Another full Saturday for me. I will be apartment hunting! Hopefully today I will find where I’ll be living for the next six months.

Are Move Tickets Worth It — With the cost of a single movie being equal to a month of unlimited Netflix rentals, the author asks “Do you think it’s still worth it to go to the movies?”

Notes From My Speech Coach — Michael Hyatt talks about simple things his speech coach taught him about presenting.

Ready…Aim…Aim…Aim — Baker of Man v. Debt has a great article on getting up and pulling the trigger on your plans.

Do Elite Colleges Make a Differ­ence — “In 2002, econ­o­mists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger conducted a study showing that students who were accepted into elite colleges but attended less-selective ones ended up earning just as much money as students who attended elite colleges. That study was one of the moti­vating factors behind my decision to attend an afford­able, in-state public college.”

How To Travel With One Bag –More Michael Hyatt. He posted this great video showing how he fits every­thing he needs while traveling into one bag.

[this is part of the Prior­i­tize Your Life series]

If you keep up with Christian Contem­po­rary music you have probably heard of Chris August. His most recent radio hits are 7x70 and Starry Night. My brother-in-law is his bass player and a prominent musician in the world of profes­sional music.

which way is better?

Last Friday I had the chance to see him perform for free at Winter Jam — the largest annual Christian music tour. Artists there included the Newsboys, David Crowder Band, Red, Francesca Battis­telli, and about six other awesome bands. There was even a strong possi­bility that I could have gone back stage and met with several of the bands (many of whom I greatly respect).

Instead, I spent Friday night eating a burrito and smoking cigars with a long-time friend who I hadn’t seen in awhile.

I made the right choice.

I enjoy music. I also enjoy meeting influ­en­tial people and finding out what makes them tick. But even more than that, I enjoy my friend Michael.
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[This is part of the Prior­i­tize Your Life series]

What does it look like to Spend Consciously?

I define conscious spending as “the free­dom to spend money on the things you love.” Another way to say it is cutting things you enjoy out of your so thing you love can be enjoyed more fully. Let’s talk about what that looks like.

As I write this, I am preparing to go apartment hunting for the first time in many years. I have been living with my parents while I finished college, but with school behind me and marriage ahead it is time to “leave my father and mother and cling to my wife.”
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I am changing the name of the Saturday post from ‘Saturday Misc’ to ‘High­lights’. I think “high­lights from the week” better describes what I am doing.

This week was really good but very busy. Not as many links as normal, but still worth checking out!

• QB is a Jedi master of mean­ing­less accuracy — I think the title says it all. Check this amazing Quarter Back!
• Nation Somehow Shocked by Human Nature Again — This Onion article has been making the rounds on the internet. It is an insightful look at humanity.
• Absolute Simplest Buget in Excel — This is a great video on making a conscious spending priority list. Steve does a great job of taking difficult ideas and showing how simple they can be,

[This is part of the Prior­i­tize Your Life series]

Some days I am amazing. I wake up early, clean the house, write a few blogs, figure out my finances, run errands, spend time with my fiancée, and read a book — all before lunch.

Those are my favorite days. I like to pretend that is the real me.

Yes, that is an amazing move

Unfor­tu­nately, most days I am pretty lack­luster. My worst days are the ones where I know I need to work on something, but don’t.

As I write this I am enjoying a snow day. I desper­ately need a haircut and today (with 10 free hours) was the day I planned to do it. As I write this it is 6:30pm and I am no closer to a haircut than I was when I woke up this morning.

The second me is the real me: the me that ignores work; the me that gets distracted by emails, books, twitter, and much more.

One thing that helps me have amazing days is a priority list. Doing this one thing will change the course of your day. And the best part of a priority list is you can make it in less than fifteen minutes with only a sheet of paper and a pencil.

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Today is the day of love! Say what you like, having a day to celebrate rela­tion­ships is pretty cool. Sadly, there is more to this day than love. By now, most of the free world has given up on their New Year’s Resolutions.

I Give Up

What about you? Have you already given up on the goals your set for yourself in January? Have you even taken the time to set up those goals? If not, check out my series on doing a yearly review.

Starting 2011 Off Right

Has 2011 Changed Anything? - Drop your New Year’s reso­lu­tions and set some goals

Look Back - What about last year needs to change? What needs to stay the same?

Set Goals — What kind of goals will change your life?

Do Something - Encour­age­ment on the most important step; moving past dreams into actions

How are you doing on your New Year’s Goals? Are you still working towards them or have you already given up? Let me know in the comments

P.S. — This is a bonus update. posts continue as scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday.

I read a lot of blogs, spend way too much time on youtube, and really like news articles. Lots of cool stuff goes up every week. In a desire to share some of that with you, I am creating Saturday Misc where every Saturday for the rest of the month I am going to post 5 or so links to articles, videos, and podcasts that I found inter­esting. Let me know what you think in the comments.

• A Harrowing, Historic week — This is a cool series of photos that describe the situation in Egypt up to when the President announced he would not run for re-election. A lot has happened in the week and a half since then, but it is still an infor­ma­tive and inter­esting post.
• Water-Powered Jetpack — Yes, they have invented a water-powered jetpack. It is epic. Make sure you check out the video at the bottom of the page
• 79.9% interest is good? — Americans are lining up for a credit card with 79.9% interest. Is credit still a good thing?
• Liu Bolin, the Disap­pearing man — Liu Bolin takes pictures of scenery. He is in them, but he is invisible. See if you can spot him in these amazing photos!
• 007, We’re Not Talking About Bonds Here — This is a fiance blog and podcast I like called Money Plan S.O.S. This week is espe­cially worth noting because Steve mentioned the blog! Check it out his promotion of Entre­pre­Life and then continue listening for his great finance advice.
• Art is Dead — Comedian Bo Burnham sings about the death of art. (Warning: some language)

What are your thoughts on these articles? Let me know in the comments

Is this what your desk looks like?

[This is part of the new series: Prior­i­tize Your Life]

How busy are you?

I have wanted to hang out with a friend of mine since before Christmas. As of today (February 10^th) we still have no plans to hang out. The two of us are too busy for one another.

I can count on one hand the number of people in my life who would not define them­selves as busy.

Everyone I know has plans for their life. They want to make lots of money, work the job of their dreams, and create something mean­ingful with their life. Yet most people will do little or nothing to head in that direction.

Are you busy or distracted?

Distrac­tion – an obstacle to attention
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Have you set your Christmas goals yet? Out of all the financial goals you will set this year, Christmas spending is the one that sneaks up on most people (myself included).

Whether we want to admit or not, Christmas is coming. Are you ready for it?

If you are like most Americans, you are waist deep in Christmas debt. What is Christmas debt? Christmas debt is all the expenses you added to your credit card in December hoping future you would be better at dealing with.

Don’t drown in Christmas debt this year, make a plan.

Even Santa needs tax help

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Job inter­views are the worst. Anyone who says they like job inter­views is either a liar or a masochist.

You walk into a room where one or more people judge you based on a sheet of paper, a few questions, and a 5 minute review of your person­ality. The entire purpose is to answer the question, “Am I a good fit”.

If we are honest; “Am I a good fit” really means “Do you like me”.

More often than not, the answer is “No.” (more…)