James Dicks's Blog – January 2009 Archive (7)

If you have read my articles for any length of time, you know that I am a zealot when it comes to goal setting. I constantly set my personal and professional goals. I write them down and watch them come to life and I hope you do the same. But one thing you should keep in mind is that your goals must match your personal value system. If any projected goal doesn’t mirror what you personally believe then your chances of success diminish greatly. Your core values, your personal desires and what you… Continue

Routinely, the stock and bond markets pretty much follow the sentiment of the day. And, at times, it actually gets to be pretty ridiculous. For instance, the stock exchanges were extremely weak the other day based upon the idea that the Asian and European economies were beginning to show some definite weakness. So, it’s not enough for us to concern ourselves with our own economy, now we have to worry about what’s happening in China? Investors seem to worry about just about everything. Some… Continue

It’s the small things that will add up; some obvious things like saving on your electric bill or re-evaluating your other monthly bills. Take a few moments to go over your personal budget and examine all the money going out and all money coming in. A few simple strategies, like using fewer Christmas lights and limit the time they are on during the holidays (See my last blog), reducing unnecessary expenses around the home or office, car pooling to work and less or more creative types of… Continue

Well it's amazing and here is some background. Shortly after Thanksgiving every year my kids, like all others, get excited about the holiday season. One of the things we like to do is ride around the neighborhood and look at the Christmas lights but this year was strange because more than half of the homes that had lights last year didn’t have Christmas lights up. I was wondering why, until yesterday - now I know.



It took two weeks after Christmas for me to figure it out; I guess I… Continue

On my way into work today and I heard a news report where Hollywood actor, Tom Cruise, revealed that the teachings of the Church of Scientology helped him beat dyslexia. Cruise said at the age of seven he was diagnosed as having this language-based learning disability that can include problems in reading, spelling, writing and pronouncing words.



He said, "Nobody gave me a solution and I wanted to know why the system had failed. Finally, as an adult I learned to read perfectly through… Continue

Okay, so we have heard it for a year now, time for change. I got it, really I do; I need change as much as the next person. But I actually mean change this time - real change. Think about it for a moment, the population of this country has careened out of control with our mind set concerning credit. We are a nation of debtors not savers, and now it's time to pay the piper; it's time to repent for our financial sins. We have to take control of our own financial situation and that will mean… Continue

Time for change is here. Yes I borrowed the line from our next president, but why not - it fits. To be successful in anything you have to be ready to accept change. In fact one of my favorite sayings is "if you always do what you have always done then you will always get what you have always gotten".



Now it’s 2009 and I really don't think that we can wait any longer to make these changes. We have been living as a nation of spenders and now we are forced to start living as a nation of… Continue