you receive by one (or two). Cancel something. Cable TV? a bank account you rarely use? gym subscription? music lessons? newspaper delivery?
3. Have a whole month (or two) without non-essential spending. No lattes, no magazines, no takeaway, no DVDs, no restaurant meals or whatever your vice.
4. Cook out of the pantry and freezer. Don't shop for groceries for a week - you'll be surprised.
5. Examine your bank statements. Do you really know where your money goes?
6. Throw your coins or $5 notes into a jar. They'll add up fast.
7. Cancel a credit card. Just one.
8. Throw a few more dollars per payment at your mortgage. Or your credit card bill. Or your savings account.
9. Bribe yourself. "If I give up x, I can have y (and besides, I'll deserve it).”
To enjoy list
Here are some things readers and I have recommended for others ‘to enjoy’.
1. The Sidney Nolan exhibition at the gallery at Federation Square (in Melbourne). It's stunning. On till late May.
2. My friend and colleague Leah Bryan has just launched her first book. It's a fun collection of stories that makes you laugh, gasp and consider yourself lucky. It's called Horror Mothers-In-Law... and you thought yours was bad! and you can check it out at www.nuhousepress.com. She is planning a follow up in the 'horror' series and is looking for stories on horror bosses. If you have one, you can pass it on to her at the same web address.
3. If you feel like you should be reading more books but don’t have the time then check out new Australian concept Book Rapper. They read the books for you and share the main highlights and key ideas so you get the knowledge from reading the book, without actually reading the book. Book Rapper has offered Palm Trees and Margaritas readers a free three month trial subscription, click here for details.
Please send your tips for things for others ‘to enjoy’ to me here.
STORIES
The bonus years
Reader Cliff called me with a message to pass on to Palm trees and margaritas readers. Here it is. Don't just read this newsletter and think 'that makes sense, I agree with that' and do nothing about it.
Cliff has been a Palm trees and margaritas fan since its beginning but it wasn't until his recent bowel cancer diagnosis that he decided seizing the day, living big and making plans should be a practice not a philosophy. Cutting to the chase, the news is all good and surgery, without even the need for chemotherapy, rid him of what might have been his death sentence.
On the phone, Cliff sounded jovial and buoyant, like a man who had been given a gift. He sees it as exactly that and has a pep in his step about what he considers his 'bonus years'. His bucket list is of all of the things he wants to contribute to the world he is getting more years in than he might have.
When he got his initial diagnosis his thought was that he had had too few palm trees and margaritas moments and desperately wanted more. And that he will. He will now have that opportunity and he wanted me to make sure you take the same opportunity. What are you waiting for?
The hairdresser who isn't
The man who cuts my hair has a tribe of kids, including a brand new baby girl, a wife who - courtesy of the tribe - has a lot on her plate, a house in the suburbs, a swank hairdressing salon and the responsibility for a couple of young staff members. He's a busy guy.
He has been cutting hair for 22 years and is as passionate about his work as the next person.
But, spend enough time with him to get your haircut every six weeks (oh, all right, the dyeing means I'm there a bit longer) and it becomes obvious that he is not a hairdresser at all.
He's a triathlete. That's what he gets up in the morning for. It's what he breathes for, talks about, is. This busy man's palm trees and margaritas moments involve training more hours each week than most of us think there are. For him, palm trees and margaritas are bikes and road running and staggered starts in swimming races. He is driven by beating his last time, tackling the incline in next week's race better than he did in last month's and the thrill of finding a way to fit his triathlete life into his already crowded list of commitments.
It's passion, drive and focus that make it work for him.
REFLECTIONS
1. “There are no strangers, just friends we haven’t met yet.” Avid reader, in response to last month's question about whether we already have our life's friends.
2. Laura Ingalls Wilder said "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." Are they?
3. March is birthday month for me. This is from a card I was given - 'How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?'
The book Palm Trees and Margaritas - Finding Your Oasis in a Busy World is available now, click here for details.